Johannes Marck’s Marrow of Christian Theology, Didactic-Elenctic XI

CHAPTER XI

Of the Worship of God, and His Law as Its Rule

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I. We pass on to the worship of God, which among the Hebrews comes under the names of honor, fear, love, invocation of God, etc., εὐσεβεία, θρησκεία, θεοσέβεια [piety, religion, reverence of God], etc., among the Greeks. Especially celebrated above the rest are the names λατρεία and δουλεία, which the Papists distinguish in this way: that the former denotes religious worship of God alone, and the latter religious worship of creatures. But these are interchanged in Scripture: Matt. 4:10, Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου προσκυνήσεις καὶ αὐτῷ μόνῳ λατρεύσεις [thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve]; Rom. 12:11—

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—κυρίῳ δουλεύοντες [serving the Lord]; Gal. 4:8, τότε μὲν οὐκ εἰδότες τὸν Θεὸν ἐδουλεύσατε τοῖς μὴ φύσει οὖσι θεοῖς [then, when ye knew not God, ye served them which by nature are no gods], etc. And from its origin, δουλεία, from binding, expresses a greater obligation than λατρεία, so called from wages. Worship in general is either civil or religious; the latter is called divine because it belongs to God alone.

II. The worship of God can be commended:

1. As most equitable, because of God’s infinite majesty: Jer. 10:6–7, “forasmuch as there is none like unto Thee, O Jehovah; Thou art great, and Thy name is great in might. Who would not fear Thee, O King of nations? for to Thee doth it appertain,” etc.; because of creation: Acts 17:27, “and hath made of one blood all nations of men,” etc.; and because of redemption: Tit. 2:14, ὃς ἔδωκεν ἑαυτὸν ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν, ἵνα λυτρώσηται ἡμᾶς ἀπὸ πάσης ἀνομίας, καὶ καθαρίσῃ ἑαυτῷ λαὸν περιούσιον ζηλωτὴν καλῶν ἔργων [who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works], etc.

2. As necessary, from God’s end, command, threatenings, and man’s dependence.

3. As useful, by reason of God’s sufficiency, justice, promised goodness, etc.: Ps. 73:1, “truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a pure heart”; Ps. 19:11, “in keeping of them there is great reward,” etc.

III. The worship of God is defined as obedience, with subjection of mind and confidence, rendered to the Triune God according to His law.

IV. Therefore the worship of God belongs only to rational creatures; nor is an outward work sufficient, but readiness of soul must be present: 1 Chron. 28:9, “know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind”; Prov. 23:26, “My son, give Me thine heart,” compared with Isa. 29:13, “this people draw near Me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor Me, but their heart is removed far from Me”—

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—“therefore, behold, I,” etc. Indeed, worship or integrity must not chiefly arise in us either from fear of punishment or from desire of reward, when we would thereby restrain ourselves more than God, since our advantage ought, in adversity, to be subordinated to the divine: Exod. 32:32, “yet now, if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of Thy book which Thou hast written”; Rom. 9:3, ηὐχόμην γὰρ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ ἀνάθεμα εἶναι ἀπὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀδελφῶν μου τῶν συγγενῶν κατὰ σάρκα [for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh].

Yet punishment on one side and reward on the other may also be a motive of obedience, according to the description of religion: Tit. 1:2, ἐπ᾽ ἐλπίδι ζωῆς αἰωνίου [in hope of eternal life]; and the example of Moses: Heb. 11:26, ἀπέβλεπε γὰρ εἰς τὴν μισθαποδοσίαν [for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward]; and the admonition of Christ: Matt. 7:12. But the chief foundation of worship must always remain the regard of the divine will as supreme and most equitable.

V. The modes of obedience chiefly distinguish divine worship from all civil worship, insofar as we ought to obey God with universal subjection of soul and body: 1 Cor. 8:6, ἀλλ᾽ ἡμῖν εἷς Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός [but to us there is one Lord Jesus Christ], etc.; 1 Sam. 3:10, “speak, for Thy servant heareth”; Ps. 116:16, “O Jehovah, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid,” etc.; and with confidence in His sufficiency and goodness: Ps. 2:11–12, “serve Jehovah with fear, and rejoice with trembling; kiss the Son,” etc.; “blessed are all they that put their trust in Him.” Heb. 11:7, etc.

