The Law and the Gospel

We have seen that the three overarching covenants of works, redemption, and grace summarize the whole counsel of God. But they also give rise to the law/gospel contrast, on which the great Reformed doctrine of justification by grace alone through faith alone is based. It teaches that, in Christ, we are not justified by our works of the law, but on the basis of Christ’s works of obedience to the law. In other words, we are not justified by the law but by the gospel. The Reformed doctrine of sanctification by grace through faith is based on the gospel/law continuum in sanctification. In sanctification, the gospel frees us to obey God’s good law more and more, under grace—not to clear our guilt or obtain righteousness, but to know Christ more, to enjoy Him, and to reflect Him to others.

Understanding biblical and Reformed covenant theology, together with its law/gospel framework, is essential to living a faithful Christian life, to the communion of the saints, and to faithful pastoral ministry. The Bible’s law/gospel theology is one great fruit of Reformed covenant theology. It helps the believer to learn the difference between legal obedience and gospel obedience, between legal faith and gospel faith, between legal repentance and gospel repentance, and between legal works and gospel works. The Christian is on a journey to put off the old legalistic way of life that he lived under Adam and to learn to live faithfully under the grace of the gospel for the glory of Jesus. It takes a lifetime to put the legal temper to death and to put on the gracious, joyful frame of mind that we learn under the gospel of Christ.

Second London Confession 13.3 speaks of the gospel/law continuum in sanctification. It teaches that sanctification involves “pressing after an heavenly life, in evangelical obedience to all the commands” (emphasis added). When the confession was written, “evangelical obedience” (meaning gospel obedience) was a term that was always set in contrast to “legal obedience.” Unless the believer lives upon the finished work of Christ, he will be tempted to return to the law as a means of clearing his guilt, satisfying God, and achieving righteousness. But in Christ, our obedience to God’s law is to be motivated by the gospel of grace, not by trying to clear our guilt, overcome slavish anxieties, or win God’s righteous verdict.

Second London Confession 21.1 speaks of the law/gospel contrast. It says, “The liberty which Christ hath purchased for believers under the gospel, consists in their freedom from the guilt of sin, the condemning wrath of God, the rigor and curse of the law” (emphasis added). The gospel, therefore, frees us from the curse of the law. Second London Confession 19.7 describes the gospel/law continuum, saying, “Neither are the aforementioned uses of the law contrary to the grace of the gospel, but do sweetly comply with it” (emphasis added). The gospel leads to fulfilling the law.

To understand the law and the gospel, we have to understand that the three overarching covenants of Scripture reveal the law as a covenant (covenant of works), the gospel as a promise (covenant of redemption), and the gospel as a covenant (covenant of grace). We might speak of these covenants more loosely in terms of the law, the gospel, and gospel (or evangelical) obedience. Evangelical obedience in the covenant of grace is faithful obedience to God’s good law on the basis of and in light of Christ’s free and gracious redemption. Or as it has been said: guilt, grace, and gratitude. This law/gospel theology is distinctively Reformed and is the teaching of the Reformed Baptist confessions of faith because it flows directly from the overarching covenants of Reformed theology. Without a clear grasp on this law/gospel theology, rooted in the covenants, Christians will not have all the resources they need to fight off the assaults of Satan, the world, and the flesh, and to live faithfully before God and others.

The Reformed Tradition on Law and Gospel

Proper orthodox Reformed hermeneutics leads to a sound doctrine of law and gospel. In commenting on Romans 10:9, John Calvin wrote the following:

Do you see how he makes this the distinction between law and gospel: that the former attributes righteousness to works, the latter bestows free righteousness apart from the help of works? This is an important passage, and one that can extricate us from many difficulties if we understand that that righteousness which is given us through the gospel has been freed of all conditions of the law.56

Theodore Beza, Calvin’s successor in Geneva, said the following about the law and the gospel:

We divide this Word into two principal parts or kinds: the one is called the “Law,” the other the “Gospel.” For all the rest can be gathered under the one or other of these two headings. . . . Ignorance of this distinction between Law and Gospel is one of the principal sources of the abuses which corrupted and still corrupt Christianity.57

