Covenant Theology, Scripture, and Reformed Confessions — Unit 5: Law and Gospel; the Three Uses of the Law

Key Verse

"Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good." (Romans 7:12, NKJV)

Learning Objectives

When you finish this unit, you should be able to:

1. Distinguish law and gospel, and explain why both must be preached.

2. Name and explain the three uses of the law taught by Calvin and the Westminster Standards.

3. Explain the order guilt, grace and gratitude in the Heidelberg Catechism.

4. Describe the difference between the law as a covenant of works and the law as a rule of life for believers.

5. State the objections of antinomians, some Lutherans and some dispensational and other evangelical teachers, and answer them.

Where We Stand

This course is written from inside the confessional Reformed and Presbyterian tradition, for students who belong to it. In Unit 3 we saw that the law at Sinai was given within the covenant of grace. In Unit 4 we said that the moral law continues. This unit asks how the law and the gospel work together in the life of a believer and in the work of a pastor. A pastor who confuses law and gospel will either crush his people or let them wander. We state the objections of other Christians fairly and answer them. The history of the Reformed churches is told in Course 1, and justification by faith alone is taught in Course 2.

Law and Gospel Defined

The law is God's revealed will for how people should live. It tells us what to do and what not to do. Its summary is love: love for God with all the heart, and love for neighbor as for ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). Its fullest written form is the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20). The law makes demands. It promises life to those who keep it perfectly and curses those who do not (Galatians 3:10-12).

The gospel is the good news of what God has done in Christ. It does not make demands first. It announces that Christ lived, died and rose for sinners (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) and that "the just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17). The gospel offers a free gift, and it is received by faith alone.

The law says, "Do this and live." The gospel says, "Christ has done it. Believe, and live." The law shows sin and cannot remove it. The gospel shows the Savior and gives him.

Paul teaches that law and gospel are not enemies. "Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law" (Romans 3:31). The law is "holy and just and good" (Romans 7:12). The trouble is in us, not in the law. The law cannot give life because we are weak through the flesh (Romans 8:3). So God sends his Son. The gospel does what the law could not do.

The Heidelberg Catechism: Guilt, Grace, Gratitude

The Heidelberg Catechism (1563) is built on this pattern. Question 2 says that we must know three things to live and die in the comfort of the gospel: how great our sins and misery are, how we are set free from them, and how we are to thank God for that deliverance. The catechism then follows these three parts.

Guilt comes first. The catechism teaches that we learn our misery from the law of God (Question 3), and it gives the summary of the law as love for God and neighbor (Question 4). Grace follows: the long middle section explains the Mediator, the Apostles' Creed, faith and the sacraments. Then gratitude: the Ten Commandments appear in the third section, as the pattern of the thankful life (Questions 92 to 115).

This arrangement teaches something that many believers do not at first see: the same law appears twice. First it appears as a mirror that shows our sin. Later it appears as a guide for the life of thanks. The first leads us to Christ. The second follows us after we come to him.

The Three Uses of the Law

Calvin set out three uses of the law in the Institutes (Book 2, chapter 7), and the Reformed confessions follow him. The Westminster Confession (chapter 19) and the Larger Catechism (Questions 95 to 97) teach the same things in their own words.

The first use: a mirror that shows our sin

The first use is often called the pedagogical or convicting use. The law shows God's holiness and our guilt. "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). Paul says he would not have known sin except through the law (Romans 7:7). The law is a tutor, "to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24).

The unbeliever learns that he cannot save himself. The believer learns again how much he needs grace. The law shuts every mouth (Romans 3:19), so that the sinner will flee to Christ.

The second use: a fence that restrains evil

The second use is the civil use. The law restrains evil in society, even among those who do not believe. God has written the work of the law on the hearts of all people, so that their consciences accuse or excuse them (Romans 2:14-15). The magistrate is God's servant, who does not bear the sword in vain (Romans 13:1-4). Laws against theft, murder and cruelty, penalties and the fear of punishment hold back wickedness and make life in society possible. Paul says the law is good when used lawfully, to restrain those who do not obey it (1 Timothy 1:8-11).