Both of these, when directed to creatures, are indecent: 1 Cor. 7:23—

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—“be not ye the servants of men”; Jer. 17:5, “cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah,” etc.

VI. Religious worship must be rendered:

1. To the true God: Deut. 6:13, “thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and serve Him, and shalt swear by His name”; Deut. 10:20, “thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God; Him shalt thou serve, and to Him shalt thou cleave, and swear by His name,” etc.; not to idols or so-called gods: Gal. 4:8, “then, when ye knew not God, ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods”; 1 Cor. 8:5–6, καὶ γὰρ εἴπερ εἰσὶ λεγόμενοι θεοί, εἴτε ἐν οὐρανῷ εἴτε ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς... ἀλλ᾽ ἡμῖν εἷς Θεός [for though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth… but to us there is one God], etc.

2. To the Triune God, who alone is the true God: John 5:23, ὁ μὴ τιμῶν τὸν Υἱὸν οὐ τιμᾷ τὸν Πατέρα τὸν πέμψαντα αὐτόν [he that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent Him]; 1 John 2:23, πᾶς ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν Υἱὸν οὐδὲ τὸν Πατέρα ἔχει [whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father], etc. Although one Person alone may be named.

3. To this God alone: Matt. 4:10, “thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve”; not to angels: Col. 2:18, μηδεὶς ὑμᾶς καταβραβευέτω... ἐν θρησκείᾳ τῶν ἀγγέλων [let no man beguile you… in worshipping of angels]; Rev. 19:10, ὅρα μή... τῷ Θεῷ προσκύνησον [see thou do it not… worship God], etc.; nor to holy men: Acts 10:26, “stand up; I myself also am a man”; Acts 14:14–15, “they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things?” καὶ ἡμεῖς ὁμοιοπαθεῖς ἐσμεν ὑμῖν ἄνθρωποι [we also are men of like passions with you], etc.; Isa. 63:16, “for Thou art our Father, though Abraham be ignorant of us, and Israel acknowledge us not”; Isa. 42:8, “My glory will I not give to another,” etc.

Nor can the Papists here excuse their manifold idolatry by vain distinctions of λατρεία and δουλεία, absolute and relative worship, supreme and subordinate worship, etc.

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Objection 1. Jacob wished his name to be invoked by the sons of Joseph: Gen. 48:16.

Reply: By no means; but only that they should be denominated by his name:ויקרא בהם שמי  [let my name be called on them], etc.

Objection 2. Moses prays in the name of the fathers: Exod. 32:13.

Reply: He only sets before God the covenant made with the fathers: “remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Thy servants, to whom Thou swarest by Thyself,” etc.

Objection 3. The obtaining of help from saints and friends is mentioned: Job 5:1, “to which of the saints wilt thou turn?” Job 19:21, “have pity upon me, have pity upon me, O ye my friends; for the hand of God hath touched me.”

Reply: Living aid and consolation are treated of there.

Objection 4. The excellence of saints, angels, and relics is objected.

Reply: This is by no means divine.

VII. The rule of our worship is not human tradition, which is rejected: Matt. 15:3, “why do ye also transgress the commandment of God,” διὰ τὴν παράδοσιν ὑμῶν [by your tradition]; Col. 2:20, “why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances?” etc.; nor the proper choice of men, since ἐθελοθρησκεία [will-worship] is condemned: Col. 2:23. Nor should the sacrifices of the fathers be reckoned for this, since they were done from faith and were pleasing to God. Rather, the rule is the law of God.

VIII. Law is so called from reading, because a law being enacted is publicly read aloud. In Hebrew it is תורה  [Torah], as if “a showing of the way”; in Greek, νόμος [law], as common will, good pleasure, established right, etc. Here it does not denote the whole Word of God, as in Ps. 1:2, “his delight is in the law of Jehovah, and in His law doth he meditate day and night”; nor the gospel, which is the law of faith, Rom. 3:27; but the word of command. And thus it is defined: the norm of all things to be done and avoided, prescribed by God to the rational creature—

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—under the threat of death for those remaining disobedient, and with the promise of life to be expected by those who observe it.

