Law of Christ

“ It is scarcely necessary for me to say that these doctrines must be accepted, and the ordinances observed by those who would obtain favor with God, and the remission of their sins; for I have already pointed out the fact, that implicit obedience to the law of Christ—the Gospel—is the only means of salvation for man. ”

“ Thus the Church of Christ might have drifted into the legalities of men far away from the one true law of Christ, as it is defined in Paul’s epistles ‘Bear ye one another’s burdens,’ and (in the new gospel that I shewed you just now) ‘Love one another with the love with which I have loved you’. ”

“ I consider the Gospel of the grace of God, the Father’s will to us, in Christ Jesus, containing Promises, Declarations of Mercy, Imitations, Precepts, and Exhortations, to be the only, and all-sufficient Rule of a Christian. These are not in opposition to the holy Law of God, but they far excel it in glory, and as many as walk according to this Rule, peace be on them. Christ is our King and our Law-giver, he has fulfilled the Law for his Church, brought in an everlasting righteousness for our justification ”

“ But thus much have I noted concerning the law of Christ, that it differeth from all other laws, in that it is fitted for all nations and climates and times. It is as useful for the poor as for the rich. ”

“ I wish to say to the Latter-day Saints, and also to those who do not believe in the fulness of the Gospel, that this ordinance, which we are now attending to this afternoon, is, in reality, no more sacred than any other ordinance of the house of God in the eyes of Him who has instituted the same. The validity of one divine law is the same as the validity of another with our Father and God. We partake of bread and water to witness that we remember Jesus Christ, who gave his life a ransom for us, and that we are willing to keep His commandments. ”

“ Either Christ must live and the Law perish, or the Law remains and Christ must perish; Christ and the Law cannot dwell side by side in the conscience. It is either grace or law. To muddle the two is to eliminate the Gospel of Christ entirely." ”

“ Objections against free grace that it will multiply sin or discredit the law are taken up and answered. Thorough union with Christ on the part of the believer annihilates sin and the law has no more any power. The believer justified by his faith in Christ is dead to the law while quickened to a new and holy life by the Spirit. ”

“ Neither the law, whose curse Christ bore, nor God, as the legislator to be satisfied, did distinguish between men as elect and reprobate, or as believers and unbelievers, de presenti vel de futuro; [with regard to the present or the future;] and to impose upon Christ, or require from him satisfaction for the sins of one sort more than of another, but for mankind in general. God the Father, and Christ the Mediator, now dealeth with no man upon the mere rigorous terms of the first law; (obey perfectly and live, else thou shalt die;) ”

“ Verse 4
For Christ is the end of the law - Where the law ends, Christ begins. The law ends with representative sacrifices; Christ begins with the real offering. The law is our schoolmaster to lead us to Christ; it cannot save, but it leaves us at his door, where alone salvation is to be found. Christ as an atoning sacrifice for sin, was the grand object of the whole sacrificial code of Moses; his passion and death were the fulfillment of its great object and design. ”

“ Under the gospel, the justice of God is displayed in a more awful manner, though not in so sensible a manner as under the law; for here we behold divine justice seizing upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and making him a propitiatory sacrifice, his soul and body an offering for sin, which is a display of justice far beyond what was seen and heard on mount Sinai when the law was given. ”

“ To the believer, the teachings and example of Christ have not only the force of truth, recognised as such by the understanding, but they have likewise the authority of supreme law, as coming from that Divine Being who is the rightful Lawgiver of the soul. Now, then, if faith in Christ would regulate the conscience according to his example and precepts, the only inquiry which remains is, Were the example and precepts of Christ a perfect rule of duty towards God and men? ”

“ If, while we seek justification by Christ alone, and teach others to do so, we ourselves are found giving countenance or indulgence to sin, or rather are accounted sinners of the Gentiles, and such as it is not fit to have communion with, unless we also observe the law of Moses, is Christ the minister of sin? Will it not follow that he is so, if he engage us to receive a doctrine that gives liberty to sin, or by which we are so far from being justified that we remain impure sinners, and unfit to be conversed with? ”

“ If he urges that Christ, and not the Father, is the lawgiver, and that in the present dispensation, sin is the transgression of the law of Jesus Christ, then I press him to tell me who the sinner’s advocate is. And I ask him to harmonize his position with the words of the beloved John, “If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” ”

