The Law Only Instructs

The Law only instructs! That’s right! For those who are in Christ it only instructs! Now, I can imagine that you are ready to respond by saying, “But doesn’t the Law always accuse?” “But don’t we as Lutheran believe, teach, and confess that the Law always accuses?” Before we address the notion that the Law always accuses, we must first understand what the Law is and why God gave it to His people.

After Yahweh delivered the Israelites from Egypt, He gave them a new identity, with a new way of thinking, speaking, and acting. They were now liberated from serving Pharaoh. They were free to serve Yahweh. God instructed them how to serve.

Notice that the Ten Commandments open with a statement of who God is, which directly informs His people of who they are. God says, “I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me” (Exodus 20:2–3). God teaches His people exactly what type of a God He is. He is One who delivers them from slavery. Therefore, they do not need to enslave themselves to other gods. The people of Israel have been redeemed by Yahweh. They are His people. They belong to Him. As His people, they do not need to speculate about how they are to act as His people. God instructs them. He is basically saying, “This is what you are to do as my people.” The Law of God reveals the will of God. Thus, when Luther teaches us to meditate upon the Ten Commandments as His redeemed people, we are taught that we should fear and love God so that we do what He instructs us to do. We do not need to guess what works are pleasing to God; God teaches us in His Word. In fact, in Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament, the Ten Commandments are called the “Ten Words.” With these words God instructed His people, that they would not sin in thoughts, words, and deeds.

In Exodus 24 we read, “Yahweh said to Moses, ‘Come up to me on the mountain and wait there, that I may give you the tablets of stone, with the Law and the commandments, which I have written to instruct them’” (Exodus 24:12). There are two things to note here. First, the word Law is “Torah” in the Hebrew language, which means “instruction.” Second, notice the connection between the Torah and the purpose of writing the tablets of stone. Yahweh says, “I have written to instruct them.” The word instruct is from the Hebrew verb yarah which means “he instructs.”

It is interesting to note that when Moses was on the top of Mount Sinai receiving the revealed will of God, Aaron was at the base of the mountain speculating on what he could do to please God. Aaron, without the Word of God, decided to become creative in worship and used the golden calf to assure the people of God that Yahweh was with them. However, Aaron did not have the Word of God. He did not have the instructions given by God. Thus, there was no institution to worship in that way or promise that God would be pleased by it. Without God’s instruction, the people fell into sin.

With God’s Word, His people are instructed to walk in His way and not their own ways. With the written Law, that is the Torah, we have the revealed will of God. As His people, we are taught to pray and say, “Teach (yarah) me Your way, O Yahweh, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear your name” (Psalm 86:11). With the words of the Torah we are invited to walk with God. The prophet Isaiah writes, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of Yahweh, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths. For out of Zion shall go forth the Torah, and the word of Yahweh from Jerusalem” (Isaiah 2:3). And again, Isaiah invites us saying, “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of Yahweh” (Isaiah 2:5). The Law of Yahweh is like a light that tells us what is right.

In John’s first epistle he tells us the reason why he instructs us saying, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin” (1 John 2:1–2). God instructs us so that we would not sin. However, in this life we still do sin. Thus, John continues by saying, “But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world” (1 John 2:1–2). Likewise, John also says, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).

You see, without Jesus our Advocate (one who stands between us and God’s wrath) the Law always accuses. But with Jesus, our High Priest by faith, we have the remission of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit. When our sins are pardoned by Christ, the Law cannot accuse us. Jesus is your light and your salvation. Of what shall you be afraid? In Christ, we rejoice in the Law’s instruction!

Rev. Brian L. Kachelmeier is the pastor of Redeemer Evangelical Lutheran Church in Los Alamos, New Mexico.