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?
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