He believed “this Word” is divided into law and gospel. He was speaking of hermeneutics. The great Reformed theologian Herman Bavinck said, “But the Word of God, both as law and gospel, is the revelation of the will of God, the promulgation of the covenant of works and the covenant of grace.”58 He continued, “God uses His Word to make His will known in the area of morality and spirituality, and it must be differentiated as law and gospel.”59 Bavinck then went on to describe the relationship between the law and the gospel:

The law proceeds from God’s holiness, the gospel from God’s grace; the law is known from nature, the gospel only from special revelation; the law demands perfect righteousness, but the gospel grants it; the law leads people to eternal life by works, and the gospel produces good works from the riches of the eternal life granted in faith; the law presently condemns people, and the gospel acquits them; the law addresses itself to all people, and the gospel only to those who live within its hearing.60

Sadly today, many believe that the distinction between the law and the gospel is a Lutheran distinction. But Louis Berkhof, a Reformed theologian, correctly said,

The churches of the Reformation from the very beginning distinguished between the law and the gospel as the two parts of the Word of God as a means of grace. This distinction was not understood to be identical with that between the Old and the New Testament, but was regarded as a distinction that applies to both testaments.61

Historic Reformed Baptists held firmly to this principle of the Reformation, which is evident throughout their writings. For example, Benjamin Keach wrote,

That doctrine which confounds the terms of the law and the gospel together in point of justification, is a false and corrupt doctrine. But the doctrine that mixes sincere obedience or works of any kind done by us with faith in point of justification, confounds the terms of the law and the gospel together in point of justification; therefore, that doctrine is a false and corrupt doctrine.62

The great English Baptist, Charles Spurgeon, was very strong on the need to distinguish rightly between the law and the gospel. He said,

There is no point upon which men make greater mistakes than upon the relation which exists between the law and the gospel. Some men put the law instead of the gospel: others put the gospel instead of the law; some modify the law and the gospel, and preach neither law nor gospel: and others entirely abrogate the law, by bringing in the gospel. Many there are who think that the law is the gospel, and who teach that men by good works of benevolence, honesty, righteousness, and sobriety, may be saved. Such men do err. On the other hand, many teach that the gospel is a law; that it has certain commands in it, by obedience to which, men are meritoriously saved; such men err from the truth, and understand it not. A certain class maintain that the law and the gospel are mixed, and that partly by observance of the law, and partly by God’s grace, men are saved. These men understand not the truth, and are false teachers.63

In his recent work on covenant theology, Sam Renihan, a Reformed Baptist, has a discussion of the law and the gospel near the beginning of his book. Regarding the doctrinal distinction between law and gospel, he writes,

The law and the gospel are two opposite paths to a righteous standing before God: a perfect record of personal obedience, or a perfect record of imputed obedience. This substantial distinction between the law and the gospel is the foundational bedrock and common denominator of Reformed covenant theology. If rejected, the heart of the “protest” against Rome is rejected.64

If you would like to do some further reading on the doctrine of the law and the gospel, I highly recommend A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel by John Colquhoun.65 Colquhoun (pronounced ka-hoon) held to the Scottish marrow theology, which has sometimes been accused of denying definite atonement or of being a form of sneaky antinomianism. But, in fact, the marrow controversy (1717–1720) was nothing other than a Reformed orthodox and confessional correction to the neonomianism (legalism) that had developed in Scottish Presbyterianism.66 The heart of the marrow theology was to call the church away from legal obedience and to return to evangelical obedience, which is obedience to Christ’s good law in step with the gospel (Gal. 2:14).67

What the Law/Gospel Distinction is Not

The doctrinal distinction between the law and the gospel is not the same as the distinction between the Old and New Testaments. While in a historical sense, there is a proper distinction between the old covenant as law and the new covenant as gospel, that is not what is intended by the doctrinal or theological distinction between law and gospel. Doctrinally speaking, both testaments contain God’s good law and gracious gospel.

Furthermore, the distinction between law and gospel does not deny the absolute importance of the law of God in the life of the believer. Some antinomians wrongly teach that the law is bad while the gospel is good. They say that if the law is preached, it should only preached as a way to convict sinners of guilt in order to prepare them to hear the gospel. When it comes to the sanctification of believers, antinomians think that believers only need to hear the gospel and no longer need the preaching of the imperatives of God’s good law. But as we saw in the chapter on the law of God, the Bible teaches the normative use of the law (third use), which directs the believer in love and good works.

