On the Law (1 of 3)

It is clear that in order to understand the Bible, we must understand the laws of God. There have been many tomes written to seek to understand how the Law of God is heard, interpreted, applied, and so forth. Since the time of the Reformation, a distinction between the Law of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been maintained.

In fact, our church’s own confession puts it this way:

XII. OF THE HARMONY OF THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL

We believe that the Law of God is the eternal and unchangeable rule of his moral government; that it is holy, just, and good; that the inability which the Scriptures ascribe to fallen men to fulfill its precepts arises entirely from their love of sin; to deliver them from which, and to restore them through a Mediator to unfeigned obedience to the holy Law, is one great end of the gospel, and of the means of grace connected with the establishment of the visible Church.

This statement is a helpful summary and a good starting point to begin a discussion about the law of God.

First, this statement articulates that the Law of God is related to his moral government. That is, the world has a moral shape because God is a certain kind of God. He is not indifferent to the things that are just or unjust and he does not make decisions willy-nilly about what is right and wrong. The law of God is rooted in his unchangeable nature, which is holy just and good.

Second, this statement demonstrates that fallen men are unable to keep the Law of God due to their love of sin. This indicates that human beings do not simply have a behavior problem, we have a love problem. We love the things that are contrary to God’s nature more than we love God himself. Moreover, we cannot keep the law. it is impossible.

Third, the deliverance from this disobedience comes from one who is a Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. How did Jesus deliver us from disobedience? By his own obedience. Jesus obeyed where we disobeyed. He kept the Law where we broke it. By grace, through faith, Christ’s obedience to the Law is counted to us who have broken the Law. This is one of the great ends of the gospel.

Fourth, the New Hampshire confession notes that because Christ has kept the Law, those who are in Christ are established as his people in the local church. This is to say that the church is not to be made up of law breakers, but former law breakers who have been changed (1 Cor 6:11). We are born again from the ways of the past, but we are law-breakers, all, who depend solely upon the law-keeping of Jesus Christ for our righteousness.

These summary statements scratch the surface of what the Law requires of humanity and what God supplies by Christ in the gospel. However, this does not mean that the Law is of no use for Christians. Rather, the Law is necessary to the Christian life. Just perhaps not necessary in the ways that we might be naturally inclined to see.

The question might be asked this way:

Q: How much obedience to the law is required to obtain salvation?

A: Perfect obedience to the Law of God is required.

If this is the case, and it surely is, then we have no hope. That is, unless, someone kept this law on our behalf and took the penalty we deserved. Because Christ was perfectly obedient to God’s law, he has merited righteousness. Now, he freely gives this salvation that he has earned to all of those who believe in Him.

So let me ask the question in a different way:

Q: How much of your obedience is required to obtain salvation?'

A: None.

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The necessary question is then, if we are saved by grace, by no works of our own, then are we free to simply live however we want? This is the question Paul asks in Romans 6:1. His answer is “By no means!”

Therefore, the Law does not have a function for the Christian as a means of securing justification. Rather, the Law functions for the Christian as a guide to grow in sanctification.

The Reformed tradition has helpfully categorized the topic of the law into two headings. The first is what might be called the tripartite division of the Law and the second could be called the threefold vision of the law. A brief discussion on these two points in subsequent articles will be helpful for Christians to know that “the law is good if one uses it lawfully” (1 Tim. 1:8).

But before we get on to the uses of the Law, we must be reminded of one unlawful way to use the Law.

It is always wrong to use the Law as a way to seek to get to heaven. No one gets to heaven by law. Everyone makes it by the grace given in Christ Jesus.

In John Bunyan’s classic work, The Pilgrim’s Progress, one of Pilgrim’s companions, named Hopeful, utters these words:

"It is but a folly to think of Heaven by the Law." - Hopeful

Hopeful is right. We will never get to heaven by focusing on the Law. Rather, we must look to heaven by the gospel. How might we do that? Hear our friend Hopeful once again:

"I must look for righteousness in His person, and for satisfaction for my sins by His blood; that what He did in obedience to His Father’s law, and in submitting to the penalty thereof, was not for Himself, but for him that will accept it for his salvation, and be thankful. And now was my heart full of joy, mine eyes full of tears, and mine affections running over." - Hopeful

If Christ is your law-keeper, your Mediator, then know that your name is written in heaven. May it fill your heart with joy and love for the hope your Savior gives to you in His work.