How can I tell whether the word 'law' means the whole system of law or just the Ten Commandments?
When you see the word 'law,' pause and ask whether the passage means the whole system of law—including the Ten Commandments, worship, and civil law—or only the Ten Commandments. The surrounding text usually reveals which meaning is intended, so the context itself will make the distinction clear.
Les explains that a careful student of Scripture should stop whenever the word 'law' appears, whether in Romans or elsewhere, and determine whether the writer is speaking of the whole system of law—the Ten Commandments, the worship, and the civil law—or simply the Ten. He notes that the civil law covered how neighbor got along with neighbor, how society handled its affairs, how deeds of land were transferred, and other intrinsic problems of a society. The text usually reveals which sense is meant, so you can pick it out right away. In the surrounding context, Israel has not yet received the law but has come out of Egypt; Moses lays the Lord's words before the elders, and the people answer that all the Lord has spoken they will do, which Les calls legalism.