Additionally, the distinction between the law and the gospel does not relegate the gospel to evangelizing unbelievers or appropriate the law by itself to discipling believers. That is legalism. Both law and gospel (the whole Word of God) are necessary for the evangelism of unbelievers and the discipleship of believers. The true distinction between the law and the gospel does not separate them, as though either may be emphasized, taught, or even understood without the other. Rather, the Bible teaches that both the law and the gospel are good and holy and that both are absolutely necessary for the conversion of sinners and the sanctification of saints. Faithful preachers proclaim both law and gospel in their right relationship. That is what it means to proclaim the whole counsel of God.

The Law “Largely Speaking”
and the Law “Strictly Speaking”

To understand the distinction between the law and the gospel, we need to look at the two different ways the Bible speaks of the law; then we will look at the two ways the Bible speaks of the gospel. First, consider the two ways the Bible speaks of the law: “largely” and “strictly.” This distinction can be found in the writings of the English Puritans, including Anthony Burgess, John Colquhoun, and the early Particular Baptist John Gill.

The Law, Largely Speaking

The law, largely speaking, includes God’s law as well as His promise to reward obedience and punish disobedience. The law, in this broad sense, is sometimes called the “law covenant,” which is the covenant of works. What makes the law a covenant is the fact that it has a promise of life attached to its commands. The law, largely speaking, commands perfect obedience and promises eternal life to those who obey it perfectly, but it also threatens eternal death to those who break it.

We find Scripture speaking of the law as a covenant in various passages. Romans 10:5 says, “For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandment shall live by them.” Notice that God promises “life” to those who “do” the commands. Galatians 3:12 says, “The law is not of faith, rather, ‘The one who does them shall live by them.’” Galatians 3:10 threatens the curse of death to those who break the law: “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’” So the law, largely speaking, is the covenant of works, which promised justification and eternal life to perfect obedience of the law but threatens eternal death for any sin at all.

The Law, Strictly Speaking

The law, strictly speaking, is God’s law without any promises or threats attached to it. The law in this sense still comes with God’s authority, but threatens no harm and offers no blessing in itself. This is the “law as a standard” or “rule of life.”

Sometimes this strict law, or non-covenantal law, is called the “naked law” or the “bare law.” The law, strictly speaking, is the moral law summarized in the Ten Commandments as well as any positive laws that God gives to His people. Scripture speaks of the law in this strict sense in several places. In Romans 7:22, Paul says, “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being.” Romans 8:4 says that Christ came “in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us.” Paul says that we are not “outside the law of God but under the law of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:21). Believers are told to “fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2). James speaks of “the law of liberty” (1:25; 2:12) and the “royal law” (2:8), both of which refer to the Ten Commandments (2:10–11). In the new covenant, the law in its strict sense is written on our hearts. God says, “I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel. . . . I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts” (Heb. 8:8–10). Notice that none of these passages refer to the law as the way to justification and eternal life, but only as a guide, or rule, to direct the believer in his sanctification.

The Gospel “Strictly Speaking”
and the Gospel “Largely Speaking”

Just as we can speak of the law strictly and largely, so also we can speak of the gospel strictly and largely. The gospel strictly is the gospel as a promise, while the gospel largely includes the promise of the gospel in relation to the law as a standard. Consider the difference between the gospel strictly and the gospel largely.

The Gospel, Strictly Speaking

The gospel, strictly speaking, is a pure promise of redemption, and there are no commands involved at all, while the gospel, largely speaking, commands obedience on the basis of God’s promise of eternal life. The gospel, strictly speaking, is nothing other than Christ’s fulfillment of the law in the covenant of redemption by His earthly life of obedience, death on the cross, and resurrection. The gospel, strictly speaking, is the announcement of Christ’s accomplished redemption along with the promises offered on that basis.

Paul says, “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel . . . that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:1–4). This passage speaks of Christ’s keeping of the law as a covenant by His obedience in the covenant of redemption in order to obtain the blessing of eternal life, which included resurrection for Himself and every grace for His people. Where Adam sinned against God’s law in the covenant of works, Jesus obeyed the command to “do this and live” in the covenant of redemption. Jesus perfectly kept all of God’s laws, including the moral law, summarized in the Ten Commandments, as well as the positive laws of the old covenant. He also died for the sins of His people against the law of God, paying the death penalty they deserve, becoming a curse for them on the cross. How do we know that Christ earned eternal life by His obedience? He rose from the dead to an eternal and glorified life! Jesus kept the law to achieve resurrection life. His resurrection proves that He perfectly fulfilled the terms of the law as a covenant in the covenant of redemption.

