Chapter 5, The Law and the Gospel, The Reformed Reader

CHAPTER FIVE

The Importance of the
Moral Law

“The commandment is a lamp, and
the law is light.” (Prov. 6:23)

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERESTIMATE the importance of the moral law.

• Sin is the transgression of the law; therefore, no law, no sin.
• Justification is the verdict of the law; therefore, no law, no need for justification.
• Sanctification is the believer’s fulfillment of the law; therefore, no law, no need for sanctification.

The moral law comes into its own and finds its essential fulfillment in the grace manifested in Christ. John Newton was correct when he said,

Clearly to understand the distinction, connection, and harmony between the Law and the Gospel, and their mutual subserviency to illustrate and establish each other, is a singular privilege, and a happy means of preserving the soul from being entangled by errors on the right hand or the left! Some in the Apostle’s time “desired to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they said, nor whereof they affirmed.” This seems to imply the importance, in a Christian teacher, of a clear understanding of the law in all its connections. And indeed the momentous matter of a sinner’s acceptance with God cannot be accurately stated without a distinct view of the subject. (The Christian Ministry [London: Banner of Truth, 1958], 1:229)

John Bunyan was also correct when he said, “The man who does not know the nature of the law cannot know the nature of sin. And he who does not know the nature of sin cannot know the nature of the Saviour.”

David Calhoun, in his history of Princeton Seminary, observes that on October 3, 1844, Dr. Archibald Alexander (the first professor chosen for Princeton Theological Seminary) preached at the installation of his son James Waddel to the pastorate of the Duane Street Church in New York City Taking his theme from 2 Timothy 2:15— “Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth”—Dr. Alexander presented many insights discovered during his own long ministry.

Alexander described the preacher as a workman. “Two sorts of men should ... be excluded from the gospel ministry: first, those who will not work; secondly, those who know not how to perform their work aright.” The wise preacher, Alexander continued, must know how to rightly divide the word of truth. Among other things, that means that he arrange and present biblical truth in such a manner “that it may be most easily and effectually understood.” He will “declare the whole counsel of God,” but “in due order, at proper times, and with a wise reference to the strength and spiritual attainments of our hearers.”

Most importantly for Alexander,

“a good workman will so divide the word of truth, as clearly to distinguish between the law and the gospel; between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.” By insisting on this point, the Princeton professor said, Luther began the Reformation; he called it “the article of the standing or falling of the Church.” If the preacher misses the mark here, “you will find him bewildered, and bewildering his hearers everywhere else.” He will preach “another gospel” which “brings no good news to lost sinners; but sets men at work to get into paradise at the old gate, which was long ago shut up, and has for thousands of years been guarded by the fiery-flaming sword of Divine justice.” While preaching grace, Dr. Alexander said, the good workman will not neglect to set forth “the holy law of God in its spirituality, extent, and binding obligation... for where there are none sick, there will be no need of a physician; and where no law is preached, there will be no conviction of sin, and none crying out, ‘what must we do to be saved?”’ “Let the law be faithfully proclaimed, as binding on every creature, and as cursing every impenitent sinner,” stated the preacher, “and let the utter inability of man to satisfy its demands be clearly set forth, not as an excuse, but as a fault; and then let the
riches of grace in Christ Jesus be fully exhibited and freely offered, and Let all—however great their guilt—be urged to accept of unmerited pardon, and complete salvation.” (David B. Calhoun, Princeton Seminary, Volume 1, Faith and Learning 1812—1868 [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1994], 274-76)

Six Reasons Why the Law and
Gospel Are Essential

1. The Message of the Whole Bible
The first reason for the importance of this subject is that the whole Bible is either law or gospel. that is, the law and the gospel are the principal parts of divine revelation. They are so vitally connected and related to each other, that an accurate knowledge of either cannot be obtained without the other. As noted earlier, they are the center, the sum, and the substance of all the parts of divine truth.

