iustitia aliena

“Now before beginning to treat each heading individually, it is good first to know what pertains to understanding all of it.  For the first, let it be resolved that human life ought to be ruled by the law not only as regards external honorableness but also as regards inward and spiritual righteousness.  However, this latter, although, although it cannot be denied, is considered by very few because people do not consider the Lawgiver, for the nature of the law should be valued according the nature of the Lawgiver.  If some king prohibited fornication, murder, and robbery by edict, I admit that someone who only conceived in his heart some desire to fornicate, or steal, or murder, without acting on it and without any attempt to put it into action, would not be bound by the penalty established for breaking the law.  Becausae the provision of the mortal lawgiver doe not extend beyond external honorableness, his ordinances are not violated unless the evil is put into action.  But God — before whose eye nothing is hidden and who does not stop short with external appearance of good but goes to purity of the heart — when forbids fornication, homicide, and stealing, He is prohibiting all carnal concupiscence, hatred, coveting of someone else’s goods, deceit, and everything else like these.  For since He is a spiritual Lawgiver, He speaks to the soul as much as to the body.  Now wrath and hatred are murder, as far as the soul is concerned; coveting is stealing; ill-regulated love is fornication.

But someone could say: “Human laws are concerned with the reason and will of people just as well, and not with fortutious happenings.”  I admit that, but the human laws mean the will which is expressed in action; for they consider with that intention each act was done but they do not inquire about secret thoughts.  That is why someone who abstains from outward transgression satisfies the laws of the government.  On the contrary, because God’s law is given to our souls, if we want to keep it well, it is out souls which must be principally be rebuked.  Now, even when they want to hide the fact that they despise the law, the majority of people in some way train their eyes, feet, hands, and other parts of the their bodies to keep what it commands, but their heart remains completely opposed to obeying it.  So they think they have well discharged their debt if they have hidden from people what appears before God.  They hear: “You shall not murder, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal,” so they do not take out their sword to kill, they do not mess around with lovers, they do not set hands on someone else’s goods.  All that is good.  But their heart is full of murder and burns with carnal concupiscence; they can only see their neighbor’s goods crookedly, devouring them with coveting, and so they are lacking what is the chief part of the law.  From where does such torpor come, I ask you, unless they ignore the Lawgiver and accomodate the righteousness to their own understanding?  St. Paul cries out loudly and strongly against this view, saying that “the law is spiritual” (Rom. 7[14]).   By that he means that not only does it require obedience from the soul, the understanding, and the will, but also an angelic purity which is cleansed of every carnal spot so that it savors of nothing but spirit.

In saying that this is the meaning of the law, we are not bringing forward a new exposition of our own but we are following Christ, who is a very good expositor of it.  For becauase the Pharisees had sown among the people the perverse view that one who did not commit any external act against the law was one who kept it well, He rebukes this error by saying that “an indecent look at a woman is fornication and all those who hate their brothers are homicides” (Matt. 5[22ff, 28ff]).  For He makes all who have simple conceived some anger in their heart, guilty of judgment; and all who by murmuring show some offense of heart, guilty before the consistory; and all who by doing harm have openly declared their evil intent, guilty of the Gehenna of fire.  Those who have no understood this imagined that Christ was a second Moses who brought the gospel law to supply what was lacking in the Mosaic law.  That is where this popular saying came from, that “the perfection of the gospel law is much greater than that of the former law.”  This is a very perverse error.  For when we later summarize the precepts of Moses it will appear by his very words what great insult they do to God’s law in saying this” 

-John Calvin.  Taken from John Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion: 1541 French Edition. The First English Edition, translated by Elsie Anne Mckee, pages 119-120.  

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  “Removing, then, mention of law, and laying aside all consideration of works, we should, when justification is being discussed, embrace God’s mercy alone, turn our attention from ourselves, and look only to Christ….If consciences wish to attain any certainty in this matter, they ought to give no place to the law.”   (Calvin Institutes 3.19.2, quoting via Horton’s Covenant and Salvation: Union with Christ).

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Three Uses of the Law on the White Horse Inn

Michael Horton: Well, what do we do then about the Law in terms of its different uses? What are the different uses of the Law? Is the law there only to tell us that we haven’t kept it? Are there any other uses of the Law?

 Rod Rosenbladt: The Reformers talked of three uses. Both the Lutherans and the Reformed talk of three uses of the Law. Luther and, I think, Calvin would have agreed that the major use of the Law was what you referred to from Galatians—to break all source of false images we have of our self and bring us to dust. Our self-righteousness is dying on the floor in arriving heap. As a preparation to drive us to Christ who has died for us in the place of all of our rebellion.

