Bibles to Proverbs chapter 29. Proverbs chapter 29. I had told the brothers and sisters at the Bible study, at the theology study yesterday, that much of that material was going to be spoken on this evening. We're going to look at the joy of keeping God's law.
And in Proverbs 29 at verse 18, we read, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, but happy is he who keeps the law. And if you turn back to chapter 28, Chapter 28, in Proverbs at verse 4, those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. And then again in Proverbs 28 at verse 9, one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. Amen.
Well, let us pray.
Opening Prayer
Our Father in heaven, we thank you for the written word of God. We thank you that it is God breathed, that it is authoritative, that it's infallible and inerrant. And we trust, Lord God, that you will grant us the grace to receive with thanksgiving that word tonight. We pray that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our minds and hearts.
We pray that He would indeed take these things and illumine them for us and cause us to receive great encouragement from the Scriptures. Again, forgive us for our sins and for our transgressions, and may we see and may we appreciate what Solomon says here, happy is he who keeps the law. We know, Father, it's not a keeping of the law unto salvation, but it's a keeping of the law because you have saved us by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. And we rejoice in this and we pray now in his most blessed name.
Amen. Well, as we look at Proverbs 29 at verse 18, I would suggest that
Introduction
we see here the usefulness of God's law, first for the unbeliever and then, secondly, for the believer. So in the first part of the verse, chapter 29, verse 18, 18a, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. That is the use of the law for the lawless. And then in 18b, but happy is he who keeps the law.
That is the use of the law for the lawful. So
The Law's Use for the Lawless
let's look first at the use of the law for the lawless and the teaching of the text. Notice the statement at the beginning of verse 18, where there is no revelation. Now, in this particular context, it means the divine word of the living and true God. One commentator, or rather one dictionary, defines it this way, divine communication in a vision, oracle, or prophecy.
So, revelation is a good interpretation, a good translation of this particular passage. Where there is no revelation, where there is no abiding word of God, where there is no divine word, the people cast off restraint. Now, we might ask the question, why might there not be revelation? Well, there are several answers that the Old Testament and the New give us.
In the first place,
Absence of Revelation as Judgment
the absence of revelation is a sign of God's judgment upon a people. You can turn to the prophet Amos in Amos chapter 8. Amos chapter 8 highlights that the absence of the Word of God is a judgment from God Most High. Amos 8, verse 11, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord God, that I will send a famine on the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.
And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east, they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord, but shall not find it. So there are those instances that mark Israel's history, where as a result of divine judgment, God withdrew from them the word of the Lord. In the New Testament, you can turn to the book of Romans, in Romans chapter 10. The absence of revelation may be due in part to the fault of the church.
Now, that's not what Paul is saying in Romans 10, but I think it illustrates a point. Notice in Romans 10, 14. He says, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe him whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, how beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things. but they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord who has believed don't report.
So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So obviously the accent or the emphasis falls on the necessity of hearing the word of God as that means by which sinners come out of darkness into marvelous light. But going back in Paul's argument at verse 14, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe him whom they have not heard? Now, if the church does not see as its primary task to educate people in the things concerning God, if the church does not see the emphasis in 2 Timothy chapter 4, they're going to be negligent, they're going to be a means by which there is no revelation, there is no divine word, there is no communication from God.
When churches are more caught up with entertainment, or churches are more caught up with sort of social interaction, or churches are more caught up with therapy and some other form of moralism, they are not going to be the conduit by which that revelation of God comes to mankind. And so if the church is deficient, if the church is negligent, if the church is lazy, they will contribute to a situation where there is no revelation and the people cast off restraint. But as well,
Absence of Revelation as Human Failure
the absence of revelation as a failure on the part of the individual. In other words, there are those who reject, those who resist, those who ignore the very word of the living God. So going back to Proverbs chapter 29, when that situation occurs, when it is the case that there is no revelation, the text goes on to tell us that the people cast off restraint. The old King James has it, where there is no revelation, the people perish.
Now, it's a section or a bit of scripture that has a wide array of meanings, and I think that the New King James is probably on the right track. The people cast off restraint. The Christian standard Bible glosses it this way, and it's quite accurate. It may not sound literal, but it really is a literal interpretation.
It says, without revelation, people run wild. Without revelation, people run wild. Waltke says without revelation, people fall into anarchy. Matthew Henry offers several glosses on the passage.