IX. Since the gospel contains what is to be believed, the law is directly the rule of actions: Ps. 119:1–3, “blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of Jehovah; blessed are they that keep His testimonies,” etc.; Eph. 5:17, μὴ γίνεσθε ἄφρονες, ἀλλὰ συνίεντες τί τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Κυρίου [be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is], etc. And indeed it extends fully to all things, so that the things which are not here commanded or forbidden are in themselves indifferent. God and the saints, however, are rather examples, since they ought not to be followed beyond the prescription of the law.

X. This rule is prescribed to man by God, since otherwise obedience cannot be conceived, according to Deut. 29:29, “the secret things belong unto Jehovah our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law”; Rom. 2:12, ὅσοι γὰρ ἀνόμως ἥμαρτον ἀνόμως καὶ ἀπολοῦνται [for as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law]. Yet this notification is not equally clear in all; nor, after the voluntary fall of Adam, is a new notification necessary in each individual: Rom. 2:12, “whosoever have sinned without law shall also perish without law.” Yet where such notification is present, it increases the guilt of disobedience.

XI. To the notification of duty God adds the penalty of death: Deut. 27:26, “cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them”; Rom. 6:23, τὰ ὀψώνια τῆς ἁμαρτίας θάνατος [the wages of sin is death], etc. This so flows from God’s holiness and justice that it is also naturally known: Hab. 1:13, “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity”; Rom. 1:32—

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—nor is there any human dispensation from it; nor is there liberation from obligation to the law by sin; nor is death’s consequence merely from nature.

XII. Likewise, the reward of life is added: Matt. 19:17, “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments,” etc. It flows thus from God’s goodness, so that a certain hope is implanted in man; compare Job 10:3, “is it good unto Thee that Thou shouldest oppress, that Thou shouldest despise the work of Thine hands?” Therefore the promise of life to Adam in integrity ought not to be denied; nor should it be restricted to moral precepts with ceremonial ones excluded, since the statutes are commonly distinguished from idolatrous statutes by the promise of life: Lev. 18:5; Ezek. 20:11, “My statutes and My judgments, which if a man do, he shall even live in them.”

XIII. Although the law is divided in many ways, it is chiefly called either positive, which arose only from the most wise will of God, and lasts only for a time; or natural, which obtains always and equally in all, from the nature of God, or of man, or from something else.

XIV. Before the fall, God gave a positive law concerning the fruit of the tree of knowledge. After the fall, He also gave more than one such law, both under the New Testament and under the Old. For to this class belong the commands of baptism and the Supper, given in the church unto the end. Also, the prohibition of blood and things strangled pertained only to the beginnings of the New Testament: Acts 15:20, 29, ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλισγημάτων τῶν εἰδώλων καὶ τῆς πορνείας καὶ πνικτοῦ καὶ αἵματος [to abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood], so that, for a time, when Christian liberty in a small matter had been fully demonstrated, provision might be made for the infirmity of certain brethren; since elsewhere all distinction of foods under the New Testament is taught to have been removed: 1 Cor. 8:8—

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—“meat commendeth us not to God”; 1 Cor. 10:25–26, “whatsoever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question,” διὰ τὴν συνείδησιν [for conscience’ sake], etc.; Col. 2:16, 21, μὴ οὖν τις ὑμᾶς κρινέτω... μὴ ἅψῃ, μὴ γεύσῃ, μὴ θίγῃς [let no man therefore judge you… touch not, taste not, handle not].

Objection 1. This abstinence is called necessary.

Reply: Not in itself, but with respect to the infirmity of the brethren.

Objection 2. Fornication is prohibited together with it.

Reply: This must be understood of fornicated and polluted meats.

Objection 3. This observance is opposed to the ceremonial law.

Reply: One lighter part is opposed to the whole law.

