Book 2, Chapter 6, Section 1 to Book 2, Chapter 8, Section 1

[Alex, Moderator]

Today, we will study chapter 6, which explains our need for Christ. Then, we will look at chapter 7, which examines the three purposes of the law.

6. FALLEN MAN OUGHT TO SEEK REDEMPTION IN CHRIST

1. to 3. The (preached) Word is the primary means by which we are able to know God as Redeemer. “‘Since in the wisdom of God the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of preaching to save those who believe’ [1 Corinthians 1:21]… Although the preaching of the cross does not agree with our human inclination, if we desire to return to God our Author and Maker, from whom we have been estranged, in order that he may again begin to be our Father, we ought nevertheless to embrace it humbly” (p. 341).

We need Christ to reveal the Father to us because we have become “blinded” and “do not perceive what is true” about God in our fallen state (p. 341). Knowing Christ is the only way to know God as Father. “Since… life was in Christ from the beginning [John 1:4], and all the world fell away from it [cf. John 1:10], it is necessary to return to that source” (p. 342).

Calvin provides numerous Old Testament examples which anticipate Christ (the Messiah) as “the hope of all the godly” (p. 345). Admittedly, divine revelation is progressive. In the earliest books of the Bible, the gospel is presented in its most rudimentary form. With subsequent revelation, the person and work of Christ are then gradually unfolded in greater fullness. Some of the examples Calvin provides include the “sacrifices of the law, which plainly and openly taught believers to seek salvation nowhere else than in the atonement that Christ alone carries out” (pp. 342-343); “Abraham’s seed… whose task is to gather up what has been scattered” (p. 343); and the righteous Branch of David upon whom both redemption and salvation depend (p. 345).

4. True faith in God is impossible without faith in Christ. “For this reason Christ himself bade his disciples believe in him, that they might clearly and perfectly believe in God: ‘You believe in God; believe also in me’ [John 14:1]… For Christ is not without reason called ‘the image of the invisible God’ [Colossians 1:15]” (pp. 346-347). “Apart from Christ the saving knowledge of God does not stand. From the beginning of the world he had consequently been set before all the elect that they should look unto him and put their trust in him. In this sense Irenaeus writes that the Father, himself infinite, becomes finite in the Son, for he has accommodated himself to our little measure lest our minds be overwhelmed by the immensity of his glory” (p. 347).

7. THE LAW WAS GIVEN, NOT TO RESTRAIN THE FOLK OF THE OLD COVENANT
UNDER ITSELF, BUT TO FOSTER HOPE OF SALVATION IN CHRIST UNTIL HIS COMING

1. Calvin broadly defines the “law” as “not only the Ten Commandments, which set forth a godly and righteous rule of living, but the form of religion handed down by God through Moses” (p. 348). When the law was given, it was “not done to lead the chosen people away from Christ; but rather to hold their minds in readiness until his coming; even to kindle desire for him, and to strengthen their expectation, in order that they might not grow faint by too long delay” (p. 348). Calvin points out that the ceremonies of the Old Testament do not make sense if they do not point to something greater. “The whole cultus of the law, taken literally and not as shadows and figures corresponding to the truth, will be utterly ridiculous” (p. 349).

2. The law is useless if it does not point us to Christ. The continual monotony of the Old Testament sacrifices was intended to produce a yearning for a final and complete atonement. “For even though they had to come forward daily with new sacrifices to appease God, yet Isaiah promises that all their evil deeds will be atoned for by a single sacrifice [Isaiah 53:5]… [Hence] the author of The Letter to the Hebrews points out fully and clearly in chs. 4 to 11 that the ceremonies are worthless and empty until the time of Christ is reached… [Indeed] righteousness is taught in vain by the commandments until Christ confers it by free imputation and by the Spirit of regeneration” (pp. 350-351).

3. Obedience to the law brings the promise of life, whereas disobedience results in the curse of death. “We cannot [deny] that the reward of eternal salvation awaits complete obedience to the law, as the Lord has promised. On the other hand, it behooves us to examine whether we [can] fulfill that [perfect] obedience… At this point the feebleness of the law shows itself. Because observance of the law is found in none of us, we are excluded from the promises of life, and fall back into the mere curse… For since the teaching of the law is far above human capacity, a man may indeed view from afar the proffered promises, yet he cannot derive any benefit from them… Horrible threats hang over us… so that we discern in the law only the most immediate death” (pp. 351-352).

4. “Therefore if we look only upon the law, we can only be despondent, confused, and despairing in mind, since from it all of us are condemned and accursed [Galatians 3:10]” (p. 352). Still, God’s purpose in giving the law is not to mock us because of our ineptitude. “Even if the promises of the law, in so far as they are conditional, depend upon perfect obedience to the law — which can nowhere be found — they have not been given in vain. For when we have learned that they will be fruitless and ineffectual for us unless God, out of his free goodness, shall receive us without looking at our works, and we in faith embrace that same goodness held forth to us by the gospel, the promises do not lack effectiveness even with the condition attached. For the Lord then freely bestows all things upon us so as to add to the full measure of his kindness this gift also: that not rejecting our imperfect obedience, but rather supplying what is lacking to complete it, he causes us to receive the benefit of the promises of the law as if we had fulfilled their condition” (p. 352). This is the doctrine of justification by faith alone, as expounded by the Reformers.