• The history of the Old and New Testaments narrates the acts of men and women done either in conformity or in opposition to the moral law, either in belief or in unbelief of the gospel.
• All the warnings of the Old and New Testaments are threatenings of the law or the gospel. For example, John 3:18 says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already.” Yes, there are gospel threatenings. Another example is 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9: ...and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power."
• Every prophecy of Scripture is a declaration of things obscure and future connected with either law or gospel, or both.
• Every promise is related to either the law or the gospel, or both.
• Every admonition, reproof, or exhortation is with reference to the law or the gospel, or both.

How important, then, it is to exercise our best efforts to distinguish between the two! It is certain that the closer we get to a clear view of (1) the difference between the law and the gospel, (2) the connection between them, and (3) how they Serve to establish each other, the more we will understand the Holy Scriptures and the will and mind of God, and the more useful we will be in His service.

2. Central Truths
The second reason for the importance of this subject is that the law is one of three great truths of the Bible that stand or fall together.

These truths are:

• The law of God.
• The cross of Christ.
• The righteous judgment of almighty God.

These three are vitally connected. If we do away with the law, there is no sin, and therefore no need of a Savior. If we do away with the cross, we have no answer to the sin problem. If there is no righteous judgment of almighty God, there is no point to talking about sin or a Savior.

In some respects the most wonderful description of the work of Christ on the cross in all the Bible is Isaiah 42:21: “The LORD was pleased . . . to make the law great and glorious” (NASB). Where did He do that? On the cross. It is often said of Jesus that He came to fulfill the law, but here it says, He came to “magnify the law and make it honorable” (NKJV). He came to give new luster and glory to the holy law of God so that the world might see and understand that the law is holy and just and good.

When God wrote the law upon Adam’s heart in creation, he magnified the law. He showed it to be a great and holy and righteous law. When God spoke the law from Sinai, He magnified the law and made it glorious. But most of all when Christ died on the cross, He gave radiance, greatness, and majesty to the law of God in the sight of all the world. When we look to the cross, one of the things we see is Christ’s magnifying God’s holy law and making it honorable by giving us an honorable pardon. Not a sentimental pardon, but an honorable one.

Jesus magnified the holiness and justice of the law by bearing its curse (see 2 Cor. 3:9-41). He explained the law’s meaning, He expressed its character, lie embodied its duties, and He endured its penalty.

Our Lord obeyed the law from the cradle to the grave. He delighted to do the will of His Father. “I have come...to do Your will, 0 God” (Heb. 10:7). His delight in obeying the Father showed to all the world that happiness and the chief good of the creature are by-products of keeping God’s holy law.

When teaching boys and girls the commandments, I like to ask them what would it be like...

(1) if everyone would love and serve God?
(2) if no one would worship idols, money, or pleasure?
(3) if no one would curse or take the Lord’s name in vain?
(4) if everyone would see how good God is to have provided one day a week to worship, rest, and do acts of necessity and mercy?
(5) if all children would obey their parents, and everyone would honor those who are in authority, such as teachers and civil authorities; and therefore we would have no need for police, jails, or courts?
(6) if no one would murder, and we could feel safe anywhere at night?
(7) if no one would commit adultery so that we would have no broken homes?
(8) if no one would steal, and we would have no need for locks or locksmiths?
(9) if no one would bear false witness, that is, lie?
(10) if no one would covet, and all people were content with who they were and what they possessed?

Their answer usually is, “It would be heaven!”

The reason it would be heaven is that we would all be like Christ. He is the most free being in the universe, as well as the most wise. He knows the nature of all things from the beginning to the end. He tasted the joys of heaven. He drank from all eternity the rivers of God’s pleasure. Yet, when He stood in our nature, He delighted in the law of God. Yes, God’s law was within His heart. One evidence of that was that Jesus was subject to His parents. In one sentence, Luke 2:51 summarizes twelve years of His life: “He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them.” Thus, He honored God’s law, not as a legalist or a Pharisee; nor was He an antinomian. He magnified the law and made it honorable by His obedience.