“ Hence, "the obedience of faith" (Rom. 1:5) is made the condition of righteousness; and this obedience implies the existence of a "law of faith", as attested by that of Moses, which is "the law of works" (Rom. 3:27,21) . The law of faith says to him who believes the gospel of the kingdom, "Be renewed, and be ye every one of you baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for remission of sins" (Acts 2:38) .
Here is a command which meets a man as a dividing line between the State of Sin and the State of Righteousness. ”

“ Nor is Christ the end of the Law in a way that makes Him a hard judge who has to be bribed by works as the papists teach. Christ is the end or finish of the Law to all who believe in Him. The Law can no longer accuse or condemn them. ”

“ Let it be considered, how it can stand with Scripture or right reason, that Jesus Christ should abrogate this law. Did Christ blot out this law from the hearts of all men by his death? Then all men have not the law of nature to guide them; for we cannot be so gross as to imagine that the law is put into their hearts upon a new account, for that were to bring all men under the new covenant.
{16-8} 2. God spake all these commandments unto the people, and they heard his voice, (Deut. 5:22-24,) with great majesty and glory, and he added no more ”

“ All that are cleaving to this law, as a covenant of works, are enemies to the Lord Jesus Christ; and, all that die under it, must be judged by it. Now, because I hold forth the grand doctrines of the gospel, and enforce a knowledge of this law, by the teachings of the Spirit of God, that Sinners may be brought to see their need of a Mediator, and a Surety righteousness ”

“ That men may be prepared to stand in the judgment, the message commands them to “fear God, and give glory to Him,” “and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” The result of an acceptance of these messages is given in the words, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” In order to be prepared for the judgment, it is necessary that men should keep the law of God. That law will be the standard of character in the judgment. The apostle Paul declares, “As many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law, ... ”

“ To be dead to the Law means to be free of the Law. What right, then, has the Law to accuse me, or to hold anything against me? When you see a person squirming in the clutches of the Law, say to him: "Brother, get things straight. You let the Law talk to your conscience. Make it talk to your flesh. Wake up, and believe in Jesus Christ, the Conqueror of Law and sin. Faith in Christ will lift you high above the Law into the heaven of grace. Though Law and sin remain, they no longer concern you, because you are dead to the Law and dead to sin." ”

“ Be this as it may—the distinctive feature of Christianity is that henceforth the Law is not contemplated apart from the Personality of God. The Law is 'holy, just, and good,' because it reflects His character. Obedience to it is acknowledged to be the indispensable condition of true union between God and His creatures. For Jesus Christ teaches us to discern in the Law the self-unveiling of a Being whose holiness and love it reflects, as well as His purpose for man. ”

“ These laws of Christ for the government of his church, are fully contained in the holy Scriptures; for so much as is in nature, is there also more plainly expressed than nature hath expressed it. All is not Christ's law that is any way expressed in Scripture; but all Christ's laws are expressed in the Scriptures; not written by himself, but by his Spirit in his apostles, whom he appointed and sent to teach all nations to observe whatever he commanded them, Matt. ”

“ But he will cut it short in righteousness, both in wisdom and in justice. Men, when they cut short, do amiss; they do indeed despatch causes; but, when God cuts short, it is always in righteousness. So the fathers generally apply it. Some understand it of the evangelical law and covenant, which Christ has introduced and established in the world: he has in that finished the work, put an end to the types and ceremonies of the Old Testament. ”

“ Sometimes [pg 236] the civil or commercial law furnishes the analogy; and then, our sins being taken as a debt, Christ offers himself as a ransom for us. Or the analogy of the ceremonial law is accepted; and then Christ is set forth as a propitiatory or expiatory offering to obtain remission of sins for us. Regarding Christ as suffering for us in one or another of these Scripture forms or figures taken as the literal dogmatic truth, we have as many distinct theories. ”

“ If now these commandments were given unto those who were under the Law, what will we say in respect of these who are under Christ?
These are the [words] which the Lord spoke saying, ' Except your righteousness exceed that of the scribes and the Pharisees, ye will not enter into the kingdom which is in the heavens.' [ Matt. v. 20. ] Therefore [we must give] not only from our fields, and from that which comes in to us, but also of the work of our hands. ”

“ Only to the first man, then, was the law proposed as a method of salvation. With the first sin, all hope of obtaining the divine favor by perfect obedience is lost. To sinners the law remains as a means of discovering and developing sin in its true nature, and of compelling a recourse to the mercy provided in Jesus Christ. ”