 Then, they also talked about a first use of the law, the civil use of the law that they said applied to everybody. That this would be true of everybody on earth, some sort of basic Romans 2:14 and 15, basic, basic, basic Law put into every human being, not a full tilt ethics but the basics, so that our systems of judges and jails and all of that should reflect that first use of the law and keep me from killing my neighbor in order not to steal his wife or his speedboat. There will be jails and courts to deal with that and that’s God’s good gift to keep sinners from doing what we would do by nature.

 And then a third use of the Law; that’s for Christians only. That fleshes out what is it that I am to reflect as a Christian if I’m not free in the sense of libertine. What is the Christian life to look like? And it was to flesh that out. This is what it’s to look like—it was content, it was “this is what it would look like.” Is it still Law? Yeah, it’s still Law and if that use of the Law is killing you, you go back to the second use and go to Christ again. This is why in the White Horse Inn and the MR we have as a theme “Christ death is great enough to even save a Christian.” Christ death could even save a Christian. And I think both of us—our traditions could easily get into that, that third use stuff for most of the sermon, and we ought not do that. (italics mine)

“This transcription of “Rightly Dividing the Word: Law and Gospel” is a
broadcast of the White Horse Inn radio program that originally aired on May
22, 2005 and is posted with permission. The White Horse Inn exists to equip
Christians to “know what you believe and why you believe it.” For more
information about the White Horse Inn, please visit www.whitehorseinn.org or
call (800) 890-7556 .

–

To get the White Horse Inn quotes above in context go here

and especially here (questions and answers 1-21).

The White Horse Inn breaks it down again and again. Man, this broadcast is the best.

This is the fourth part of a series on Galatians at the White Horse Inn here.

‘The Gospel is the announcement that the righteousness of Christ provided by his faithful life, death, and continued intercession for us is made yours by faith alone, not your faithfulness, just you’re trusting in the one who was faithful for you. This is Gospel and it is so central to the Christian faith.’ (From the White Horse Inn Broadcast, “Why You Should Care About Justification”)

Galatians 2:21 is clear,  “I do not make void the grace of God; for if righteousness is through the law, then Christ died in vain”

Here.

HT: The Heidelblog

Listen here!

HT: Peter Chen

Here’s what is on the back cover:

Michael Horton’s highly anticipated The Christian Faith represents his magnum opus and will be viewed as one of—if not the—most important systematic theologies since Louis Berkhof wrote his in 1932.

A prolific, award-winning author and theologian, Professor Horton views this volume as “doctrine that can be preached, experienced, and lived, as well as understood, clarified, and articulated.” It is written for a growing cast of pilgrims making their way together and will be especially welcomed by professors, pastors, students, and armchair theologians.

Features of this volume include: (1) a brief synopsis of biblical passages that inform a particular doctrine; (2) surveys of past and current theologies with contemporary emphasis on exegetical, philosophical, practical, and theological questions; (3) substantial interaction with various Christian movements within the Protestant, Catholic and Orthodoxy traditions, as well as the hermeneutical issues raised by postmodernity; and (4) charts, sidebars, questions for discussion, and an extensive bibliography, divided into different entry levels and topics.

It is already out for display at Christianbook.com here.

This is a White Horse Inn broadcast that is a worth a listen.  The audio is available through stream and download  here.

Audio transcription of this particular broadcast (w/ permission granted) is found  here.

T

A great discussion on the Holy Law and the triumphal indicative on the White Horse Inn.

Michael Horton: Now when we are talking especially about the third use of the law.  Is it important to ground this particularly in the distinction between indicative and imperative?

Kim Riddlebarger: Absolutely.

Michael Horton: You talk about not imposing things on the text, you actually have Greek moods in the text that are indicatives and imperatives it’s a form of… Kim Riddlebarger: An indicative is a statement of fact…

Rod Rosenbladt: Christ has died for you, carried your sin in His body on the tree it will count before the Father at the end all these things are true whether you believe them or not!

Michael Horton: Therefore…

Kim Riddlebarger: Therefore…  I’m always amazed in the book of Romans for example when Paul moves from his discussion of Justification in chapter 3, 4, and 5 into some would consider his discussion on sanctification in 6 through 8. The first imperative in chapter 6 is “reckon yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God.” The first command is to consider your Justification. That’s the basis for any sanctification is to consider yourself dead to what you were in Adam, and alive to what you are in Christ!

