John Reuther

Chapter 19: Of the Law of God

“O how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day” – Psalm 119:97. The sentiments expressed in Psalm 119 toward God’s law are a great encouragement to us to have a proper biblical understanding of God’s law. There is much false and confusing teaching in the world concerning the Christian’s relationship to God’s law. Christians love Psalm 1, and so we should. But there we read that the godly man meditates on God’s law day and night – Psalm 1:2. Psalm 119 is the fruit of that constant meditation, a poetic expansion of the depths of meaning and benefit contained in the Ten Commandments. Granted, the word “Law” used in Psalms 1, 19, and 119, can also refer to the totality of God’s word – the entire Bible. But it still includes the foundation of Law as given by God in the Commandments. Christians should also love God’s law, and meditate on it day and night. God’s word possesses the character of Law, and this is why chapter 19 of the Confession is so important and helpful. May you and I come to love and appreciate the wisdom and grace of God’s holy law.

Chapter 19 of the Confession is a very helpful summary of what the Bible teaches about God’s law and what we confess concerning it. In Part 1 of this article, we will survey the seven paragraphs of the chapter. In Part 2 we will seek to understand the basic teaching of each.

Part I – Getting the Big Picture of the Whole Chapter

1. Creation Law Imparted to Man – Genesis 2:15-18 records for us the majestic placement of man in the Garden in Eden, and the solemn word given to the man that he was to eat freely of any tree of the garden, except one. The Lord of Creation prohibited the man and the woman from eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Eating of this tree would mean spiritual death for them. A solemn prohibition (law) was given in the Garden, against the beautiful backdrop of God’s bountiful provision for them (grace).

2. The Ten Commandments Delivered to Israel – At the strategic point in time, God delivered the Ten Commandments to the fledgling nation of Israel, to establish them as the redeemed people of Jehovah. They were delivered on Mount Sinai to Moses, and then proclaimed a second time by Moses on the plains of Moab, recorded in Deuteronomy 5.

3. The Ceremonial Law of Israel’s Worship – Moses also received other laws in conjunction with the reception of the Ten Commandments governing Israel’s approach to God in worship and sacrifice. These are found in the books of Exodus and Leviticus.

4. The Civil Law of Israel’s National Constitution – Finally, Moses also received laws for the new nation. These were civil laws governing the national life and structure of their society. These laws are found in the book of Deuteronomy, and are expansions of the Ten Commandments given to the nation.

5. The Abiding Nature of the Moral Law: The Ten Commandments – This is an important statement asserting the continued relevance and application of “the moral law” to all men – justified persons and unbelievers.

6. The New Covenant Believer’s Relationship to the Moral Law – This paragraph is the longest of the Confession’s presentation on the law of God. It develops the uses of the moral law of God, the Ten Commandments, for the New Covenant Christian.

7. The Harmony of the Law and the Gospel – A brief and helpful statement closes the treatment of the Law. There is no conflict between the law and the Gospel, when the Law serves the purpose of the Gospel and the Gospel is properly related to the Law. This is so even in the life of the believer, because of the work of the Spirit.

Part 2 – Examining the Details of the Individual Paragraphs

1. Creation Law Imparted to Man

It is a matter of great importance and interest that God gave Adam a law to obey at the time he was created. The first paragraph of chapter 19 of the Confession rightly begins in the Garden of Eden. There God blessed the man made in His image with all manner of blessing, fullness, provision, beauty, and labor by which man would bring glory back to His Creator. But the man would also bring glory to His God by keeping His law. And this law, recorded for us in Gen. 2:15-18, was straightforward and simple. It was also profound, for in the keeping of this law, man would remain in his upright position and continue in unbroken fellowship with His God. If he broke this law and disobeyed this command, he would trespass into a world of sin and evil that would enter into his own soul and bring steady ruin upon the image of God in man and his posterity. Ecclesiastes 7:29 reads “Behold, I have found that God made man upright, but they have sought out many devices.”

