PMW 2017-086 by Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr.

This is the third installment in outline form on this topic. For the full presentation, please begin at installment one (PMW 2017-084).

D. God’s Law continues today

1. Christ and God’s Law.

Matt 5:16–20: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.”

God’s Law Made Easy (by Ken Gentry)

Summary for the case for the continuing relevance of God’s Law. A  helpful summary of the argument from Greg L. Bahnsen’s Theonomy in Christian Ethics.

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

2. God’s law defines basic moral obligation (e.g., the golden rule)

“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 7:12).

3. God’s law defines love.

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said to him, You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets” (Matt. 22:36-40).

Love is not feeling or non-descript action. It is obedient action defined by the strictures of God-ordained Law.

4. Paul affirms God’s law.

Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law” (Rom. 3:31).

“Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good…. For we know that the law is spiritual” (Rom. 7:12, 14).

“But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, 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” (1 Tim 1:8-11; cp. Psa. 119:11).

Nourishment from the Word
(by Ken Gentry)

Reformed studies covering baptism, creation, creeds, tongues, God’s law, apologetics, and Revelation

See more study materials at: www.KennethGentry.com

5. God’s law has just penal sanctions

Heb. 2:2: “For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense….”

Rom. 7:12: “Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.”

To be continued.

Tagged: Bible and homosexuality