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Dispensationalism and the Law of God Part 1
A.W. Pink
When the Son of God took upon Him the form of a servant, He announced, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart" (Psa. 40:8). The sweet Psalmist of Israel declared, "The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver... O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day... Great peace have they which love Thy law: and nothing shall offend them" (Psa. 119:72, 97, 165). The Apostle to the Gentiles wrote, "The law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good... The law is spiritual... I delight in the law of God after the inward man" (Rom. 7:12, 14, 22). In view of these passages, how solemn and how sad is the opposition against the holy Law of God that we now behold on every side.
It is grievous beyond expression to find so many who refused the fables of "Higher Criticism" and who have boldly stood for the full inspiration and Divine authority of the Sacred Scriptures, using their influence against the holy Law of God, and telling their hearers that the few now left who insist upon the law being the believer's Rule of Life, are only desirous of "bringing them into bondage." Satan indeed secured a great triumph when he succeeded in getting the "champions of orthodoxy" to declare that Christians are dead to the law in every sense, and that its requirements are no longer binding upon them. The vagaries of "Dispensationalism" have had much to do with this modern outcry against the Law of God, and unspeakably solemn is it to think of what their proponents will have to answer for in the Day to come, when they must render an account unto the Law Giver Himself. O that it may please the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of some of them before it is too late.
There have been four chief mistakes made by our moderns on the subject of the Law. First, that it was never given by God until He promulgated it upon Mount Sinai. Second, that it was given only to and for the nation of Israel, the fleshly descendants of Jacob. Third, that Christians are not under it in any sense, and that every effort to press it upon them is an attempt to deprive them of their spiritual liberty. Fourth, that law and grace are mutually antagonistic, and can no more be combined than can oil and water; that they are opposing principles, the one being the enemy of the other. These are the principal errors which have been vigorously propagated the past two or three generations by many who were, and are, regarded as the leading contenders for the Faith once delivered to the saints. Is it too much to ask the reader to follow us now as we seek to challenge these positions, to test them by Holy Writ?
Before proceeding further, let us give a definition of what we intend by the Law of God. "It is the eternal rule of righteousness, which is essential to the being and glory of God's moral government and kingdom, and is in a sense the foundation of it, pointing out and declaring the duty of rational creatures, or moral agents, as what is fit and proper to be required of them, and containing the rule of God's conduct toward them, as their Moral Governor" (Sam. Hopkins, 1800). That 'eternal rule of righteousness" was formally summarized in the Ten Commandments which were written by the finger of Jehovah on the two tables of stone. Those we speak of as "the moral law" in distinction from the ceremonial.
"What is the moral law? the moral law is the declaration of the will of God to mankind, directing and binding every one to personal, perfect, and perpetual conformity and obedience thereunto, in the frame and disposition of the whole man, soul and body, and in performance of all those duties of holiness and righteousness which he oweth to God and man: promising life upon the fulfilling, and threatening death upon the breach of it. Question: is there any use of the moral law to man since the Fall? Answer: although no man since the Fall can attain righteousness and life by the moral law; yet there is great use thereof, as well common to all men, as peculiar either to the unregenerate, or the regenerate. Question: of what use is the moral law to all men? Answer: the moral law is of use to all men, to inform them of the holy nature and will of God, and of their duty binding them to walk accordingly; to convince them of their disability to keep it, and of the sinful pollution of their nature, hearts, and lives; to humble 'them in the sense of their sin and misery, and thereby help them to a cleaner sight of the need they have of Christ, and of the perfection of His obedience" (Westminster Catechism). The "Westminster Catechism" was drawn up by many of the ablest of the Puritans, assembling first in 1643. It is still the standard of the Scottish Presbyterians, and was adopted by the synod of New York and Philadelphia in 1788. We have transcribed the above, not because we regard them as of any final authority, but because the definitions given are superior to any that we can frame.
"What is the moral law? I define it to be the holy, just, and good will of God made known and promulgated to His creatures in all those particulars, wherein He requires their perfect obedience, in order to their happiness. The law is the discovery of His will: for the Almighty Creator and sovereign Lord of Heaven and earth governs all His works and creatures according to the good pleasure of His own will.