The significance of the law imparted to Adam in his state of innocence and perfection is simply this: Man is always bound to God by law. It is of the very nature of the relationship between the creature and the Creator. God is holy and righteous and perfect in all His attributes. God created man. Man was created to reflect His holiness. Law is given as the expression of that reflection of the image of God in man. This is not to imply or suggest that grace is not operative where law is given, for the grace of God is manifested in the very fact that God created man, then bestowed upon him such bounty in the Garden. Grace and law are never at variance, unless man twists and perverts either.

2. The Ten Commandments Delivered to Israel

“The same law that was first written in the heart of man continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall.” Here the Confession speaks of what Paul said in Romans 2:12-15 – “…For when the Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them…” Paul is speaking here of the Gentiles who have not been given the Law. This shows that even apart from being under the Ten Commandments, man is still under law in his relationship to God. How is it that the Gentiles will be judged? Paul declares that it is because man demonstrates by his nature that he is a transgressor of the law of God. Man does instinctively (by nature) the things that are in the law, that is, the things that are either required or forbidden in the law.

This is also to say that man retains the image of God even though that image is fallen, marred, and defaced. This is why man, even in sin, understands that there is a God. Romans 1:19, 20 are foundational verses in this regard. Man understands God’s power and divine nature through the things that are made – the creation. In the same way, the law of God is written on his heart. This is why we see some good in the world, even apart from the Gospel and saving faith. There is common grace in the world, because the law is written on the heart of all men. Men instinctively know right from wrong.

But the Law was delivered to Israel on Mt. Sinai, in order to establish them as the nation and people of God. Every nation requires a law, and Israel was to receive it in the form of Ten Commandments, Ceremonial, and Civil laws.

The Ten Commandments are a magnificent yet brief code of law. The first four commandments contain our duty toward God, while the remaining six commandments declare our duty toward our fellow man. When the Commandments were given, they were also summarized into the categories of first and second commandment, or, “The Great Commandment” and the “second” commandment. Jesus was asked – “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” He replied: “‘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 foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Matthew 22:37-39.

One of the things that we learn from this is that the moral law of God is a law of love. Through love, we desire to reflect the image of God in our lives. Through love, we do good, and not ill, to our neighbor. Through love, we keep our hearts pure and free from covetousness.

God’s word declares that Law in itself is a good thing. Paul expressed this in Romans 7:16 when he said – “the Law is good.” It is good because it requires and promotes love to God and love to our fellow-man.

3. The Ceremonial Law of Israel’s Worship

Paragraphs 3 & 4 of chapter 19 make the distinction between the moral, the ceremonial, and the civil laws given to Israel. Paragraph 3 explains the ceremonial laws, and there are two important features to note.

First, the ceremonial laws are described as “typical ordinances.” This means that these laws are types. These are the laws given in Exodus and Leviticus concerning the tabernacle, the priesthood, the sacrifices, and purity in approach to God. The types are structures, official persons, actions, offerings, and rituals, which have counterparts that will be revealed and manifested in the future. When we speak of a “type” and an “anti-type,” we are referring to the picture proclaimed in the structure (tabernacle, holy of holies), the official persons (priests), actions (setting up and taking down the tabernacle, building altars), offerings (burnt, grain, peace, sin, guilt), and rituals (ordaining the priests, cleansing after defilements). The ceremonies therefore are types of things to come.

This is why the Confession states that these were appointed only to the time of reformation, that is, the time when Jesus the Messiah would Himself come and render these types no longer necessary.

The relationship of these typical ordinances to their fulfillment in Christ is remarkable. They were ceremonies that Israel performed as acts of worship in anticipation of the grace, the actions, the sufferings, and the benefits that would be bestowed by Christ in the fullness of time. Sinners drew near to God through the shedding of the blood of spotless animal sacrifices. Sinners draw near to God through Christ, the spotless and sinless Lamb of God. In Israel, God ordained the priesthood to lead sinners to Himself. In Christ we have the perfect High Priest who not only brings us to God through the offering, but who is Himself the offering. In the Tabernacle there was a table upon which was placed the lampstand and the bread of the presence. Christ is the Light of the world and the Bread of Life.

