But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
The law in view is God's written moral law, the Ten Commandments, whose moral obligations remain enforced. It is distinct from the ceremonial shadow laws, which were abolished at the cross. The law is good, and that goodness is a quality it shares with God himself, for God is good and his law is good.
The law is good when it is used lawfully as an exposing, reproving, and condemning rule. In that lawful use it identifies the lawless, disobedient, ungodly, and sinful. Its penal use is against lawless people and criminals, including murderers, sexual offenders, kidnappers, liars, and perjurers. It is not to serve as a basis for outward boasting or human praise.
This condemning use reproves the profaning of sacred things, including Sabbath-breaking, whose sanctification God has not removed. The fact that the Sabbath is not named in the immediate passage does not prove that the Sabbath or the commandments are abolished.
The aim of the law is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. It remains in force under the gospel, and keeping it is not opposed to grace. The glorious gospel does not make its penal use void.
The righteous are not free from the law's authority. The law exposes sin and shows the need for Jesus Christ to deliver from sin, pointing toward the law being written in the heart so it can be kept without condemnation. Through faith his obedience is credited so that believers are brought into harmony with the law and are free from its penalty and condemnation rather than independent of its requirements.
Right use does not make the law a way to earn pardon or final salvation, a replacement for the gospel, or a whole system for salvation. It does not make it a basis for outward boasting and human praise. It keeps the law within the gospel system as a rule of life, a test of character, and a standard of holiness. It is a needed and blessed law of love to God and impartial love to others rather than an enemy, to be obeyed from love, gratitude, and trust rather than fear alone, since rejecting it in an effort to honor the gospel dishonors the law.
The law in view is God's written moral law, the Ten Commandments, whose moral obligations remain enforced. It is distinct from the ceremonial shadow laws, which were abolished at the cross. The law is good, and that goodness is a quality it shares with God himself, for God is good and his law is good.
The law is good when it is used lawfully as an exposing, reproving, and condemning rule. In that lawful use it identifies the lawless, disobedient, ungodly, and sinful. Its penal use is against lawless people and criminals, including murderers, sexual offenders, kidnappers, liars, and perjurers. It is not to serve as a basis for outward boasting or human praise.
This condemning use reproves the profaning of sacred things, including Sabbath-breaking, whose sanctification God has not removed. The fact that the Sabbath is not named in the immediate passage does not prove that the Sabbath or the commandments are abolished.
The aim of the law is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith. It remains in force under the gospel, and keeping it is not opposed to grace. The glorious gospel does not make its penal use void.
The righteous are not free from the law's authority. The law exposes sin and shows the need for Jesus Christ to deliver from sin, pointing toward the law being written in the heart so it can be kept without condemnation. Through faith his obedience is credited so that believers are brought into harmony with the law and are free from its penalty and condemnation rather than independent of its requirements.
Right use does not make the law a way to earn pardon or final salvation, a replacement for the gospel, or a whole system for salvation. It does not make it a basis for outward boasting and human praise. It keeps the law within the gospel system as a rule of life, a test of character, and a standard of holiness. It is a needed and blessed law of love to God and impartial love to others rather than an enemy, to be obeyed from love, gratitude, and trust rather than fear alone, since rejecting it in an effort to honor the gospel dishonors the law.