Evangelista now begins to explain “The Law of Christ” to Nomista, Antinomista and Neophytus. This is a Biblical term that is used in a couple of places by the Apostle Paul:
1 Cor. 9:21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.
Gal. 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.
It would be interesting to discuss what Paul means by this phrase, but we can save that discussion for the comments section. For now, let’s see how Evangelista begins to understand this phrase.
As he begins to explain it, he makes the point that the substance of the law of Christ is the same as the substance of the law of works, or covenant of works. In other words, God’s moral will for our life hasn’t changed with Christ. We are still called to the basic command to love God and love our neighbor. Evangelista will flesh this out in the next section where he explains how the substance of the Ten Commandments is repeated in the New Testament. This is an important point. But before he fleshes it out he explains once again the main difference between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace:
“Thus you see, that both these laws agree in saying, ‘Do this.’ But here is the difference; the one saith, ‘Do this and live’; and the other saith, Do this from life: the one saith, ‘If thou do it not, I will chastise thee with the rod.” . .Wherefore, neighbour Neophytus, seeing that you are now in Christ, beware that you receive not the Ten Commandments at the hands of God out of Christ, nor yet at the hands of Moses, but only at the hands of Christ, and so shall you be sure to receive them as the law of Christ.” (185).
This is such an important point for all Christians to grasp. If you don’t you’ll either tend towards self-righteousness or despair (preachers take note). We must remember that as Christians our obedience is always a response to the gospel. Who we are in Christ by faith is the ground of the Christian life (e.g. Rom. 12:1; Col. 3:1). Christ already fulfilled the law perfectly on our behalf and died on the cross for our sins to remove all curse from us (Gal. 3:10-14). We are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-9). He earned for us our eternal inheritance that cannot spoil or fade away (1 Pet. 1:3-5). Therefore, we are to become who we are in Christ by obeying God in gratitude. We can never forget this. The law of God comes to us through Christ our Mediator. In the words of John Newton:
Let us love and sing and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior’s Name!
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder,
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame.
He has washed us with His blood,
He has brought us nigh to God.
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