The ceremonial laws were “abrogated and taken away.” This is the burden of the Epistle to the Hebrews, which portrays Christ as “better,” than the Old Testament rituals, which have been done away by Christ. He is their fulfillment. They pictured Him. Now that He has come, they are no longer needed.

The second feature explained here is that these ceremonial laws possess moral instruction that God uses to teach truth throughout history. Reference is made to 1 Cor. 5:7 – “Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened, for Christ our Passover has been sanctified.” The Passover itself, as a ceremony observed in Israel, is abrogated, but the truths embodied in the Passover, and the symbolism of the Passover, remain as moral instruction and illustration of timeless truths, especially for the new covenant believer today.

4. The Civil Law of Israel’s National Constitution

We observe that the treatment of the civil laws given to Israel is very brief and to the point. The judicial (civil) laws given to the nation expired altogether when the nation ceased to exist as a theocracy. The nation of Israel was dispersed to distant lands, later restored to their land, and then subjected to Roman rule. More than this, the coming of Christ into the world signaled the taking of the kingdom from Israel to a nation producing the fruits of it – Matt. 21:43. Recall that the Lord Jesus pronounced all foods clean – Mark 7:19. These pronouncements of Christ announce the end of the civil law.

However, the civil laws also have a general equity and moral value. One example is given in the Scripture references – 1 Cor. 9:1-10. In this passage the Apostle Paul applies one of the civil laws of Israel to the matter of ministerial support and compensation. He actually states that in this civil ordinance, God is not primarily concerned with oxen. Rather, the law was given to inculcate a principle of care and benevolence toward laborers, particularly God’s servants who make their living from the Gospel.

The civil laws of Israel are primarily found in the book of Deuteronomy, chapters 12 – 25. In his book Toward Old Testament Ethics, Walter Kaiser points out that the civil laws of these chapters actually follow the order and the content of the Ten Commandments. He states “I am persuaded that the Decalogue forms the proper structuring outline for the order and sequence of the stipulations in this part of Deuteronomy. In fact, the entire second discourse of Moses (Deut. 5 – 26) is a single literary unit that convincingly demonstrates that the moral law informs the statutes, judgments, and commands of God.” (Walter Kaiser, Toward Old Testament Ethics: Grand Rapids, Michigan, Zondervan, 1983, p. 129.)

5. The Abiding Nature of the Moral Law: The Ten Commandments

Even with all that we have considered thus far in this commentary on chapter 19 of the Confession, it is not difficult to see why the Confession states that “the moral law does forever bind all, as well (both) justified persons and others, to the obedience thereof.” The Law must be fulfilled because it is the expression of the righteousness (perfection) of God and His holiness (separateness). We are to conform to His standard, and be separate from the world. This is true for all men. Unbelievers are held to this standard and judged by this standard. Believers are justified in Christ and His perfect law-keeping is imputed to their account. Evangelical law-keeping is then the portion of their growth in righteousness (imparted righteousness).

According to Romans 8:3-4, Christ did for us what the Law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh. That is, we are simply not able to keep God’s law (Rom. 8:7 – the mind set on the flesh…is not even able to…subject itself….to the law of God). But through Christ’s perfect law-keeping, we are enabled, by His Spirit, to fulfill the requirement of the Law. This is why the Confession states that “neither does Christ in the Gospel in any way dissolve the authority of God in the Law, but strengthen it.”

Some passages that bear on this very important point are cited in the Confession. Romans 13:8-10 applies commandments 6, 7, 8, and 10, and the second great commandment (love your neighbor), to the Christian. Paul is saying that we are obligated to fulfill the law as given by Moses!

James 2:8, 10-12 is unique in the Scripture. James demonstrates his regard for the Law and bolsters its abiding authority in the Christian life by calling it “the royal law,” and the “law of liberty.”

Remember that the Lord Jesus made it clear that He did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it. People distort the word fulfill by making it mean that it is no longer useful or applicable or binding. But they ignore the first part of the statement. Jesus did not come to do away with it! Therefore, the fulfilling of the Law by Jesus must mean that He establishes it. The Romans 8:3-7 passage which we looked at above is the best commentary on this.