Evangelism
The third reason showing the importance of this subject is that the law is important to evangelism—art issue dear to the heart of every true preacher and every true Christian. The following church fathers certainly thought so:

Luther: “The law must be laid upon those that are justified, that they may be shut up in the prison thereof, until the righteousness of faith comes—that, when they are cast down and humbled by the law, they should fly to Christ. The Lord humbles them, not to their destruction, but to their salvation. For God wounds, that he may heal again. He kills, that he may quicken again” (God’s Law and God’s Children [Cape Coral, Fl.: Grace Baptist Church, 1988], 70).

Augustine: “The conscience is not to be healed if it is not wounded. Thou preachest and pressest the law, the judgment to come, with much earnestness and importunity. He which hears, if he is not terrified, if he is not troubled, is not to be comforted” (Ibid., 70).

Tyndale: “It becomes the preacher of Christ’s glad tidings, first through the opening of the law, to prove all things sin, that proceed not of the Spirit, and of faith in Christ; and thereby to bring him unto the knowledge of
himself, and of his misery and wretchedness, that he might derive help.”

Writing to John Firth: “Expound the law truly, to condemn all flesh, and prove all men sinners, and all deeds under the law (before mercy has taken away the condemnation thereof) to be sin, and damnable, and then as a faithful minister, set abroad the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, and let the wounded conscience drink of the water of life. And thus shall your preaching be with power, and not as hypocrites. And the Spirit of God shall work with you; and all consciences shall bear record unto you that it is so” (Ibid., 64).

Archbishop Usher: “What order is there used in the delivery of the word, for the begetting of faith?”

Answer: “First, the covenant of the law is urged, to make sin, and the punishment thereof, known; whereupon the sting of conscience pricks the heart with a sense of God’s wrath, and makes a man utterly to despair of any ability in himself to obtain everlasting life. After this preparation the promises of God are propounded; whereupon the sinner, conceiving a hope of pardon, looks to God for mercy” (Ibid., 62).

Charles Haddon Spurgeon: “The divine Spirit wounds before he heals, he kills before he makes alive. We usually draw a distinction between law-work and gospelwork; but law-work is the work of the Spirit of God, is so far a true gospel-work that it is a frequent preliminary to the joy and peace of the gospel. The law is the needle which draws after it the silken thread of blessing, and you cannot get the thread into the stuff without the needle: men do not receive the liberty wherewith Christ makes them free till, first of all, they have felt bondage within their own spirit driving them to cry for liberty to the great Emancipator, the Lord Jesus Christ. This sense or spirit of bondage works for our salvation by leading us to cry for mercy” (Ibid., 60-61).

In the immortal volume Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan, in his inimitable way, gives us a vivid picture of the law and evangelism in the Interpreter’s House:

Then I took him by the hand, and led him into a very large parlour that was full of dust, because never swept; the which after he had reviewed a little while, the Interpreter called for a man to sweep. Now when he began to sweep, the dust began so abundantly to fly about, that Christian had almost therewith been choked. Then said the Interpreter to a Damsel that stood by, bring hither Water and sprinkle the room; the which when she had done, it was swept and cleansed with pleasure.

Chr. Then said Christian, What means this?

Inter. The Interpreter answered, This parlour is the heart of a man that was never sanctified by the sweet Grace of the Gospel: The dust is his Original Sin, and inward Corruptions that have defiled the whole man. He that began to sweep at first, is the Law; but she that brought Water, and did sprinkle it, is the Gospel. Now, whereas thou sawest that so soon as the first began to sweep, the dust did so fly about, that the room by him could not be cleansed, but that thou was almost choked therewith; this is to show thee, that the Law, instead of cleansing the heart (by its working) from Sin, doth revive, put strength into, and increase it in the soul, even as it doth discover and forbid it, for it doth not give Power to subdue.

Again, as thou sawest the Damsel sprinkle the room with Water, upon which it was cleansed with pleasure; this is to shew thee, that when the Gospel comes in, the sweet and precious influences thereof to the heart, then, I say, even as thou sawest the Damsel lay the dust by sprinkling the floor with Water, so is Sin vanquished and subdued, and the soul made clean, through the Faith of it, and consequently fit for the King of Glory to inhabit. (Pilgrim’s Progress [Edinburgh: Banner of Truth,
1979], 26-27)

In days gone by, children learned the commandments before they learned John 3:16, because only then did John 3:16 have real meaning and purpose.