Scripture often speaks in that strict way about the gospel. For example, Christ “was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). “My Father gives you the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32). “This is the promise that he made to us—eternal life” (1 John 2:25). So the gospel, strictly speaking, is about God’s work for us in Christ and the absolutely free gift of our justification and eternal life in Him.

The gospel, strictly speaking, is the reason justification is by faith alone and not by works of obedience to the law. Christ fulfilled the law’s demands in our place and thereby satisfied divine justice, which is why God justifies Christ and all who are in Him by faith alone. No other works can possibly be added to Christ’s justice-satisfying works for our justification because no other works can possibly be necessary. Jesus did it all.

The Gospel, Largely Speaking

While Christians today seem to be able to articulate much of what has been said above, there is a great need to recover the doctrine of “evangelical obedience” as set over and against “legal obedience.” The gospel, largely speaking, is about the framework of “evangelical obedience.” The gospel, largely speaking, is the gospel as the covenant of grace, or the new covenant. It includes a promise of redemption, leading to the commands of the law. This is similar to the way the law, largely speaking, includes promises and commands. But while the law, largely speaking, says “do this and live,” the gospel, largely speaking, says “live and do this.” Notice how the promise of eternal life and commands of the law are inverted under the gospel. The law, largely speaking, says, “Keep all the commandments perfectly, and you will be justified and live forever.” But the gospel, largely speaking, says, “Because of Christ’s obedience, death, and resurrection, you are justified freely and will live forever; now keep His commandments by faith and with the assurance of salvation!” Under the gospel as a covenant (largely speaking), promise of eternal life and redemption comes first, and then come the commandments. This covenantal framework is the structure of “evangelical obedience,” and it is precisely what keeps believers from slipping into false, dead, legal works.68

Consider some passages that teach the gospel, largely speaking. Hebrews 8:6 says that the law of the new covenant is “enacted on better promises.” That is, the commands of the new covenant are based on God’s effectual, saving, and justifying promises, which produce faithful, grateful, loving obedience to God in reverential and filial fear. Additionally, 2 Thessalonians 1:7–8 says to “obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” Romans 10:16 speaks fearfully of those who “have not all obeyed the gospel,” along with 1 Peter 4:17, which says that some “do not obey the gospel of God.” The command to obey the gospel is principally the command to believe on the Lord Jesus, but it includes all of the commands of God in faithfulness to Him. When the Bible speaks of obeying and disobeying the gospel, it is referring to the gospel in this large sense: “Live and do this.”

When people hear and believe the gospel that Christ lovingly died for sinners and rose from the dead so that all who believe in Him will live forever, and they hear the command to believe in Him, to repent of their sins in love for Jesus, and to live grateful lives of obedience to all of His commandments, they will gladly obey. How could they live in sin against such a great Savior? They are completely convinced of Christ’s love for them, so they know that all of His commands are for their good, and they want to obey their Lord from hearts of love and gratitude. Sin brings death, but Jesus brings life. The gospel, in the hand of the Holy Spirit, produces love to Christ and joy in Him in the hearts of His people, which leads them to obey Him and His law more and more because it shows them how to love the one who loved them first (1 John 4:19). We do not love Him so that He will love us. Rather we love Him, and thus obey Him, because He loved us first, winning our love and loyalty because He is so good.

John Gill (1697–1771) held to precisely this distinction between the gospel largely and strictly. He writes,

The gospel, taken in a large sense, as has been observed in the beginning of this chapter, includes both the doctrines and ordinances of the gospel; and the one, as well as the other are taught, and directed to be observed; here, all good works which the law requires, are moved and urged unto in the ministry of the gospel, upon gospel-principles and motives: the gospel of the grace of God, which brings the good tidings of salvation, instructs and urges men to do good works, and to avoid sin (Titus 2:11; 3:18).

