Excerpted from my
Holding Fast Our Confession: The Westminster Confession of Faith and its Biblical Teaching
WCF CHAPTER 19, Sections 1-4. Of
the Law of God.
II. This law, after his Fall, continued to be a
perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon mount
Sinai in ten commandments, and written in two tables; the first four
commandments containing our duty toward God, and the other six our duty to man.
III. Besides this law, commonly called moral, God
was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a Church under age, ceremonial
laws, containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship, prefiguring
Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly holding forth
divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now
abrogated under the New Testament.
IV. To them also, as a body politic, he gave sundry
judicial laws, which expired together with the state of that people, not
obliging any other, now, further than the general equity thereof may require.
Introduction
So we see
then that according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism sin is disobeying or
not conforming to God’s law in any way. Therefore, the Gospel is about God
saving people who have broken His Law from receiving their just desert.
Now, some people out there on the street, or maybe even some people who come to church, will be wondering where, how, and when they have broken and are breaking God’s Law. Therefore, that’s the kind of thing we need to be looking at in the following. It’s important to know these things otherwise you won’t see a real need for the Gospel.
The Law of God as Given to Adam
There’s a
very moving verse pertaining to God’s Law found in one of the Psalms. It should
be the lament of every Gospel-believing Christian. It’s a verse that is an
expression of a person who has a real burden for the lost. It’s a deep
heartfelt expression of a man who knows what sin is.
Now, you
might think it strange that an Old Testament saint can have a real evangelical
burden for the lost. But if you think it strange, then perhaps you’ve forgotten
that the Old Testament is full of Christ and His Gospel of salvation. For what
did Jesus say of the Old Testament Scriptures? “…these are they which testify
of Me” (John 5:39).
What were
the Old Testament Scriptures saying that Jesus was coming to do? Well, that
question is answered and summed up in the words of the angel who spoke to
Joseph about Mary: “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name
JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21). He was
coming to save His people from their sins. What is sin? Again, it’s the
breaking of the Law of God. The Gospel then, is about Jesus saving His people
from their breaking of God’s Law.
You’ll be
wondering where that verse is found, the one uttered by the Old Testament saint
who had a burden for the lost. But, whatever you do, don’t detach his burden
for the lost from his burden to see God glorified. For wasn’t that the way of
it for the Pharisees, for example? The Pharisees had forgotten about God’s
glory in evangelism; and everything else for that matter. And as such, their
evangelism was just about man reaching out to man. The Pharisees would cross
land and sea to win one convert (Matt. 23:15). But they wouldn’t give God the
glory for any conversions to their religion. Why not? It’s because their burden
for the lost did not flow from a love for God, for His Law, and for His glory
alone.
The
Apostle speaks for us where he says, “For the love of Christ compels us…” Our
love for the lost, therefore, ought to be the overflow and outflow of our love
for God in Christ. Therefore, it’s because we have a burden for the glory of
God that we have a burden for the lost. Anything other than this is not true
Biblical evangelism. Rather it is just another form humanism – man reaching out
to man, like the Pharisees.
In a word,
our burden for the lost ought to be because they are breaking something that
belongs to God. They are breaking God’s Law. And if they are breaking God’s
Law, then our God’s honour is at stake. For sin, by definition, is the breaking
of the Law of God.
Let’s
look at it this way: when a rock star goes off his rocker and trashes a hotel
room, he is trashing someone else’s property. Sin is the trashing of the
property of God. Well, I ask you: Who made you, and who made me? Whose property
are we? If God made us, we are God’s property. And if sin is the destruction of
God’s property, and Hell is the everlasting destruction of God’s
property, we need to start caring about God and His property, don’t we?
Would you
want to see God’s property destroyed and thrown into Hell? No? Well, that’s
what evangelism is all about! But our focus must be on God. It must first and
foremost be on the honour and glory of God if we are to have a true
burden for the lost, and not just some romantic humanistic notion of
salvation.
It is
God’s honour – it is God’s good name – it is God’s glory that is at stake.
This, the Psalmist could clearly see when he penned the words of Psalm 119:136.
Here they are – read them carefully: “Rivers of water run down from my eyes,
because men do not keep Your law.” Think about those words when you wash the
dishes. Think about them when you take a shower. Think about them when you go
shopping. Think about them at church, at work, and at play.
Rivers of
water run down from my eyes. Why? Because men don’t keep God’s law. If you
think God’s Law is just some fuzzy Old Testament thing, if you think God’s Law
is just some straitjacket the Pharisees used to wear, if you have any other
notion of God’s Law than the view expressed in that verse by the Old Testament
Psalmist, then you are missing something very important. The breaking of God’s
Law is something to weep about. It is not something to be taken lightly. People
are going to Hell because they are breaking God’s Law.
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We see
then that the Law of God is written in the heart of man. So, in answer to our
question: When did God write His Law in the heart of man? We say that God wrote
His Law on the heart of man when He created man in His image. Therefore, the
Law of God is part of the constitution or makeup of man.