The final passage cited is Romans 3:31, and this is the point: “Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.”

6. The New Covenant Believer’s Relationship to the Moral Law

The issue being dealt with here is the use of the Law in the life of the true believer in Christ. How do the grace and salvation of Christ relate to the Law of Commandments given by Moses? A qualifier is offered, then 6 positive uses.

Our relationship to the Law is not a covenant of works. In other words, the Law is not given to us to find justification with God. Justification is imputed righteousness. God reckons us righteous apart from any merit found in us (we have no merit!), but He charges the righteousness of the sinless Son Jesus to our account. “For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law,” – Gal. 3:21. Paul is saying that the law cannot impart life (righteousness is the life that he is talking about). Righteousness comes through faith (Gal. 3:22) in Christ’s righteousness charged to our account (Gal. 3:13-14).

What is the purpose of the Law in the life of a believer? The Confession lists six things.

(1.) It informs us of the will of God and our duty to walk (live) according to His will.

We began to consider this above. Let’s think further about it here. The sum of the will of God for us is that we are to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind…you shall love your neighbor as yourself” – Matt. 22:37-39. But how do we love God and our neighbor in this way? The Ten Commandments tell us how.
In his book, Toward Old Testament Ethics, Walter Kaiser gives a clear analysis of the contents of the Decalogue. Commandments 1 – 3 command a right relationship with God, and holiness in our worship. The First Commandment tells us to give to the Lord our exclusive worship and have no other rival gods in our hearts. Through Christ we understand the 1st commandment even more fully. We come to God in Christ our Mediator. The Second Commandment speaks to the matter of the form and mode of our worship. We are not to create idols, or ways of worship not commanded in God’s word. Through Christ we understand the 2nd commandment in a way consistent with the revelation of the church as the temple of the Holy Spirit. As new covenant believers, we follow the New Testament for the structuring of our worship. The Third Commandment speaks of our verbal worship and the use of our tongue for the praise of God. Negatively, we are not to use the name of God in an empty way. Positively, we are to speak in praise of God and of His Son the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to be filled with the Spirit in the praise of our lips.

Commandment 4 commands a right relationship of worship to work, and holiness in our work. We are to cease from our work and give ourselves to worship. Under the New Covenant, the day has been changed from the seventh day to the first day of the week, commemorating Christ’s resurrection.

Commandments 5 – 10 tell us the will of God in keeping a right relationship to society. The 5th commandment commands us to be holy in our relationship to family and authority,. The 6th requires holiness in our regard for life which is sacred in God’s sight and ours. The 7th commands the sanctity of sexuality and marriage. The 8th safeguards the sanctity of property and possessions. The 9th upholds the sanctity of truth. The 10th underscores that the heart is crucial and central in the keeping of all of God’s commandments. It speaks of the sanctity of heart and motive.

Essentially, this is the will of God for us. As you read the ethical portions of the New Testament Epistles, you see the Commandments either explicitly stated and quoted, alluded to, and developed in the declaration of God’s will to the churches in Christ.

(2.) It instructs us concerning the workings of sin in our hearts, so that we can turn from sin. It shows us the darkness of our hearts.

This is a natural implication of the Ten Commandments. The formulas “You shall not…” or “remember the Sabbath to keep it holy” are expressed with the purpose of forbidding sinful thoughts or behavior. Psalm 119:11 explicitly states what the Confession is here asserting – “You word (synonym for law and commandment) I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.”

It is not that we are to have a constant and intense self-focus on our sin. The doctrine of Scripture is very balanced. It calls us to a life of joy and praise, a life of gratitude and glorying in the accomplishments of Christ on our behalf. On the other hand it calls on us to mourn over sin (“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted”), and to reflect something of our Savior’s own experience of human life as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.”

Seek to maintain that balance of joy in the Lord which is our strength, and hatred for sin, even particular violations of God’s holy Law.

(3.) It illuminates us concerning our need of Christ. It shines the light on Christ and points us to Him.