But the gospel, strictly taken, is a pure declaration of grace, a mere promise of salvation by Christ. All duty and good works belong to the law; promise and grace belong to the gospel; the works of the law, and the grace of the gospel are always opposed to each other (Rom 3:20, 24, 28; Eph 2:8).69

In sum, the gospel, largely speaking, says, “Live and do this,” while the gospel, strictly speaking, says, “Live because Christ has done all.” The gospel, largely speaking, includes commands, while the gospel, strictly speaking, is stripped of all commands and holds forth the promise of justification and eternal life.

The Law/Gospel Contrast in Justification

When the Bible speaks of the law/gospel contrast, it refers to the contrast between the law, largely speaking, and the gospel, strictly speaking. Or we might speak of the contrast between the covenant of works with Adam and the covenant of redemption with Christ. Under the law, largely speaking, perfect obedience was required for justification and eternal life. Under the gospel, strictly speaking, Christ kept the law to obtain and freely give justification and eternal life to all of His people as a pure promise.

So the contrast between law and gospel is about two different ways to be justified and have eternal life. A person may either sinfully try to keep the law in its broad sense to earn the promise of eternal life himself, or he can look to Christ who kept the law for us and promises justification and eternal life as a free gift in the gospel, strictly speaking.

The Bible frequently makes a distinction between the law, largely speaking (as a covenant of life), and the gospel, strictly speaking (as a pure promise of life). Consider just a few examples of sharp contrast between law and gospel found in the book of Romans. Romans 3:27–28 says, “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works [i.e., the law, largely speaking]? No, but by the law of faith [in the gospel, strictly speaking]. For we hold that one is justified by faith [in the gospel promise] apart from the works of the law [to obtain justification and eternal life].” Romans 4:5 says, “And to the one who does not work [under the law, largely speaking] but trusts him who justifies the ungodly [by trusting the gospel, strictly speaking], his faith is counted as righteousness.” Romans 10:4 says, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness [the law, largely speaking] to everyone who believes [in the gospel, strictly speaking].” Romans 10:5–6 says, “For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandment shall live by them [that is, the law, largely speaking]. But the righteousness based on faith says, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will ascend into heaven?” ’ [That is, trust the gospel, strictly speaking, rather than trying to ascend into heaven by your own works.]” So, the law/gospel contrast is about justification, the verdict that gives us a right and title to eternal life. Now we turn to the gospel/law continuum in sanctification.

The Gospel/Law Continuum in Sanctification

While there is a law/gospel contrast in justification, there is also a gospel/law continuum in sanctification. The gospel/law continuum exists within the covenant of grace, the new covenant, where God unites His elect to Christ, justifies them, sanctifies them, and gives them His law, which is written on their hearts to command their obedience under grace.

When we speak of the continuum between the gospel and the law, we are referring to the gospel, largely speaking. Within the gospel largely (the covenant of grace), God’s people are given the gospel as a promise (gospel strictly) and the law as a standard (law strictly), in that precise order. There is no separation between the gospel, largely speaking, and the law, strictly speaking, for the believer’s sanctification in union with Christ and His righteousness. In the covenant of grace, the gospel and law tell the believer: “Receive this free gift of justification and eternal life (gospel strictly) and keep the commandments from a heart of love to God (law strictly).” Both the gospel strictly (gospel as a promise) and the law strictly (law as a standard) come to the believer in the gospel largely (covenant of grace).

The gospel/law continuum teaches us that in sanctification, believers must keep the law of God because God has already promised them eternal life. Believers, therefore, obey Christ’s law from a heart of love and gratitude because Jesus has saved them. Their love for Jesus and obedience to Him gives evidence of their faith in Christ’s promise before men and the angels. In sanctification, in the covenant of grace, the law has no curse and no promise of eternal life. It is only a rule of life, teaching the believer how to express love for Christ and grow in communion with Him. There is no threat or condemnation in the law, strictly speaking. Scripture is clear that believers must and will keep God’s commandments because of Christ’s love for them and because they love Christ. In Luke 7:47 Jesus said of the sinful woman, “Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” In Galatians 2:20, Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Consider a few passages from the apostle John that teach evangelical obedience in the covenant of grace. In John 14:15, Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And in John 14:21, “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” John 15:10 says, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.” And 1 John 2:3 says, “And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments,” while 1 John 3:7–8 adds, “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil.”