XV. Under the Old Testament the positive law was chiefly twofold: forensic and ceremonial. The former, which is otherwise called political, is that according to which the commonwealth of Israel was to be administered in time of peace and war by God’s command. It contains statutes concerning the magistrate, marriages, servants, inheritances, etc., and penalties to be inflicted upon transgressors even of the moral law. This law is distinct from the moral law, not contrary to it, unless perhaps in certain exceptions from the common law. In many things it is implicitly moral and ceremonial law. Its chief end was the good order of the commonwealth. It does not continue today except in its common and moral foundations, since in other respects it was accommodated to that time, people, and land.

XVI. The ceremonial law, which comes under the names of “precepts in ordinances,” “elements of the world,” “carnal commandment,” etc., but not under the name “statutes not good,” is that which prescribed the rites of sacred things for the grace of mystical signification and prefiguration of the New Testament.

XVII. The precepts of this law either relate to common life, which is called observance; or to—

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—public worship of God, which are called sacrifices, sacred things, and sacraments. Others here consider persons, things and actions, places, times, and sacred things; the mysteries of all these the more expansive interpreters rightly inquire into.

XVIII. God gave this law successively:

1. Its beginnings from the paradisiacal proto-gospel: Gen. 3:15, 21, “and Jehovah God made coats of skins for Adam and his wife, and clothed them”; Gen. 8:20, “of every clean beast,” etc., “and of every unclean beast,” etc.; Gen. 4:3–4, “and in process of time Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto Jehovah; and Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof”; Gen. 8:20, “and Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar,” etc. Thus we find sacrifices, priests, altars, Sabbaths, etc.

2. Its increase in the time of Abraham, by instituted circumcision and the begun rejection of the nations.

3. Its completion by Moses in and after the exodus from Egypt: John 1:17, ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωσέως ἐδόθη [the law was given by Moses]; John 7:22, “Moses gave unto you circumcision,” etc.

XIX. Therefore the Papists wrongly place sacrifices in the state of integrity, when there was as yet no necessity or promise of Christ the Mediator. But more recent writers also wrongly wish to derive this law as a yoke and commemoration of sin from καινοτομία [innovation] as a punishment; for the same kind of shadowy worship already existed before, the same institution of God, the prefiguration of Christ, and therefore the remembrance of sin not yet expiated, the same yoke, although perhaps not yet so heavy. And Scripture testifies that this law had already been given before by special grace—

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—by προχειροτονία [prior appointment], rather than abruptly for a time: Neh. 9:13–14, “and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments; and madest known unto them Thy holy Sabbaths, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws,” etc.; Exod. 23.

Objection 1. God did not command sacrifices at the exodus: Jer. 7:22.

Reply: Not only or chiefly, not even after the sin of the calf.

Objection 2. Because of this sin, God exercised dominion severely over them: Jer. 31:32.

Reply: Not because of this alone, nor by giving this law, but by various judgments inflicted, if that is the meaning of the wordבעל  [to rule/be lord].

Objection 3. God gave statutes not good as a punishment: Ezek. 20:25–26.

Reply: It treats of idolatry, into which God judicially delivered them.

Objection 4. The law was added because of transgressions: Gal. 3:19.

Reply: It treats also of the moral law, which was added to the Abrahamic promise for manifesting and restraining sins.

XX. The end of this given law was:

1. Less principal: the declaration of divine dominion, the segregation of Israel, and its restraint from idolatry: Gal. 3:23–24, πρὸ τοῦ ἐλθεῖν τὴν πίστιν ὑπὸ νόμον ἐφρουρούμεθα... ὥστε ὁ νόμος παιδαγωγὸς ἡμῶν γέγονεν εἰς Χριστόν [before faith came, we were kept under the law… wherefore the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ]; Gal. 4:2–3, ἐστὶν ὑπὸ ἐπιτρόπους καὶ οἰκονόμους... ὑπὸ τὰ στοιχεῖα τοῦ κόσμου ἦμεν δεδουλωμένοι [he is under tutors and governors… we were in bondage under the elements of the world].

2. Principal:

α. That sin might be taught, along with its nature, merit, and still-necessary expiation: Col. 2:14, χειρόγραφον τοῦ καθ᾽ ἡμῶν [the handwriting that was against us], etc.

