LAW
(IN
NT)
Sabbath-question
d
ouirance;
Jesus
draws
the
sword
of
His
reserved
authority.
He
claims,
as
sovereign
in
human
affairs,
to
decide
what
is
right
in
the
matter
—
'
The
Son
of
Man
is
lord
of
the
Sabbath
'
;
more
than
this,
He
professes
to
have
wrought
His
Sabbath
works
as
God
the
Father
does,
to
whom
all
days
are
aUke
in
His
beneficence,
and
through
the
insight
of
a
Son
watch-ing
the
Father
at
His
labour
(Jn
S"-^")
—
a
preten-sion,
to
Jewish
ears,
of
blasphemous
arrogance;
'
He
maketh
himself
equal
with
God
I'
On
this
ground
Jesus
was
condemned
by
the
Sanhedrin
(cf.
Jn
19'),
because
He
set
Himself
above
the
Sabbath,
on
the
strength
of
being
one
with
God.
Thus
the
law
of
Moses
put
Jesus
Christ
to
death;
it
was
too
small
to
hold
Him;
its
administrators
thought
themselves
bound
to
inflict
the
capital
sentence
on
One
who
said,
'
I
am
the
Son
of
the
Blessed'
(Mk
146"f).
(/)
At
the
same
time,
Caiaphas,
the
official
head
of
the
system,
gave
another
explanation,
far
deeper
than
he
guessed,
of
the
execution:
'That
Jesus
should
die
for
the
nation,
and
not
for
the
nation
only'
(Jn
ll"").
Virtually,
He
was
offering
Himself
for
'the
lamb'
of
the
Paschal
Feast,
ready
to
be
slain
in
sacrifice,
that
He
might
'take
away
the
sin
of
the
world.'
This
mys-terious
relation
of
the
death
of
Jesus
to
Divine
law
He
had
hinted
at
here
and
there
(Mt
20^8
262',
Lk
22",
Jn
3"
6"
122<);
its
exposition
was
reserved
for
His
Apostles
speaking
in
the
light
of
this
grandest
of
all
fulfilments.
Jesus
made
good
the
implicit
promise
of
the
sacrificial
institutions
of
Israel.
2.
The
word
'law'
occurs
118
times
in
St.
Paul's
Epistles,
—
103
times
In
Romans
and
Galatians
alone.
It
Is
manifest
how
absorbing
an
interest
the
subject
had
for
this
Apostle,
and
where
that
interest
mainly
lay.
Gal
2"
puts
us
at
the
centre
of
St.
Paul's
position:
'I
through
law
died
to
law,
that
I
might
live
to
God.'
From
legalism,
as
from
a
house
of
bondage,
he
had
escaped
into
the
freedom
of
the
sons
of
God.
(a)
Paul
'died
to
the
law,'
as
he
had
understood
and
served
it
when
a
Pharisee,
regarding
obedience
to
its
precepts
as
the
sole
ground
of
acceptance
with
God.
He
had
sought
there
'a
righteousness
of
his
'own,
even
that
which
is
of
the
law
'
(Ph
3»),
to
be
gained
by
'
works,'
by
which
he
strove
to
merit
salvation
as
a
'
debt
'
due
from
God
for
service
rendered,
—
a
righteousness
such
as
its
possessor
could
'boast
of
as
'his
own'
(Ro
4'-'
9*'-103).
Pursuing
this
path,
'Israel'
had
failed
to
win
'the
righteousness
of
God,'
such
as
is
valid
'before
God';
the
method
was
im-practicable
—
^justification
on
the
terms
of
'the
law
of
Moses'
is
unattainable
(Ac
13'8'-,
Ro
8^).
Instead
of
destroying
sin,
the
law
arouses
it
to
new
vigour,
'multiplying'
where
it
aimed
at
suppressing
'the
trespass'
(Ro
S"
7'-",
1
Co
15s«).
Not
the
'law'
in
itself,
but
the
'
carnal
'
sin-bound
nature
of
the
man.
Is
to
blame
for
this;
arrayed
against
'the
law
of
God,'
to
which
'reason'
bows,
is
'another
law'
successfully
oppugning
it,
that
'of
sin'
which
occupies
'my
mem-bers'
(Ro
7'2-*'),
and
which
is,
in
effect,
a
'law
of
death'
(S^).
(6)
But
St.
Paul's
Judaistic
experience
had
a
positive
as
well
as
a
negative
result:
if
he
'died
to
law,'
it
was
'through
law';
'the
law
has
proved
our
pcedagogus
[for
leading
us]
to
Christ'
(Gal
3^).
Law
awakened
conscience
and
disciplined
the
moral
faculties;
the
Jewish
people
were
like
'an
heir'
placed
'under
guar-dians
and
stewards
until
the
appointed
times,'
and
trained
in
bond-service
with
a
view
to
their
'
adoption
'
(Gal
41-5).
Even
the
aggravations
of
sin
caused
by
the
law
had
their
benefit,
as
they
brought
the
disease
to
a
head
and
reduced
the
patient
to
a
state
in
which
he
was
ready
to
accept
the
proffered
remedy
(Ro
7^).
'The
Scripture
'
had
in
this
way
'
shut
up
all
things
under
sin,'
blocking
every
door
of
escape
and
blighting
every
hope
of
a
self
-earned
righteousness
(Gal
3="-),
that
the
sinner
might
accept
unconditionally
the
'righteousness
which
is
through
faith
in
Christ'
(Ph
3«).
LAW
(IN
NT)
(c)
Contact
with
Gentile
life
had
widened
St.