Ken Jones: I love Colossians 1. He sets forth everything we have in Christ: You have been translated to the Kingdom of His Son, you have been conformed…you have all of these things. And then later in chapter 3 he goes on to say: Now put to death the members which are upon the earth. Now if you begin in chapter 3 and think you could work back to chapter 1 you will die of depression.

Michael Horton: I remember growing up how Romans 6 just scared me to death because I was raised with the carnal Christian teaching, you know you could be a first class Christian and go to heaven up in the front of the plane—live in victory, or you could sort of get in by the hair of your chinny, chin, chin.

Kim Riddlebarger: The self is still on the throne. Michael Horton: Your carnal Christian. And of course no Christian, no one who really is dwelt by the Holy Spirit wants to be a carnal Christian, so your striving to get into that upper region, and Romans 6 was the victorious Christian life. Romans 7 was the defeated Christian life or the carnal Christian—it’s not the same Paul at the same time, it’s two different stages of a persons life as a victorious Christian or as a carnal Christian. The thing that was just revolutionary for the Christian life was not only Justification but realizing too that Sanctification was by the Grace of God, and that Sanctification was rooted in the triumphant indicative when Paul says [in Romans 6], “Shall we then sin that grace may abound?” He doesn’t say, either on one hand, “Sure, God likes to forgive and I like to sin, that’s a great relationship.” Nor does he say on the other hand “You better not unless you want to be a victorious Christian.” What he says is you cannot! It is impossible for you to be carnal Christian. It is impossible!

Ken Jones: Because you have died to sin!

Michael Horton: You have died. I’ve buried you with Christ. I raised you up, it’s done, get over it, stop trying to walk around in grave clothes.

Kim Riddlebarger: Well, the great change in Romans 8 that theology produces because if your in the carnal Christian Romans 8 then sets out the option of walking in the flesh or walking in the Spirit, when the contrast is between all Christians who walk in the Spirit versus all those in Adam will and can only walk in the flesh. And once you are freed from that now you make real progress in the Christian life. Rod Rosenbladt: Yeah, ironically when that victorious life teaching has its stake put through its vampire heart it becomes possible in following what we are discussing in Romans. Finally it becomes possible to maybe hear the Law and have a shot at it, you know, to fight the fight.

Michael Horton: That’s right, yeah exactly.

Ken Jones: Because now you have the victory—the real victory which is Romans 8:1 “There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ.”

Michael Horton: Yeah. Rod Rosenbladt: Right on.

Michael Horton: Anytime you hold out victory as a reward for my personal performance whatever kind of victory it is, I’m going to eventually become a Pharisee or…

Rod Rosenbladt and Michael Horton: …suicidal.

Michael Horton: but the alternative isn’t “Oh, we get a free seat in heaven and obedience doesn’t matter.” The alternative is to obey from freedom.

Kim Riddlebarger: The person that I get is the person who has been to every church, gone to every seminar, read every book, and still has some sin or some struggle that has them in what they think is a death grip. And they are wondering “Am I a Christian because I still keep doing this. I try and stop it. I can’t or I don’t seem to make much progress.” That’s the person I get. Michael Horton: That’s got to be the biggest pastoral problem.

Kim Riddlebarger: That is the biggest pastoral problem. You have people who kick up their heels and do all kinds of unholy things in the name of Christ and they need to be disciplined and dwelt with but that is not…

Rod Rosenbladt:…that is not the major problem

Kim Riddlbarger: The major category is somebody who’s been in the church for a long time, and who is seriously questioning God’s favor toward them because of their miserable performance and obedience to the Law.

Rod Rosenbladt: Yup.

Kim Riddlebarger: And as more Pastors try to deal with that by making sanctification more of an emphasis and stressing the need to get beyond that by trying this and trying that the more frustrated people become.