β. That they might be led to Christ making expiation: Rom. 10:4, “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth”; Col.—

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—2:17, “which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of Christ,” etc.

γ. That worship pleasing to God might also be a certain outward delineation, according to which true piety was to be composed.

XXI. This law must not be observed under the New Testament, as the apostles teach: Acts 15:10, 28, “now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?” etc.; “it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us,” μηδὲν πλέον ἐπιτίθεσθαι ὑμῖν βάρος [to lay upon you no greater burden], etc.; Gal. 5:2–4, “behold, I Paul say unto you, that” ἐὰν περιτέμνησθε Χριστὸς ὑμᾶς οὐδὲν ὠφελήσει [if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing]; “for I testify again to every man that is circumcised,” ὅτι ὀφειλέτης ἐστὶν ὅλον τὸν νόμον ποιῆσαι [that he is a debtor to do the whole law]; “ye are become void from Christ, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace,” etc.

Likewise the prophecies of the prophets teach this: Isa. 19:19, “in that day shall there be an altar to Jehovah in the midst of the land of Egypt”; Jer. 3:16, “in those days, saith Jehovah, they shall say no more, The ark of the covenant of Jehovah: neither shall it come to mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it, neither shall that be done any more”; Dan. 9:27, “and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,” etc.; as does also the nature of the shadowy precepts.

The Jews object:

1. The immutability of God.

Reply: That remains, because God gave this law only for a time.

2. Eternity is often attributed to the commands of this law: Gen. 17:13; Jer. 31:18, etc.

Reply: Either a restricted eternity is meant, as in Exod. 21:6, “and he shall serve him לעולם  [forever]”; or a spiritual sense underlies the words.

3. The abrogation of the law is condemned: Deut. 5:1, “thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet,” etc., compared with Matt. 5:17, “think not that I am come” καταλῦσαι τὸν νόμον ἢ τοὺς προφήτας [to destroy the law or the prophets]—

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—οὐκ ἦλθον καταλῦσαι, ἀλλὰ πληρῶσαι [I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill].

Reply: The whole law and the whole compass of Mosaic doctrine are being treated there.

4. The observance of the apostles, and their commands: Acts 15:20, τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλισγημάτων [that they abstain from pollutions], etc.

Reply: This must be referred to Christian prudence in avoiding the scandal of the weak; just as the fourfold state of the ceremonial law is rightly distinguished by age: vigorous, languishing, dead, and deadly.

XXII. The moral law, which is also called Decalogical and natural, is that law which, having been inscribed on the heart of man in integrity, and in part still on man fallen, and afterward summarily comprehended by Moses in the Decalogue, constitutes the most holy, immutable, most perfect, and perpetual rule of all morals, of soul and body.

XXIII. This was inscribed on the heart of man in the first creation; as the image of God given to him teaches, and as the ruins after the fall show: Rom. 2:14–15, “when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not the law are a law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in their hearts,” etc. This was also to the end that, by observing the law, man might then attain eternal life: Rom. 8:3, τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου [for what the law could not do], etc.

XXIV. Relics of the inscribed law are still naturally in man: Rom. 1:19–20, “because that which may be known of God is manifest in them,” etc.; Rom. 2:14–15, “when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,” etc.; Eph. 5:29, “no man ever yet hated his own flesh,” etc. Hence natural law and the primitive law of nations flow; and you will seek in vain to derive all of this from tradition or from human choice—

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—even though conscience in many of its acts can often be suffocated by the custom of sinning, and God often gives men over, by supernatural judgment, to a reprobate sense; according to Eph. 4:19, οἵτινες ἀπηλγηκότες ἑαυτοὺς παρέδωκαν τῇ ἀσελγείᾳ [who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness]; Rom. 1:28, “God gave them over” εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν ποιεῖν τὰ μὴ καθήκοντα [to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting], etc. The Jews call these common laws the precepts of the Noahides, though they do not state those seven sufficiently well. The end of this natural law is the external restraint of men, and greater αὐταπολογία [self-defense/self-accusation].