John Elliot’s first translation to the Indians was not John 3:16 but the Ten Commandments. His first sermon likewise dealt with the commandments. Did John Elliot think the Indians would be saved by the Ten Commandments? Of course not, but the commandments would show them why they needed to be saved: They were lawbreakers, and they needed a law-keeper to be their substitute.

John Paton, a great Presbyterian missionary to the New Hebrides, first taught the cannibals the commandments. Why? Men will never be properly interested in a relationship with the Redeemer until they see the terrible breach in the relationship between the Creator and the creature. The Commandments are the Creator’s moral mandate for His creatures. The sharp needle of the law makes way for the scarlet thread of the gospel. The law is indispensable in biblical, God-centered evangelism.

Knowledge Necessary for Salvation
The fourth evidence of its importance is that the law reveals the two knowledges necessary for salvation. John Calvin begins his Institutes of the Christian Religion by describing these two knowledges necessary for salvation—the knowledge of God and that of ourselves. The two are interconnected and are revealed in the law.

1. Without knowledge of self there is no knowledge of God
Nearly all the wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves. But, while joined by many bonds, which one precedes and brings forth the other is not easy to discern. In the first place, no one can look upon himself without immediately turning his thoughts to the contemplation of God, in whom he “lives and moves” (Acts 17:28). For, quite clearly, the mighty gifts with which we are endowed are hardly from ourselves; indeed, our very being is nothing but subsistence in the one God. Then, by these benefits shed like dew from heaven upon us, we are led as by rivulets to the spring itself, indeed, our very poverty better discloses the infinitude of benefits reposing in God. The miserable ruin, into which the rebellion of the first man cast us, especially compels us to look upward. Thus, not only will we, in fasting and hungering, seek thence what we lack; but, in being aroused by fear, we shall learn humility. For, as a veritable world of miseries is to be found in mankind, and we are thereby despoiled of divine raiment, our shameful nakedness exposes a teeming horde of infamies. Each of us must, then, be so stung by the consciousness of his own unhappiness as to attain at least some knowledge of God. Thus, from the feeling of our own ignorance, vanity, poverty, infirmity, and—what is more—depravity and corruption, we recognize that the true light of wisdom, sound virtue, full abundance of every good, and purity of righteousness rest in the Lord alone. To this extent we are prompted by our own ills to contemplate the good things of God; and we cannot seriously aspire to him before we begin to become displeased with ourselves. For what man in all the world would not gladly remain as he is—what man does not remain as he is—so long as he does not know himself, that is, while content with his own gifts, and whether ignorant or unmindful of his own misery? Accordingly, the knowledge of ourselves not only arouses us to seek God, but also, as it were, leads us by the hand to find him.

2. Without knowledge of God there is no knowledge of self
Again, it is certain that man never achieves a clear knowledge of himself unless he has first looked upon God’s face, and then descends from contemplating him to scrutinize himself. For we always seem to ourselves righteous and upright and wise and holy—this pride is innate in all of us—unless by clear proofs, we stand convinced of our own unrighteousness, foulness, folly, and impurity. Moreover, we are not thus convinced if we look merely to ourselves and not also to the Lord, who is the sole standard by which this judgment must be measured. For, because all of us are inclined by nature to hypocrisy, a kind of empty image of righteousness in place of righteousness itself abundantly satisfies us. And because nothing appears within or around us that has not been contaminated by great immorality, what is a little less vile pleases us as a thing most pure—so long as we confine our minds within the limits of human corruption. Just so, an eye to which nothing is shown but black objects judges something dirty white or even rather darkly mottled to be whiteness itself. Indeed, we can discern still more clearly from the bodily senses how much we are deluded in estimating the powers of the soul. For if in broad daylight we either look down upon the ground or survey whatever meets our view round about, we seem to ourselves endowed with the strongest and keenest sight; yet when we look up to the sun and gaze straight at it, that power of sight which was particularly strong on earth is at once blunted and confused by a great brilliance, and thus we are compelled to admit that our keenness in looking upon things earthly is sheer dullness when it comes to the sun. So it happens in estimating our spiritual goods. As long as we do not look beyond the earth, being quite content with our own righteousness, wisdom, and virtue, we flatter ourselves most sweetly, and fancy ourselves all but demigods. Suppose we but once begin to raise our thoughts to God, and to ponder his nature, and how completely perfect are his righteousness, wisdom, and power—the straightedge to which we must be shaped. Then, what masquerading earlier as righteousness was pleasing in us will soon grow filthy in its consummate wickedness. What wonderfully impressed us under the name of wisdom will stink in its very foolishness. What wore the face of power will prove itself the most miserable weakness. That is, what in us seems perfection itself corresponds ill to the purity of God. (ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles [Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1960], 2:35-38)