The Law/Gospel Contrast in Justification
Assures the Fearful and Humbles the Proud

We have seen some of the differences and similarities between the law and the gospel, both largely and strictly. Now, let’s look at the uses of this distinction. Why is it so important for believers to understand?

Many believers live in a state of fear and depression because they are not sure whether they actually belong to Christ. Too often, they can only see the sin in their hearts. And they fear that their good works are not really good because they seem to come from mixed motives. But the law/gospel contrast in justification teaches sinners to look away from themselves and their good works and rest in Christ alone and His good works for justification and eternal life. The gospel, strictly speaking, is the very foundation of our assurance of salvation before God. Because of Christ’s obedience and blood, we can have a certain and unshakable hope that heaven belongs to us, if we only look to Him in faith, resting in Him for justification.

When our sinful hearts accuse us, we should preach Christ to ourselves, looking to Him and His righteousness alone for our acceptance before God. When Satan accuses us of evil and hypocrisy, we can say with Christian in The Pilgrim’s Progress, “All this is true; and much more which you have left out: but the Prince whom I serve and honor is merciful and ready to forgive.”70

Some are proud and self-righteous like the Pharisees. They think of themselves as good people because they are religious, because they perform religious rituals, and because they do outwardly good works. They don’t trust in Christ alone for their justification but are partly trusting in their own works (Luke 18:9–12).

But the law/gospel contrast humbles proud sinners. The law, largely speaking, demands absolute perfection for justification and eternal life. When proud people come face to face with their own sin in light of the law in the hand of the Holy Spirit, they see that their hearts are wicked, and they give up every hope of trying to justify themselves. They can only throw themselves on the mercy of Christ alone for justification in the sight of God, which is offered by the gospel, strictly speaking (Luke 18:13–14).

The Gospel/Law Continuum in Sanctification Directs
and Motivates Our Obedience to Christ

The relationship between the gospel promise and the law as a standard in the covenant of grace has been compared to a sailboat. The gospel is like the sails on the boat, which propel it, moving it forward. The law is like the rudder on the boat, which has no power to propel but is necessary to give the boat direction. We might also compare the gospel/law continuum in the covenant of grace to a train as it runs on its tracks. The engine of the train is like the gospel, which provides all the power of Christian obedience. The tracks on which the train runs are like the law, which takes the train in the direction it needs to go.

This idea was expressed by John Berridge (1716–1793), who wrote the following lines:

Run, John, and work, the law commands,
yet finds me neither feet nor hands,

But sweeter news the gospel brings,
it bids me fly and lends me wings!

The Gospel Rightly Motivates Sanctification

A clear understanding of the gospel/law continuum for sanctification in the covenant of grace ensures that believers will render evangelical obedience rather than legal obedience. Evangelical obedience is obedience to God’s law based on the promises of eternal life. The greatest motivation to obey Christ is that He has freely and lovingly given Himself and eternal life to those who belong to Him. We love Him because He first loved us! We keep His commandments because He has shown us that He is good. He reconciles us to God. He gives us His Spirit to regenerate and indwell us. He communes with us. He prays for us. He causes all things to work for our good. He gives us the sure hope of resurrection unto life. He promises to manifest Himself to us more and more as we commune with Him in love and conformity to His commandments.

Because of these promises, we know He loves us. A person can only trust someone if he believes that person loves him. Because the gospel persuades us that Christ loves us, we can trust Him to give us commandments for our good so that we gladly obey them. As 1 John 5:3 says, “His commandments are not burdensome” to the believer. The reason they are not burdensome is that we never try to obey them for our justification or to obtain life in the first place. Rather, we obey His commandments because we know that He has given them to us as the way to know Him more, to experience more and more of life in Him, to commune with Him, to become more like the one we love, and to enjoy Him forever.

The apostle Paul says, “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal 2:19–20).

What Paul means is that through the curse of the law as a covenant of works, he died to any hope of obtaining justification and life through his own obedience to the law. Paul had to die to the law as a covenant in order to live the Christian life. Now, in Christ, in the covenant of grace, Paul lives by faith in light of Christ’s love for him and Christ’s death for him. This is how every Christian must live.

