Schoolmaster to Christ
EXODUS CHAPTER 20
Schoolmaster to Christ
EXODUS CHAPTER 20
Scripture Reading: Exodus 20 (KJV)
It is of the utmost importance to understand the true character and object of the moral law set forth in this chapter. Most of us have a tendency to confound the principles of law and grace, making it difficult for either one to be properly understood. Thus, too often law is shorn of its stern and unbending majesty; and grace is robbed of its divine attractions. God's holy claims remain unanswered, and the sinner's deep and manifold necessities remain unreachable by the anomalous system framed by those who attempt to mingle law and grace. In point of fact, they can never be made to coalesce, for they are as distinct as any two things can be. Law sets forth what man ought to be; grace exhibits what God is. How can these ever be wrapped up into one system? How can the sinner be saved by a system made up of half law, half grace? No; it must be one or the other.
The law has occasionally been termed "the transcript of God's mind." However, this definition is defective. Were we to term it "a transcript of the mind of God regarding what man should be," we would be nearer the truth. If we regard the Ten Commandments1 as the transcript of God’s mind, then the question arises, is there nothing in the mind of God save "thou shalt" and "thou shalt not"? Is there no grace? No mercy? No loving kindness? Is God not to manifest what He is? Is He not to pour out the deep secrets of that love dwelling in His bosom? Is there nothing in the Divine character but stern requirement and prohibition? If this is so, then we should be saying, "God is law “instead of "God is love." But, blessed be His name, there is more in His heart than could ever be wrapped up in “Ten Words” uttered on the fiery mount. To see what God is, we must look at Christ; "for in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the godhead bodily" (Col. 2:9). "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (Jn. 1:17). There was certainly a measure of truth in the Law. It contained truth regarding what man ought to be. Like everything else emanating from God, it was perfect as far as it went – perfect for the object for which it was administered; but that object was not meant to unfold the nature and character of God. There was no grace – no mercy. "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy" (Heb. 10.28). "The man that doeth these things shall live by them2"; "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them3 ." Mount Sinai was not and is not the place to look for God's grace. There Jehovah revealed Himself in awful majesty, amid blackness, darkness, tempest, thundering, and lightning. Such was not an economy of grace and mercy; but they were well suited to truth and righteousness – the Law was that and nothing else.
In the law, God presents what man ought to be, pronouncing a curse on him if he is not. But, when man looks at himself in the light of the law, he finds that he is what the law condemns. So, how can life come by it? The law proposes life and righteousness as the ends to be attained, by keeping it; but, at the very outset, it proves that we are in a state of death and unrighteousness. We want, at the beginning, that which the law proposes to be gained at the end. Therefore, how are we to gain them? In order to do what the law requires, we must have life; and in order to be what the law requires, we must have righteousness; and if we have neither, we are "cursed." But the fact is we have neither. So what are we to do? This is the question. Let those who "desire to be teachers of the law" furnish an answer. Let them furnish a satisfactory reply to an upright conscience, bowed down under the double sense of the spirituality and inflexibility of the law and its hopeless carnality.
The truth is, as the apostle teaches us that "the law entered that the offence might abound" (Rom. 5:20). This distinctly shows us the real object of the law. It came in to set forth the exceeding sinfulness of sin (1 Cor. 7:13). It was like a mirror let down from heaven to reveal our moral derangement. If we present ourselves before a mirror with deranged hair, it reveals the derangement, but does not make it right. If we measure a crooked wall with a plumb-line, it reveals the crookedness, but does not remove it. If we take a flashlight out on a dark night, it reveals all the hindrances and disagreeables along the way, but it does not remove them. It is also true that the mirror, the plumb-line, and the light, do not create the evils they severally point out; they neither create nor remove, but simply reveal. So it is with the law; it neither creates the evil in man’s heart, nor removes it; but, with unerring accuracy, it does reveal it.
