Christians quote both Ps 119:97 “Oh, how I love your law,” and Romans 3:20, “By the works of the Law no man will be justified.” They hurl the charges of antinomian and legalist at each other sometimes. WCF 19 is one of the longest chapters in the Confession. It deals with the Law of God from four viewpoints. First, God is the Lawgiver. Both our duty to God and to man is built into human nature, and even though men want to erase it, our consciences still bear witness to it. The Ten Commandments written on stone summarize God's moral law. There is more to God's dealing with us than Law. Second, the Bible teaches that all men are lawbreakers. Death is the penalty, and all die. The Law defines and exposes sin, so that we know that we need a savior. Third, Christ is a lawkeeper. To do God's will was his delight. Peter who knew him well testified that he did no sin. Nevertheless, he died, the just for the unjust, so that all who are united to him by faith will be saved. Fourth, redeemed man continues to be a lawbreaker, but through the Means of Grace the Spirit is remaking him in the image of Christ. Part of that image is that Christ kept the Law, so part of the renewal of God's image in the believer is a renewal in righteousness and holiness. The Law teaches us how to live now that we have been saved, as the Preface to the Ten Commandments makes clear. The Christian, therefore, loves God's Law, knowing that it is spiritual, but he also knows that by the works of the law no one will stand justified before God. The Law leads us to Christ, who kept the law for us, and whose Spirit now is conforming us to the image of Christ, the lawkeeper. |
