Question 89: What then is the purpose of the
law since the fall?
Answer: The purpose of the law, since the
fall, is to reveal the perfect righteousness of God, that his people may know
the path of faith that leads to life, and that the ungodly may be convicted of
their sin, restrained from evil, and brought to Christ for salvation.
DAY 1:
To begin this week’s lessons, let’s take a look at Psalm 19:7-11. In this Psalm David glorifies God for the tremendous voice of the created order. He extols the glory of God and speaks of the heavens declaring it while the firmament shows His handiwork. He speaks of the natural revelation in the day and in the night that there is a God. God has been wise in providing the sun to rule the day and even its reflection on the moon to rule the night. God’s revelation in creation is glorious and He should be praised for it!
However, David is not content to stop there with what is revealed in nature. He begins in verse 7 to speak of the wonderful glory of God’s words. These words were the Scriptures given by the men of God (Moses, Joshua, etc.). These were God’s instructions to His people. They were His revelation to them. This was not natural revelation, but special revelation. Woven throughout all of this revelation was the law of God and the promises of God to send a Deliverer from the curse of sin. Now the law was designed to show the perfect moral character of God. It was His holy standard and there was nothing that was horrible or lacking in the law, just as there is nothing horrible or lacking in God.
Notice how the Psalmist speaks
of God’s words. First he says that the
law (torah to-raw’) of the LORD is perfect. God’s law is His instructions or
directions. David says that these words
are perfect. The Hebrew here is tamiym
(taw-meem’), which means, “complete, whole, entire, sound, healthful,
wholesome, unimpaired, innocent, having integrity”. God’s instructions are not lacking, nor are
they found wanting. They are complete,
sound and have integrity. They are
helpful and not harmful. As a matter of
fact David tells us that the law converts the soul. The word here for converts is shuwb
(shoob) and means, “to return, turn back; to cause to return, bring back,
relinquish, give in payment; to bring back, report to, answer.” This is exactly what the law does. The law does not have the power to save any
man. Its job is to render man indebted
to God. Its primary function is to bring
men to their knees before God with a closed mouth (Rom.
David goes on to say that the
testimony (‘eduwth ay-dooth’) of the LORD is sure. The word testimony here reminds us of a
witness that bears testimony. God’s
words are not like men’s. Men may be deceitful,
forgetful, or outright liars, but God’s words are sure. The word sure here means, “to be established,
be faithful, be carried, make firm, verified, reliable.” Everything that God has said about Himself,
man, life, death, the law, and the Gospel is true. It is true by the very nature and character
of the One who has spoken it. As we have
seen before God cannot lie. His word is
on equal par with His name and His word is true, just as He is the Truth. His word has power in it. This power is able to make a foolish man
wise. It is able to take someone who is
naïve about the world around him and the god of his imagination and put him in
touch with reality. It is able to teach
man about the God who has created him and make him aware of his accountability
to God. God’s word, His special revelation,
brings a message of judgment and of deliverance. But the man who clings only to the law can
only expect to receive judgment (Rom.
In verse 8 we are told that the statutes of the LORD are right. The word here for statutes is piqqud (pik-kood’) which speaks of His precepts or visitations. John MacArthur, in his notes, speaks of the statutes as the Governor’s governings. These precepts are right (yashar yaw-shawr’). The word here means, “straight, upright, correct, right, level, pleasing, correct, straightforward, just, fitting, proper.” These precepts are the foundation stones of right and wrong. Though these precepts may be the vehicle by which the heart of man is struck and rendered dead by the law through sin, yet when we are born again, God writes His law upon our hearts (Jer. 31:33) and this rejoices the heart and makes us glad. What once caused us tremendous fear and desperation, now becomes that which we love to do and are in fact enabled to do by the Holy Spirit, yet not perfectly (Rom. 7:22; 8:13-14).
