The relationship between the law (what God requires of us) and the gospel (what God freely bestows on us) is a very practical question for our Christian lives! Given the mercy and love of Christ, what are we to make of his promised judgment, holy commands, and severe warnings? There are two errors to avoid in response to this question; legalism, which makes our obedience the grounds and condition of our acceptance with God; and antinomianism, which undermines the necessity of our obedience by making appeal to our acceptance with God in Christ by grace alone.
Acknowledging these errors, the question remains: what are we to make of the judgment, warnings, and commands of Christ?
The gospel in no way diminishes but in fact strengthens our responsibility to obey because as Christians we are recipients of the most precious gifts from God: Christ himself and in him adoption into God’s family as inheritors of eternal life and the new creation.
Our Debt Paid
God created Adam and placed him in a garden where he was given life on condition of his obedience and threatened with death upon disobedience. Adam disobeyed. Ever since, before God, all of mankind owes a debt of sin and a debt of life-conferring obedience.
Into these circumstances, Christ descended from heaven as our substitute to pay the ransom our debts required. By his suffering the just penalty for our sin, namely death, he paid our debt of sin, and by his righteous life he has paid our debt of obedience. Now, from heaven, Christ offers us freedom from these burdens through faith in him as our substitute.
Our Debt Increased
Not only are our debts of sin and life-conferring obedience fully paid, we are given immense spiritual riches: adoption as sons with a status identical to that of Christ himself. We are one with him in eternal union. His inheritance is our inheritance. His place is our place. With this freedom and these riches, what shall we say of our responsibility toward God?
In negative terms, we are not free in Christ in the sense of absolute freedom to do what is contrary to the will of our God. Rather, our freedom is relative. It is not absolute. It is with respect to the condemning voice of God’s holy law that we are said to be free. We are no longer captive to Satan and the dominating power of sin. We are free from him and from sin’s overwhelming power. We are not free from God.
In positive terms, we remain subject to God and the will of God as expressed in his holy law. As recipients of redemptive grace, our subjection to his will is fortified by both grace and nature; that is, not only our creation by God but also our redemption by him. This greatly strengthens our obligation to render him obedience.
Conclusion
Perhaps we misuse the doctrines of grace to blunt the commanding power of God’s law by saying “As a recipient of grace, my obedience is unnecessary.” Or perhaps we misuse the doctrine of sin to silence the application of God’s law in our lives, saying to ourselves “As a sinner, I cannot obey.” In either case, strong exhortations to obedience are evaded on theological grounds. In the former case, such exhortations are taken as an expression of a deficient view of grace, in the latter case, they are taken as an overestimation of our nature as sinful creatures. How should we respond to these objections?
Scripture teaches our obedience is unnecessary in a single context; namely, in that of the grounds of our acceptance before God. In the general context of our lives, our obedience is indeed necessary. Furthermore, the doctrine of sin is wisely used to bring humility, but never complacency. As sinful creatures we could never obey, but Christ fills us with his spirit. He obeyed and continues to obey. We are in him. In him, we have the power to obey in growing measure from the bottom of our souls.
Let us remember the words of Scripture: “You are not your own.” Our duty to keep the law is fortified by the gospel.1 In no way does Christ abolish the law.2 Brothers, we are debtors by nature as creatures but even more so as Christians.3 When the finest Christian has done all for Christ — even given their bodies over to be burned — there will be no boasting but we will all say together as Christ commanded us: “We are unworthy servants and we have only done our duty.”4
- The Westminster Confession makes this point in Chapter 19 Article 5: “Neither does Christ in any way dissolve but much strengthen this obligation. [to the moral law]”
- Both Paul and Christ makes this point explicitly. Paul: “Do we overthrow the law by this faith? On the contrary, we uphold the law.” (Romans 3:31) Christ: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20)
- These are the words of Paul in Romans 8:12. John Piper and others have criticized “the debtors ethic” as implying we can adequately repay God for his grace, but these are the plain words of Holy Scripture. To describe our responsibility as a debt is Biblical.
- Luke 17:10
