all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And Jesus said, “Do this
and you will live.” (Luke 10 : 25 – 28 )
Because everything in the Word is about loving God and loving our
neighbor, and the first tablet of the Ten Commandments contains a sum-
mary of everything about loving God while the second tablet contains a
summary of everything about loving our neighbor, it follows that the Ten
Commandments contain everything to be taught and lived.
If you visualize the two tablets, it is clear how they are connected.
God looks at us from his tablet and we look at God from ours. The two
tablets are therefore turned toward each other. On God’s side it never
fails that he is looking at us and doing what has to be done for our salva-
tion. If we accept and do the things on our tablet, a reciprocal partner-
ship [with God] develops. What happens to us then is indicated by the
Lord’s words to the lawyer: “Do this and you will live.”
The Word often mentions “the law.” I will now say what that means 288
in a narrow sense, in a broader sense, and in the broadest sense. In a nar-
row sense, “the law” means the Ten Commandments. In a broader sense,
“the law” means the rules that Moses gave to the children of Israel. In the
broadest sense, “the law” means the entire Word.
People know that in a narrow sense “the law” means the Ten Com-
mandments.
In a broader sense, “the law” means the rules that Moses gave to the chil-
dren of Israel.This becomes clear from the individual rules laid out in
Exodus—they are called “the law”:
This is the law of the trespass offering. (Leviticus 7 : 1 )
This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings. (Leviticus 7 : 11 )
This is the law of the grain offering. (Leviticus 6 : 14 and following)
This is the law of the burnt offering, the grain offering, the sacrifices
for sin and guilt, and the consecrations. (Leviticus 7 : 37 )
This is the law of the animals and the birds. (Leviticus 11 : 46 and fol-
lowing)
This is the law for a woman who has given birth to a son or a daughter.
(Leviticus 12 : 7 )
This is the law of leprosy. (Leviticus 13 : 59 ; 14 : 2 , 32 , 54 , 57 )
This is the law for someone who has a discharge. (Leviticus 15 : 32 )§288 the ten commandments 357