What Are The Two Tables of The Law?

One of the things we haven't done in awhile in this space is "get back to basics" when it comes to understanding common theological words and phrases.

So, let's take a moment to do that today. Quite frankly, I had never heard of this before becoming a Confessional Lutheran. Even when I was a "Lutheran-In-Name-Only" for a couple of years, this phrase never crossed the lips of any Pastor I was listening to, and therefore, never entered my heart and mind to prayerfully consider by way of my ears.

What are the "Two Tables of The Law" as derived from the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20)?

TWO TABLES OF THE LAW:

First Table -- Commandments #1, #2, #3
Our Relationship To God (Vertical)

Second Table -- Commandments #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10
Our Relationship To Man (Horizontal)

That may be rather simplistic, but I hope it gives you a better idea of what we mean by this common phrase whenever it comes up.

In short, the Lord's Ten Commandments can be divided into "Two Tables." The "First Table" tells us how we should live in relation to God. The "Second Table" tells us how we should live in relation to our fellow human beings.

The First Table contains Commandments 1-3. It can be summed up with the command of Jesus to love your God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind. The Second Table, Commandments 4-10, is summed up by Jesus as love your neighbor as yourself. The Scriptures say that all people are accountable to God’s Law (Matthew 5:19; Romans 3:19).

In a Lutheran Layman's terms, the Two Tables of the Law gives us God's standard of perfection when it comes to our relationship to Him and our relationship to man, and they reveal our inability to fulfill the Law perfectly, which is why we need the grace and forgiveness of the Savior, Jesus Christ, or the only Person who ever lived that fulfilled the Law perfectly by living a righteous life on our behalf.

You can listen to the recent edition of Concord Matters if you'd like to learn more about the Two Tables of the Law and how we are to properly (Biblically) understand them.

[NOTE: As you know, I am a newly converted Confessional Lutheran who recently escaped American Evangelicalism. That being said, please contact me ASAP if you believe that any of my "old beliefs" seem to have crept their way into any of the material you see published here, and especially if any of the content is not consistent with our Confessions and Lutheran doctrine (in other words, if it's not consistent with God's Word) so that I can correct those errors immediately and not lead any of His little ones astray. Finally, you might discover that some of the earlier pieces I wrote on this blog definitely fall into that category since I was a Lutheran-In-Name-Only at the time and was completely oblivious to the fact that a "Book of Concord" containing our Confessions even existed. I decided to leave those published posts up only because we now have this disclaimer and only to demonstrate the continuing work of Christ and the Holy Spirit in my life. Thank you for stopping by and thank you in advance for your time and help. Grace and peace to you and yours!]

Share|