David goes on to say that the
commandment of the LORD is pure. The
word here for commandment is mitsvah (mits-vaw’). It is the charges or commissions given by
God. These are His orders and they are bar
(bar). They are pure, clear, sincere and
clean. God’s commandments encompass all
the Scriptures. God did not leave His
people without clear charges that they were to hold to. There was no deception involved, nor were
there the doctrines of men, but of the Divine Creator only and these are, as
John Gill puts it, “to promote purity of heart, life, and conversation.” The Psalmist then goes on to say that the
pure commandment of the LORD “enlightens the eyes.” The idea behind the term enlightening is that
of illumination, not revelation. This is
where the Spirit of God takes the Word of God and does not make the Word alive
to us, but rather causes us to come alive to it. The words of God not only bring to us
something that natural revelation cannot bring and that is a sense of our own
sinfulness, but also the Gospel itself.
I have heard it said that, “If man would just respond to the light God
has given him (referring to the light of nature), then God would give him more
light, and more light until finally the gospel would come. The problem is that no man truly responds to
the light of nature (SEE Rom.
Verse nine continues, “the fear
of the LORD is clean.” The term here for
fear speaks to the idea of the worship of God.
In other words, our worship reflects the amount of reverence we have for
Him. The Scripture is replete with
appeals to the fear of the Lord (Ps 34:11; 111:10; Pr 1:7; 1:29; 2:5; 9:10;
10:27; 14:27; 15:33, etc.). These
references and many more, especially in the Book of Proverbs speak about the
instruction that comes from God’s Word and the benefit that comes to those who
obey them. In other words, the fear of
the Lord, becomes almost a parallel for His Word, yet there is a
distinction. The Word possesses the power
to bring about a true fear of the Lord within a person. The person whose heart has been made
submissive to the Lord Jesus Christ is one who has the fear of the Lord. He is one that listens to the instruction of
God, because he has realized his own creature status and the holy nature of
God. This includes what God has said
about His worship, doctrines, the Gospel, and about His Son. Therefore, he is awestruck at the one he stands
accountable to and desires to obey and worship God as God has said that he
should. However, apart from the working
of the Holy Spirit in the life of a man, he will at best become a
Pharisee. He will only be able to
manifest certain external obedience rather than the obedience that comes from
faith (Rom.
The term clean here is tahowr
(taw-hore’) and speaks to ceremonial, as well as moral and ethical purity and
cleanliness. Remember, the Scriptures
speak of the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom and knowledge (Ps
111:10; Pr 1:7;
Because the fear of the Lord is so closely linked to the Word of God it endures forever. Jesus said that His word would endure long after heaven and earth had passed away. So to is the fear of the Lord. It will be expressed throughout all eternity among the elect and we will give glory to God for His work of grace in our hearts.
The Psalmist then launches into the praise and adoration of the law of God. He says that it is to be desired above gold or even fine gold. Gold refers to that which has been mined, but fine gold is that which has been put through the purification process and had the dross removed. The standard that God has set forth in His law is something infinitely more worthy than the finest gold available. The writer also uses the picture of the drippings from the honeycomb. That sweet substance that pleases the tongue is a wonderful thing, yet the law of God is greater than a momentary delight. How much more then is the gospel of Christ, which brings to us the fulfillment of the law and the forgiveness of sins? Of how much more value is Jesus Christ and His precious work? How sweet is the One who loved us and gave Himself for us? His worth is far above earthly wealth and the sweetness of the Lord Jesus Christ is greater than one million honeycombs.
Finally, David says that God’s subjects (servants) are warned. The word for warned here refers to “instructed, admonished, taught, given light”. The law of God gives instruction. It instructs us with direct dealings with both God and man. It also gives us principles which cover every time and culture. And in keeping those things contained in the law comes great reward. Now we know that no one is able to keep the law perfectly. We saw that in the previous lessons. However, there is temporal blessing here on earth with even the external keeping of the law. Yet, theoretically there would be the blessing of eternal life if men were able to keep the law. We have seen though that from his conception, man is a sinner. He does not become a sinner at the moment of his first sin, but rather fell in his father Adam. Yet, Christ, born of a virgin and born under the law came into the world, obeyed fully the law, both internally and externally and made an atonement for the sins of His people on their behalf before God. What then is the purpose of the law? It is to show us the grandeur of the holiness of God, to show how far short we fall of His glory, to render us helpless, and to magnify the Lord Jesus Christ and make glorious the wonderful gospel of grace.