Paul's
conception
of
moral
law;
it
was
touched
by
the
influ-ences
of
Greek
philosophy
and
Roman
government.
He
discerned
a
law
established
'by
nature,'
and
'
inscribed
in
the
hearts
'
of
men
ignorant
of
the
Mosaic
Code
and
counting
with
Jews
as
'lawless.'
This
Divine
jus
(and
fas)
gentium
served,
in
aless
distinct
but
very
real
sense,
the
purpose
of
the
written
law
in
Israel;
it
Im-pressed
on
the
heathen
moral
responsibiUty
and
the
consciousness
of
sin
(Ro
2s-'«).
The
rule
of
right
and
wrong
Paul
regards
as
a
universal
human
institute,
operating
so
as
to
'
bring
the
whole
world
under
judg-ment
before
God
'
(Ro
3'-")
;
its
action
is
manifested
by
the
universal
incidence
of
death:
in
this
sense,
and
in
the
light
of
212-is,
should
be
read
the
obscure
parenthesis
of
Ro
5"'-,
as
stating
that
'law'
is
concomitant
with
'sin';
the
existence
of
sin,
followed
by
death,
in
the
generations
between
Adam
and
Moses
proves
that
law
was
there
all
along,
whether
in
a
less
or
a
more
explicit
form;
the
connexion
of
sin
and
death
in
humanity
is,
in
fact,
a
fundamental
legal
principle
(Ro
8').
(d)
Having
'died
to
law'
by
renouncing
the
futile
salvation
it
appeared
to
offer,
the
Apostle
had
learned
to
live
to
it
again
in
a
better
way
and
under
a
nobler
form,
since
he
had
begun
to
'live
to
God'
in
Christ.
St.
Paul
is
at
the
farthest
remove
from
Antinomianlsm
;
the
charge
made
against
him
on
this
score
was
wholly
mistaken.
While
no
longer
'
under
law,'
he
is
'
not
lawless
toward
God,
but
in
law
toward
Christ
'
(Ro
6>"-,
1
Co
9'').
The
old
ego,
'the
flesh
with
its
passions
and
lusts,'
has
been
'crucified
with
Christ'
(Gal
22"
5'"-2<).
God's
law
ceases
to
press
on
him
as
an
external
power
counter-acted
by
'the
law
of
sin
in
the
members';
the
latter
has
been
expelled
by
'
the
Spirit
of
God's
Son,'
which
'forms
Christ'
in
him;
the
new.
Christian
man
is
'in
law'
as
he
is
'in
Christ'
—
he
sees
the
law
now
from
the
inside,
in
its
unity
and
charm,
and
it
constrains
him
with
the
inward
force
of
'the
law
of
the
Spirit
of
life
in
Christ
Jesus'
possessing
his
nature.
He
'serves'
indeed,
but
it
is
'in
the
new'
life
wrought
'of
the
Spirit,
and
not
in
the
old'
servitude
to
'the
letter'
(Ro
7«).
Con-stituting
now
'one
new
man,'
beUevers
of
every
race
and
rank
'through
love
serve
one
another,'
as
the
hand
serves
the
eye
or
the
head
the
feet;
for
them
'
the
whole
law
is
fulfilled
in
one
word.
Thou
shalt
love
thy
neighbour
as
thyself
(Ro
138-"i',
1
Co
12i3-
2Sf._
Gal
6^'-,
Eph
21S-18).
The
Christian
'fulfils
the
law
of
Christ,'
as
the
limb
the
law
of
the
head.
Thus
St.
Paul's
doctrine
of
the
Law
joins
hands
with
that
of
Jesus
(see
1
above).
Thus
also,
in
his
system
of
thought,
the
law
of
God
revealed
in
the
OT,
when
received
from
Christ
revised
and
spiritualized,
and
planted
by
'faith'
along
with
Him
in
the
beUever's
heart
(cf.
Jer
SI^'-m),
becomes
for
the
first
time
really
valid
and
effective:
'
Do
we
nullify
law
through
faith?
God
forbid;
nay,'
he
cries,
'we
establish
law
I
'
(Ro
S'l).
(e)
Neither
Jesus
nor
Paul
makes
a
formal
distinction
between
the
moral
and
the
ceremonial
law
(see,
however,
Ro
9*).
St.
Paul's
teaching
bears
mainly
on
the
former:
as
a
Pharisee
he
had
no
ritualistic
bent,
and
his
ambition
was
for
ethical
perfection.
'
Qrcumcision
'
has
lost
in
his
eyes
all
religious
value,
and
remains
a
mere
national
custom,
now
that
it
ceases
to
be
the
covenant-sign
and
is
replaced
in
this
sense
by
baptism
(1
Co
7^^-,
Gil'
B's,
Col
2i"f
■).
It
becomes
a
snare
to
Gentiles
when
imposed
on
them
as
necessary
to
salvation,
or
even
to
advance-ment
in
the
favour
of
God;
for
it
binds
them
'to
keep
the
whole
law'
of
Moses,
and
leads
into
the
fatal
path
of
'justification
by
law'
(Gal
2"
3™-
5»-«).
St.
Paul's
contention
with
the
legalists
of
Jerusalem
on
this
question
was
a
life
and
death
struggle,
touching
the
very
'truth
of
the
gospel'
and
'the
freedom'
of
the
Church
(Ac
IS'-",
Gal
2'-"
S').
The
same
interests
were
threatened,
more
insidiously,
by
the
subsequent
attempt,
countenanced
by
Peter
and
Barnabas
at
Antioch,
to
separate
Jewish
from
Gentile
Christians
at