5. Calvin firmly states that it is impossible for fallen humanity to observe the law. As his primary proof, Calvin points out our inability to keep the greatest commandment. “If we search the remotest past, I say that none of the saints, clad in the body of death [cf. Romans 7:24], has attained to that goal of love so as to love God ‘with all his heart, all his mind, all his soul, and all his might’ [Mark 12:30]” (p. 353). Furthermore, Calvin reminds us that “the Lord, when his disciples asked, ‘Who can be saved?’ [Matthew 19:25], replied: ‘With men this is indeed impossible, but with God all things are possible’ [Matthew 19:26]” (p. 354). Augustine affirmed “in this flesh we never render to God the love we lawfully owe him” (p. 354).

Sections 6 to 9 describe the first use (or function) of the law:

6. The first use of the law is to reveal to us our sin. “It shows God’s righteousness… It warns, informs, convicts, and lastly condemns, every man of his own unrighteousness. For man, blinded and drunk with self-love, must be compelled to know and to confess his own feebleness and impurity… Thus man, schooled in the law, sloughs off the arrogance that previously blinded him” (pp. 354-355). The law exposes our “counterfeit acts of righteousness” and our “multitude of vices.”

7. Not only does the law reveal to us our sin, but the law provokes us to sin more. “The law is like a mirror… just as a mirror shows us the spots on our face… The apostle’s statement is relevant here: ‘Through the law comes knowledge of sin’ [Romans 3:20]... Related to this are these statements: ‘Law slipped in, to increase the trespass’ [Romans 5:20]… There is no doubt that the more clearly the conscience is struck with awareness of its sin, the more the iniquity grows” (p. 355). As a mirror, the law can reveal sin, but not remove it. “For of itself the law can only accuse, condemn, and destroy” (p. 356).

This is not to say that there is fault in the law. Rather, the fault lies with us. When the moral law was first given, God provided us the ability to obey it unto life. After the fall, our relationship with the law was drastically altered. “The law which had been given for salvation, provided it met with suitable hearers, [now] turns into an occasion for sin and death” (p. 356).

8. & 9. The law was not given to destroy the children of God, but to drive them to Christ. Knowing the law, “they come to realize that they stand and are upheld by God’s hand alone; that, naked and empty-handed, they flee to his mercy, repose entirely in it, hide deep within it, and seize upon it alone for righteousness and merit. For God’s mercy is revealed in Christ to all who seek and wait upon it with true faith. In the precepts of the law, God is but the rewarder of perfect righteousness, which all of us lack, and conversely, the severe judge of evil deeds. But in Christ his face shines, full of grace and gentleness, even upon us poor and unworthy sinners” (p. 357).

Sections 10 and 11 describe the second use (or function) of the law:

10. The second use of the law is to restrain evil. Here, the law functions “at least by fear of punishment to restrain certain men who are untouched by any care for what is just and right unless compelled by hearing the dire threats in the law” (p. 358). The law does not inwardly convert sinners, but only restrains their outward activity. This use of the law is necessary to maintain peace and to preserve civil order in society. Calvin cites Paul’s first epistle to Timothy as the Scriptural basis for this understanding of the second use of the law: “The apostle seems specially to have alluded to this function of the law when he teaches ‘that the law is not laid down for the just but for the unjust and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of parents, for manslayers, fornicators, perverts, kidnapers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else runs counter to sound doctrine’ [1 Timothy 2:9-20]. He shows in this that the law is like a halter to check the ragtag and otherwise limitlessly ranging lusts of the flesh” (p. 359).

[Alex, Moderator]

11. Calvin expounds Galatians 3:24 where the law is described as “a tutor unto Christ” and explains how this relates to the first and second uses of the law. Calvin explains that there are two kinds of people whom the law leads to Christ.

“Of the first kind we have already spoken: because they are too full of their own virtue or of the assurance of their own righteousness, they are not fit to receive Christ’s grace unless they first be emptied. Therefore, through the recognition of their own misery, the law brings them down to humility in order thus to prepare them to seek what previously they did not realize they lacked” (p. 359). This is the first use of the law. The law drives the children of God to Christ.

“Men of the second kind have need of a bridle to restrain them from so slackening the reins on the lust of the flesh as to fall clean away from all pursuit of righteousness... Therefore, if [God] does not immediately regenerate those whom he has destined to inherit his Kingdom, until the time of his visitation, he keeps them safe through the works of the law under fear [cf. 1 Peter 2:12]… For all who have at any time groped about in ignorance of God will admit that it happened to them in such a way that the bridle of the law restrained them in some fear and reverence toward God until, regenerated by the Spirit, they began wholeheartedly to love him” (p. 360). This is the second use of the law. It graciously restrains the elect, who are yet to be regenerated, from falling into deeper sin.