XXV. God solemnly delivered this law to the Israelite people, where:

1. The lawgiver is Jehovah, the God of Israel, and also the Son: Acts 7:30, 38, “there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Sinai the Angel of Jehovah,” etc.; “this is he that was with the Angel which spake to him in Mount Sinai, and with our fathers,” etc.; Heb. 12:25–26, βλέπετε μὴ παραιτήσησθε τὸν λαλοῦντα... πολλῷ μᾶλλον ἡμεῖς οἱ τὸν ἀπ᾽ οὐρανῶν ἀποστρεφόμενοι [see that ye refuse not Him that speaketh… much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from heaven], etc.; although this was not the humble ministry of Him incarnate, as in the preaching of the gospel: John 1:17, “for the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”; Heb. 2:2–3, “if the word spoken by angels was steadfast,” etc.; “how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?” The Father also is lawgiver: Exod. 23:20–21, “behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way,” etc.; “for My name is in Him.”

2. The ministers were both angels: Acts 7:53, “who have received the law” εἰς διαταγὰς ἀγγέλων [by the disposition of angels]; Gal. 3:19, ὁ νόμος διαταγεὶς δι᾽ ἀγγέλων [the law was ordained by angels]; Heb. 2:2, ὁ δι᾽ ἀγγέλων λαληθεὶς λόγος [the word spoken by angels], etc.; and also—

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—Moses: John 1:17, ὁ νόμος διὰ Μωσέως ἐδόθη [the law was given by Moses]; hence he is called the mediator: Gal. 3:19, μεσίτης δὲ ἑνὸς οὐκ ἔστιν [a mediator is not of one].

3. The mode was twofold: first, a terrifying promulgation: Exod. 20:18, etc.; and inscription on two stone tables, on both sides, made by the finger of God, and then again, when the former tables had been broken and new ones made by Moses: Exod. 24:12; 31:18; 34:1, 4.

4. The circumstances: of time, which was the fiftieth day from the exodus; and of place, Horeb or Sinai, a mountain in Arabia.

5. The end: not that they might be justified by obedience, but both that, outwardly in the commonwealth, there might be a rule of obedience and the impiety of men might be more restrained; and that the elect might acknowledge their misery, flee to the righteousness of Christ, and have a clear rule of gratitude.

XXVI. It should be noted on this occasion:

1. The Decalogue properly does not contain the whole form, but only the law, of the covenant; even if perhaps by synecdoche it is sometimes called the covenant.

2. This law was given from grace, and in the Covenant of Grace it obtains as the rule of gratitude.

3. The covenant made with Israel, in the hidden substance of the matter and in God’s purpose, is not the Covenant of Works; for, because of God’s justice and man’s impotence, such a covenant cannot be made with a sinner.

4. But it is a covenant, both national, and of grace with respect to the elect, wrapped in an external legal form, which displays itself in commands, threatenings, and conditional promises.

5. The law of the Decalogue chiefly belongs to this legal form; as the commandment of perfect obedience teaches, compared with Matt. 22:37, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” etc.; with no mention of faith, and with the promise to those who do—

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—made, compared with Matt. 19:17, “if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments”; Lev. 18:4, “ye shall do My judgments,” etc.; “which if a man do, he shall live in them,” etc.; and finally, the perpetual opposition between this law and the gospel: Rom. 10:5, “Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law,” ὅτι ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὰ ἄνθρωπος ζήσεται ἐν αὐτοῖς [that the man which doeth those things shall live by them], etc.; and the righteousness which is of faith, etc.; 2 Cor. 3:6, ὃς καὶ ἱκάνωσεν ἡμᾶς διακόνους καινῆς διαθήκης, οὐ γράμματος, ἀλλὰ πνεύματος [who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit], etc.; “for if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory”; Gal. 4:24, αὗται εἰσιν αἱ δύο διαθῆκαι [these are the two covenants], etc.

