Nov 15
10
The law is lawfully used as a means of conviction of sin: for this
purpose it was promulgated (established) at Sinai. The law entered, that
sin might abound: not to make men more wicked, though occasionally and
by abuse it has that effect, but to make them sensible how wicked they
are. Having God’s law in our hands, we are no longer to form our
judgments by the maxims and customs of the world, where evil is called
good, and good evil; but are to try every principle, temper, and
practice, by this standard. Could men be prevailed upon to do this, they
would soon listen to the Gospel with attention. On some the Spirit of
God does thus prevail: then they earnestly make the jailer’s inquiry,
“What must I do to be saved?” Here the work of grace begins; and the
sinner, condemned in his own conscience, is brought to Jesus for life.
When we use the law as a glass to behold the glory of God, we use it
lawfully. His glory is eminently revealed in Christ; but much of it is
with a special reference to the law, and cannot be otherwise discerned.
We see the perfection and excellence of the law in his life. God was
glorified by his obedience as a man. What a perfect character did he
exhibit! Yet it is no other than a transcript of the law. Such would
have been the character of Adam and all his race, had the law been duly
obeyed. It appears therefore a wise and holy institution, fully capable
of displaying that perfection of conduct by which man would have
answered the end of his creation. And we see the inviolable strictness
of the law in his death, There the glory of God in the law is
manifested. Though he was the beloved Son, and had yielded personal
obedience in the utmost perfection, yet, when he stood in our place to
make atonement for sin, he was not spared. From what he endured in
Gethsemane and upon the cross, we learn the meaning of that awful
sentence, “The soul that sinneth shall die.”
John Newton