The Psalmist writes of delighting in the law of the Lord and meditating on it eagerly. (Ps. 1:1-2, 112:1, 119:15,48) Would those divinely inspired words be set down for us if the Law “always threatens”?

Scripture says, “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse….” (Gal. 3:10) Is that curse a consequence of the working or of the relying? Might we Christians who do not rely on the works of the law nevertheless gratefully embrace the wisdom of the law and recognize how blessings may accrue when we obey it?

For if unbelievers, who do not fear God at all, can nevertheless see wisdom in heeding “love your neighbor as yourself,” how much more might those who actually know God’s abundant grace in Christ be grateful for what God has commanded?

To become a Christian is to wash away the stains of a former life and embrace a new life. Jesus said that making disciples involved “teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” — not that we comply reluctantly to earn something divine for ourselves, but that we follow willingly to convey something divine to others and thereby bless them, for Christ’s loves compels us.

Indeed, “we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Eph. 2:10) And we "are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that [we] may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” (1 Peter 2:9)