Rosenius: Peace with God.

C. O. Rosenius:
A Faithful Guide to peace with God.
Translated into English from the Norwegian edition by bishop N. I. Laache, by George Taylor Rygh. 1923/1954. Electronic edition by NDH.

1. The Holy Law of God.
We know that the Law is good, if a man use it lawfully. 1 Tim. 1: 8.

Doctor Swebelius says: “The Law is fairly well known by nature; the Gospel, however, is a mystery concealed from reason.” This is true, and strikingly expressed. And yet the greatest misapprehension and misuse of the Law are frequently found within the bounds of Christendom, a misapprehension and a misuse which render the whole Law and the entire Word of God without power and benefit, thereby destroying souls in their helplessness. By the gracious assistance of God, we shall consider the gravest of these misapprehensions and misuses.

We do not speak of the despisers of the law, whose condemnation is swift and easily understood. For everybody understands well enough that God does not admit into His heaven such as are not only sinful, but also contemners of his holy will.

What is the Law but the will of God? He who despises the will of God despises God, and surely no one has ever found a single promise that God would be merciful to those who despise Him. You may be weak and sinful; you may have transgressed the Law of God; yet His mercy is great enough to forgive your sin and guilt for the sake of Christ.

But if you despise God and His will, not even trying to love and obey Him, how can you expect that such utter contempt of God and His word shall be forgiven? How can you believe that you are on the way to heaven? Stop a moment and consider.

We have, then, a matter before us which may not be brushed aside as of no importance. It is a matter which involves the eternal destiny of your soul. We shall soon discover, however, that it is not enough to respect the Law of God and to make some sort of use of it. What is required is, that we use it “lawfully”, that is rightly, or as God wants us to use the Law.

The Apostle Paul writes concerning his brethren in Israel, that “they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge” (Romans 10: 2); that they “follow after the law of righteousness” (Rom 9: 31); that “they go about to established their own righteousness” (Rom 10: 3); but that for their sakes he had “great heaviness and continual sorrow” in his heart (Rom 9: 2), and that he could wish himself “accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom 9: 3), if thereby they might be saved.

What, then, was the fault with Israel? The fault was, the apostle says, that “when Moses was read, the veil was upon their heart” (2 Corint 3: 15), so that “they went about to establish their own righteousness” (Rom 10: 3).

“But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, have not attained to the law of righteousness” (Rom 9: 31). They did not allow the law to serve them by condemning them, convicting them, driving them to Christ; they made the law a way of salvation. They failed to understand the purpose of the law and as a result, made a wrong use of the law.

The essential purpose of the law is to arose and drive the sinner to Christ, who is “the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom 10: 4). “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh” (Rom 8: 3). “He that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the son, hath not life” (1 John 5: 12). “Wherefore the law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ” (Gal 3: 24).

Such is the purpose of God’s holy law. The law is a Boanerges, a son of thunder (Mark 3: 17), who indeed does not baptize with spirit and with fire, but with “the baptism of repentance,” thus presenting unto the Lord a well-prepared people. The law is the prison-house wherein “we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed”! (Gal 3: 23-24).

This, then, is the first, greatest and most dangerous misuse of the law. It renders the entire law useless. It misses its purpose altogether. When the law is thus made useless, “when the salt has lost its savor” (Matt 5, 13), wherewith shall souls be aroused and humbled?

When the heart has no experience of the power of the law to its abasement, the Gospel also remains ineffective; Christ, with all his merit, remains ineffective. For “they that be whole need not a physician, but the sick” (Matt 9: 12), that is to say, they that have been made sick through the harsh dominion of the law.

But when both law and gospel, that is, the whole word of God, no longer exert any influence upon the human heart, the soul is hopelessly lost; it cannot be saved.

Let us, however, consider how it happens that the law, and thereby the entire word of God, is rendered futile. It happens in this way: You make the law a way of salvation, while it should be a condemning judge, a schoolmaster to bring you to Christ.

This comes to pass when any one modifies, mitigates and whittles down the commandments and judgements of the Lord, in order that they may agree with the sinner’s opinions, or, at all events, correspond with his natural powers. It is sometimes said:

“No mortal man can meet this or that requirement of the law. Therefore, it cannot be God’s purpose to demand strict fulfilment of the law in every respect; for God cannot demand more than we can do.” This is the fundamental error. In this way “every mouth” is not stopped”, and “all the world” does not “become guilty before God” (Rom 3: 19. If a single human being could fulfil all the demands of the law, his mouth would not be stopped; he would be able to “boast” before God.