Michael Horton: One of the things that we ought to take a look at is the way in which the Law is distinguished from the Gospel in various ways. I know that both of our traditions, Reformed Confessions and Lutheran Confessions, and our dogmatics basically say the same thing. Here’s a quote and I betcha Rod this is right out of what you guys would say too. Zacharias Ursinus commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism:

“The doctrine of the church is the entire and uncorrupted doctrine of the Law and the Gospel concerning the true God together with His will, works and worship. This is the whole doctrine of the Church can be subdivided into two parts…The doctrine of the church consists of two parts: the Law, and the Gospel; in which we have comprehended the sum and substance of the sacred Scriptures…Therefore, the Law and Gospel are the chief and general divisions of holy scriptures, and comprise the entire doctrine comprehended therein…For the Law is our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ constraining us to fly to Him and showing us what that righteousness is which he has brought out and now gives to us. But the Gospel professedly treat of the person, office, and benefits of Christ. Therefore we have in the Law and Gospel the whole of the Scriptures comprehending the doctrine revealed from heaven for our Salvation. The Law prescribes and enjoins what is to be done and forbids what ought to avoided whilst the Gospel announces the free remission of sin through and for the sake of Christ alone. The Law is known within us by nature. The Gospel is divinely revealed outside of us in His Word. The Law promises life upon the condition of perfect obedience. The Gospel on the condition of faith in Christ and commencement of new obedience.

“This transcription of “Rightly Dividing the Word: Law and Gospel” is a
broadcast of the White Horse Inn radio program that originally aired on May
22, 2005 and is posted with permission. The White Horse Inn exists to equip
Christians to “know what you believe and why you believe it.” For more
information about the White Horse Inn, please visit www.whitehorseinn.org or
call (800) 890-7556.”

Martin Luther had a very intense struggle over guilt in the 16^th century. As a student already he began to worry about his relationship with God.  How could he as a sinner relate with a righteous God? How could a Holy God except into His presence a sinner like Martin Luther? Luther became so concerned about this issue that he wanted to join a monastery.  His father opposed that move, wanting instead of him to become a lawyer- to do something useful with his life.  But Luther out of the intensity of his concern about his relationship with God became a monk.  There was a saying in the middle ages “doubt makes the monk.”  It was not doubt about the existence of God (a kind of modern problem) but it was doubt about how one could relate to God, and out of that doubt many people like Martin Luther became monks worrying about how to save their souls.  Worrying about how a sinner can be related to a Holy God. Luther invested himself with great seriousness in the life of a monk. He spent all nights in prayer, he spent days fasting, he even beat his back with whips until he bled, hoping by these disciplines to overcome the sin in his own life. He took with great literalness Paul’s words about beating the body into submission, but in spite of all of his dedication he found that he was still a sinner. He found that he still could not please a Holy God. And he reached a point in his own spiritual journey (he said) where he felt that if “God was alive, I am dead”—what he meant was that if God was really God. If God is the Holy one, then surely I am lost and hopeless, and he came to a point where he would even say “I hated God.” He hated God because God was the one that he could not approach. God was the one that he could not satisfy. God was the one that he could not ever please. And it was out of that wrestling with guilt that Luther came to his great Evangelical breakthrough. It was his realization that when the New Testament talks about the righteousness of God it means not only the righteousness that God demands, but also the righteousness that God gives and in his study of the Scripture Luther came to see that Jesus Christ was indeed his substitute. That Jesus Christ had taken the place of the sinner on the Cross and that therefore in Jesus Christ there was an answer to sin and to guilt and to hopelessness. And Romans chapter 5 verse 1 became a great joy to his heart “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” It was through looking to Christ by faith, trusting Christ to be the sinner’s substitute, trusting Christ to be the perfect fulfiller of God’s righteous demands that Luther by faith found peace with God.-W. Robert Godfrey, President and Professor of Church History at Westminster Seminary, California.

“This transcription of “Guilt, Grace, Gratitude” is a
broadcast of the White Horse Inn radio program that originally re-aired on May
21, 2006 and is posted with permission. The White Horse Inn exists to equip
Christians to “know what you believe and why you believe it.” For more
information about the White Horse Inn, please visit www.whitehorseinn.org or
call(800) 890-7556.”

“The shocking message of Romans 4:5 is that God counts as righteous those who are unrighteous.  He calls “godly” those who are ungodly.  God justifies the wicked.  But who are the wicked?  The blue state Democrat?  The gay person?  The abortionist or pornographer?  The mind reels as we try to comprehend the radical nature of God’s good news message.  Most Christians, however, are stunned to realize that they, too, are among the mass of sinful humanity who must be justified freely by God’s grace.  For, though we may confess that we, too, at one time, were among the ungodly (especially if we have an exciting testimony!), we now function as if our own inherent righteousness, or sanctification, is what keeps us right in God’s eyes.  Far too many Christians, even those in Reformation churches, have forgotten the dual reality that the German reformer Martin Luther articulated in his famous dictum that we are, at the same time, both justified and sinful, both sinner and saint.” -Eric Landry pastor of the Christ PCA in Murrieta, California. From the Modern Reformation Magazine here.