Product Description

Many Christians view the Ten Commandments as laws they are forced to obey in order to stay on God's good side. In her book His Loving Law, Our Lasting Legacy, Jani Ortlund invites readers to look at the Ten Commandments from a different perspective. Ortlund urges believers to recognize the Ten Commandments as a mirror, reflecting our need for God's cleansing and forgiveness.

Throughout the book, each commandment is presented not as another rule to follow, but as an invitation to experience more of God's love. As readers grasp this knowledge, they are able to experience true freedom in Christ. They will begin to understand how embracing God's laws and passing them along to future generations offers a needy world a glimpse of the truth of God's love.

"Jani Ortlund has once again written a convicting work for women seeking after God. She clearly and thoughtfully demonstrates the powerful relevance the commandments hold for Christians who seek holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit."
Mary K. Mohler, wife of R. Albert Mohler Jr.

"Any parent or adult who ministers to children will find here a rich curriculum for themselves and for their children."
Dr. Tasha Chapman, Associate Dean of Student Life; Adjunct Professor of Educational Ministries, Covenant Theological Seminary

"Takes us right to the heart of God and offers biblical principles for us to practice and to pass on to our children so that we may live according to God's law."
Margi Galloway, Minister to Women, Scottsdale Bible Church, Scottsdale, Arizona

"Jani Ortlund blows the dust off the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. Written with the wisdom and insight gained through a lifetime of teaching God's Word and raising four children who love the Lord, His Loving Law, Our Lasting Legacy equips readers not only to see themselves in the revealing light of God's Law, but also to guide children into loving God with their lives."
Nancy Guthrie, Bible teacher; author, Holding On to Hope and Hoping for Something Better

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #680143 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Review
-Jani Ortlund has once again written a convicting work for women seeking after God. She clearly and thoughtfully demonstrates the powerful relevance the commandments hold for Christians who seek holiness by the power of the Holy Spirit.- Mary K. Mohler, wife of R. Albert Mohler Jr. -Any parent or adult who ministers to children will find here a rich curriculum for themselves and for their children.- Dr. Tasha Chapman, Associate Dean of Student Life; Adjunct Professor of Educational Ministries, Covenant Theological Seminary -Takes us right to the heart of God and offers biblical principles for us to practice and to pass on to our children so that we may live according to God-s law.- Margi Galloway, Minister to Women, Scottsdale Bible Church, Scottsdale, Arizona -Jani Ortlund blows the dust off the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. Written with the wisdom and insight gained through a lifetime of teaching God-s Word and raising four children who love the Lord, His Loving Law, Our Lasting Legacy equips readers not only to see themselves in the revealing light of God-s Law, but also to guide children into loving God with their lives.- Nancy Guthrie, Bible teacher; author, Holding On to Hope and Hoping for Something Better

Customer Reviews

Passing on a Love for God
Jani Ortlund has written this book with mothers who are raising children in mind. Her purpose is to help women learn to delight in God through his law and to help them pass on that love for God to their children.

What do you think about the Ten Commandments? Many of us, I'd say, tend to think of them in either of two ways, both of them wrong. We think of them as a list of very demanding rules that we need to keep in order to become righteous, or we think of them as a list of very demanding rules that no longer, since we are new covenant people, have any relevance for us.

Jani Ortlund argues that God's law has three purposes for us today. First, it leads us to the Saviour because it shows us our sin. Second, the law helps us understand who God is. And third, the law is a guide to those who are being saved through Christ, because it shows what living the like-Christ life looks like.

His Loving Law has an introduction, a conclusion, and ten chapters, each chapter examining one of the Ten Commandments. The chapters end with two sections of study questions and activities. One section is for the woman herself, to help her consider how she might live out each specific commandment, and the other contains suggested questions and activities for children to help mothers give each commandment to their children.

In the chapter on the sixth commandment, for instance, we learn that the command "You shall not murder" prohibits us from taking human life, but also includes positive expectations of us along with that prohibition. At its core, it's a call to value and protect human life, or using Jani Ortlund's words, "we obey this command by being life giving to others, rather than life depleting." We must "cherish and honor and care and protect this life we have received from God..." And of course, those who are truly obeying this commandment will show this honor for human life by their words and actions. The study section for adults asks, among other things, what "it means to be made in the image of God." In the second study section, one activity for children given is reading Romans 13:8, which says "love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law," and writing down a concrete plan for giving "life-giving love" to someone who needs it.

Let me let you in on a little secret: It's only in the last few years that I've begun to understand how much is rolled up in the summary words of each commandment. I'll admit that I haven't paid as much attention to the Ten Commandments as I should. That's why I enjoyed this book, even though I'm not teaching young children anymore.

If you are a mother with children at home(or if you teach young children), I've going to doubly recommend this book to you. You'll probably learn from it, like I did, but you'll also learn, from someone who's raised four children, practical ways to pass your new knowledge and love for the law to your children. As I read it, I kept thinking that it would make an excellent book for a group of young mothers to study together. And I couldn't stop wishing there were more books like this one, books that are both theological and practical, geared to mothers who want to teach their children.