Today you have declared the Lord to be your God, and that you will walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, and His ordinances, and listen to His voice. And the Lord has today declared you to be His people, His personal possession, just as He promised you, and that you are to keep all His commandments; and that He will put you high above all the nations which He has made, for glory, fame, and honor; and that you shall be a consecrated people to the Lord your God, just as He has spoken. (vv. 17-19)

Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses. Therefore, whatever they tell you, do and comply with it all, but do not do as they do; for they say things and do not do them. And they tie up heavy burdens and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as their finger. And they do all their deeds to be noticed by other people; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments. And they love the place of honor at banquets, and the seats of honor in the synagogues, and personal greetings in the marketplaces, and being called Rabbi by the people. But as for you, do not be called Rabbi; for only One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers and sisters. And do not call anyone on earth your father; for only One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called leaders; for only One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest of you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (Matthew 23:1-12)

Christians are easily deceived by others’ words and deeds. We humans do not see people as God sees them. We judge everything by what we see, hear, smell, touch, and taste. We rely on the sensory functions of our body when making judgments. The devil uses our weakness to entice us. Evil people are very kind and humorous. They look happy and generous. But they deny the sound doctrines. They deny Sola Gratia. They try to nullify the power of the cross of Christ. They put much emphasis on the law but hate the law. They lead others astray. We saints were no different from them until the Holy Spirit came.

When we focus on morality, there is no one is perfectly moral. When we focus on the written code, there is no one righteous under the law of God. The saints are declared righteous because they are under the grace of God. That does not mean we ignore the law. The essence of the law is self-sacrificing love. Therefore, we read about God’s love when we study the law. The law and Christ are inseparable. Christ is the second person of the Trinity. He is God. He is the law. He is love.

In many churches, the meaning of this love is often misinterpreted and misunderstood. Evil people use love to cover up their sins and protect those who hate God. They do not fear God. Christ cursed these people in Matthew 23:13-36.

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. (Matthew 23:13)

People often make a mistake in interpreting the covenants as if our relationship with God depends on a condition. Whether the condition is the law or faith, we cannot meet the condition. Faith is the result of a person reborn through Christ and the Holy Spirit. We cannot initiate faith. The grace of God humbles us.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10)