Have you seen the holiness of God? Have you seen the holiness of the law? Is your mouth closed before God? Do you still excuse your sin? Has Christ and His gospel become for you more worthy than gold and sweeter than honey? If so, thank God for His grace has abounded to you. If not, seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon Him and He will hear. Throw yourself upon His mercy and cry out for forgiveness.
DAY 2:
Galatian 3:22-24 discusses what the exact purpose of the law is in relationship to man. Remember that Paul is addressing heresy in the Galatian church. Judaizers have come in and overturned the gospel by adding one element, keeping the law. While we have seen that once sinners are reconciled to God, we are given a new nature, indeed we have become new creatures, we have also seen that we have new desires to obey the law and are empowered by God’s Holy Spirit to do so, though we continue to fall short of it’s standards perfectly. This is a view to obedience to God because of love for Him. But the Galatians were being told that they must have faith and keep the law in order to find favor in God’s sight. These are two distinct gospels and Paul pronounced damnation on “that gospel” and the carriers of it (Gal. 1:8, 9).
It is a serious error to mix
anything into the gospel, whether it be keeping the law, many sacraments,
external abilities or anything human such as a human “free will” decision. The gospel is all of God and all of
grace. Though it comes by faith, that
faith is a gift of God’s grace (Eph. 2:8; Philip.
Paul seems almost stunned at
the people of
In addition to this we see in
verse 19, Paul is going to clearly describe for us the purpose of the law. First and foremost it was given because of
transgressions. The issue here is so
that man would see just how sinful and desperate he is. As Paul puts it elsewhere, “But sin, that it
might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin
through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful (Rom. 7:13).” The purpose therefore was to make the weight
of guilt become unbearable for the sinner.
It was not that man did not know many of the things contained in the
law, because we are aware that God had placed them in his heart (Rom.
In the first step the purpose of the law is to give the sinner a sense of his “exceeding sinfulness”. Again, this will not happen with the law itself, but as the Spirit quickens the sinner and he sees his sin for what it is. The law can only show the sinner his sin. It does not have the power to make the sinner right with God (vs. 21). So Paul goes on in verse 22 to explain that the Scriptures (the law) has confined all men. This term confined is sugkleio (soong-kli’-o) and means, “to shut up together, enclose; to shut up on all sides, shut up completely.” The picture is given of fishes that are caught in a net. The net is enclosed around them and they are unable to escape. This is what the law does. It renders man a captive and condemned criminal against the Sovereign King of the universe.
The law not only becomes our condemner, but also our jailer. In verse 23 we see that Paul says that before
faith comes the law keeps us under guard.
He term here for under is the term hupo (hoop-o’) and means
under. Specifically we have seen the
term used in the Scriptures, usually combined with another word such as tasso
to speak of lining up under, as in the case of authority. The law then becomes the authority. We are under its administration and though it
is holy and just and righteous, when we are still in our sins it becomes for us
something detestable. The desire in man
is to be out from under the law, by nature.
In verse 24 we see that the law then becomes our tutor, or as the KJV renders it schoolmaster. The word here is paidagogos (pahee-dag-o-gos’). In the biblical times among the Romans and Greeks a schoolmaster was “a guardian and guide of boys. The name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood (courtesy of the Online Bible). These tutors were strict disciplinarians. Therefore, those that they took care of yearned for the time when they would be out from under their authority. However, Paul says that the law is a tutor unto us in order that we might be led towards Christ, for He is the fulfillment of the law. I is in order that we might be justified by faith, rather than by the law. This is so that all of the glory might go to Christ.
How does your family view the law? Do they view it as something to attain to so that they might gain entrance into heaven? Do they see the law as that which is something they can perfect themselves by? Do they see the law as that which teaches them about the holiness of God and about their sinfulness? Do they love God’s law? If they are believers, do they want to obey God BECAUSE of their love for Him? May God give us discernment in determining our own hearts before Him and may we find ourselves as those who seek to obey the law of God out of love for Him and all that He has done for us in Jesus Christ.