He says without revelation, the people are made naked, the people rebel, the people are idle or they play. The people are scattered as sheep having no shepherd. The people perish. They are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
And there he cites Hosea 4.6, my people are destroyed for a lack of knowledge. So the idea or the emphasis of the text is that where there is no revelation, where the word of God is absent, there is a prevalency of lawlessness and wickedness. In other words,
The Civil and Political Use of the Law
the particular use of the law that's in view here is what we would call the civil or the political use of the law. It's a similar situation to the time in the book of Judges where twice we read, there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. There is a blessed effect of having a king. There is a blessed effect of having revelation.
There is a blessed effect of having God's law in that political or civil use because it restrains the wickedness and the abject godlessness of mankind. You know it very well in your own home. You make rules for your kids. and they have to tow a particular line, and those rules help facilitate an environment that is conducive to lawfulness. Without those rules, if everybody's allowed to do whatever is right in their own eyes, it would be mayhem.
If that's how your house is, please never invite me over, because I want nothing to do with that kind of anarchy. I'm just kidding, you can invite me over still, but I might encourage you to bring the rod and reproof to those little ones because that's what they desperately need. So the use of the law in view here in Proverbs 29, 18a, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, is what is called the civil or the political use of the law. Richard Muller defines it this way.
He says, it is according to which the law serves the commonwealth or body politic as a force for the restraint of sin. And then he mentions a text that we'll look at in just a moment. Carl F. A.
Chenry, I actually quoted this in a proverb sermon not very long ago. He says, even where there is no saving faith, the law serves to restrain sin and to preserve the order of creation by proclaiming the will of God. By its judgments and its threats of condemnation and punishment, the written law, along with the law of conscience, hinders sin among the unregenerate. It has the role of a magistrate who is a terror to evildoers.
It fulfills a political function, therefore, by its constraining influence in the unregenerate world. It is a means of grace, common grace, by God imposed upon man to restrain man from being as vile and as wretched and as wicked as he can possibly be. We ought to be very thankful for this civil or political use because it keeps man from making hell on earth. It does provide parameters, it provides boundaries, and it hedges man in from fulfilling all of their godless lusts at once.
1 Timothy 1 and the Civil Use
Turn to 1 Timothy 1.9 as an illustration of this civil or political use of God's law. In 1 Timothy chapter 1, specifically at verse 8, Paul says, we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully. It's the subject of our study tonight, the lawful use of God's law. And then he goes on to say, knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person. but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
Now, Paul says specifically, knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous person. There are other contexts wherein we find that the law is, in fact, made for a righteous person, but not in this use of the law. The third use of the law, which we're going to look at in a few moments, is what's called the normative use of the law, and that does have a place in the lives of God's people. When Paul wants the people in Rome, the believers in Rome, to love one another, he defines love as obedience in terms of God's law.
We love one another in this church when we don't murder each other. We love one another in this church when we don't steal from one another. We love one another in this church when we don't commit adultery with one another's spouses. There is objective obedience to the law of God as an expression of our love for God and our love for one another.
That's the normative use. But here in 1 Timothy 1 verse 9, it is the political or civil use. So when Paul says that the law was not made for the righteous, the way I explained it yesterday was counterfeiting laws. Most of us don't counterfeit.
Most of us, well, I'd like to say all of us don't counterfeit. We don't have labs in our basements where we go down and we print off 20s and put Prime Minister's faces on them and go up to Walmart and pass that phony money. We're not subject to that law because it has no sort of connection to us. And that's the point with reference to the civil or the political use.
It's made for the unrighteous. It's made to restrain them. It's made to keep them from engaging in counterfeiting. It's made to keep them from engaging in the lawlessness that is outlined here by Paul, which is really just a rehearsal of the Ten Commandments.
When you look at this list of vices that Paul speaks of in verses 9 and following, he is telling us that these are the Ten Commandments. So in terms of the civil or the political use of God's law, it isn't for the righteous because the righteous are already in compliance with it. They're not engaged in murder. They're not engaged in adultery.
They're not engaged in theft. They're not engaged in lies and covetousness. This is made specifically for the unrighteous to hedge them in, to restrain them, and to keep them from going hog wild or from running wild. But as well, if we look back at Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 18,
The Pedagogical Use of the Law
there's another use of the law that obtains for the unbeliever, and that's the pedagogical use. That's the second use of the law, where the law functions as a tutor. The law functions as a schoolmaster. The law functions to show us our need for the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord.