"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Yea, I had not known sin but by the law; for I had not known lust except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet" (Rom. 7:7). He does not say that he would not have had "lust." No; but he does say that "he had not known it." The "lust" was there; but he was in the dark about it until the law, as "the candle of the Almighty," shone in upon the dark chambers of his heart, revealing the evil that was there. Like a man in a dark room who may be surrounded with dust and confusion, but he cannot see it because of the darkness. Let the sun beams dart in and he quickly perceives all. Do the sunbeams create the dust? No; the dust is there, and the beams only detect and reveal it. This is a simple illustration of the effect of the law. It judges man's character and condition. It proves him to be a sinner and shuts him up under a curse. It comes to judge what he is, and curses him if he is not what it tells him he should be.
Therefore, it is impossible for one to get life and righteousness by that which brings only a curse; and unless the condition of the sinner, and the character of the law are totally changed, it can do nothing else but curse him. The law makes no allowance for infirmities, and knows nothing of sincere, though imperfect, obedience. To do so, the law would not be what it is, "holy, just, and good." Because the law is what it is, the sinner cannot get life by it. If we could, it would not be perfect, or else we would not be sinners. As sinners, it is impossible for us to get life by a perfect law, for because it is perfect, it must condemn us. Its absolute perfectness makes manifest and seals our absolute ruin and condemnation. "Therefore by deeds of law shall no flesh living be justified in his sight; for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3:20). He does not say, "by the law is sin," but only "the knowledge of sin." "For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed when there is no law" (Rom. 5:13). Sin was there, and it only needed law to develop it in the form of "transgression." It is as if one said to child, "You must not touch that flame." The very prohibition reveals the tendency in the child's heart to do it. In other words, it does not create the tendency, but only reveals it.
The apostle John says that "sin is lawlessness" (1 Jn. 3:4). The word "transgression" does not develop the true idea of the Spirit in this passage. In order to have "transgression" there must be a definite rule or line laid down. Transgression means passing across a prohibited line; such a line we have in the law. Take any one of its prohibitions, such as, "thou shalt not kill," "thou shalt not commit adultery," "thou shalt not steal." Here, we have a rule or line set before us; but find we have within us the very principles against which these prohibitions are directed. In other words, the very fact that we are told not to commit murder, shows that we have a murderous nature. There would be no necessity to tell us not to do something we had no tendency to do; but the exhibition of God's will, as to what we should be, reveals the tendency of our will to be what we should not. This is plain enough, and is in keeping with apostolic reasoning on the point.
However, while many will admit that we cannot get life by the law; they still maintain that the law is our rule of life. But, the apostle declares that "as many as are of works of law are under the curse" (Gal. 3:10). It matters not who we are, if we occupy the ground of law, we are under a curse. A person may say, "I am regenerate, and, therefore, not exposed to the curse." But, if regeneration does not take us off the ground of law, it cannot take us beyond the range of the curse of the law. In other words, if we are under the former, we are of necessity exposed to the latter. But what has the law to do with regeneration? Where do we find anything about it in Exodus 20:8? The law has but one question to put to us – a brief, solemn, pointed question: "Are we what we ought to be?" If we answer in the negative, it can only hurl its terrible anathema at us and slay us. Are we what we ought to be? Therefore, if we are under the law, then we must inevitably be under the curse. The law cannot lower its standard – it cannot amalgamate with grace. Men constantly seek to lower its standard, seeking to bring it down to them; but it is a vain effort because the law stands in all its purity, majesty, and stern inflexibility, and will not accept a single hair's breadth short of perfect obedience; and where is the man, regenerate or unregenerate, who can undertake to produce that? One may say, "We have perfection in Christ." True; but by grace, not by the law; and we cannot confound the two economies. Scripture distinctly teaches that we are not justified by the law; nor is the law our rule of life. That which can only curse can never justify; and that which can only kill can never be a rule of life. A person might as well attempt to make a fortune through bankruptcy.
In Acts 15, we find that an attempt to put Gentile believers under the law is met by the Holy Spirit. "There rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, that it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses." Here was the hiss of the old serpent, making itself heard in the dark and depressing suggestion of those early legalists. But it was met by the mighty energy of the Holy Spirit, as well as the unanimous voice of the twelve apostles and the church4 of our Lord.