DAY 3:
The Apostle Paul instructs
young Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:8 that “We know that the law is good if one uses
it lawfully.” In other words there is a
useful or proper use of the law. The law
points to true holiness and righteousness before God, as we have seen. It also was intended to show what true love
was, both for God and for one’s fellow man (
Now here we must see the relationship of the law to the gospel. What does the law do? It shows sinners their sin. For instance, many sins are named in verses 9-11 such as unholy, profane, murderers, fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars. However, notice that there is an addition at the end: “and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God (emphasis mine).” The law must be used in the presentation of the gospel because the law reflects the righteous standard of holy God. It not only shows His moral character, but the gospel and the law reflects His hatred of sin and His judgment against sin.
Though there is a distinction between the law and the gospel, they both demand perfect righteousness. However, only one, the gospel can give the righteousness of God. How can it do that? Because the gospel contains the message that Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law and in so doing was able to face the wrath of God on the behalf of sinners and pay the sinners debt, because He had no sin. Without feeling the weight of the law upon sinner’s backs, how will they ever appreciate and indeed receive the gospel of grace. This is the problem with much modern evangelism today. The message that, “Jesus loves you and has a plan for your life” message IS NOT THE GOSPEL!! It is a false gospel. It is not the truth. The true gospel demands that men see themselves under the wrath of God, because they are His enemies. This is the way, as we have seen, that Paul opens the first three chapters of the epistle to the Romans. There must be an understanding of the judgment of God against sin, and this comes via the law, which should be a part of the gospel presentation. If there is no law, there is no standard to define sin. If there is no sin, there is no judgment. If there is no judgment, then there is no need for a savior. Thus the gospel must contain the law.
These means were not only employed by Paul, but by the Lord Jesus Christ. In Luke 10:25-28, Jesus has a small discussion with a certain lawyer and the lawyer asks Him what he must do to inherit eternal life. Notice that Jesus does not start off with come follow me. Rather, He begins with the law. The man breaks the law down to love: love for God, and love for his neighbor. Jesus said, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
However, this man, like the rich young ruler would not and could not see his utter failure to keep the law and so he wanted to justify himself in his hatred of a particular people. So, he asks, “and who is my neighbor?” Jesus goes into the story of the good Samaritan. By the end of the story, it is clear that the lawyer understands that his neighbors are even those who are his enemies.
If we could make things simple, we could see the law from two perspectives. First the law shows us our sin. As Paul said it makes sin “exceedingly sinful”. It should cause us to cry out for mercy. The law kills us. Yet when the gospel comes it reaffirms the standard of the law, but it brings mercy from God and a righteousness from God which teaches us to obey the law. In other words the same law that judges us is the same law that becomes the standard for Christian living.
In Titus 2:12-14 we are told that “the grace of God… teaches us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age.” My question would be, “How does grace do this?” It does this in the person of Christ. In verse fourteen we read that Jesus Christ gave Himself in order that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works. In other words, He has called us to obey the law, not disobey it. This is not the same message that the Judaizers brought to the Galatians. They were saying the one must have faith and keep the law to be saved. I am on the side of Paul and say that salvation is by grace through faith, but that salvation produces in the life of the regenerate believer a love for God’s law and a willingness to obey it, because that is what grace does. It teaches us to deny lawlessness and ungodliness. How can we define what is lawless and ungodly if we do not have the standard of what is lawful and godly?
May the Lord continue to use His law to show sinners their sin. May He use His gospel to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose perfect fulfillment of the law and then His death were for the benefit of everyone who believes on Him. May He use His law today to purify practically His church, though they possess the righteousness of Christ. Let me ask a question in closing. I hope this will be clear, because I know there might be some who would say, “We are not under law, but under grace.” First, I would agree. However, how should we obey God? I can hear many people saying that we should love God and love one another. I would agree. Can we define that love by any other means than by the law? Did Jesus not break the law down to love? Yes He did. May we love God and love our neighbor as Christ our Savior loved and may God receive the glory for the working of His grace in our lives.
Scripture: Psalm 19:7-11; Romans