So if we look at verse 18, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. Where there is no divine communication, the people don't look for Jesus Christ. Where there is no condemnation for their sin and lawlessness, they will never search out the remedy for their sin and lawlessness. So you've got the civil or political use that avails for the unbeliever, but you also have this pedagogical use that avails for the unbeliever as well.
Again, Muller defines it this way, the use of the law for the confrontation and refutation of sin and for the purpose of pointing the way to Christ. It's precisely one of the uses of God's law. We preach to sinners their sinfulness, their violation of God's law, not because we're better than them, not because we want to make them feel bad, not because we want to celebrate how great we are, but we tell them those things so that they will understand the malady and then seek out the remedy. If they don't know what the problem is, they will never be looking for the answer of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now a particular passage that is illustrative here is
Romans 3 and the Knowledge of Sin
Romans chapter 3 and verse 20. Romans chapter 3 and verse 20. You can turn there. Romans 3.20 is a transition verse.
It summarizes the preceding argument concerning the universal reign of sin. It confirms the certainty of verse 19, and it moves the argument toward the specific goal. Verses 21 and following, where Paul says, sinners ought to go because they are sinners. Notice in verse 19 of Romans 3, now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God.
Therefore, notice, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. You can never obey God perfectly, entirely, exactly, and perpetually in order to be received by God. Remember, we're dead in Adam. We are sinners.
We are rebels. We, like sheep, have gone astray. So Paul says very clearly, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. You may be justified in other people's sight.
You may look good to your neighbors. You may look good to your spouse. You may look good to your kids. You may look good to your parents.
But in terms of justification, the apostle is dealing with in his sight. But then notice this use of the law that he goes on to highlight. For by the law is what? It's the knowledge of sin.
So where there is no revelation, where there is no communication of divine law, the people cast off restraint in terms of they'll never seek after the Lord Jesus Christ. See, the law of God is absolutely crucial. It is necessary to preach. Churches that don't preach the law of God are not doing their job.
They are negligent. They are contributing to a problem that is huge. It is the reality that sinners must know the problem before they'll ever cry out for the Lord Jesus to save them. Christ said, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.
And that is precisely what we find with reference to the law. It does that.
Jesus Employing the Law in Matthew 19
Turn back to Matthew chapter 19 to see Jesus employ this use of the law in his own earthly ministry. Jesus employs this use of the law in his own earthly ministry. Matthew chapter 19 at verse 16. Now behold, one came and said to him, good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?
So he said to him, why do you call me good? No one is good but one, that is God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments. He said to him, which ones?
Jesus said, you shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, honor your father and your mother, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. The young man said to him, all these things I have kept from my youth, what do I still lack? Jesus said to him, if you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. Now, Jesus understands the absolute necessity of perfect obedience to the Father for acceptance by the Father.
Jesus is not suggesting that this young man can actually attain that. Jesus is not suggesting that this young man is close, and if he just takes this further step, then he will demonstrate the fact that he is perfect. It is arguable whether he did, in fact, keep all these things from his youth. So Jesus takes the 10th commandment and he applies it to his conscience and to his heart.
When he says, if you want to be perfect, go sell what you have and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come follow me. He's preaching the law to him. He's preaching the 10th word to him. And we see that based on the response.
Verse 22, but when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had, what he had great possessions. There's this reality that in his boastfulness, that all these things I've kept from my youth, he didn't keep that 10th commandment. He was a lover of money. He was a lover of stuff.
And when Christ brings that law to bear upon him, he would rather go away sorrowful than actually deal with Christ and the gospel. So these two uses of the law, I think, spring from Proverbs chapter 29 at verse 18. I don't think they spring from there. I think they're consistent with the entirety of the Scripture, but we see that in this passage.
Now, in terms of some practical forms of wickedness, when there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. So, when they cast off restraint, or when they run wild, or when they fall into anarchy, what sorts of things do we see as a result? Well, the violation of the Ten Commandments. We see rampant idolatry.
We see rampant blasphemy. We see rampant Sabbath-breaking and insubordination to authority. We see murder. We see adultery.
We see theft and lies and covetousness. You see that, and it affects those persons as individuals. It affects their families. It affects society as a whole.