"And when there had been much disputing, Peter rose up, and said unto them, Men and brethren, ye know how that a good while ago, God made choice among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth should hear the word of the gospel, and believe."
Hear what? The requirements and the curses of the Law of Moses? No; "the word of the gospel, and believe." This suited the nature and character of God. He no longer troubled men with the dismal accents of requirement and prohibition. These Pharisees were not His messengers; far from it. They were not the bearers of glad tidings, nor the publishers of peace, and therefore, their "feet" were anything but "beautiful" in the eyes of One who only delights in mercy.
"Now, therefore," continues the apostle, "why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?" This was strong, earnest language. God did not want "to put a yoke upon the neck" of those whose hearts had been set free by the Gospel of Christ – the Gospel of peace. He would rather exhort them to stand fast in the liberty of Christ, and not be "entangled again with the yoke of bondage." He would not have those whom He had received to His bosom of love terrified by the "blackness, and darkness, and tempest," of "the mount that might be touched." How could we ever allow the thought that those whom God had received in grace He would rule by law? "We believe," says Peter, "that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved even as they" (emphasis added). Both the Jews who had received the law, and the Gentiles who never had, were now to be "saved through grace." And not only were they to be "saved" by grace, but they were to "stand" in grace (Rom. 5:2), and to "grow in grace" (2 Pet. 3:18) – to teach anything else was to "tempt God." Those Pharisees were subverting the very foundation of Christian faith; and so are all those who seek to put believers under the law. There is no evil or error more abominable in the sight of the Lord than legalism. Hearken to the strong language; the accents of righteous indignation that fell from the Holy Spirit regarding those teachers of the law: "I would they were even cut off which trouble you" (Gal. 5:12).
Has the Holy Spirit changed regarding this question? Has it ceased to be a tempting of God to place the yoke of legality on a sinner's neck? Is it now in accordance with His gracious will? We need to consider these enquiries in the light of Acts 15 and the Epistle to the Galatians. These Scriptures are amply sufficient to prove that God never intended that the "Gentiles should hear the word" of the law. Had God intended to do so, He would have "made choice" of someone to proclaim it. But no; when God sent forth His "fiery law," He spoke in only one tongue; but when He proclaimed the glad tidings of salvation5, through the blood of the Lamb, He spoke in the language "of every nation under heaven." He spoke in such a way so that "every man in his own tongue wherein he was born," might hear the sweet story of grace (Acts 2:1-11).6
Further, when God gave the stern requirements of the covenant of works from Mount Sinai, He addressed Himself exclusively to one people. His voice was only heard within the narrow enclosures of the Jewish nation; but when, on the plains of Bethlehem, "the angel of the Lord" declared "good tidings of great joy," he added those characteristic words, "which shall be to all people." Also, when the risen Christ was sending forth His heralds of salvation, His commission was, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned" (Mk. 16:15, 16; NKJV). The mighty tide of grace having its source in the bosom of God, and its channel in the blood of the Lamb, was designed to rise, in the resistless energy of the Holy Spirit, far above the narrow enclosures of Israel, and roll through the length and breadth of a sin-stained world. "Every creature" must hear, "in his own tongue," the message of peace, the word of the Gospel, the record of salvation, through the blood of the cross.
Finally, to make sure that our legalistic hearts understand that Mount Sinai was not the spot where the deep secrets of the bosom of God were given, the Holy Spirit7 has said, both by the mouth of a prophet and an apostle, "How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things" (Is. 3:7; Rom. 10:15). But of those who sought to be teachers of the law the same Holy Spirit has said, "I would they were even cut off that trouble you."
