Under the Law by Ellet Joseph Waggoner

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Sep 11, 1884

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 10, No. 35.

Under the Law.

By Ellet Joseph Waggoner

(Continued.)

BEFORE directly considering the remaining passages containing the expression "under the law," we wish briefly to recapitulate some points already canvassed, simply stating propositions, and referring to the texts which establish them.

1. The keeping of the law of God is the whole duty of man. Eccl. 12:13. The fact that the word "man" is unqualified, shows that no particular man or race of men is referred to, but that the wise man intended to include the whole human race. It is the duty of all men to love God and their fellow-men.

2. Those who obey the law will stand justified before God. Rom. 2:13. This proposition follows as a natural consequence of the first; for a just God will never condemn a man who does his whole duty. Nothing more than that can possibly be required of anybody.

3. But no man has done his whole duty, for none have kept the law perfectly. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Rom. 3:23; also verses 9-12. "What things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Rom. 3:19.

4. "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight." Rom. 3:20. This is the direct consequence of the fact stated in verse 19. A good law will never justify evil-doers. And in these two verses we again have proof that the law was designed for the whole human family, and not for any particular class; for the law could not condemn those for whom it was not designed. That is to say, a law cannot condemn those who are not within its jurisdiction. But the law does condemn the whole world; therefore all the world are under its jurisdiction.

5. "Condemnation" is "the judicial act of declaring guilty and dooming to punishment."—Webster. It is the direct opposite of "justification," which is "a showing to be just or conformable to law, rectitude, or propriety."—Ib. Therefore since the law of God declares the whole world to be guilty before God, and will not justify a single individual, it follows that all the world are under the condemnation of the law of God.

6. The whole world being found guilty, and being condemned by the law, are said to be "under the law." Rom. 3:19. Therefore "under the law" is a synonym for "condemned by the law."

7. Since all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God, we are "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Rom. 3:24. We are justified by faith alone, "without the deeds of the law," Rom. 3:28; for no amount of good deeds will atone for one sin. If a man had stolen a horse, abstaining from horse-stealing to all eternity would not in the least clear him from the guilt. If we are freed from past transgressions, it must be solely by an act of favor on the part of God.

8. This justification belongs only to those who believe in Jesus. Rom 3:26. It is purely a matter of faith on the part of the sinner, and of favor on the part of God. Rom. 3:21, 22, 28. And therefore to obtain justification from past transgressions, the sinner has only to have sincere faith in Christ. It takes just as long to be justified as it does to have faith in Christ, and no longer.

9. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus." Rom. 8:1. That is, those who are in Christ—those who have faith in him—are not under the law; they are the subjects of God's special favor.

10. As a consequence of all the preceding propositions, it follows that all men are under the law until they have faith in Christ; from that moment they are out from under the law, unless they again bring themselves into condemnation by again yielding themselves to sin.

11. The law was ordained to life. Rom. 7:10. That is, if it had been kept perfectly, which is what was designed, it would have given the obedient one eternal life. See Matt. 19:17.

12. But "the wages of sin is death." Rom. 6:23. And since all men have sinned, all men are condemned to death. There is no law in existence by which man in his present condition can secure eternal life. That is the gift of God through Christ. But it is not the fault of the law that it cannot give life. It is just as holy and just and good as it was before. The fault lies in man alone. Rom. 7:12-14.

We are now prepared to consider a passage of Scripture, portions of which have been quoted perhaps oftener than any other part of the Bible, as proving the abolition of the law, but which is one of the strongest proofs of its perpetuity. It is found in the third chapter of Galatians. Verses 24 and 25 are supposed to teach that Christians need not keep the law. We shall consider these verses, as we do all others, in the light of the context. We shall have but little more to do than to refer to propositions already established by the Bible. We have not space to give Paul's argument in full from the beginning of the chapter, but will begin with the twenty-first verse.

The apostle speaks in some of the preceding verses of God's promise to Abraham, and, through him, to all the faithful. He says that the inheritance was simply by promise, through faith in Christ, yet the law was also given and designed to be kept. Then he asks, "Is the law then against the promises of God?" That is a very pertinent question. It opens the whole subject. Is the law against the promises of God? If we keep the law do we thereby manifest our disbelief of or contempt for the promises of God? Do we deny Christ by keeping the law? Paul answers in the same verse: "God forbid; for if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law." Gal. 3:21. The idea is, The law is not against (in conflict with) the promises of God, because we do not expect to gain the inheritance through the keeping of the law. That this is true is proved by the simple fact that if the law could have given life, righteousness should have come by means of it, and there would have been no need of Christ's sacrifice and of the promises. So the simple fact that promises were given, proves that the law is powerless to give life.

