1) God gave to Adam a law of universal obedience
written in his heart, and a particular precept of not eating the
fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and
evil;a by which he bound him and all his
posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual
obedience;b promised life upon the fulfilling,
and threatened death upon the breach of it, and endued him with
power and ability to keep it.c
(a Genesis
1:27, Ecclesiastes 7:29;
b Romans
10:5; c Galatians
3:10,12)
2) The same law that was first written in the heart of
man continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the
fall,d and was delivered by God upon Mount
Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables, the four
first containing our duty towards God, and the other six, our
duty to man.e
(d Romans
2:14,15; e Deuteronomy 10:4)
3) Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was
pleased to give to the people of Israel ceremonial laws,
containing several typical ordinances, partly of worship,
prefiguring Christ, his graces, actions, sufferings, and
benefits;f and partly holding forth divers
instructions of moral duties,g all which
ceremonial laws being appointed only to the time of reformation,
are, by Jesus Christ the true Messiah and only law-giver, who was
furnished with power from the Father for that end abrogated and
taken away.h
(f Hebrews
10:1, Colossians 2:17;
g 1
Corinthians 5:7; h Colossians 2:14,16,17, Ephesians 2:14,16)
4) To them also he gave sundry judicial laws, which
expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any
now by virtue of that institution; their general equity only
being of moral use.i
(i 1
Corinthians 9:8-10)
5) The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well
justified persons as others, to the obedience
thereof,j 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;k neither doth
Christ in the Gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen this
obligation.l
(j Romans
13:8-10, James
2:8,10-12; k James
2:10,11; l Matthew
5:17-19, Romans
3:31)
6) Although true believers be not under the law as a
covenant of works, to be thereby justified or
condemned,m yet it is of great use to them as
well as to others, in that as a rule of life, informing them of
the will of God and their duty, it directs and binds them to walk
accordingly; discovering also the sinful pollutions of their
natures, hearts, and lives, so as examining themselves thereby,
they may come to further conviction of, humiliation for, and
hatred against, sin;n together with a clearer
sight of the need they have of Christ and the perfection of his
obedience; it is likewise of use to the regenerate to restrain
their corruptions, in that it forbids sin; and the threatenings
of it serve to shew what even their sins deserve, and what
afflictions in this life they may expect for them, although freed
from the curse and unallayed rigour thereof. The promises of it
likewise shew them God's approbation of obedience, and what
blessings they may expect upon the performance thereof, though
not as due to them by the law as a covenant of works; so as man's
doing good and refraining from evil, because the law encourageth
to the one and deterreth from the other, is no evidence of his
being under the law and not under grace.o
(m Romans
6:14, Galatians 2:16, Romans
8:1, Romans
10:4; n Romans
3:20, Romans
7:7, etc; o Romans
6:12-14, 1 Peter
3:8-13)
7) Neither are the aforementioned uses of the law
contrary to the grace of the Gospel, but do sweetly comply with
it,p the Spirit of Christ subduing and enabling
the will of man to do that freely and cheerfully which the will
of God, revealed in the law, requireth to be
done.q
(p Galatians 3:21;
q Ezekiel
36:27)