Here the Confession is seeking this same balance, because it is pointing us to Christ. We glory in the imputation of Christ’s righteousness and perfect law-keeping. We also look to Him for the impartation of the Christ-likeness that will enable us to keep the Law through Him! Remember how Paul spoke in Eph. 4:13 – 15 – “…until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ…”

(4.) It restrains us from sin because it forbids sin.

How do we turn from sin? First, we must have knowledge of what sin is, and what is sin. Sin is a principle and law in our hearts. We call this the sin nature. But sin is also action and deed. We call these acts of sin. We have a sinful nature and corruption working in our hearts, and we commit sin. These deeds are the manifestations of our corrupt nature. Knowledge of the Law simply serves to restrain these corruptions by giving us the knowledge of sin. The Law classifies or list acts of sin. Romans 3:20 says “because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”

(5.) The rigid character of the law, which is a curse upon those who do not keep it, reminds us of what our sins deserve.

Gal. 3:10 – “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the Law to perform them.” This point just builds on the last few points. There is a logical progression here. We know the will of God. We understand the workings of sin. We look to Christ. We are restrained from sin. And we “work out our salvation in fear and trembling” – Phil. 2:12 – because we know that sin is “exceedingly sinful” and deserves the wrath of God – Rom. 7:13. even though we have been delivered from the curse of the Law, we always want to remember that we were rescued out of a deep pit of sin – Psalm 40:2 – “He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.”

(6.) The promises of the Law, on the other hand, remind us of God’s pleasure in obedience to His law, and the blessing that He stands to give to those who please Him and keep His covenant – Psalm 25:10.

Finally, the Confession caps the section on the use of the Law in the life of the believer with the very positive reminder that there is blessing in pleasing God and keeping God’s Law. Psalm 119 is a Psalm in praise of God’s Law. This principle can be found in section after section of Psalm 119. There is blessing in loving and living God’s Law. Read Psalm 119 with this in view. Notice the blessedness of loving God’s law throughout the Psalm.

There is an important reminder at the end of paragraph 6. We are under grace and not under law – Romans 6:14. All that has been said about the Law in no way implies that we are under Law as a covenant of works. None of this implies that our standing with God is BASED on our performance of law-keeping. To be under law or under grace means to be fully in the power and destiny of one or the other. Now we are not under the power of the Law because the Law threatens judgment to all who do not keep its every stipulation – James 2:10. We cannot do that in this life.

But we are not under Law when we are in Christ. We are under grace, that is, under the power and destiny of God’s grace – grace that freely justifies the condemned sinner by imputing the perfect righteousness of Christ to us and our sins to Him – Gal. 3:24 – “Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.”

So where does the Law fit in? Precisely in the six uses that the Confession outlined! Many teach that since we are not “under law,” but “under grace,” the Law no longer applies to us. This is a dangerous perversion of clear Scripture teaching, and the blessing of the Confession chapter 19 is that it sets this matter in clear Biblical light.

7. The Harmony of the Law and the Gospel

The chapter closes, and I close this exposition of chapter 19 by commending the final paragraph to you the reader. There is nothing contrary between the Law and the Gospel properly understood. If men misuse the Law, then it is contrary to the Gospel. If, for the sake of the Gospel we discard or diminish the Law, there is further conflict. We must stay clear of error on both sides.

But the great promise of the new covenant is that the Spirit would write the Law upon the believer’s heart – Ezek. 36:27. “I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” Also, consider the promise of Jeremiah 31:33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the LORD, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”

Being under grace, and not law, has to do with this very fact – the Spirit has been poured out upon us. Christ did what the Law could not do. The Spirit does what the Law could not do. The old covenant believers lacked the fullness of the poured-out Spirit of Christ and the Gospel fullness to enable them to keep God’s Law. But we have these blessings and we are able to keep it unto pleasing the Lord through Christ. We call this “evangelical law-keeping” – law-keeping not to attain to the righteousness of God, but to express the righteousness of God and Christ through the Spirit.

