Letter from the Pastor 12/17/2024, Part 1 of 7
INTRODUCTION
What does the Bible teach about the law of God? Many of you memorized the Ten Commandments in Sunday School, or perhaps you’ve seen a popular movie depicting Moses receiving the two tablets of stone on Sinai. You may remember the Psalmist declaring his love for the law of God (Ps. 119:97) or Jesus’ declaration that he came to fulfill the law. (Matt.5:17-18) What does it mean that Christians are not under the law? (Rom. 6:14) Are we no longer bound to obey the Ten Commandments?
As we continue to study biblical justice, we must lay a solid foundation for understanding God’s law. Thankfully, our Baptist forebearers have given us a helpful guide to God’s law in chapter 19 of the Second London Confession of Faith. The chapter is divided into 7 paragraphs and can be outlined as such:
1: The Law of God Given to Adam
2: The Nature of the Moral Law
3: The Mosaic Ceremonial Laws
4: The Mosaic Judicial Laws
5: The Perpetuity of the Moral Law
6: The Moral Law and Our Salvation
7: The Moral Law and the Gospel
These seven short paragraphs summarize the Scripture’s teaching on the law of God succinctly and will lay our foundation for further discussion on the duties of Christian individuals as well as the duties of the civil magistrate.
SECOND LONDON CONFESSION, 19:1
Today, we will consider paragraph 1 of chapter 19 which reads:
God gave to Adam a law of universal obedience written in his heart, and a particular precept of not eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil; by which he bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience; promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it, and endued him with power and ability to keep it.
EXPOSITION
In order to understand the law of God, we must begin not at Sinai, but in Eden. The first sentence describes two kinds of law given to Adam in his pre-fallen state.
First, God gave a “law of universal obedience written in his heart.” Because Adam is made in God’s image (Gen. 1:27) he had a moral obligation to obey God personally, entirely, exactly, and perpetually. Obedience to God is “hard-wired” into humanity’s constitution and nature. The same is true with us, for we are sons and daughters of Adam. We, like Adam, owe God perfect and universal obedience.
Second, God gave a positive outward expression of obedience to Adam, that of not eating of the Tree of Knowledge. This “universal obedience” to which Adam was called is known as the Covenant of Works. If Adam perfectly obeyed God in the garden, the reward was “promised life.” If Adam disobeyed, the threat was death. (Gen. 2:17) Remember, there was another tree in the garden; one of eternal life which Adam would have tasted had he obeyed God. (Gen. 1:24)
Third, the confession tells us that Adam was endued by God with power and ability to keep it. Here, the confession references Ecclesiastes 7:29 which states: “See, this alone I found, that God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes.” (Eccl. 7:29, ESV) Adam was created in sinlessness purity. He was able to not sin and able to sin. He had within himself the power and ability to keep God’s moral law perfectly. He was also able to refuse obedience and fall into sin.
This is quite different from the state of man after the fall in Genesis 3. Post-fall man is able to sin and unable to not sin. (Rom. 7:15-20) Redeemed man, through Christ, is able to sin and able and able to not sin, though we will never reach moral perfection in this life. (Rom. 6:17-18) This is what we call sanctification, growth in grace-propelled obedience to God in this life. Perfection will only be attained after death and in the age to come. When we are glorified, we who are in Christ will be no longer be able to sin. (Rom. 8:29-30; Col. 3:4; Eph. 4:13; Phil. 3:20-21; 1 John 3:2)
CONCLUSION
We will not understand the subject of justice until we see the law as fundamental, not merely to human interactions, but even to what it means to be human. John Reuther, in his commentary on the confession, writes: “Man has been united to God by Law and love from the beginning of His creation. Creation in God’s image constitutes us, among other things, moral creatures in a moral universe of right and wrong, good and evil.” The interactions between men or between civil magistrates and men find their foundation in man’s nature as a moral creature before the Creator and Law Giver.
As we continue our study of the law of God, our next stop is Sinai. There we will learn the three divisions of the Mosaic law and its relevancy and applicability to us today. If you have questions or comments on this topic or these letters, please send them to me at jonathanh@lwpabtist.com. I would love to interact, share resources, and help you grow in your understanding of the law of God.
In Christ,
Pastor Jonathan
[1] https://www.the1689confession.com/1689/chapter-19
[2] I have found Pastor Tom Hick’s expositions on the confession helpful. They can be accessed here: https://www.fbcclintonla.com/ss-1689-Confession.html
[3] Gen. 1:27; Eccles. 7:29
[4] Rom. 10:5
[5] Gal. 3:10, 12
[6] Thank God that we are not under the law as a Covenant of Works anymore. Rather, we are under grace through faith in Christ. (Rom. 6:14) The confession will address this in paragraphs 6-7.
[7] John Reuther, A New Exposition of the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, ed. Rob Ventura (Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2022).