But in terms of Solomon's school of wisdom in Proverbs chapter 28, notice what happens. They praise the wicked. Verse 4 of Proverbs 28, those who forsake the law praise the wicked. It's a terrible place to be when you're siding with the wicked, when you're shouting your abortion, when you're praising godlessness and lawlessness and wretchedness.
If you are on that side of the debate, you have taken the wrong turn somewhere along the way. This is equivalent to what we find in Romans chapter 1. Remember what Paul does in Romans chapter 1. He highlights the guilt of the Gentiles.
He highlights the wickedness of the heathen. divine oracles, those who had no word of God. Perfect example of what happens when men cast off restraint. Well, in chapter 1 at verse 32, he says, "...who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same, but also they approve of those who practice them." So they not only engage in lawlessness, but they want to see others damned alongside of them. They not only shout their abortion, but they want everybody to shout their abortion.
They not only parade their perversity, but they want everybody to do it. And then lo and behold, at least in our society, they not only want to do that and revel in it amongst others, but they want to force it down our throats and make us not only see it as something that they do, but to accept it and embrace it. They're trying to force us to love Big Brother in terms of the ethical perversion that is rampant in this day and age. Brethren, never make the mistake of not seeing what is at stake in this whole approach to God's holy law.
And then notice as well in Proverbs 28, 9. The ruination of the religious life. Notice in Proverbs 28.9, one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. Even his prayer is an abomination.
We might ask the question, why would an antinomian or a lawless individual even pray? Because they're hypocrites. Why do they do that? Because they have a form of godliness, but they deny its power. 2 Timothy chapter 3.
They're the sorts of people that Jesus pictures for us in Matthew chapter 6. They stand on the street corner, or rather when they give a charitable, or they engage in a charitable deed, they make sure everybody sees it. When they pray, they stand on the street corners and they pray so that everybody can see them. When they fast, they do it in such a way that everybody around them knows that they're fasting.
Jesus condemns that approach, that hypocrisy. But just because someone is lawless, just because someone is wretched, doesn't mean they don't have an inkling of religion. And in Proverbs 28.9, he says, one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination. Bridges, I think, wisely comments here.
He says, this does not mark the frailty, infirmity, or temptation that too often interrupts the hearing of the law and damps the attentive interest. In other words, if you're a sensitive soul that perhaps started to think about burritos and about the fourth section of a sermon and your mind wandered for a little bit, that's not you, is what he's saying. He goes on to say, or even the occasional rebellion against the divine commands. We have to all admit, we all have occasional rebellion against the divine commands.
Yes. You don't actually have to answer. I know the answer on that one. We all have that.
That's not what this text refers to. He says, the case described is that habitual and obstinate rejection of God that despises His ordinances and refuses the instruction of His ministry. That's the problem in verse 9. One who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination.
Turn back to Proverbs 15 for just a moment. We see this emphasized, not with reference to just prayer or lawlessness, but you see this sort of a theme in Proverbs 15. Notice in 15.8, the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. But the prayer of the upright is his delight.
Verse 9, the way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but he loves him who follows righteousness. And then in verse 26, the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant. So the idea is, is those who reject God. Those who cast off revelation, they are also casting off restraint.
They are running wild. They are running headlong into sin. They are living as anarchists, ethical anarchists. They are engaged in rebellion against God so that when they go to their knees to pray, even that prayer is an abomination to Yahweh.
The Law's Use for the Lawful
Now, let's look at the use of the law for the lawful in 18b. Because he not only says, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint. He says, but happy is he who keeps the law. Now, you ought to observe in the first place, it's not just having the law that promotes happiness.
It's the keeping of the law that promotes happiness. Certainly there's a benefit and a blessing, and it's a boon to be where the Word of God is preached. It's a blessing and a benefit and a boon to own the Bible. So having the Word of God is a good thing, but the emphasis in our text is on obedience to the law of God.
Happy is he who keeps it. Jesus says, go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And he says, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
So it's not just having the word, but it's actually doing what the word says that is emphasized by Solomon here. The keeper of the law contends with the wicked. If the lawless praises the wicked, according to 28.4, the keeper of the law contends with the wicked. And then the keeper of the law prays in an acceptable manner to the Lord.
If in verse 9 of chapter 28 we read, one who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination, by implication, one who doesn't turn away his ear from hearing the law. One who obeys and keeps the law by the power of the Holy Spirit. His prayer is not only not an abomination, but it's delightful to the Lord. You see that back in Proverbs chapter 15.