Closing Applications

It is absolutely crucial for us to come to grips with the clear Bible teaching that “the law is good, if a man uses it lawfully” – 1 Tim. 1:8, Rom. 7:16. Because it is good, and when it is held in its purity, we can say with the Psalmist, “Oh, how I love Your Law, it is my meditation every day.” We would need to cut out precious portions of the Psalms (the three “Torah” Psalms – 1, 19, 119 for example), and much more, if we give in to the false teaching that the moral Law of God is no longer binding on the Christian. But if we properly understand the Law as the Confession so clearly sets if forth, then we can love it just as much, and more, because of Christ and His Spirit! If you struggle with the application of the Law to the Christian, ask yourself this question: How is it that the Psalmist who wrote Psalm 119 was so drawn to God in precious fellowship through his love for and meditation upon God’s Law? How is it that he grew in grace, knowledge, and wisdom; by keeping God’s law? You see, the Law is good! We must not allow Pharisaic perversions of the interpretation and use of Law to cast a shadow on our view of the Law. The only shadow that they cast on us is to warn us to steer clear of their perversions. Before the sect of the Pharisees came along in history, God’s people had a true view and experience of God’s Law, as expressed most powerfully in Psalms 1, 19, and 119.

It is also crucial to keep in mind that the Law is not all about works. The Ten Commandments do address our deeds. But they also address issues of the heart and spirit of man. They call man to give his heart to God. Jesus said to His disciples, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” This is precisely what God told the Israelites through Moses in Deuteronomy chapters 1-11! Take a few moments to look up these passages. They establish the relationship between law and love, and emphasis that is much needed today.

Deut. 4:7-8
Deut. 4:32 – 40
Deut. 6:4-5
Deut. 7:7-9
Deut. 8:2-7
Deut. 10:12-13, 19-21
Deut. 11:13

Keeping the commandments is the way the people show their love to God, just as the love of God to them is seen in His giving commandments to them! In a sense, God was saying to Adam in the Garden of Eden in his pre-fall perfection: If you love Me you will keep my Law not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Those who denounce Law as incompatible with grace are missing a prominent emphasis and clear Biblical teaching that presents law as love and grace!

We always need to emphasize that we are not saved by keeping the Commandments. The Law was given to Adam in his perfect and upright position. The Law was given to the redeemed people of Israel – “I am the Lord Your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt.” Whenever we proclaim the Law, whenever we press the commandments of God upon our children in their nurture, we must always point them to Christ to find their justification by faith. We must tell them that God will give us the perfect righteousness of Christ freely as a gift of His grace, and then and only then will we have the heart and the power of His Spirit to keep His Law.

Finally, we should be absolutely clear in our emphasis that something greater than the Law is here. Romans and Galatians emphasize that the Spirit is the great blessing of the Gospel, and the Spirit is greater than the Law of God. He is greater because He writes the Law on our hearts. We received the Spirit by faith, not by doing the works of the Law – Gal. 3:2. And if we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the Law – Gal. 5:18. This means that if we are led by the Spirit, we are not under the power of the Law, or the curse of the Law. Remember that the Law proclaims the will of God. It does not give the power to keep it. Only the Spirit does that. But if we are led by the Spirit, we are under the power and control of the Spirit, not the Law. But this power and control of the Spirit is directed to our hearts’ embrace of the Law as the expression of God’s will, His perfect righteousness displayed in our life as sinners.

This is why I believe it is a good and necessary discipline to read and understand the commandments through the fuller manifestation and revelation of Christ. “The Law was given through Moses, grace and truth were realized though Jesus Christ” – John 1:17. This is simply saying that Moses’ great contribution to revelation was the giving of the Law – foundational revelation. Jesus’ gift to revelation was the full unfolding of grace and truth, building on that foundation. And then the Spirit was given by Christ to dwell in our hearts and become the source of our new life, the spring of our motivation, and the efficient cause of true holiness and good works to the honor and good-pleasure of God.

Christian, love God’s Law. Pray for the fullness of the Spirit to be manifested in your life and mine to the further and fuller keeping of God’s righteous standard. As we will certainly fail and manifest imperfections in many ways, let us keep clinging to Christ, our perfect righteousness.

Remember Revelation 14:12 – “Here is the perseverance of the saints who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.” There is no conflict between the law and the Gospel!

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