It is obvious that the law is neither the ground of life to the sinner nor the rule of life to the Christian. Christ is both our life and our rule of life. The law can only curse and slay. Christ is our life and righteousness. He became a curse for us by hanging on a tree. He went down into the place of death and judgment, and by His death, entirely discharged all that was or could be against us, becoming in resurrection the source of life and the ground of righteousness to all who believe and are baptized. Therefore, having life and righteousness in Him, we are called to walk, not merely as the law directs, but to "walk even as he walked." Surely it is not necessary to assert that it is directly contrary to Christian ethics to kill, commit adultery, or steal. However, if a Christian shapes his way according to these commands, or according to the entire Decalogue, would he yield the rare and delicate fruits set forth in the Epistle to the Ephesians? Would the Ten Commandments ever cause a thief to give up stealing, and go to work that he might be able to give? Would they ever transform a thief into a laborious and generous person? Assuredly not. The law says, "thou shalt not steal;" but does not say, "go and give to him that needeth" – go feed, clothe, and be good to your enemy – by your benevolent feelings and beneficent acts, go gladden the heart of the one who seeks only to hurt you. As a rule, being under the law can only curse and slay us. How can this be when the standard in the New Testament is so much higher? Because we are weak, and the law gives us no strength and shows us no mercy. The law demands strength from one that has none, and curses him if he cannot display it. The Gospel gives strength to one that has none, and blesses him in the exhibition of it. The law proposes life as the end of obedience. The Gospel gives life as the only proper ground of obedience.
"If the law is to be the rule of a believer's life, then where is it presented in the New Testament? The inspired apostle evidently had no idea that it was the rule when he penned the following words: ‘For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God" (Gal. 6:15, 16).
What "rule?" The law? No; the "new creation." One may ask, ‘Where can we find this in Exodus 20? It does not offer a word about new creation.’ On the contrary, it addresses man as he is, in his natural or old-creation state, putting him to the test regarding what he is able to do. If the law were the rule by which Christians are to walk, then why does the apostle pronounce his benediction on those who walk by another rule? Why does he not say, "as many as walk according to the rule of the Ten Commandments?" From this one passage, is it not evident that the church of our Lord has a higher rule by which to walk? Though forming a part of the canon8 of inspiration, the Ten Commandments could never be the rule of life to one who, through infinite grace, has been introduced into the new creation – who has received new life in Christ.
But some may ask, "Is not the law perfect? And, if perfect, what more would you need?" The law is divinely perfect. In fact, the very perfection of the law is what causes it to curse and slay those who are not perfect, who attempt to stand before it. "The law is spiritual, but I am carnal." It is impossible to form an adequate idea of the infinite perfectness and spirituality of the law. But then this perfect law coming in contact with fallen humanity – this spiritual law coming In contact with "the carnal mind," could only "work wrath" and "enmity" (Rom. 4:15; 8:7). Why? Is it because the law is not perfect? No, but because it is, and man is sinful. If man were perfect, he would carry out the law in all its spiritual perfectness. Though, as Christians we still carry and are burdened by an evil nature, the apostle teaches "that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Rom. 8:4) "He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law" – "love worketh no ill to his neighbor: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law" (Rom. 13:8-10). If we love others, we will not steal from them, seeking to do all the good we can. While this is no doubt plain and easily understood by the spiritual mind, it leaves untouched the question of the law, i.e., whether it is the ground of life to a lost sinner or the rule of life to a Christian.
If we look at the law in its two grand divisions, it tells a man to love God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind; and to love his neighbor as himself. This is the sum of the law – what it demands. But where has this demand ever been responded to by any member of Adam's fallen posterity? Where is the man who has ever been able to honestly say that he loves God after such a fashion? "The carnal mind [i.e., our mind by nature] is enmity against God" (emphasis added). By nature, man hates God and His ways. In the Person of Christ, God came and showed Himself to man – not in the overwhelming brightness of His majesty, but in all the charm and sweetness of perfect grace and condescension. What was the result? Man hated God – "Now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father" (Jn. 15:24). But it must be said, "Man ought to love God" and we deserve death and eternal perdition if we do not. But can the law produce this love in man's heart? Was that its design? No; "for the law worketh wrath." The law finds man in a state of enmity against God; and without altering that state – for that was not its province – it commands him to love God with all his heart, and curses him if he does not. It was not the province of the law to alter or improve man's nature; nor could it impart power to carry out its righteous demands. It said "This do, and thou shalt live." It commanded man to love God. It did not reveal what God was to man in his guilt and ruin; but it did tell man what he ought to be toward God. This was dismal work; not the unfolding of Divine character, producing in man true repentance toward God, melting his icy heart, and elevating his soul in genuine affection and worship. No: it was an inflexible command to love God; and, instead of producing love, it "worked wrath;" not because God should not be loved, but because man was a sinner.
