Question 7 (February 12, 2023)
Q: What does the law of God require?
A: Personal, perfect, and perpetual obedience; that we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and love our neighbor as ourselves. What God forbids should never be done and what God commands should always be done.
MEMORY PASSAGE: Matthew 22:37-40
And [Jesus] said to him, “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 first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
Family Teaching Guide
DAY 1:
Recite question and answer then read the memory passage.
We see from Scripture that God is holy. He is perfect and he made us to reflect him. Therefore, he requires of mankind that we honor him in thought, word and speech by obeying him and reflecting his character.
DISCUSS: Perfect and perpetual obedience means that we never disobey and always obey God. Perfect indicates the nature of the obedience and perpetual indicates the duration. The perfect obedience we are to render to God is not merely action but thought and motive as well. Consider sharing an example where you were obedient outwardly but inwardly had a sinful attitude and ask if that was the kind of obedience that honors God. Point out that because this standard is the holiness of God himself, we all fail to achieve that standard. We all have sinned and therefore are deserving of God’s just punishment for disobeying him. No one is able to perfectly honor God and yet, God is gracious to provide Christ who lived a perfect life for us. Christ perfectly honored God and never failed to obey God in thought, word, motive or action. That uniquely qualifies him to save us because through faith in Christ, he not only pays for our failure to honor and obey God (sin), but credits his perfect obedience to us.
Additional reading: Romans 3:23/2 Cor 5:21
DAY 2:
Recite question and answer then read memory passage.
The second part of the answer and what Christ says in the memory passage is how we obey God. By loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and loving our neighbor as ourselves.
ASK: Why do you think Jesus says “heart, soul, mind and strength”?
DISCUSS: Loving God involves our whole being. Not just our emotions but our actions. And yet we are totally unable to do that apart from God’s grace. Imagine it was Christmas morning and you opened a gift only to find it was something you didn’t like or want. Can you make yourself love that gift? In order for us to love God the way he requires and love others as ourselves, we are dependent upon his grace to change our hearts. When the Holy Spirit changes our hearts, we are transformed and our desires and longings and motivations are changed by God’s grace so that we want to love God, honor God and obey God. That is what it means to love God. It’s actions that flow from a new heart that has been changed by God’s grace to want what God wants, love what God loves, and above all else, know God as the greatest desire of our hearts.
ADDITIONAL READING: John 14:15; 1 John 4:7
DAY 3:
Recite question and answer then read memory passage.
God’s standard is holy and perfect. What God forbids should never be done. What God demands should always be done
ASK: Does God require perfect obedience to be saved?
DISCUSS: The answer to that question is yes. God requires perfect obedience to be saved. Yet, we have seen and know from experience that none of us obey perfectly. So how can anyone be saved? The answer is this… God requires perfect obedience to be saved and he has provided one who was perfectly obedient on our behalf to satisfy that requirement. God’s standard doesn’t change because God doesn’t change. You and I are incapable of living up to that perfect standard. But God is gracious and so he provided Christ to live up to that standard for us. Christ perfectly obeyed the Father and through faith that is counted as our obedience so that we might be right with God. Our righteous (right standing before God… being declared innocent of any wrongdoing) does not come from our own effort and work, but through the work of Christ credited to us by faith. It is not our effort and work that saves but Christ’s given to us when we repent and believe in him. That is called justification. We are counted righteous by faith in Christ. That faith causes us to follow Christ and seek to obey him. We have to trust that what God commands is good and therefore we seek to obey in faith. We have to trust that what God forbids is harmful and therefore we seek to obey in faith. We never can perfectly obey, but we know that because we have trusted in Christ, God will always forgive us and see us as innocent of wrongdoing because Christ obeyed for us.
ADDITIONAL READING: Gal 3:6; 1 Cor 1:30; Rom 1:17