Sections 12 to 15 describe the third use (or function) of the law:

12. The third use of the law is to be the rule of life for believers. “The third and principal use, which pertains more closely to the proper purpose of the law, finds its place among believers in whose hearts the Spirit of God already lives and reigns” (p. 360). The law is instructional. Calvin uses the illustration of willing servants seeking to learn more of their master’s will by carefully observing his ways in order to conform themselves to it. “And not one of us may escape from this necessity. For no man has heretofore attained to such wisdom as to be unable, from the daily instruction of the law, to make fresh progress toward a purer knowledge of the divine will” (p. 360). The law is for exhortation. “[Here is] the great usefulness of the law: the Lord instructs by their reading of it those whom he inwardly instills with a readiness to obey. He lays hold not only of the precepts, but the accompanying promise of grace” (p. 361).

For Calvin, the third use of the law is the principal one, in contrast to Luther who believed the law’s chief function was to condemn (p. 348; fn. 1). The first and second uses of the law only became necessary after the fall. But, the third use of the law has always been operational. Before the fall, Adam had the law written upon his heart. For the regenerated person, the law is again written on his heart by the Holy Spirit (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 10:16). All those in live in heaven will walk according to God’s law.

13. Calvin refers to people who deny that the law is operational for believers as “ignorant persons.” Calvin insists that the law continues to be effect in the lives of believers. For instance, it would be ludicrous to believe that the obligation to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength can be lifted. God’s law is eternal. “There are not many rules, but one everlasting and unchangeable rule to live by… [and] it is just as applicable to every age, even to the end of the world” (p. 362).
The relationship that believers have with the law is markedly different than that of unbelievers. For believers, the law no longer functions like a policeman. It is a goal to aim towards with the confidence of realizing perfect obedience in future glory. “For the law is not now acting toward us as a rigorous enforcement officer... The law points out the goal toward which throughout life we are to strive… Indeed, this whole life is a race [cf. 1 Corinthians 9:24-26]; when its course has been run, the Lord will grant us to attain that goal to which our efforts now press forward from afar” (p. 362).

14. & 15. In what sense has the law been abrogated for believers? In this sense: believers are freed from its condemnation. The law “may no longer condemn and destroy their consciences by frightening and confounding them. Paul teaches clearly enough such an abrogation of the law [cf. Romans 7:6]” (p. 362). But, the moral requirements of the law have not been abrogated. “When the Lord testifies that he ‘came not to abolish the law but to fulfill it’ and that ‘until heaven and earth pass away... not a jot will pass away from the law until all is accomplished’ [Matthew 5:17-18], he sufficiently confirms that by his coming nothing is going to be taken away from the observance of the law… Therefore through Christ the teaching of the law remains inviolable; by teaching, admonishing, reproving, and correcting, it forms us and prepares us for every good work [cf. 2 Timothy 3:16-17]” (p. 363). “This always remains an unassailable fact: no part of the authority of the law is withdrawn without our having always to receive it with the same veneration and obedience” (p. 364).

16. & 17. Furthermore, we are released from the ceremonial requirements of the law because they have been fulfilled in Christ. The ceremonies of the Old Testament are no longer in effect. “They are shadows whose substance exists for us in Christ [Colossians 2:17]” (p. 364). Reversion back to ceremonies would only diminish their power and render their substance meaningless. Expounding on Colossians 2:13-14, Calvin states that “we hold that ceremonies, considered in themselves, are very appropriately called ‘written bonds against’ the salvation of men. For they were, so to speak, binding legal documents, which attested men’s obligation. When the false apostles wanted to bind the Christian church again to observe them, Paul with good reason, more profoundly restating their ultimate purpose, warned the Colossians into what danger they would slip back if they allowed themselves to be subjugated to the ceremonial law in this way [Colossians 2:16 ff.]. For at the same time they [would be] deprived of the benefit of Christ, since, when once he had carried out the eternal atonement, he abolished those daily observances, which were able only to attest sins but could do nothing to blot them out” (p. 366).

8. EXPLANATION OF THE MORAL LAW (THE TEN COMMANDMENTS)

1. The law teaches us true knowledge of God (e.g., his majesty) and of ourselves (e.g. our utter poverty). God has graciously endued a “natural law” to all humans which he has engraved onto our hearts in the form of conscience. It is “an inner witness” that attests to the difference between good and evil and accuses us when we fail in our duty to God (p. 368; also recall our previous notes from book 2, chapter 2, sections 22-24). There are, however, limitations to natural law, owing to human sinfulness and our tendency to suppress this inner witness. “Accordingly (because it is necessary both for our dullness and for our arrogance), the Lord has provided us with a written law to give us a clearer witness of what was too obscure in the natural law, shake off our listlessness, and strike more vigorously our mind and memory” (p. 368). The written law was given because natural law was inadequate.

Next time, we will continue our study of the moral law and carefully examine its content with an in depth study of the Ten Commandments.