Look at 15 again. 15... 15.8. The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is His delight. This has always encouraged me in terms of why we ought to pray. I'm not saying I always pray the way I ought to, but this is an encouragement for us to pray.
The prayer of the upright is God's delight. When you know that your spouse likes something, you try to do that for your spouse because it brings him or her pleasure. If we know that God delights in the prayers of the upright, why wouldn't we pray? Why wouldn't we seek to bring glory and honor and praise unto God?
Why would we jip Him of something that is His due? Why would we neglect the private place? Why would we neglect the family altar? Why would we neglect a public prayer meeting?
Why would we do that when the prayer of the upright is the delight of God most high? It's a beautiful and a blessed thing. Now,
The Normative Use for Believers
in terms of the use of the law that believers have here in verse 18 of chapter 29, but happy is he who keeps the law. We've already seen that the civil use applies to unbelievers. The pedagogical use applies for unbelievers, and there's also application for believers, but the use of the law here is particular for the believer. The unbeliever does not have the normative use of the law, but rather the believer has what's called the normative use of the law.
And again, Moeller explains, pertains to believers in Christ who have been saved through faith apart from works. In the regenerate life, the law acts as a norm of conduct, freely accepted by those in whom the grace of God works the good. So the idea is, John 17, 17, when Jesus in that high priestly prayer prays, sanctify them by thy truth, thy word is truth. Go to Romans chapter 13.
I already referred to this. I want you to see it for yourself so that you can understand that Paul defines love for one another as obedience to concrete commands, vis-a-vis the second table of the moral law, the Decalogue. Romans chapter 13 at verse 8. Oh, no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves one another has fulfilled the law.
For the commandments, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not covet. And if there is any other commandment, they're all summed up in this saying, namely, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to a neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. You see, that's the normative use of God's law.
When we wonder, as justified believers, how should we conduct ourselves before this holy God? The law of God reveals to us his will. The law of God reveals to us his perfection. The law of God reveals to us that which is pleasing to God.
Francis Turretin explains it this way. He says, the law leads to Christ and Christ leads us back to the law. It leads to Christ as the Redeemer, and Christ leads to the law as the leader and director of life. See, that's how it functions.
And if you have an appreciation of the three uses of the law, it will hopefully help you as you study the concept or the doctrine of God's law in the Bible. And every time the word law applies, it's not that every single use is there. We see it in 1 Timothy 1, 9. He's dealing with the civil use.
Romans 3.20, he's dealing with the pedagogical use. And in Romans chapter 13, he's dealing with the normative use. Same idea in Ephesians chapter 6. Children, obey your parents and the Lord, for this is right.
Honor your father and your mother. The supposition by the apostle is that they're believing children within the context of the church at Ephesus. And as believers in Christ, they're supposed to render evangelical obedience to that fifth commandment and thus honor God and their parents. Now, in terms of just a couple of practical observations with reference to 2918b, happy is he who keeps the law.
Three Applications of Law-Keeping
I want to suggest three particular applications in terms of happiness or joy associated with keeping the law. In the first place, keeping the law is a consequence of justifying faith.
Law-Keeping as Consequence of Faith
Keeping the law is a consequence of justifying faith. You can turn to Galatians 5. Galatians chapter 5. We know Paul's point in Galatians.
If we don't, we need to brush up. Paul's point in Galatians is the way of acceptance with the Holy God is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. In terms of justification, how is a man right before God, that justifying work has no dependence whatsoever upon the sinner, but all the dependence is upon the Savior, even our Lord Jesus. In fact, go back for just a moment to Galatians chapter two.
Galatians chapter two. I'm going to jump into the midst of a context without giving a lot of explanation because we don't have the time for it, but just look at verse 16. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law.
For by the works of the law, no flesh shall be justified. It's pretty obvious, pretty evident. The Reformers were not wrong, sola fide, faith alone. And then drop down to verse 20.
Paul says, I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Now verse 21 is absolutely crucial, not that 20 isn't, but look at verse 21.
So the apostle is saying to these people affected by the Judaizing heresy, that if you think for a moment that your works gain acceptance with God, then the work of Jesus Christ on the cross was vain. In other words, if you can earn your salvation based on your merit, based on your law-keeping, based on your ability, then why the cross? If it was up to you, then why would the Son of God have to go through what He went through? The reality is, is that the Son of God went through what He went through in order to save us from our sins, because there is no way whatsoever we could have ever earned salvation from a holy God.
