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The Conclusion of the Law

Introduction

The Ten Commandments were not composed by any human being, God Himself wrote them; they are the permanent summary of the moral law, first written in the heart (natural law). These commandments do not change from person to person, from moment to moment or from situation to situation. They are God's will for all people at all times. No one dare break them. The solemn words which God spoke when He gave these commandments urge us to keep His Law and to not sin against Him.

Conclusion

What does God say about these commandments?
I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generation of those who hate Me, and showing mercy to thousands of those who love Me and keep My commandments.
What does this mean?
God threatens to punish all who transgress these commandments. Therefore we sould fear His wrath and do nothing against these commandments. But He promises grace and every blessing to all who keep these commandments. Therefore we should also love and trust in Him and willingly do according to His commandments.

  1. What is sin?
    Sin is everything that is contrary to the commandments of God.
  2. How did sin come into the world?
    Sin came into the world through Adam and Eve when they yielded to Satan's temptation in the Garden of Eden.
    Bible Account: The Fall of man into sin
  3. What was the result of this sin?
    As the result of the Fall of Adam and Eve, all people are born with original sin and are subject to death.
  4. What is "original sin"?
    Original sin is the total corruption of our whole human nature, inherited from our first parents, which makes us inclined only to evil and unable and unwilling to do that which is good.
  5. How does original sin affect our conduct?
    Original sin causes us to commit all manner of sin in thought, word and deed (actual sin).
  6. How much does God require of us in the Ten Commandments?
    In the Ten Commandments, God requires that we be perfect in thought, word and deed.
  7. What does God threaten to do to those who sin against Him?
    In His righteous jealousy, God threatens to punish, both for time and eternity, all those who sin against Him.
    Bible Example: God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire.
    Bible Example: God destroyed the Egyptians in the Red Sea.
    God destroyed the world with the Flood.
  8. How does God deal with the children of those who sin against Him?
    God often lets many painful consequences of the father's sins pass down to several generations, as a punishment for the unbelieving, but as a wholesome chastening for those who believe in the Lord.
    Bible Example: Ezekiel's proverb
    Bible Example: Canaan's punishment for Ham's sin
    Bible Example: Jonathan's loss of the throne as a wholesome chastening
  9. What does God promise to those who love Him and keep His commandments?
    To those who love HIm and keep His commandments, God promises grace and every blessing for time and eternity; He promises also that He will bless their children from generation to generation as long as they walk in His ways.
    Bible Example: Solomon was blessed for David's sake.
  10. Is anyone able to gain salvation by keeping the commandments?
    Since the Fall into sin, no one, not even the Christian, is able to keep the commandments perfectly, and therefore no one can be saved by the law. (See Questions 20, 97 and 98.)
  11. Of what use, then, is the law, since no one can be saved by it?
    The law serves a threefold purpose:
    1. as a curb in that it maintains, to a certain extent, outward decency and order in the world;
    2. as a mirror in that it shows us our sins; and
    3. as a guide in that it shows believes how to live as children of God.
  12. Since no one can keep the law, how then are we saved?
    We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ alone, who fulfilled the law for us and died for us. We call this saving truth the Gospel. (See Questions 20, 176, 178, 192 and 193.)

Conclusion

The Law of God serves as a mirror to show how origial sin has produced actual is in our lives; we sin by failing to do what God commands and by doing what He forbids (sins of omission and sins of comission). For our sin we deserve punishment for time and eternity. The Gospel serves to show how Christ, through His active and passive obedience, has freed us from this punishment. Through faith in the Gospel we become children of God. Then the Law serves as a guide to show what good works we are to perform in love and service to God, so that we can say with David, "I delight in your commands because I love them" (Psalm 119:47).

Hymn

What God doth in His law demand
No man to Him could render.
Before this Judge all guilty stand;
His law speaks cures in thunder.
The law demands a perfect heart;
We were defiled in ev'ry part,
And lost was our condition.

Still all the law fulfilled must be,
Else we were lost forever,
Then God His Son sent down that He
Might us from doom deliver;
He all the law for us fulfilled
And thus His Father's anger stilled
Which over us impended. (ELH 227:2,5).

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