Reader, we are reaching the conclusion of my book. I have tried to show that believers, for their sanctification, are not under the law of Moses, but under the law of Christ. In short, I reject Calvin’s third use of the law. But, as I said at the close of the previous chapter, objections are raised to this doctrine. To them I now turn.1
If believers are not under the law of Moses, where does this leave the ten commandments? What is the relationship between the law of Moses and the law of Christ? Does the law of Moses have nothing to say to the child of God? What about the two great commandments of the law (Lev. 19:18; Deut. 6:5; Matt. 22:37-40)? Is the believer lawless? Can he do whatever he wants? And if the believer is not under the law of Moses as a rule of holiness, why did Paul quote the ten commandments when writing to believers? As he did (Rom. 13:8-10; Gal. 5:14-15; Eph. 6:1-4). Further, what of ‘the perfect law of liberty’ (Jas. 1:25; 2:8-13)? And what of Paul’s statement that ‘keeping the commandments of God is what matters’ (1 Cor. 7:19)? And what of 1 John 2:3-5, and similar passages, which tell us ‘we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments’? And what of passages which teach us that the law is written on the heart by the Spirit in regeneration (Heb. 8:7-13; 10:15-16)? Does all this not mean that the law of Moses must after all be the rule of holiness for believers? |
