The Law & The Gospel

In the beginning

Separating the law from the Law-Giver

Genesis 3:1–7 ESV

1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3 but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ” 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

Here, the serpent persuades Eve and Adam that God was narrow minded and unfairly restrictive. Satan was suggesting that God placed them in this wonderful garden with all kinds of delights, but was denying them from enjoying it all.

This was Satan’s tactic to weaken their commitment to obeying God’s word. Verse 1: Did God actually say… And another angle Satan approached this tactic of deception was to call into question the authority of God’s Word - verse 4 You will not surely die.

This was also an attach on God’s character. The implication from this exchange between the serpent and Adam & Eve is that God was vindictive. What kind of God would deny you pleasure and joy is He really loves you?

This is what Sinclair Ferguson observes

The serpent’s tactic was to lead her into seeing and interpreting the world through her eyes (what she saw when she looked at the tree) rather than through her ears (what God had said about it.).

Keep in mind what God actually said in the previous chapter

Genesis 2:16–17 ESV

16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

God begins with the positive statement - you may surely ear of every tree in the garden… and the prohibition follows. This wasn’t a case of bait and switch, but the point is the positive and prohibition were not intended to be separated. Satan separates them by focusing on the prohibition only. This tactic was the cause of the fixation on the prohibition and not God’s design and desire for them…. don’t forget the end of verse 17, for in the day you eat of it you shall surely die.

But now for Eve, all that she saw was the prohibition and a God who was vindictive. Eve had a flawed understanding of God’s law. God’s law was now separated from His grace. She believed that God wanted nothing good for her, and the what can easily creep in is a works-based righteousness. Anything good from God must be earned.

Another Ferguson quote:

I am not asking you to do that [not eat of this one tree] because the tree is ugly. Actually, it is just as attractive as the other trees… You won’e be able to look at the fruit and think, “that must taste horrible”. It is a fine-looking tree. So it’s simple. Trust me, obey me, and love me because of who I am and because you are enjoying what I have given you. Trust me, obey me, and you will grow.

The "Eve" Syndrome: Ferguson points out that the first sin wasn't just eating fruit; it was Eve viewing God’s Law as a restriction from a "grudging" Creator rather than a gift from a loving Father.

The heart of the issue here is a separation of God’s gracious, generous character from His revealed will (law). Adam and Eve, instead of hearing the law of God from His gracious concern began to believe that His law was given to express what they had to do to earn His favor.

And so, what people often do is react with antinomianism. Since God is this ogre, I will reject him and His law all together.

Or some respond with legalism. Since I need to earn God’s favor, I will strive to, presume to do so.

Antinomianism & Legalism

Antinomianism

The law is a prison to escape and God is a distant (perhaps too nice) grandfather which will often result in pride and a sense of false freedom that will inevitably lead back to sin’s slavery.

Legalism

The law is a ladder to climb to reach God, and God is a strict policeman. Legalism will lead to despair because legalists fail at their efforts to gaining God’s favor through their efforts.

It’s not that antinomianism and legalism are antithetical to one another. They are really, two sides of the same coin. Antinomianism and legalism are both antithetical to grace.

The Problem is not the Law

Remarriage

Romans 7:1–6 ESV

1 Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. 4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.

We have been married to the law. A woman is free to remarry again when her husband dies, but the point is not that the law must die in order for people to become the bride of Christ.

People are married to the law, died to the law in Christ and is now legally free to marry Christ. And Paul capture the implications of this second marriage in the next chapter:

Romans 8:4 ESV

4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

So now, Christians are not related to the law directly, but indirectly through our relationship to Christ. In other words, the Christian’s relationship to the law is dependent on and the new fruit of his relationship with Christ.

So, the believer dies to the law, but the law does not die. The law still exists to the believer. But because believers are united to Christ, they are able to fulfill the law and bear fruit.

The grace of God at work in His people through their union with Christ produces what the law requires.

Before Christ: The Law is a condemning judge.

In Christ: The Law is the "family transcript." It shows us what our Father is like.

What about our ex? (Why then the law?)

Something that contributes to the confusion about the law is the general sense among many that the law is bad. Again in Romans 7:

Romans 7:5 ESV

5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.

Romans 7:9–11 ESV

9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.

There’s no doubt that condemnation is related to the law, but what needs to be clear is the nature of that connection.

The condemning character of the law is not the result of anything inherent in the law. The issue is the evil within us.

So let’s continue in Rom. 7.

Romans 7:7–12 ESV

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Paul declares that he came to know sin because of the law. But what’s important to know is that this does not mean the law is inherently sinful.

So, Paul responds to the implied question: Is the law sinful?

In verse 7 negatively

Romans 7:7 ESV

7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”

And the positively in verse 12

Romans 7:12 ESV

12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Sin is the problem, not the law. The law bears the very nature of God. We are to delight in the law of the Lord.

Grace in the law

Another important of confusion regarding the law has to do with the Old and New Covenants. This is what John’s gospel says:

John 1:17 ESV

17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

We are meant to understand these words in a comparative sense. The law was a gracious gift of God in that it reveals our need for the law-giver.

Should we love the law? Keep in mind what Paul wrote earlier in Romans:

Romans 2:15 ESV

15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them

The law provides direction for love

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Commandments are the railroad tracks on which the life empowered by the love of God poured into the heart of the Holy Spirit runs. Love empowers the engine; law guides direction.