What does the law of God require?
This is an important question. We want to be wise, knowing what the will of the Lord is. We want to conform our lives to the revealed will of God.
Where do we start?
There are 613 commandments in the Old Testament and 1050 commandments in the New Testament.
That’s a lot of commandments! People usually focus on the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) in the Old Testament and Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7) in the New Testament. Still others distill God’s law into the Double Love Command.” You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might (Deuteronomy 6:5); You shall love your neighbor as yourself (Lev. 19:18b). Or you can further distill the requirements of God’s law as Jesus did in the “Golden Rule.” In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets (Matthew 7:12).
All 1663 commandments are important, but it does help to have a way to summarize them.
Love is the central idea. Paul says it best in Romans 13:8-10: Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; You shall not murder; You shall not steal; You shall not covet”; and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.