Is the Law for us today?

Moses breaking the Tablets of the Law by Gustave Doré

As we continue our campaign on the attributes of God, focusing on the holiness of God, we must understand that God has given us (those who are saved by His marvelous grace) the gift of His revealed Word to help us in our walk with Him. God begins the work of sanctification in our lives (once we are saved) to mold us more into the image of His Son Jesus Christ. In our faith, we trust in him, seeing that He sanctifies us primarily through His Word and Spirit. We see this in scriptures like Psalm 119:105, which says, “your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” It is used to guide us. Guiding us to what? Holiness, like that of the Son of God. Jesus himself said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” So, the Truth is His Word. And we know that Jesus is the Word, and He is the way, the truth, and the life. (John 1, 14:6) Therefore, to be more like Christ is to be in the truth of His Word. The more we know the truth of His Word, the better equipped we are to live a life like Christ, and for Christ. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” So, why do we neglect to know His Word? I don’t mean just a short devotional reading, but actually studying The Word to sharpen our knowledge of the truth so that we might be sanctified in truth. Where do we start?

Well, an excellent place to start would be with his commandments.

Stay with me here. I know as soon as I say that, a lot of people think, “That’s the Old Testament, and we are the New Testament church.”  There are a lot of Christians today who believe in antinomianism (Old Testament laws are of no use for the modern church), which weakens, rejects, or distorts the Law of God. Yes, we are saved by grace and not by the works of the Law. But considering what we have learned about sanctification in scripture (And yes, all of His Word is sanctifying truth.), let us look at it even deeper. First, let us look at what Jesus said about the Law. In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” There you go. Case closed, right? One would think so. Yes, Jesus fulfills the Law in our place so that we are not found guilty under the Law, but that does not mean the Law is useless. But here are a few more supporting texts for you.

Romans 3:31, “Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law”. Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” We also see in Matthew 22:34-40 where Jesus responds to a question posed by the Pharisees, “But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Did you catch that last part? “On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Jesus just summarized all of the Law. How do you love the Lord thy God? Look at the first four commandments. How do you love your neighbor? Look at the remaining six commandments. Now, we can include all of the moral laws of the Old Testament, but for now, let’s consider the top 10. Being God wrote them with His own finger (Deut. 9), they must have held certain importance to Him. Therefore, they were held in high esteem for Israel and the early church. They were even kept separate in the ark of the covenant and considered set apart and holy.

How do we use the Law of God?

So now that we have established the importance of the Law, the question is, how do we use the Law? The reformers out of the 16th and 17th centuries laid it out nicely for us in what is called the “Threefold Use of the Law” to show the importance of the Law for the Christian life. But, again, adherence to the Law does not save us. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But His Word/Law is the instrument used as our new hearts grow and are shaped to be more and more like Christ; done so through the wisdom and knowledge gained in reading and studying The Word and the application of the Holy Spirit.

The first use of God’s Law is to be a mirror for those who are saved. It reflects the perfect holiness and righteousness of God. The Law tells us who God is, and it reflects our human sinfulness. Augustine wrote it best when he said, “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.” In other words, it shows us our weakness and God’s strength and holiness and that we are only made strong in Christ. Though we fail to be holy daily, we have a savior who did not fail one iota of the Law, and He imputes His righteousness to us. Romans 8:3-4 says, “For God has done what the Law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” The Law thus drives us closer to Christ as we see our need for a savior.

The second use is the restraint of evil and unrighteousness. In other words, it curbs our sinful nature. The Law itself cannot save us. We read in Romans 3:28, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” In Ephesians 2:8-10, it says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” The Law can, however, serve to protect us from the unjust. And keep us from sin. Romans 7:7 tells us, “What then shall we say? That the Law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.” The threat of a prison sentence keeps most men from doing the things they wish they could. My Dad would often say, “A lock just keeps an honest man honest.” The Law is there so that all of mankind knows the basics of morality. For example, every culture of the world that we know of has its own laws against murder. Most know it is wrong to have an affair, and so on. It is a curb to keep us on the road and help us stay straight and narrow, used (by God) to restrain the hearts of evil men.

The third use of the Law is to show us what is pleasing to our God. As born-again children of God, the Law helps us to know what is pleasing to our Father. We should love the Law because it is the very words of our Father. Remember what Jesus said in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” This is the most critical use of the Law. We use it to give Him honor and to bring glory to His name. The Law thus shows us how to be holy, righteous, and honorable. Simply put, it is a guide to godly living.

By knowing and loving the Law of the Lord, He will use it to sanctify us, mold us, and lead us more toward righteousness. We learn what pleases Him and what offends Him. We know that Galatians 2:16 tells us, “yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” We are justified, not because of our obedience to the Law, but so 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.

The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith summarizes it nicely in Chapter 19, paragraphs 6 & 7:

 True believers are not under the Law as a covenant of works, to be justified or condemned by it.13 Yet, it is very useful to them and to others as a rule of life that informs them of the will of God and their duty. It directs and obligates them to live according to its precepts. It also exposes the sinful corruptions of their natures, hearts, and lives. As they examine themselves in light of the Law, they come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and hatred of sin,14 along with a clearer view of their need for Christ and the perfection of his obedience. The Law is also useful to the regenerate to restrain their corruptions because it forbids sin. The punishment threatened by the Law shows them what even their sins deserve and what troubles they may expect in this life due to their sin, even though they are freed from the curse and undiminished severity of it. The promises of the Law likewise show them God’s approval of obedience and the blessings they may expect when they keep it, even though these blessings are not owed to them by the Law as a covenant of works. If people do good and refrain from evil because the Law encourages good and discourages evil, that does not indicate that they are under the Law and not under grace.15

13 Romans 6:14; Galatians 2:16; Romans 8:1; 10:4. 14 Romans 3:20; 7:7, etc; 15 Romans 6:12–14; 1 Peter 3:8–13

7. These uses of the Law are not contrary to the grace of the Gospel but are in sweet harmony with it,16 for the Spirit of Christ subdues and enables the human will to do freely and cheerfully what the will of God as revealed in the Law requires.17

16 Galatians 3:21. 17 Ezekiel 36:27.

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