But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. -Psalm 1:2

Before you go screaming “legalist” from the mountaintops, think of why it is important to embrace the law. Nowhere in God’s Word is the law abolished. God doesn’t change His mind on what is right and what is wrong. Jesus makes it clear that he did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. So what does all that mean? Are we supposed to keep the law? Of course, to the best of our ability– especially the Ten Commandments (which should be the essence of government). As Christians we should in particular hold up the spirit of the law. Why was the law created? Surely it was for our benefit and out of love that our Heavenly Father gave us the commandments. As children in the family of God, we are joint heirs in Christ and, therefore, one would think we are subject to the same things as the children of Israel were so long ago.

Now how does all this affect the position of our ancestor Abraham? Well, if justification were by achievement he could quite fairly be proud of what he achieved—but not, I am sure, proud before God. For what does scripture say about him? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness’. -Romans 4:1-3 (PHILLIPS)

We know clearly that it was by faith that Abraham, David and all the great heroes of faith have been saved (Hebrews 11). Abraham (and surely all those of faith in days of old) knew he could never live a life of total obedience to God in the flesh. Sin had entered man in the garden of Eden in the days of Adam and Eve and wasn’t going anywhere. But he, like the others of faith, knew that God loved him and would take care of him if he put his trust in Him. In much the same way, we as Christians know that, today, God’s love has been proven to us through the person of Jesus Christ our Lord. If we accept His offer of salvation and believe in what Jesus did for us, we are forgiven. As we accept (more and more in our walk) the transformation that happens through faith and the power of the Holy Spirit, we find ourselves compelled to desire the law and apply it to our daily lives. We do this because we want to and are grateful that God has revealed to us how He wants us to live in service to Him. James understood this and gave examples of how our faith would be made known to others by the way we live in the fruit of our Christian labor. Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you. -James 1:27 (NLT)