So the emphasis in Galatians is justification by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus. We get to Galatians 5, and we see the practical outworking of that salvation. We see the category of sanctification. And in 5.6, the apostle says, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but faith working through love.
Now, Rome butchers this particular text, but as Protestants, we need to understand with Calvin, What is described here is how faith functions, not how faith is formed. Faith functions by working through love. So keeping the law is a consequence of justifying faith. Machen says love, according to the New Testament, is not the means of salvation, but it is the finest fruit of it.
A man is saved by faith, not by love, but he is saved by faith in order that he may love. So if you have love for God, if you have a compliance with the law of God, if there is in you a desire to do the things that God commands, this is a fruit of or a consequence of justifying faith. In other words, God saves you not because you obey. God saves you by grace through faith so that you will obey.
It's a beautiful thing. So you're not doing what God commands in order to be saved. You're doing what God commands because by grace you have been saved. Jesus makes the statement in John 14, 15, if you love me, keep my commandments.
Again, it's a consequence or a fruit of or a response of justifying faith. Our Confession says faith thus receiving and resting on Christ and His righteousness is the alone instrument of justification. Yet it is not alone in the person justified, but is ever accompanied with all other saving graces, and is no dead faith, but worketh by love. So if there is this keeping of the law, and it is for the glory of God, it is for the good of souls, this is an outflow of your having been justified by faith.
Law-Keeping as Help to Assurance
Secondly, happy is he who keeps the law. Keeping the law is a help. a help to promote assurance of salvation. Sometimes persons struggle with assurance of salvation. I understand that.
Our confession has a wonderful chapter that speaks to that particular struggle. But even more importantly, there's a book in the New Testament that speaks to that particular struggle as well. Turn with me to 1 John. In fact, 1 John gives us the point of 1 John in 1 John 5 at verse 13.
Just as John gives a purpose for the writing of the gospel in John 20, here he gives a purpose for the writing of his first epistle in 1 John 5, 13. He says, these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. See, it's a good thing to have assurance of faith. It's a good thing to have assurance of salvation, because you will function in a different manner than those who do not understand or have this assurance of faith.
And so 1 John is calculated to promote in the people of God this assurance. So these things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God." Now, within the book itself, he gives us several helps to promote this assurance. Notice in 1 John 2. 1 John 2. Again, the second application I'm making is keeping the law is a help to promote assurance of salvation. 1 John 2.
Now by this, we know that we know Him. If we keep His commandments, Again, the point is not, I'm going to keep His commandments in order to be saved. I'm going to keep His commandments in order to know Him. No, you've been saved by grace through faith.
You know Him because He has first known you. But an evidence or a manifestation of this is obedience to His law. 1 John 2.3, we know that we know Him if we keep His commandments. Notice in 1 John 3.14, we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren. See, before we were saved, we didn't love the brethren.
The brethren are the bloodbods. The brethren are the redeemed. The brethren may at times bump into us. We may have some friction from time to time.
We may not always see eye to eye in every jot and tittle, but we love the brethren. That's a good sign. If you love the brethren, God has done a work, most likely, in your heart. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brethren.
He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. And then notice in 3.18 and 19, my little children, Let us not love in word or in tongue, but indeed in truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before Him." 1 John 3, 23 and 24. 1 John 3, 23 and 24.
Again, keeping the law is a help to promote assurance of salvation. 1 John 3.23, and this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. Now, he who keeps his commandments abides in him and he in him. And by this, we know that he abides in us by the spirit whom he has given us. Isn't 3.23 intriguing?
And this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ. That is a command. That is absolutely imperative. The entrance into the Christian life is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
When you are in the Lord Jesus Christ, you're supposed to love one another as He gave us commandment. And then in 1 John 5, 2 and 3, By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome. See, if the commandments are burdensome, if they are grievous, if you look at them as being something that is horrific, that is a bad sign, brethren.
We may struggle, we will always struggle to comply with it 100%, but the law is holy, it's good, it's just, and it's right. The problem is never with the law, the problem is always with us. The New Testament believer says with David in the Old Covenant, oh, how I love thy law. It is my meditation all the day.