XXVII. The more recent writers wish another thing: if the Covenant of Grace was made with Israel, they think it ought to be found in the Decalogue, and that the Covenant of Works cannot be inferred here—against Matt. 19:17, εἰ θέλεις εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὴν ζωήν, τήρησον τὰς ἐντολάς [if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments], etc., and against their own hypothesis. Therefore they believe the Decalogue, after regeneration, received the form of a covenant of works; and they object:

1. That Christ proclaimed it as such.

Reply: He also preached it altogether in that way.

2. That after sin no other covenant can be entered into.

Reply: Yet its sum can be proposed to another end.

3. That the argument is evangelical, even in the inscription itself, “I am Jehovah thy God.”

Reply: The argument before and after the sin of the calf was the same; and here, indeed, a respect to the Covenant of Grace is found, from which its erection is described, but its erection itself, or its very formula, is by no means in the Decalogue.

XXVIII. This law has a certain indicative goodness—

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—which some wrongly derive only from the constituted nature of things, as though God could have commanded the contrary in all the commandments. Others, also less rightly, derive it in all things from the nature of God Himself, as though He could dispense in no commandment. But we derive it partly from the nature of God, whence flows love to God and neighbor, spiritual worship, etc., since God cannot deny Himself; and partly from the nature of man, to which many external duties of the second table must be referred. These do not have a necessary connection with the nature of God, and in these we find that God has dispensed, or has given a particular commandment derogating from the general commandment in that particular case, which is the same thing.

XXIX. As many such dispensations are gratuitously imagined in Scripture, so they cannot, and ought not, to be denied in the commandment given to Abraham concerning the sacrifice of his son: Gen. 22:2; in the spoiling of the Egyptians: Exod. 12:22; and in the expulsion of the Canaanites: Deut. 7:2, etc. Concerning Hosea, chapters 1, 2, 3, we must judge otherwise, since fornication was not commanded him, but marriage with a fornicated woman: “Go, take unto thee a wife of fornications, and children of fornications,” etc.

XXX. This law is immutable, because it is founded in the nature either of God or of man, according to Matt. 5:18–19, ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται· ὃς ἐὰν οὖν λύσῃ μίαν τῶν ἐντολῶν τούτων τῶν ἐλαχίστων, καὶ διδάξῃ οὕτω τοὺς ἀνθρώπους, ἐλάχιστος κληθήσεται ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν [till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled; whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven]. This must be maintained against the Socinians, when they think the law of Moses was changed; then against the Papists, when they attribute the right of dispensation to the Pope, contrary to—

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—James 4:12, “there is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy”; and Isa. 5:20, “woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil,” etc., substituting one for the other; and by Jesuitical moral rules, concerning probability and intention, they make vice into virtue as they please.

Objection 1. Incest was once not forbidden, but is now unlawful.

Reply: This prohibition presupposes that the multiplication of the race had already taken place, and so it belongs to secondary natural law.

Objection 2. Christ abrogated the moderations of blameless self-defense: Matt. 5:39–40, “but I say unto you,” μὴ ἀντιστῆναι τῷ πονηρῷ, ἀλλ᾽ ὅστις σε ῥαπίσει ἐπὶ δεξιὰν σιαγόνα, στρέψον αὐτῷ καὶ τὴν ἄλλην [that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also], etc.

Reply: Christ’s proverbial expressions are opposed only to private revenge, so that we ought rather to bear injuries than to pollute ourselves with revenge.

XXXI. This law is spiritual and of the most diffuse sense: Ps. 119:96, “I have seen an end of all perfection: but Thy commandment is exceeding broad”; Rom. 7:14, οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ὁ νόμος πνευματικός ἐστι [for we know that the law is spiritual], etc. This is also taught by its summary: Matt. 5:48, ἔσεσθε οὖν ὑμεῖς τέλειοι, ὥσπερ ὁ πατὴρ ὑμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς τέλειός ἐστι [be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect]; Matt. 22:37, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,” etc.

From this flow these rules:

1. Every prohibition includes the opposite command, and conversely.

2. Under one species of virtue or vice all similar things are contained.

3. With the sin, its fountain and occasion are forbidden.

4. Even the bare appearance of it is forbidden: 1 Thess. 5:22, ἀπὸ παντὸς εἴδους πονηροῦ ἀπέχεσθε [abstain from every appearance of evil], whether according to our erroneous conscience, or according to others who would take scandal from it.