Christians should pray for rulers and honor good government (1 Timothy 2:1-2). But laws can restrain outward sin; they cannot change a heart.

The third use: a guide for the thankful

The third use is for those who are in Christ. Calvin said it is the principal use. The law teaches believers what pleases God, and it urges them on in obedience. It does not condemn the believer, for Christ has borne its curse (Galatians 3:13). It shows the believer the shape of the life that grows from love.

The Bible teaches this in many places.

• The psalmist says, "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" (Psalm 119:97).

• Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments" (John 14:15).

• Jesus says he did not come to destroy the Law and the Prophets but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17).

• Paul quotes the commandments in his letters to Christians (Romans 13:8-10; Ephesians 6:2-3).

• In the new covenant God writes his law on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:27), so that the believer, empowered by the Spirit, delights to obey.

The Westminster Confession, 19.6, teaches that believers are not under the law as a covenant of works, to be justified or condemned by it. Yet the law is of great use to them as a rule of life. It shows the will of God, reveals their sin, humbles them, and shows them what their sin deserves and what Christ has suffered for them. And 19.7 adds that the law is not contrary to grace, since the Spirit of Christ subdues and enables the will to do freely and cheerfully what the will of God requires.

Two ways to hold the law

Here is the heart of the matter. The same law can be held in two ways. Held as a covenant of works, it says, "Keep me perfectly, or die." Nobody can meet that demand, and Christ has met it for his people. Held as a rule of life in the covenant of grace, it says, "You are loved and redeemed; now walk in the way of your Father." The commands are the same, but the relationship is entirely different. The first is the voice of a judge. The second is the voice of a father.

Objections and Our Answers

Objection 1 (antinomian): Believers are "not under law but under grace" (Romans 6:14), so the law has nothing to say to them.

The word antinomian means "against law." Some in the past have said that because Christ has paid for all sin, a believer's conduct does not matter, and that preaching the law belongs to the old covenant. The Antinomian controversy in Massachusetts in the 1630s and the Marrow controversy in Scotland in the 1720s are examples of this debate in Reformed history.

Our answer. Romans 6:14 teaches that sin shall not rule over the believer, because he is no longer under the law as a covenant of works. The next verse asks, "Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!" (Romans 6:15). John says, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments" (1 John 5:3). Faith that does not produce obedience is dead (James 2:17). Paul teaches that we are saved by grace, "not of works," and created in Christ Jesus "for good works" (Ephesians 2:8-10). Grace does not cancel the law. It writes the law on the heart.

Objection 2 (some Lutheran and other teachers): The third use puts believers back under the law and hides the gospel.

Some Lutheran teachers have worried that a "third use" brings legalism through the back door. Historians note that Luther spoke most often of the law as a hammer that drives us to Christ, and Calvin spoke more of the law's guiding use. Some therefore speak of a difference between Luther and Calvin. We should state it fairly. Luther and Calvin agreed that the law convicts and that Christ alone saves. The later Lutheran Formula of Concord (1577) also taught a use of the law for believers. The difference is chiefly one of emphasis and of the controversies each faced.

Our answer. The third use does not put the believer under the law's curse. The law is held in the hand of the Mediator and obeyed in the strength of the Spirit, out of gratitude. The Heidelberg Catechism shows the order: grace comes first and gratitude follows. Law and gospel must be distinguished, and they must also be held together. A pastor who preaches only the gospel without the law leaves his people without a mirror and without a path. A pastor who preaches only the law leaves them without hope.

Objection 3 (some evangelical and dispensational teachers): Believers are under "the law of Christ" and not the law of Moses, so the Ten Commandments no longer bind.

