What is The Law?

The first five books of the Bible (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy) are sometimes referred to as The Pentateuch. Collectively they are also called ‘Torah’. Torah comes from a root word that is used in archery. The goal in archery is to use a bow to launch an arrow with the intention of hitting a specific target.

God gave instructions to the children of Israel so that they would know how to interact with one another and so that they would know how to worship Him. Healthy relationships with other people and with God is the target we’re aiming for. Torah, then, would be the process of getting there. It is the instruction, training, and teaching necessary to make sure our arrows hit the target of God’s truth. And this is what we find in the first five books of the Bible: instructions and commandments from God with the intention of bringing Himself glory through the obedience of His people.

This collection of books, written by the human author Moses, are considered to be ‘The Law’, and they are often called ‘The Law’ throughout the rest of the Bible. For example:

Joshua 1:8 says that the ‘Book of the Law’ should always be kept on our lips. Also in the book of Joshua (22:5) it states, ‘be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave to you’.
The writer of 1 Kings (2:3) gives the account of David’s charge to Solomon, reminding him to walk in all of the Lord’s statutes, ‘as written in the Law of Moses’.
The New Testament also makes reference to the Law in Acts 13:39, Romans 3:21 and Ephesians 2:13-15. Jesus himself referenced this collection of books as the Law in Matthew 5:17-20 and 7:12 in the Sermon on the Mount.

These books are called The Law because they contain many commands from God addressed to His people. God was very precise in his commands and expected respectful obedience.

The Effect of the Law for Us

The Law is our tutor. Paul says in Galatians 3:24 that the ‘law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith’. What Paul means is that the law reveals to us that we are sinful. It shows us where we’ve fallen short. It is our ‘tutor’ because it teaches us that we cannot attain perfection. It points us to Jesus Christ who WAS perfect. And so the law leads us to Him, the One in whom we put our faith. Jesus lived a perfect life and it is His perfect righteousness that is credited to the account of the one who has faith in Him.

What is the Greatest Command in the Law?

A group of Pharisees in the book of Matthew asked Jesus this question. They were supposed to be the experts in everything pertaining to the Law. They approached Jesus and one of them posed this question in Matthew 22:36: ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’. Jesus answered him by saying, ’you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself’ (Matthew 22:37-39). Jesus silenced the so-called law experts by quoting from the Law itself, a passage they would have been very familiar with: Deuteronomy 6:4-5. This passage in Deuteronomy is called ‘The Shema’. This Hebrew word in English literally means ‘hear and obey’.

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.