First, God’s law was given to an Israel already redeemed. God first called Israel to be His people, brought them out of Egypt, formed them as a people in the wilderness, and then He gave them His law as a way to instruct them in the way they should live as His people before Him. The law was never intended by God, in other words, to be a means of Israel’s salvation, but to secure Israel’s life and prosperity and the land. Deuteronomy has a lot to say about this function of the law.