Is The Christian Under Law Or Not Under Law? -- By: Jack Kineer

Journal: Reformed Presbyterian Theological Journal
Volume: RPTJ 01:1 (Fall 2014)
Article: Is The Christian Under Law Or Not Under Law?
Author: Jack Kineer


Is The Christian Under Law Or Not Under Law?

Jack Kineer

Adjunct Professor of New Testament Studies
Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary

The Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF) teaches that the moral law of God, summarized in the Ten Commandments, is binding on all men, whether believers or unbelievers. All humans, therefore, are under the moral law as a duty owed to God according to the Westminster Confession.

God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, 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. (Westminster Confession of Faith 19:1)

This law, after his fall, continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables; the first four commandments containing our duty towards God; and the other six, our duty to man. (WCF 19:2)

The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that, not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God, the Creator, who gave it. Neither doth Christ, in the Gospel, any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation. (WCF 19:5)

But for many Christians, such teaching seems to contradict the explicit teaching of the Apostle Paul that the believer is not under law.

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.1 (Rom. 6:14 NIV)

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. (Gal. 3:23–25)

If the Bible clearly says that the believer is not under law, how can the confession affirm just the opposite? It is not that the Westminster divines were unaware of the above passages. Indeed, the recognized the tension and added that “Neither doth Christ, in the Gospel, any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.”

In the Westminster standards, the term “law” is used in at least four different senses. It is used for the moral law, for the Old Covenant, for the ceremonies required under the Old Covenant and for the judicial laws of the Old Covenant.

You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
Click here to subscribe
visitor : : uid: ()