This is what I want you to tell the people of Israel. —Exodus 19:6b

Scripture: Exodus 19:1-6, 20:1-2; Matthew 22:34-40

Why do free people need law?

I don’t mean civil laws, though God knows we need those in these times. I’m asking a bigger question: If we are “free in Christ,” then do the Commandments apply to us? Should they apply to us?

What we learned in Sunday School is that the former slaves liberated from Egypt were unruly and disobedient. We learn that Moses went to Yahweh and asked for help in leading them, and presently from out of the cloud came Moses, with his face veiled to shield everyone else’s eyes from God’s glory-light streaming from his visage. In his arms were two stone tablets with 10 Commandments etched into them.

True. But why does something that was intended to organize a mob into a civilization three thousand years ago still get paraded in front of us today?

The clue is in the June 19 passage that starts the series: we need Law not to “get us into heaven,” nor to “earn points.” We need it for the sake of learning to love God, and to love our neighbor, for the purpose of truly being liberated from what shackles us.