"1. The Lord God, the Almighty Creator of all things visible and invisible, has an unalienable right to make laws for the government of His creatures. This right is founded in His absolute dominion on and sovereignty over them. They are His property, the work of His hands. He hath created and made them, and not they themselves. Their life, and all things belonging to it are His, coming from His gift, and continued by His bounty; and therefore He has a most indisputable claim to their obedience. What He requires, they must perform; because they are His creatures. The relation between the Creator and His creatures puts them under a necessity of obeying His law and will, or else of suffering whatever He shall threaten to inflict upon their disobedience.
"2. The Law of the Lord God, the Almighty Creator, is unalterable. It changeth not; for it is the copy of God's most holy mind and will, in which there can be no variableness, neither shadow of turning. If the mind and will of God were to change, then God would be a changeable being, and whatever is changeable is imperfect; but God is perfect, therefore His mind and will change not. His Word will He not break, nor alter the Law that has gone out of His mouth. His infinite wisdom and His almighty power stand engaged to maintain its dignity, that it may be always an holy, just, and good law, which He will not break or alter.
"3. The moral law, which the Lord God revealed to Adam in Paradise, required of him perfect uninterrupted obedience. The whole moral law is summed up in one word, love; love to God for the blessings of creation and providence, and love to man for God's sake. This love was the indispensable homage due to the Creator. It could not be alienated from Him, and given to any other object without idolatry; for which reason the moral law is unalterable. If a man withdraw his love in the least from God, he breaks that law which positively enjoins him to love the Lord his God with all his heart, with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength."
4. The law given to Adam being unalterable, all his descendants are bound to keep it; for they are all under the law, as God's creatures. His will is the indispensable rule of their obedience. He requires their love, and if they refuse to give it to Him, then their will is opposite to His, which is rebellion against their sovereign Lord, and which must bring upon them swift destruction" (W. Romaine, 1760).
The law was given to Adam in a twofold manner: subjectively and objectively. Subjectively, God endowed our first parents with a nature suited to and responding unto all the requirements of His holy will. The Creator placed in Adam's heart holy instincts and inclinations unto whatsoever He commanded, and an aversion for all which He prohibited. As it is the "nature" of beasts to care for their young, for birds to build nests before they lay their eggs, for ants to lay by a store of food for the winter, so it was the "nature" of unfallen man to love and fear God, and seek His glory in a spiritual manner. This was wrought into the very constitution of his soul and spirit, enlightening his understanding, inclining his affections, and moving his will Godwards. He was endowed with inward abilities suited to every duty required from him. It is one of the many errors of Plymouth Brethrenism (echoed from Socinianism) that Adam had merely a negative "innocence," and lacked a positive righteousness and holiness.
In proof of what has been affirmed in the preceding paragraph, we appeal to Genesis 1:26, "And God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness.'' This cannot mean less than that, in his original state, man reflected in his nature the moral perfections of God -- love, wisdom, holiness. That Adam was endowed with spiritual life is clear from the fact that in the day he disobeyed his Maker, he died spiritually, and he could not have done so unless he had first been in possession of spiritual life. That Adam, and all his posterity as federally represented by him were originally in possession of spiritual life is clear from Ephesians 4:18, where his fallen children are declared to be "alienated from the LIFE OF GOD": how could they be "alienated from" that life, had it never been theirs? That the Law of God was written upon Adam's heart in the day of his creation, that this formed his very "nature," or the characteristic constitution of his soul (distinguishing him from the beasts), and that his being created in the image and likeness of God signified that his nature reflected His moral perfections, is clear from the fact that in regeneration the elect are "renewed in knowledge after the image of Him that created him" (Col. 3:10), which is amplified in Ephesians 4:24 as, "which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."
Though all his descendants fell in and with Adam, their federal head, and have inherited from him a depraved nature and constitution, being born into this world "dead in trespasses and sins," nevertheless, they still bear clear traces of that Law of God which was, originally, written on their first parent's heart. Positive proof of this is furnished in Romans 2:14, 15, "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, (the scriptural revelation of the same), are a law unto themselves: Which show the work of the law written in their hearts." The "work of the law" is that which the law does, namely, instructs concerning the goodness and badness of actions, teaching men what is right and wrong. In honouring their parents, paying their debts, being kind to the poor, men do (some o~ "the things contained in the law," for those are actions which the law prescribes; and thereby they give evidence that the law was once written on their hearts. The effects thereof are sufficient to render men inexcusable, but not enough to direct them in the way of holiness and happiness.