So,
what’s the Psalmist shedding rivers of tears over? Well, he is able to clearly
see what has become of the image of God. For he sees that there is a war raging
all around him. What war is that? It’s the one man is waging with God who made
him. That’s what the Psalmist means when he says to God, “…men do not keep Your
law.”
Because
he has the glory of God in view, he is aware of the war that is raging all
around him. And war is Hell! Think about it: if God lifted the corner of the
thick, dark veil and gave us a glimpse of Hell, rivers of water would run down
from our eyes. Why? Because men don’t keep God’s Law. It is failure to keep the
Law of God that lands you in Hell. And that failure began all the way back with
Adam in the Garden.
When God created Adam, He gave him a law as a covenant of works, (Hos. 6:7). By writing His Law on Adam’s heart God bound Adam and all his descendants, to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience. Adam, therefore, was mankind’s representative before God. And by giving Adam an outward test – the forbidden fruit – God threatened death for breach of it, which is to say that God threatened Adam with death for the breaking of His Law, which He had written in man’s heart. And conversely, God promised Adam life for the fulfilling of His Law.
The misery and death we see all around is proof enough that man failed to keep the covenant. Had Adam not united with the Devil in covenant against God, then mankind would have received the unlosable everlasting life promised in the Covenant of Works. So take note then that to break the Covenant of Works is to break the Law of God. And to break the Law of God is to be at war with God. And to be at war with God means misery and death, ultimately, everlasting death in Hell.
So, the
Law God gave to Adam was built into the very structure of Adam’s being. In
other words, the Law of God is a major aspect of who man is. But all mankind
became buckled in the heat of Adam’s rage against God in the Garden! We became
like the angry drunk who wants to punch everyone out just for looking at him!
If you
keep in mind that before the Fall Adam had the power and the ability to keep
the Law of God, you’ll begin to understand a bit more the gravity of his sin.
It wasn’t the drink that made Adam sin. It wasn’t the devil who made Adam sin.
He was clear-thinking, sober, and in perfect control of all his faculties when
he broke God’s Law. But after he sinned, he, and all of mankind after him,
became as a staggering drunk. The proverbial bull in a china shop doesn’t quite
paint the picture.
The
Lord’s prophet Hosea sums it up best when God says through him in 13:9, “O
Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself…” (Yes, the KJV says it best, but don’t
miss the good news), “O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself; but in Me is
thine help.”
So, Adam
destroyed mankind by breaking the Law God gave him. This he did by eating the
forbidden fruit. But always remember that our help is in God. That is the heart
of the Gospel – the Good News.
Our help is in God. As the Psalmist says, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psa. 46:1).
The Law of God as Given to Israel
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To be
sure, we understand that God wrote His Law on man’s heart in positive
terms. In other words, it was all to do with what man was to do, not
what he was not to do. It was written in terms of “Thou shalt…” not in
terms of “Thou shalt not…” The “Thou shalt not…” presupposes a knowledge
sin.
Regarding
the Law of God as it was given to Israel through Moses, we know that the
opposite of what is commanded is forbidden and that the opposite of what is
forbidden is commanded. Therefore, to use an example, if we consider the 8th
Commandment, which is: You shall not steal, we can see that, put positively, it
becomes: Be honest.
When we
keep this in mind, we have no trouble seeing that the Law of God was given in
positive terms to man in the beginning. Therefore, the Law written on man’s
heart in the beginning (i.e., the Ten Commandments) would have been something
like this:
1.
Worship God exclusively.
2.
Worship God spiritually.
3.
Worship God sincerely.
4.
Worship God as He will be worshipped.
5.
Respect authority.
6.
Respect the life and rights of others.
7.
Be pure and loyal.
8.
Be honest.
9.
Be truthful.
10. Be happy and content.[1]
So, we
see then that the Ten Commandments given by God to Israel is simply a
restatement of the Law of God given to man in the beginning. The only
difference being that the Law given to Israel presupposes man’s sin. Therefore,
when rivers of water run down from the Psalmist’s eyes because men don’t keep
God’s Law, he is talking about all men (i.e., mankind), not just
Israelites! Thus, when we see it in the light of God’s Law given to all
mankind, we get a better insight into the burden the Psalmist had for the lost.
The thinking of the Psalmist would run something like the following: “God, You made man in Your own image and likeness. You wrote Your Law on his heart. But all have rebelled against You. They have destroyed themselves!” Isaiah puts the same thought like this in Isaiah 24:5-6: “The earth is also defiled under its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore, the curse has devoured the earth, and those who dwell in it are desolate. Therefore, the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few are left.” War against God is a burning Hell that can only get worse.
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The Law
God gave to Israel on Mount Sinai presupposes that mankind has broken the
everlasting covenant as it was administered pre-Fall. Adam broke the Covenant
of Works when he rebelled against God and ate the forbidden fruit. The Covenant
of Works was the way the everlasting covenant of God was administered on earth
before sin came into the world. The Law given to Israel on Mount Sinai was the
everlasting covenant of God as it was administered post Fall from the time of
Moses till Christ.