He who would understand why the law requires more than we are able to perform, and also how far the law goes in its requirements, must consider what the law is. The law is nothing else than God’s holiness, God’s holy will expressed in human words and in men’s consciences. Therefore the law reaches as far in its demands as God’s holiness reaches.

It is the law which says to you, This and that God requires of you; this and that he forbids. Now it is clear that this will of God must demand a constantly increasing righteousness before you become as holy as God himself. For what he himself will not do, he does not ask you to do.

Consequently, he never says: This or that I do not which you to do, but since you ask me for permission, I will give you leave to do this thing. But he says: “Be ye holy, even as I, the Lord your God, am holy”(Lev 19: 2). When we consider that the law is simply the holiness of God, the will of God, we understand why the law may not be changed or modified in a single letter to suit the weaknesses of the fallen race; for in that case God’s holiness would have an end.

He who receives the grace rightly to discern the holiness of God’s law, can no longer hope to become perfect before God, that is, to become as holy as God himself is. On the contrary, he will surely be humbled and crushed. He who hopes to gain righteousness by the law, has a “veil” before his eyes: he is blind, and does not realize what the law demands of him.

But you say: “True, no man can become perfect as God is perfect. But we can do as much as we are able to do in the way of fulfilling His holy law.” God does not accept that sort of righteousness. You must keep the law perfectly, or you are condemned. The law says distinctly: “Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them” (Deut 27: 26). And an apostle says in the New Testament: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2: 10).

You say, however: “But God is merciful for the sake of Christ. He will forgive me if I do not perfectly keep his law.” God is by no means merciful to him who is guilty of violating the law. The matter is quite different with them who through faith possess the righteousness of Christ.

They are not in the least indepted to the law, for through Christ they have the righteousness which the law demands (Rom 8: 4), the righteousness to which the apostle refers when he says: “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” (Rom 8: 3). In short, “they are not under the law, but under grace (Rom 6: 14-15). But he who is under the law has no remission of sin, as Jesus himself declares: “For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matt 5: 18).

O what injury is done to the soul when we do not remember that there are those who are under the law, while others are not under the law, but under grace (Rom 3: 19; 6: 14; and 7: 4, 6).

These two classes of men are under quite different judgement. It is true that the grace of God in Christ is boundless, but it can do them no good whatever who are under the law and desire to remain “the disciples of Moses” (John 9: 28). The apostle Paul says: “For as many as are under the law are under curse” (Gal 3: 10).

To suppress this truth, and to preach in its stead the gospel of the flesh; to detract from the law that which the sinner regards as too severe: to lower the goal of the striving after holiness down to such a plane that the sinner may reach up to it, creating in the sinner self-satisfaction, self-righteousness and carnal security – this is the most dangerous misuse of the law.

In this way, the entire purpose of the law is frustrated. For that purpose was to drive and chastise the soul, not to the yoke of bondage, but into the slough of despair, and thence to Christ, who is “the end of the law unto righteousness to every one that believeth” (Rom 10_ 4).

But this levelling down of the law, this breaking off of the point of the law, may also be accomplished by persuading oneself or others to hope for the future: that which is still lacking in the fulfilment of the law may be accomplished by the grace of God later on. When the victory has been won, the time is come to appropriate to oneself the merit of Christ in all its fullness.

Alas, what a Satanic deception! Remember that if death should come to you this night, you would be condemned, since you are not holy as God’s law requires of you. You reply: “I have this hope that God will not call me away before I am prepared for heaven.”

It is all very well that you have such fine thoughts about God. But where is it written that God will hold death back from you until you are as holy as the law requires? In that case you would never die.

We ask: Have you not received the help of God’s spirit? Are you certain that you have rightly made use of His grace, rightly prayed for his help, watched and fought in the power of God as strenuously as you should have watched and fought?

If you consider this, you shall possibly find that you have nothing to expect which God has not already given you. If you realize that according to the law you are lost, the answer is: That is precisely what the law would show you, in order that you might take refuge in Christ.

You need not wait for the future. The Kingdom of God is near you. You shall learn that the righteousness which the law demands, but which you cannot produce, will be found in another way, namely, through faith in the blood of Jesus.