Comprehending Pink’s Commandments Part 10

Foreword:

The following exerpt is taken from The Ten Commandments  by Arthur W. Pink

(BAKER BOOK HOUSE, 1994 GRAND RAPIDS, MI)

In this blog series I will work through this very important article a paragraph at a time – asking my reader comprehension style questions at the end. In our day, when people who identify themselves as Christians are so sensitive to any accusation of legalism that they tend to swing all the way out to antinomianism (that is lawlessness), it is perhaps now more than ever that we ought to prayerfully re-examine the Ten Commandments – and few do it better than Arthur Pink (1886 - 1952). I found this article to be very convicting as I first worked through it. And, lest we think we the church are not in need of this labour, let us be reminded that those whom Jesus will reject on the last Day even though they did many mighty works in his name, were accused by our Lord of not just having no intimate relationship with him (‘I never knew you’), but also that they were accused as workers of lawlessness by our Lord. The Law of God does not save, nor does it keep one saved – none the less we are called to obedience to it who are saved – but enough of me – here is Arthur Pink…

"Eighth, we consider their office. The first use of the Moral Law is to reveal the only righteousness which is acceptable to God, and at the same time to discover to us our own unrighteousness. Sin has blinded our judgment, filled us with self-love, and wrought in us a false sense of our own sufficiency. But if we seriously compare ourselves with the high and holy demands of God's Law, we are made aware of our groundless insolence, convicted of our pollution and guilt, and made conscious of our lack of strength to do what is required of us. Calvin, in his Institutes of the Christian Religion (Book II, Chapter 7, Section 7), says, "Thus the Law is a kind of mirror. As in a mirror we discover any stains upon our face, so in the Law we behold, first, our impotence; then, in consequence of it, our iniquity; and, finally, the curse, as the consequence of both." Its second use is to restrain the wicked, who though they have no concern for God's glory and no thought of pleasing Him, yet refrain from many outward acts of sin through fear of its terrible penalty. Though this commends them not to God, it is a benefit to the community in which they live. Third, the law is the believer's rule of life, to direct him, and to keep him dependent upon Divine grace."

1) What does the Law reveal about God?

2) What does the Law reveal about ourselves?

3) Considering the above two questions and their answers, how can the Law be used to present to the lost the bad news of God’s wrath in order to convict them of their guilt and sin before revealing to them the good news of Christ’s work of atonement on the cross? Do we too often present the good news (the Gospel) without the bad first?

4) What does the Law do to the wicked (unbelievers) and how does it do this?

5) What does the Law do to the believer and in what two ways does it do this?

6) Imagine what the world might look like if everyone obeyed all ten commandments perfectly all the time? Now imagine what it would be like if no-one ever obeyed even one of the commandments. Do you agree that even an unsaved person would much rather live in a Law bound world than a lawless world. Oh that the final trumpet would now sound and bring creation into its final state of eternal sinlessness. Amen?