We call
the administration of the everlasting covenant that began immediately after the
Fall of man, the Covenant of Grace. The Covenant of Grace is simply the Gospel
of Jesus Christ by another name. There was grace surrounding the giving of the
Law of God to man in the beginning. God graciously made man in His own image
and likeness. God graciously wrote His Law on man’s heart. God graciously
entered into the Covenant of Works with man. God graciously gave Adam a wife.
God graciously put the man and his wife in a beautiful fruit orchard. And on
and on the grace of God goes regarding man in the beginning.
There was
grace surrounding the giving of the Law to Israel on Mount Sinai: “I am the
LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of
bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me…” etc., etc. But the grace of
God is seen most clearly after man rebels against God. For God could very
easily have just wiped all mankind from the face of the earth. But He didn’t.
Why not? For the sake of His only begotten Son, that’s why He saved creation,
the world, the cosmos.
This
salvation – this saving of the world – was depicted by the Ceremonial Law God
also had given to Israel. The Ceremonial Laws centred mostly round the Temple.
These Ceremonial Laws included such things as the sacrificial system, which
clearly pointed to the supreme sacrifice of Christ to come. Christ is the Lamb
of God that takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). The Passover depicted
what Christ was coming to do. And so did the other Old Testament sacrament of
Circumcision. To be sure Circumcision came in with Abraham who was four hundred
odd years before Moses. But nevertheless, all the Ceremonial Laws of Israel
ended when the One they pointed too came.
Included
in these Ceremonial Laws were matters pertaining to worship at the Temple. But
they prefigured the graces of Christ, His actions, His sufferings, and His
benefits. But, what need is there for a picture when you have the reality of
the thing pictured? Therefore, when the Word became flesh, lived, died, and was
resurrected, the pictures were no longer needed.
But God
also gave to Israel certain Judicial Laws, or Civil Laws. Though there is some
overlapping between the Ceremonial and the Judicial Laws, the Ceremonial Laws
were mostly ecclesiastical, i.e., having to do with the church in the Old
Testament. As mentioned, the Ceremonial Laws were abrogated with the advent of
Christ. But the Judicial Laws or Civil Laws continued till Israel ended as a
political body. Old Testament Israel ended as a political entity with the
demolition of the Temple in 70AD. However, though the Ceremonial Law (as it was
administered) disappeared in its entirety, the general equity or the general
principles from the Judicial Law remains valid today.
A prime
example of this remaining general principle of Old Testament Judicial Law might
be Deuteronomy 22:8: “When you build a new house, then you shall make a parapet
for your roof, that you may not bring guilt of bloodshed on your household if
anyone falls from it.”
When they
begged John Calvin to come back to Geneva after they had booted him out, he
began to implement the general equity of Old Testament Judicial Law. So, safety
railings began to appear on roofs and stairways etc. Open sewers became closed
sewers, (Deut. 23:13). The general principles of Old Testament safety and
sanitation were put into practice for a better Geneva.
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The
Ceremonial and Judicial Law of Old Testament Israel were the application of
God’s Moral Law in the Ecclesiastical and Civil spheres. Therefore, all men
ought to keep the Law of God whether in church or civil affairs. Why? Surely we
ought to keep the Law of God for His honour and glory.
Societies run smoothest where God’s Law is cheerfully obeyed.
Conclusion
If you
have properly understood that God gave His Law to man in the beginning as an
act of grace, and if you have properly understood that God gave His Law to
Israel as an act of grace, then you will see clearly why rivers of water were
running down from the eyes of the Psalmist. For then, like the Psalmist, you
will have understood that men, by not keeping God’s Law, are trampling the
grace of God underfoot!
The grace
of the Law is that it shows us up as morally bankrupt sinners. Therefore, it
demonstrates our need of a Saviour. God has sent a Saviour into the world in
the Person of His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. He was typified throughout
the Old Testament. But now we see Him clearly in New Testament times. Jesus
Christ is the Law of God incarnate. He perfectly does what the Law commands us
to do. He perfectly loves God and His neighbour as Himself. Jesus Christ,
therefore, is the embodiment of the Law of God.
Jesus
Christ is what you and I should be but are not because of our sin. Therefore,
trust in His perfect law-keeping alone to save you from the punishment due to
you for your breaking of God’s Law. For Jesus Christ saves sinners from their
law-breaking and the punishment thereof. That’s what God’s Covenant of Grace is
all about. That’s the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And just
one last thing before we finally conclude, let me ask a couple of questions: 1.
What are the wages of sin? And 2. What is the shortest verse in the Bible? The
wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23a). And the shortest verse in the Bible is John
11:35: “Jesus wept.”
Do you
think Psalm 119:136 sheds some light on why Jesus wept at the tomb of His dead
friend Lazarus? “Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep
Your law.”
[1] Francis Nigel Lee, (quoting Yost), The Covenantal Sabbath, The Lord’s Day Observance Society, London, 1966, 24.
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