The Law Rightly Directs Sanctification

The gospel/law continuum directs the Christian in how to express love for the Savior who bought him. Many Christians wonder what God expects of them. They love Him, but they are not sure exactly what God wants them to do, so they end up doing what seems right to them apart from any sure direction. But that is not the biblical approach. Christians should express their love for Christ by keeping His moral law summarized in the Ten Commandments and the positive laws of the new covenant.

The law of God directs the Christian’s obedience in sanctification. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). The word “keep” in that verse means “to watch, guard, or have respect to.” Faithful Christians express their love for Jesus by thinking about how to keep His good law in every circumstance. They grow wise by constantly turning God’s law over and over in their minds, and learning how to apply its different aspects to every decision they make. As they actually obey Christ’s commandments more and more, they learn through practice what is good (Heb. 5:14).

The Law/Gospel Relationship Keeps Us
from Legalism and Antinomianism

Practical and experiential legalism and antinomianism are two different stages of decline from genuine and normative biblical Christianity. They are only avoided when a Christian rightly distinguishes between law and gospel.

Normative Christianity

Faithful Christians see the absolute holiness and beauty of God, and they see His good law as a perfect revelation of His holy character. They agree with God and His law that they are sinners, and they join God in condemning their sins, even while they look to Jesus Christ who willingly and lovingly made full atonement for sins to reconcile them to God who loves them and welcomes them. In light of such a great salvation, faithful Christians welcome God’s law as their rule of life, or standard of conduct, to teach them how to love God and love others. They gladly live lives of faith, repentance, and grateful, joyful obedience to Christ, who bought them with a price.

Legalism

When Christianity is first in decline, it descends into legalism. Legalists doubt the goodness and love of God in Jesus Christ. Instead of trusting God to give commands for our good, legalists secretly do not believe the goodness of God’s commands and trust themselves more than God. They look at God’s commands as what they must obey to have a good life, to have God’s temporal and eternal favor, and so they work to keep God’s commands outwardly, expecting life from them even while they have no heart of sincere trust and love for Jesus on the basis of what He has done for them. They do not ultimately look to Jesus for life, but to their own outward obedience.

The result of legalism is self-righteousness, pride, and contempt for people who are not as outwardly obedient as they are. Legalists base their sense of personal righteousness not on Christ and His righteousness, but on their outward obedience. Thus, legalism is the first stage of descent away from obedience to God’s law. They relax God’s law. The externals of the law and religion are maintained, while the law’s requirement of a heart of faith, humility, love, and kindness are relinquished for a self-trusting pride. Legalism is, at heart, a pretentious antinomianism, or lawlessness.

Antinomianism

Antinomianism is the second stage of decline from normative Christianity. Antinomians see and despise the pride and hypocrisy of formalistic legalism. Their answer is to assert the free grace and love of Christ for people just as they are, without working to conform them to God’s law for their own good. Antinomians completely abandon God’s law and preach a message of love and acceptance of wicked people in their sins. Antinomians, therefore, have exactly the same problem as legalists. They do not trust the holy God of the Bible; they trust themselves—their own minds, their own feelings and impulses—and they insist that God loves, accepts, and approves of them as they obey their personal standards.

Interestingly enough, antinomianism has exactly the same problem as legalism. Antinomians are proud, self-trusting individuals who insist that others approve of their righteousness. They look down upon others with contempt, when they do not approve of antinomian violations of God’s law. While legalists follow their hearts as they pretend to follow God outwardly, antinomians follow their own hearts and outwardly express their lawlessness for others to see. Legalists maintain the outward form of the true Christian faith, while having no heart behind it. Antinomians maintain a self-centered religion of the heart and create their own personal outward form in keeping with their hearts.

The Solution to Legalism and Antinomianism

The solution to legalism and antinomianism is the same. It is to see and believe the power and supreme goodness of Jesus. Only when sinners see that Christ is good and powerful, Savior and King, will they trust Him to save them and rule them. They must come to see the goodness of Christ, His perfect holiness, as reflected in His law. They must also see the goodness of Christ in the gospel, His infinite grace in His death on the cross for poor sinners who will trust in Him. In beholding this great and good Savior, and trusting in Him, their self-righteousness will die more and more because they are clothed with His righteousness and have nothing to prove on their own. In looking upon their good and great Savior, they learn to bend the knee and keep His commands because they are completely convinced that His commands are good and for their good. The more believers learn of Christ, the more they trust Him, the more they long to know Him, and the more they want to be conformed to His likeness to learn of His love and to love others, and so to glorify His name on earth before men and the angels in heaven.

