The Law of God - who is it meant for and why?
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Hebrews 8 (ESV)
10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more."
You quote Paul to reach a state of lawlessness.
Look again, I said Paul did not teach lawlessness. If there is not lawlessness, there is law. Salvation however is not attained through upholding the law, that was Paul's message. The good works (like keeping God's Sabbath, which is one of God's eternal wills/commands, see Exodus 31:16), within God's law, prepared by God beforehand, for his saved peoples, however is not lawless, but within God's law.
Ephesians 2 (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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Look again, I said Paul did not teach lawlessness. If there is not lawlessness, there is law. Salvation however is not attained through upholding the law, that was Paul's message. The good works (like keeping God's Sabbath, which is one of God's eternal wills/commands, see Exodus 31:16), within God's law, prepared by God beforehand, for his saved peoples, however is not lawless, but within God's law.
Ephesians 2 (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. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Some other people prefer the ESV to a 450 year old KJV english text - the language has changed over this 450 years, and the English Standard Version (ESV) just translates it into today's English language, and not that of Shakespeare. I can quote you in my home language as well, it would be a different bible translation, and you would be able to look up the text in your preferred translation. Feel free to check the translation of your choice.
Hello brothers and sisters, I posted this short article about certain "purposes" for the Law of God in the middle of someone else's thread today, but I thought that it might be interesting to continue to discuss it in a thread of its own.
So here you go
What do you think of the different "purposes" or "uses" for the Law of God that are mentioned in the article and/or what do you think of Dr. Sproul's short commentary about all of it and why
Thanks
~Deut
p.s. - some of the ideas that are found in the following passage were brought up a couple of times in the other thread (that I mentioned above), so I'll post it here because chances are good that it will be brought up again. Unbelievers are the ones principally in view here, just FYI.
So here you go
What do you think of the different "purposes" or "uses" for the Law of God that are mentioned in the article and/or what do you think of Dr. Sproul's short commentary about all of it and why
THE THREEFOLD USE OF THE LAW
Every Christian wrestles with the question, how does the Old Testament law relate to my life? Is the Old Testament law irrelevant to Christians or is there some sense in which we are still bound by portions of it? As the heresy of antinomianism becomes ever more pervasive in our culture, the need to answer these questions grows increasingly urgent.
The Reformation was founded on grace and not upon law. Yet the law of God was not repudiated by the Reformers. John Calvin, for example, wrote what has become known as the “Threefold Use of the Law” in order to show the importance of the law for the Christian life.
The first purpose of the law is to be a mirror. On the one hand, the law of God reflects and mirrors the perfect righteousness of God. The law tells us much about who God is. Perhaps more important, the law illumines human sinfulness. Augustine wrote, “The law orders, that we, after attempting to do what is ordered, and so feeling our weakness under the law, may learn to implore the help of grace.”2 The law highlights our weakness so that we might seek the strength found in Christ. Here the law acts as a severe schoolmaster who drives us to Christ (Galatians 3:24-25).
A second purpose for the law is the restraint of evil. The law, in and of itself, cannot change human hearts. It can, however, serve to protect the righteous from the unjust. Calvin says this purpose is “by means of its fearful denunciations and the consequent dread of punishment, to curb those who, unless forced, have no regard for rectitude and justice.”3 The law allows for a limited measure of justice on this earth, until the last judgment is realized.
The third purpose of the law is to reveal what is pleasing to God. As born-again children of God, the law enlightens us as to what is pleasing to our Father, whom we seek to serve. The Christian delights in the law as God Himself delights in it. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). This is the highest function of the law, to serve as an instrument for the people of God to give Him honor and glory.
By studying or meditating on the law of God, we attend the school of righteousness. We learn what pleases God and what offends Him. The moral law that God reveals in Scripture is always binding upon us. Our redemption is from the curse of God’s law, not from our duty to obey it. We are justified, not because of our obedience to the law, but in order that we may become obedient to God’s law. To love Christ is to keep His commandments. To love God is to obey His law.
Summary
1. The church today has been invaded by antinomianism, which weakens, rejects, or distorts the law of God.
2. The law of God is a mirror of God’s holiness and our unrighteousness. It serves to reveal to us our need of a savior.
3. The law of God is a restraint against sin.
4. The law of God reveals what is pleasing and what is offensive to God.
5. The Christian is to love the law of God and to obey the moral law of God.
Biblical passages for reflection:
~Excerpt from Essential Truths Of The Christian Faith by R. C. Sproul © (Tyndale 1992)
Thanks
~Deut
p.s. - some of the ideas that are found in the following passage were brought up a couple of times in the other thread (that I mentioned above), so I'll post it here because chances are good that it will be brought up again. Unbelievers are the ones principally in view here, just FYI.
Romans 2
12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law.
13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
14 Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law,
15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.
16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.
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