Again, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." Can "the natural man" do this? Does he love his neighbor as himself? Is this the principle that drives chambers of commerce, exchanges, banks, markets, and businesses of this world? No; we do not love our neighbor as we love ourselves. No doubt we should: and if we were right, we would. But then, we are wrong; and unless we are "born again" we cannot "see nor enter the kingdom of God." The law cannot produce this new birth. It kills "the old man," but does not, and cannot, create "the new." We know that the Lord Jesus Christ embodied in His glorious Person both God and our neighbor, because according to the foundation-truth of Christianity, He was "God manifest in the flesh." How did man treat Him? Did he love Him with all his heart, or as himself? No; the reverse. He crucified Him between two thieves, preferring a murderer and robber to that blessed One who had gone about doing good; Who had come from the eternal dwelling-place of light and love; Himself the living personification of that light and love; Whose bosom had always heaved with purest sympathy for human need; Whose hand had always been ready to dry the sinner's tears and alleviate sorrows. Thus we stand and gaze on the cross of Christ, beholding in it an unanswerable demonstration of the fact that it is not within the range of man's nature or capacity to keep the law.
After all that has passed before us, the spiritual mind finds interest in observing the relative position of God and the sinner at the close of this memorable chapter. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel . . . an altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt-offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name, I WILL COME UNTO THEE, and I WILL BLESS THEE. And if thou wilt make an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon" (vv. 22, 26; emphasis added).
Here, at the close of Exodus 20, we find man in the position of worshipper, not doer. How plainly this teaches us that the atmosphere of Mount Sinai is not that which God would have the sinner breathing; that it is not the proper meeting place between God and man. "In all places where I record my name, I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee." How unlike the terrors of the fiery mount is that spot where Jehovah records His name, where He "comes" to "bless" His worshipping people.
Further, God will meet the sinner at an altar without a hewn stone or a step – a place of worship that requires no human workmanship to erect, or human effort to approach. The former pollutes, and the latter displays human "nakedness." Admirable type of the meeting-place where God meets the sinner now, even the Person and work of His Son, Jesus Christ, where all the claims of law, justice, and conscience, are perfectly answered. In every age, in one way or another, man has been prone to lift up his tools to erect altars, or to approach them by steps of his own making. But the end results of such attempts is always "pollution" and "nakedness." "We all do fade as a leaf, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags?" Who will presume to approach God clad in a garment of "filthy rags?" or who will stand to worship with a revealed "nakedness?" What can be more preposterous than to think of approaching God in a way that involves either pollution or nakedness? And yet this is true in every case in which human effort is put forth to open the sinner's way to God. Not only is there no need of such effort, but defilement and nakedness are stamped on it. In the very depths of his ruin, God has come down to the sinner, so that there is no need to lift up the tools of human nature – the tools of material construction; the tools of legality; or to ascend the steps of self-righteousness. In fact, to do so exposes our uncleanness and nakedness.
Such are the principles with which the Holy Spirit closes this remarkable section of inspiration. May they be indelibly written upon our hearts, so that we may truly come to understand the essential difference between LAW and GRACE.
Footnotes:
1
For more information see the ‘Ten Commandments’ in Religion Library section of Contents.
2 Leviticus 18:5; Romans 10:5.
3 Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10.
4 For more on the church see ‘God’s Church’ in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
5 For more information on salvation see ‘God’s Salvation’ in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
6 For more on the beginning of the church see ‘The Way Home’ in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
7 For more on the Holy Spirit see ‘God the Spirit’ in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
8 For more on the cannon of the Bible see ‘God’s Word’ in Contents section of StudyJesus.com.