The law reveals the character of God. His law comes from His nature. The nature of God determines what is right, and then the will of God imposes that standard upon all His creatures as a moral obligation. Because His will flows from His nature, if the law is perfect (Ps. 19:7), we can expect that His nature is no less perfect.

Christ was perfect. How do we know? He kept the law perfectly. He was the law personified. Christ manifested the Father by conforming to the Father’s holy will. “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9).

The law reveals the condition of man. To walk up to someone and say, “All have sinned” does not bring conviction—unless the person knows what sin is. “Sin is the transgression of the law” (1 John 3:4 KJV). “By the law is the knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). And that is what brings conviction. Man is not answerable to an abstract law, but to God. Behind the law is the Lawgiver. Therefore, to find fault with the law is to find fault with the Lawgiver. The law is not the arbitrary edicts of a capricious despot but the wise, holy, loving decrees of One who is jealous for His own glory and for the good of His people.

The Way of Holiness
The fifth reason for the importance of this subject is that the law provides a real standard for direction in the way of holiness.

What special use is there of the moral law to Christians? Although Christians are delivered from the law as a way of justification, so that they are not justified or condemned by it, yet it does inform them of their duty as those who have been justified and are growing along the road of sanctification. As the only perfect standard of righteousness, the law tells us the right way to travel, though it gives no strength for the journey.

In Ephesians 6, Paul appeals to the fifth commandment when he instructs children, “Honor your father and mother...that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth” (vv. 2-3). The first reason Paul gives for children to obey their parents in the Lord is that “this is right.” The law alone tells us what is right. And while a Christian is under grace, that grace never changes what is right. The commandments are right, holy, just, and good.

Let me emphasize that grace never changes what is right, It does change our relationship to what is right by giving us a desire and the power to do right, but it never redefines the standard of right and wrong.

The Spiritual Life
The sixth reason for the importance of this topic is that the law and gospel are inseparable in the spiritual life. Submission to the law of the Lord is not reserved for a “second work of grace.” Those who genuinely trust Jesus as Savior also understand that they are called out of sin and into a life of obedience. There is no place for the complacency of so-called “carnal” Christians and no place for the pride of so-called “spiritual” or “higher-life” Christians.

Paul says in Romans 8:1—4,

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Notice that “those who are in Christ... do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (vv. 1, 4). In other words, they have a growing desire to obey the law of the Lord. They do so out of a deep gratitude for His fulfilling the law for them and His enduring the curse in their place.

IF YOU ARE UNCONVERTED and you have picked up this book, you may be wondering, Of what use is the moral law to me? The moral law has something to say to all creatures, and you are one of God’s creatures The Ten Commandments are the Creator’s mandates to you.

1. The law shows you the holy nature and will of God, your duty, binding you to walk accordingly.
2. The Law shows you the sinful pollution of your nature, heart, and life.
3. The Law will humble you in the realization of your sin and misery, and awaken your conscience to flee from the wrath to come. My unconverted friend, these are the commandments of your almighty Judge—the Judge of all the earth. In His court you are guilty.
4. The law reveals your need of Christ.
5. The law is a schoolmaster to lead you to Christ for mercy and forgiveness.
6. If you continue in your present way of sin and disobedience, the law will leave you without excuse, and you will continue to be under the Curse of the law of God. “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them” (Gal. 3:10).

These truths should convince any reasonable person of the importance of the moral law in the work of the gospel.

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