2. The Holy Law of God. 2.
We know the Law is good, if a man use it lawfully. 1. Tim. 1: 8.
It behoves us to beware of the false interpretation of the law to the effect that we are able to keep it perfectly. We must likewise beware of the thought that we can not be saved before we have fulfilled the Law and become pure and perfect. For under this thought lies an concealed assassin of souls, an anti-Christ, who would render the blood of Christ unnecessary and tell us that the blood of Christ is of no avail whatever; or, at the most, that it is only a means of sanctification, not the atonement for sin; an assassin who destroys the soul either with a false confidence in its own righteousness, or with a tormenting spirit of bondage.
On the contrary, the more threatening the thunderings of Mount Sinai, and the more clearly the demands of God’s law press upon our souls, the better; for the sooner shall we find that comfort which abides. We shall be deprived of the false consolation which lies in the hope of justification by the law. We shall be driven to seek help of Him whose name is Jesus. In Him we shall find joy and peace.
Many a soul, ignorant of this truth, says: “If I am driven so strenuously and condemned so unmerciful, I shall loose courage. I shall not be able to find consolation in Christ nor love for Him.”
Reply: Have we any right to modify or annul what God has commanded? Who dares to alter the commandments and judgements of God? It must be remembered that the sinner does not need consolation first of all; he needs a broken and a contrite heart. The consolation which a soul draws from the righteousness of the law is accursed – it is a false consolation. It is this consolation which misleads the soul into bondage, self-righteousness and hypocrisy. It is the very road to hell. It is this consolation which the Law must take away from us.
Note, furthermore, that there is no better means to advance souls to true comfort than to present the Law in all its severity; for until they are deprived of all comfort in their own righteousness by the Law, they are not ready to accept the righteousness of Christ in the Gospel.
When John says: “Who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come? The axe lies at the root of the trees: Therefore every tree which brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire,” he struck at the pride of their hearts. Thereupon he said: “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” At once he lifted up the valleys, the dejected souls, and prepared the way for the Lord. Matthew 3; Luke 3; John 1.
Since we have found that the first work of the Law is to bring the sinner to humility and the recognition of sin, we ask: What should be the nature of this knowledge of sin, in order that it may be acceptable to God? Reply: It is not enough to know our sins of commission; for with such knowledge you may still comfort yourself with your good intentions and hope of amendment.
The feeling of your sinfulness must be profound and thorough. You must know the root of your sinful depravity, which consists in carnal security, hypocrisy, hardness of heart, contempt of God. You must realize that for these reasons you are a lost and condemned sinner. As long as you do not recognize this depravity of the heart, your self-sufficiency will assert itself. You will continue to say: “I shall save myself.” Your own righteousness and carnal security will live on. You will never apprehend Christ and rest upon his merit alone.
To this fundamental knowledge of self, few come immediately through their awakening. It is true that the soul becomes terrified. But it is not embarrassed; for it argues: “I know a way out. I will repent.” Then begins the labor under the law in the attempt to convert oneself, to lay aside sin and sinful habits. As long as you see nothing but external righteousness and your conversion seems to be complete, you become hopeful and remaining your self-righteousness.
But if you look upon the inner sanctification and realize that God requires your heart, and that you desire its cleansing, you are very quickly disappointed. For when now you determent to love God above all, you feel that you have an idolatrous heart. When you desire to pray and to fight earnestly against your sins, you find that you lie down in the mire of sin. You are not even able to regret your sins and weep over them. Then you are startled and exclaim: “I am a lost soul. I am a hardened sinner. I am a hypocrite. For neither do I fight earnestly against sin, nor do I sincerely repent.”
Behold now, this was precisely what the law set out to accomplish in you. What is it that you now recognize? Is it the security of your heart, your hypocrisy, your contempt of God? The purpose of the Law is that you learn to know the evil of sin. In this condition you find no comfort, for it is a terrible thing to be hard-hearted, secure and hypocritical. But did you not desire this knowledge of your heart?