It is something the people of God delight in. And just incidentally, look how John defines sin in 1 John 3. 1 John 3, 4, whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. So in terms of some practical outworkings of happy is he who keeps the law, we see that keeping of the law is a consequence of justifying faith, keeping of the law is a help to promote assurance of salvation, and then thirdly,
Law-Keeping as Gratitude to God
keeping of the law is an expression of gratitude to God. It is an expression of gratitude to God. We talked about this yesterday. Berkhoff hit on this.
Berkhoff makes this comment. They, the Reformed, stand strong in the conviction that believers are still under the law as a rule of life and of gratitude. When you obey God, when you do what God says, this is an expression of your gratitude to God for what He has done in your life. Burkhoff goes on to say, hence the Heidelberg Catechism devotes not less than 11 Lord's Days to the discussion of the law and that in its third part, which deals with gratitude.
You would think the Ten Commandments would show up at that first part in the Heidelberg that deals with our guilt. Now, there is a reference in that section on how do we know our sin and misery. Well, the law tells me so. But in terms of the exposition or amplification of the Ten Commandments, it's in the third section.
You've got guilt, grace, gratitude. When we obey God, it is an expression of our gratitude to God. Our own confession in the chapter on assurance of salvation says, and therefore it is the duty of everyone to give all diligence to make their calling and election sure, that thereby his heart may be enlarged in peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, in love and thankfulness to God. They go on to say, and in strength and cheerfulness in the duties of obedience, the proper fruits of this assurance.
So far is it from inciting or inclining men to looseness. So, in other words, when we obey God, we are not doing so in order to get saved. We're doing so as an expression of our gratitude to us having been saved by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So back to Solomon, where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, but happy is he who keeps the law.
Well, I hope that you will understand the law of God is used in these three ways. First, civil slash political. Second, pedagogical. and third, normative. With reference to the normative, this one has fallen on hard times in our own generation.
I think the only ones that actually affirm this use of the law and give any heed to it is the reform. Oftentimes, in evangelicalism, there is no concern whatsoever for the Ten Commandments. There's no concern whatsoever for law keeping. And law keeping, in many places, is regarded as legalism.
You talk about a word that is abused. There are good definitions of legalism, and the normative use of the law in the lives of God's people ain't one of them. It is not legalism to do what God says as an expression of gratitude, as a help to promote assurance, and as having flown out of a heart justified by faith alone. John Murray spoke to this issue in his day.
I would suggest it's even worse in our day. He says, it is symptomatic of a pattern of thought current in many evangelical circles that the idea of keeping the commandments of God is not consonant with the liberty and spontaneity of the Christian man. That keeping the law has its affinities with legalism and with the principle of works rather than with the principle of grace. He says, it is strange indeed that this kind of antipathy to the notion of keeping commandments should be entertained by any believer who is a serious student of the New Testament.
Did not our Lord say, if you love me, you will keep my commandments? Now, when he says this is a strange thing, that it's entertained by any believer who is a serious student of the New Testament, I would suggest there's not a whole lot of serious students of the New Testament, but as well, when you do read Scripture, and you do so with an eye to appreciating how God's law is used in various places, you will hopefully glean from that the reality that this idea of the threefold use of the law is good. and that as God's people, spirit-filled, we have that pattern, we have that law as a rule of life, and it is our joy and our delight and our blessed pleasure to do what God calls us to do. If it is grievous, if it is burdensome, if it's a heavy thing, if it's something that causes more consternation than rejoicing or celebration, then you need to check your heart. because the law of God reflects for us or reveals to us who God is, and the blood-bot wants to be like his Father. Well, hopefully this is helpful, and hopefully it makes sense of this text.
Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint, but happy, happy is he who keeps the law.
Closing Prayer
Well, let us pray. Our Father, we thank you for your Word, we thank you for these things, in the book of Proverbs for the reality that they are consistent from Genesis to Revelation. God, we thank you for your law. We thank you for its lawful uses in our own hearts and lives.
We do pray that it would be continued to continue to be proclaimed throughout churches and and that that exercise of restraint would occur by your your hand and by your power and by your mercy and that civil use. And we pray that that law would be preached to sinners to show them their great need for the Savior, to provoke in them that misery, that realization of their own lawlessness, and that seeking after the remedy in our Lord Jesus Christ. We ask that you would go with us now and help us to bring glory and honor and praise to you, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
We'll close with a brief time of meditation and then be dismissed.