Conclusion

To sum up, so far we have seen four categories of law and gospel:

1. Law as a covenant (covenant of works): Do this and live.

2. Law as a standard (rule of life): Do this.

3. Gospel as a promise (covenant of redemption): Live.

4. Gospel as a covenant (covenant of grace): Live and do this.

We have also seen one law/gospel contrast and one gospel/law continuum:

1. Law/gospel contrast (in justification): law as a covenant or gospel as promise

2. Gospel/law continuum (in sanctification): gospel as a promise and law as a standard

The law/gospel contrast is the contrast between the covenant of works and the covenant of redemption. The gospel/law continuum takes place within the covenant of grace and involves the gospel as a promise as the basis of the law as a standard. The fact that the gospel/law continuum takes place in the covenant of grace, and that the covenant of grace runs through the whole Bible, means that we must adopt a law/gospel hermeneutic. This is necessary so that we do not falsely motivate Christians to obey God’s law from any passage of Scripture without grounding that obedience in the precious promises of Christ revealed in the gospel. Guilt-driven obedience to the law is not true obedience, and it harms people by implying that they can overcome their own guilt, which turns them away from Christ to themselves.

Therefore, pastors must have law and gospel theology in their minds when they preach from every text, whether it contains a gospel promise or a command or both. The gospel’s promises call us to rejoice in justification by faith alone and complete redemption and reconciliation to God under God’s grace. A command calls us to examine ourselves, to flee to Christ for mercy, and to obey Him under grace. This is the heart of Christ-centered preaching in all the Scriptures. Having looked at the Bible’s overarching covenants and the law/gospel hermeneutic that flows from them, we will now consider the great doctrines of grace that flow from the Bible’s great covenants.

  1. 56. John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, vol. 1 (Philadelphia: Westminster, 1960), 3.11.17

  2. 57. Theodore Beza, The Christian Faith, trans. by James Clark (Focus Christian Ministries Trust, 1992), 40–41. Published first at Geneva in 1558 as the Confession de foi du chretien.

  3. 58. Herman Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, vol. 4, Holy Spirit, Church, and New Creation, ed. John Bolt, trans. John Vriend (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2004), 448.

  4. 59. Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 450.

  5. 60. Bavinck, Reformed Dogmatics, 453.

  6. 61. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 2000), 612.

  7. 62. Benjamin Keach, The Marrow of True Justification: The Biblical Doctrine of Justification without Works (Birmingham: Solid Ground, 2007).

  8. 63. Charles Spurgeon, “Grace and Law” in New Park Street Pulpit, vol. 1, accessed February 2024 at https://www.spurgeon.org/resource-library/sermons/law-and-grace.

  9. 64. Sam Renihan, The Mystery of Christ: His Covenant and His Kingdom (Cape Coral: Founders, 2019), 20.

  10. 65. John Colquhoun, A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel (Grand Rapids, MI: Soli Deo Gloria, 2009). For another excellent treatment of the relationship between the law and the gospel, see Samuel Bolton, The True Bounds of Christian Freedom (Carlisle, PA: Banner of Truth, 1994).

  11. 66. See Sinclair B. Ferguson, The Whole Christ: Legalism, Antinomianism and Gospel Assurance—Why the Marrow Controversy Still Matters (Wheaton: Crossway, 2016).

  12. 67. The book that ignited the marrow controversy was Edward Fisher, The Marrow of Modern Divinity (Ross-shire: Christian Focus, 2009). Every Christian should read this book along with Thomas Boston’s notes. For another excellent book on the Marrow theology’s understanding of law and gospel, see Ralph Erskine, Law-Death, Gospel-Life (London, 1724).

  13. 68. Some do not prefer to speak of the gospel as a covenant containing any commands at all, though they acknowledge that gospel promises of redemption precede the commands God gives to believers. In my judgment, this is a semantic disagreement, and I believe the substance of the two positions are the same.

  14. 69. John Gill, A Body of Doctrinal and Practical Divinity (Paris: The Baptist Standard Bearer, 1995), 377.

  15. 70. John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress (Ulrichville: Barbour, 1985), 61.