And why is it that there could be no law that would give life? Verse 22 contains the answer: "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." As we have already shown from the Scriptures, the reason why men cannot be justified and receive eternal life through the law is that "all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." And now mark well this point: The existence of the law, instead of being against the promises of God, is so much in harmony with them that they would amount to nothing without it. How so? Because, (1) "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." 1 Tim. 1:15; (2) He can save only those who believe. Mark 16:15; Acts 16:31; Rom. 3:26, etc.; (3) All men are sinners (Rom. 3:23) whether they are conscious of it or not; but (4) No one can know that he is a sinner until he examines the law of God, for "by the law is the knowledge of sin." Rom. 3:20; and (5) If a man did not feel himself to be a sinner, he could not be induced to believe in Christ for the remission of sins; for if it is true that "they that are whole need not a physician," it is equally true that they that think they are whole will not apply to a physician, no matter how sorely they may stand in need of one; therefore, (6) It is absolutely necessary that the law be in the world, in order to lead men to lay hold on the promises. The law of itself could save no one; the promises would be of no benefit to men without the law to show them their need of those promises. The law, by showing all men to be sinners, makes it possible for the promises to be extended to all the world. Whoever, therefore, claims that he is no sinner, puts himself outside the promises of God. And now, as we quote the text again, we shall have a better understanding of it: "But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe." Gal. 3:22.

"But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed." Verse 23. Right here read once more the propositions at the beginning of this article, and the texts therein cited. In what condition does God's great sin detecter,—the law,—show men to be? Guilty before God,—condemned to death. How can they be freed from this condition? By faith in Christ. There is no other way by which men can get free from condemnation. "Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." Acts 4:12. Then how long must they remain in this state of condemnation? Until they can grasp the great truth of salvation through Christ alone, and exercise faith in him. They are "shut up" to this one way of escape.

We wish to call the reader's attention to the forcible figure here introduced. To do so, we will use a simple illustration. Mr. A has killed a man. In so doing he has broken the law of the State. It may have been his first and only offense; but no matter, he is a law-breaker. And now he is seized by the officers of the law, and taken into court, where, the facts being set forth, the law shows him to be guilty, and he is condemned to death. But sentence will not be executed for several weeks, and what is done with Mr. A in the meantime? He is shut up in prison, possibly with chains on his limbs. Now what is it that holds him there? It is the law of the State. It was the law that seized him, condemned him, and shut him up in jail. The sheriff and the judge were merely the agents of the law. He is then indeed "under the law."

And now Mr. A begins to realize his impending doom, and longs for freedom. How can he get it? The walls of his cell are impenetrable, the doors are securely bolted, and he is chained to the floor. It is very clear that he cannot help himself. Who can? There is only one man, and that is the governor. To him he turns as his only hope. He cannot plead the many good deeds that he may have done, for they do not destroy the fact that he has sinned. It was past transgression that brought him into his present condition. He can only promise obedience for the future, and beg for mercy. Through the mediation of powerful friends, and the clemency of the governor, he at last obtains his freedom.

Now how is it in the case of the transgressor against God's law? There is no hope of escaping, for the law is omnipresent, and as soon as the sin is committed it seizes the unfortunate one. "The wages of sin is death," and since he is clearly a sinner, he is condemned already. Hence he is immediately "shut up." He cannot bribe the jailer, and he has nothing to expect but death. He casts about for a way to escape from his bondage, but every scheme which he devises fails. One hope alone appears, and that is Christ. He has promised to rescue all who believe in him, and the unhappy sinner, believing that Christ is able "to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him," lays hold on the hope thus held out, and becomes a free man. Now Paul says that before faith came we were all "under the law, shut up," in just the condition above described. It is not merely the Jews, not a certain few, who are shut up under condemnation of the law, but all men in all ages of the world's history have been in just that condition. As soon as any one exercised faith in Christ, he obtained his freedom.

The verses that we first referred to, the 24th and 25th, are thus explained; but few more words are needed. As a consequence of the previous statements, the apostle concludes: "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith." In verses 21, 22, the apostle anticipates this verse by showing how absolutely necessary the law is to the carrying out of the promises of God through Christ. See the comments on those verses in the preceding part of this article. Notice that the law does not point to Christ—that office is intrusted to something else—but it brings us, yea, drives and forces us to him as our only hope. And this is just what was done by the individual who is called in our version a "schoolmaster." The proper term would be "pedagogue," a word applied anciently not to one who taught children, but to one who accompanied them to the place where they might be taught, and beat them if they ran away. Of course the law does not bring those who do not wish relief; but when sinners want liberty, and begin to struggle for it, the law allows them no avenue of escape except Christ, who is the "end of the law." It stands as an impassable wall, in whatever way the sinner may turn for escape, until he sees Christ, the Door across whose portals the law throws no bar.

"But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a school-master." Verse 25. No; the moment that we implicitly believe that Christ loves us individually, with a love that is able to save us, we are free. The chains that bind us to the body of death are severed, and "there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." We are now new creatures in Christ, and must henceforth walk in newness of life, no longer "under the law," but "under grace."

We would like to carry these thoughts still further, but this article is already too long. In our next we shall finish our consideration of the term "under the law," and will then pass to some other phases of the law question. E. J. W.