Some Bible teachers point to Romans 6:14, Galatians 3:25 and 1 Corinthians 9:21, and teach that the Mosaic law has ended for the Christian and that the believer has a new law of Christ in its place.

Our answer. We agree that the ceremonial and civil parts of the Mosaic law ended, as Unit 4 explained. But the moral law has never been cancelled. Jesus said he came to fulfill, not destroy, the Law (Matthew 5:17). Jesus summed up the law in two commands of love (Matthew 22:37-40), and Paul says love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8-10). Paul uses the fifth commandment, "Honor your father and mother," with its promise, in a letter to a Christian church (Ephesians 6:2). Whatever the "law of Christ" means, it surely does not allow what the moral law forbids. The two are not rivals.

Objection 4: If no one can keep the law, why preach it so strictly?

The Heidelberg Catechism asks this question (Question 115). Its answer is that the law is preached so that, throughout life, we may increasingly see how sinful our nature is and may seek forgiveness and righteousness in Christ, and that we may keep praying for the Spirit's renewal as we press toward the goal of perfection.

Preaching the Law and the Gospel Together

In practice, a faithful sermon in the Reformed tradition usually has both. The pastor opens the text and shows what God requires, and then shows how Christ has fulfilled it and how his Spirit enables his people. Two mistakes must be avoided.

• Moralism preaches only duty. It tells people to be better without telling them of the Savior. The result is pride or despair.

• Cheap grace preaches only comfort. It tells people they are forgiven without telling them what forgiveness is for. The result is carelessness.

Calvin and the Puritans preached both. When we preach the commands, we preach them in the light of the cross, and when we preach the cross, we do not leave out its call to a new life. Preaching is treated further in the course "Reformed Pastoral Ministry, Preaching, and Missions."

Pastoral Application

A shopkeeper in your congregation has been a Christian for two years. In conversation he says, "Pastor, I am under grace, not under law. My sins are forgiven. Little things like giving a customer a bit less than they pay for, that is covered by grace." A deacon has quietly reported to you that this is happening.

A wise pastor does not begin with a rebuke, but he does not ignore the matter either. First, he speaks with the man alone and with kindness, and he asks him to read Romans 6:1-2 and 6:15 together with him. Second, he reminds him of the gospel before he speaks of the commandment: Christ has paid for every sin, and that is exactly why a believer wants to be free from sin. Third, he opens the eighth commandment, "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15), and the Heidelberg Catechism's teaching that it forbids cheating in trade, and he shows the man that the law now speaks as a guide from his Father. Fourth, he points to Zacchaeus, who, after meeting Christ, promised to repay fourfold what he had taken wrongly (Luke 19:8), and he invites the man to make things right. Last, he prays with him that the Spirit would write the law on his heart. If the man will not listen, the pastor knows that the elders may need to take up the matter, as the unit "Church Discipline and Membership" explains.

Summary

The law is God's holy will, summed up in love for God and neighbor; the gospel is the good news of what Christ has done. Both are God's Word and must be preached. The Heidelberg Catechism teaches guilt, grace and gratitude, and its Ten Commandments appear as the guide of a grateful life. Calvin taught three uses of the law: it shows sin and drives us to Christ, it restrains evil in society, and it guides believers in the way that pleases God. The Westminster Confession adds that believers are not under the law as a covenant of works, but it is of great use to them as a rule of life. Objections from antinomians, some Lutherans and some evangelicals are answered from Scripture. A faithful pastor preaches the law in the light of the cross and the gospel with its call to a new life.

Further Reading

• The Heidelberg Catechism (1563), Questions 2 to 4, 92 to 115.

• The Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 19 (1646).

• The Westminster Larger Catechism, Questions 93 to 97, and the Shorter Catechism, Question 42 (1647).

• John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 2, chapter 7 (Beveridge translation, 1845).

• Ursinus, Commentary on the Heidelberg Catechism, on the law and the gospel.

• Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology (1872-73), on the uses of the law.

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