In the Bible, which comes first: the Law or the Gospel? The answer will surprise you. The first five books of the Bible are known as the Law of Moses, and rightfully so. They contain laws—613 of them to be exact. But why did God establish these laws? Who did God give them to? Commandments by James Perkins on flickr. CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 There were no Commandments when God chose to make of Sarah and Abraham a great nation—nor were there Commandments when God appeared to Moses in the burning bush. In fact, when God’s people were slaves in Egypt, there was one law, and his name was Pharoah. He exercised complete control over their minds, bodies, and souls. If it weren’t for the grace of the God whom they barely knew and were couldn’t worship, they would’ve perished. But God took the initiative. With a mighty hand, God liberated his people from the bonds of slavery so that they would become “his treasured possession out of all peoples” (v.5): “a priestly kingdom and a holy nation” (v. 6...
