Arabic Bible Help: Study1-p2

GOD’S LAWS WERE NEVER INTENDED to restrict our happiness. Children may think their parents are “kill-joys” when they are denied what they want, but a good parent has the interest of the child at heart, even if it appears otherwise to the child. A kind God has given us His good laws which we have transgressed to our own hurt.

Properly understood, the teaching of Jesus about our personal sinfulness is very convicting and condemning. When we consider the holiness of God and what He requires of us, our guilt is shown to be very great. We see the root of every imaginable sin in our hearts: lust, greed and hatred are common place. And as for love of our enemies, it is nonexistent.

We are sinners who need a Saviour, and this is where the teaching of Jesus about the purpose of His sufferings comes in (see next page).

SUMMARY: Where there are sensible laws society is better, safer and happier. In the same way, God’s laws are rules of happiness for our own good. God’s laws also represent the high standards of a holy God whose nature cannot be satisfied by anything less than perfection.

Jesus’ teaching applies God’s law to everything we think, say and do. Love, which is the greatest of all commands, is practical rather than sentimental. It keeps every other command!

We learn from our failure to keep God’s law just how much we need the mercy offered in the gospel of Christ. For centuries people had been taught the demands of God’s law. Now Christ arrives with the good news of mercy for “lost” sinners who have not achieved its high and holy standards.