Certainly you did, only you desire nothing more than the knowledge of your corruption, not the vileness of the corruption itself. How was it possible that such was the result? You do not need to feel an evil that you have not, but only the evil which you have. Now it seems to you, however, that you have no conscious feeling of your sins, but that you are obsessed with sin itself. You see your sins, but do not feel them.
But was it not this lack of sorrow for sin which you should recognize? Was it not the purpose of the Law to deprive you of every comfort, in order that you might be compelled to go to Christ, so that He might become your only consolation? It is no easy matter, however, to seek refuge with Him. It is not an easy matter to believe. Now it becomes necessary that you receive the grace of God, without which you still remain a lost sinner in spite of all the experiences of sin which you have had. He stands before you, gently calling: “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
If only you close your eyes to hindrances and throw yourself as you are in His arms, you shall be saved as a brand from the burning, cleansed in His blood, justified, rejoicing. Now you understand what is meant by the Scripture declaration: “Christ is the end of the Law unto every one that believeth” (Romans 10: 4).
We have seen that the Law is good, if any one use it lawfully. We have shown the correct and the incorrect use of the Law in the conversion of souls. But the Law also has its use in the daily renewal; partly to show the regenerated, justified and pardoned soul how it should conduct itself in all respect; and partly, when the heart is in danger of becoming worldly, to correct and drive the soul to seek Christ daily.
There is still another error to be pointed out. This error has made its appearance in different localities of our country (Sweden in the 1850-60’s). We refer to the anti-nomians (rejecters of the Law), who regard the Law as superfluous both in conversion and in the daily renewal. By this we would not express the same fear as that which obtains with the disciples of Moses, who say now, as was said in the time of Paul, when the works of the law were discarded as component to produce righteousness, that we “abolish the Law through faith”.
They who thus treat the Law are people who have never learned to distinguish between justification and sanctification, Law and Gospel, spirit and flesh. It seems to them that Paul at times is too evangelical, that he opens the door to the Mercy-seat too widely. At times they think that he is too severe, that he require too much of human nature. They say that he denounces what they regard as innocent.
We are not speaking of these people here. We speak of the real anti-nomians, who assert that the Law is unnecessary to conversion. To prove this, they adduce as evidence that only the Gospel operates upon their heart. A deplorable error! What effect would grace have upon the heart if sin were not acknowledged and felt? That which chastises sin is the Law, even when it speaks through the wounds of Christ. The Law works as a rule in an unknown and secret way. For “I had not known sin but by the law” (Romans 7: 7).
Though the Law does not give life, it nevertheless brings about the result, that the Gospel gives light. The Law is the plowing, the Gospel is the seed. It is true that the growing does snot come by the plowing only, but also requires the seed. Still, if the ground is not plowed, the seed remains useless, lies upon the surface, dries up, and is picked away by the birds. But those who regard the Law as superfluous for regenerated soul who have an obedient mind, quite misunderstand Scripture passages such as these: “Now when the faith has come, you are no longer under the schoolmaster”; and, “you shall not bind the conscience by the law.”
Reply: I did not mean your conscience, but your flesh, if so be that you are under grace. If your heart is not right with God, so that you have your delight in God’s Law according to the inner man, and you still wish to retain this or that sin intact, your conscience will be bound, yea, your soul and your body will be bound in hell. For what is bound upon earth shall likewise be bound in hell.
“If ye live after the flesh, ye shall die” (Romans 8: 3). But if you are a true Christian, the spirit is indeed willing, and does not need to be chastised by the Law. The flesh is weak, secure and evil. It needs to be chastised, as Luther said: “Bit and bridle do not belong to the marriage chamber, but to the stable and to the horse.” Remain, therefore, steadfast in the liberty with which Christ hath set you free, but do not make use of your liberty to sin. “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5: 1 and 13).
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