But Adam also had the Law of God set before him objectively. Being "made upright" (Eccl. 7:29), or perfectly holy, necessarily supposes a rule of conduct, or that there was a standard to determine right and wrong in moral character and action; in other words, man was placed under moral government, which supposes a law requiring perfect obedience of him -- defining his whole duty -- and forbidding all disobedience on pain of suffering the just dessert of it. He was required to love God with all his heart, and his neighbor as himself; and to express this in all proper ways, and to obey every precept which God should give him. To suppose otherwise would be to deny that man was treated as a moral agent at his creation. Nor does this conclusion rest merely on logical supposition. While it be true that no particular account is found in Genesis of maws being placed under this moral government, yet it may be clearly demonstrated from what has been since revealed.
The Apostle Paul, speaking of the law under which all mankind are, asserts the tenor of it in these words, "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them" (Gal. 3:10). Now that "law" must have existed before man sinned, and while he had opportunity and was in a capacity to "continue" to do everything required by it; for if man, when in those circumstances, was not under law, with this sanction, and bound by it, there could be no reason or propriety in making this requirement of such a penalty, when man had already violated it, and rendered it impossible to do what it required. It necessarily follows, therefore, that man was originally made under the law, when in a state of innocency, which denounced a curse upon him, if he failed to render perfect obedience!
This is further confirmed by what the Apostle says of the law given to man, in his primitive state, namely, that it was "(ordained) unto life" (Rom. 7:10), and that the man who doeth the things required by it "shall live by them" (Rom. 10:5). This must refer to the original law given to man when innocent, or before he sinned; for no such law could be ordained or given "unto life," that is, proposing and promising life, on this condition, since sin took place; for it is impossible that men, since the first apostasy, should obtain "life" in this way! This the Apostle plainly observes in his own case: "the commandment, which was ordained (or "given"), unto life, I found to be unto death" (Rom. 7:10). Thus, the law given to man in the day of his creation, and which threatened death for transgression, also promised life to him upon obedience!
A careful study of the book of Genesis reveals the fact that, from the beginning, all the posterity of Adam were under the Law of God, and that they possessed a knowledge of the same. It is passing strange that anyone should imagine the opposite: Romans 4:5 plainly enough declares, "Where no law is, there is no transgression." If the early descendants of Adam had not been under the Law of God, then they had been left without any Divine standard for the regulation of their conduct, they had been without any moral government and consequently, none of their actions had been either good or evil. To what gross absurdities does a departure from Holy Writ reduce us!
"Sin is not imputed when there is no law" (Rom. 5:13). What could be plainer than that? If from Adam to Moses men had not been under the Law of God, then none of their actions would have deserved punishment, for it is a breach of His law only which subjects men to God's displeasure and penalty. How could God charge Cain with the murder of Abel, had there been no law forbidding murder? By what authority did Noah curse his son (which curse was approved by God Himself) if there was then no commandment to "honour" parents? Why was Abimelech held guilty for taking unto himself the wife of Abraham, had there been no law forbidding the same? God Himself told him "I also withheld thee from sinning against Me: therefore suffered I thee not to touch her" (Gen. 20:6). "Sinning" against what? why, the commandment "thou shalt not commit adultery"! Why should Judah say "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt" (Gen. 38:24) when he learned his daughter-in-law had "played the harlot," unless the same law as Leviticus 21:9 had then been in force: "And the daughter of any priest, if she profane herself by playing the whore, she profaneth her father: she shall be burnt with fire"!
Noah was a "preacher of righteousness" (2 Peter 2:5), and the standard or rule of "righteousness" is the law. Noah pressed upon the Antediluplans the holy claims of God, denounced their rebellions against Him, and threatened them with the certain doom awaiting them if they repented not and turned from their evil ways. The sending of the Flood upon the world of the ungodly, is clear proof that God was then "imputing sins" and executing the penalty of His law. Once more: "I made a covenant with mine eyes; why then should I think upon a maid?" (Job 31:1): read through the whole of that chapter, and then ask, If the holy Law of God was unknown to men in those early times, where had Job learned such a high standard of morality and piety? An echo will still answer "where!" 0 the blindness of men who affirm that there was no Divine law given before Sinai. --A.W.P
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