XXXII. The same law is perfect, and the rule of morals, according to Ps. 19:8, “the law of Jehovah is perfect”—

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—2 Tim. 3:16, πᾶσα γραφὴ θεόπνευστος [all Scripture is given by inspiration of God], etc., “for correction,” etc.; and the forbidden addition: Deut. 4, “ye shall not add unto the word which I command you,” etc.; and the promise of life added also under the New Testament: Matt. 19:16–17, τί ποιήσας εἰσελεύσομαι εἰς τὴν ζωήν; τήρησον τὰς ἐντολάς [what good thing shall I do, that I may enter into life? keep the commandments], etc.; and the summary of the commandment: Matt. 22:37, ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου [thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart], etc., beyond which nothing can be imagined.

XXXIII. The Socinians hold the contrary, stating that Christ increased the old commandments both with various additions in Matt. 5, 6, 7, etc., and also with three new precepts: Matt. 16:24, εἴ τις θέλει ὀπίσω μου ἐλθεῖν, ἀπαρνησάσθω ἑαυτόν, καὶ ἀράτω τὸν σταυρὸν αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἀκολουθείτω μοι [if any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me]. Others also urge that there is a new commandment of love and faith, from John 13:34, ἐντολὴν καινὴν δίδωμι ὑμῖν, ἵνα ἀγαπᾶτε ἀλλήλους [a new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another], and 1 John 3:23, καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐντολὴ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα πιστεύσωμεν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ Χριστοῦ, καὶ ἀγαπῶμεν ἀλλήλους [and this is His commandment, that we should believe on the name of His Son Christ, and love one another].

Meanwhile, in Matt. 5, Christ does not oppose His sayings to Moses, but to the interpretations of the Pharisees, compared with verses 17–20: “think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law,” etc.; “whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven,” etc.; “for I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven,” etc. Thus fulfillment here must be understood as restoring the mutilated sense, and the words of the law cited according to the—

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—Pharisaic sense; and the words “it was said to them of old time” are not said by the Savior, but by the teachers who boasted of the traditions of the elders.

Nor is the commandment of love new, since this is the sum of the old law, but only renewed by the Savior; nor is the commandment of faith new, although the gospel is now more clearly revealed. In the Old Testament also God required self-denial, with respect to depraved desires, in the tenth commandment; and David obeyed it: Ps. 116:16, “O Jehovah, truly I am Thy servant; I am Thy servant, and the son of Thine handmaid,” etc. He also required the patient taking up of the cross: Lam. 3:27–28, “it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. He sitteth alone and keepeth silence,” etc.; according also to David’s practice: Ps. 39:10, “I was dumb, I opened not my mouth, because Thou didst it.” He required imitation of Christ, as God: Lev. 11:45, “ye shall be holy; for I am holy,” etc.; and even of Him as Mediator.

XXXIV. The Papists also overthrow the perfection of the law by their evangelical counsels, by which they wish to commend a perfection greater than the law, unto a greater degree of reward. Yet nothing can be conceived above the divine perfection commanded in the law; and ἐθελοθρησκεία [will-worship] is displeasing to God. Indeed, when God counsels, He most greatly obligates us to obedience: Luke 7:30, “but the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him”; Rev. 3:18, συμβουλεύω σοι ἀγοράσαι παρ᾽ ἐμοῦ [I counsel thee to buy of Me], etc.

Objection 1. Useful perfection, beyond necessary perfection, exists in every commonwealth.
Reply: Not in the kingdom of Christ, where all must strive after the highest perfection.

Objection 2. Paul performed a work not necessary, but nevertheless praiseworthy, in preaching the gospel without stipend: 1 Cor. 9—

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—11, 12, 15, 16.
Reply: That work was necessary for Paul in those circumstances.

XXXV. In particular, we reject the three celebrated counsels of the Papists, and the vows flowing from them:

α. Perpetual continence is not promiscuously within our own choice: Matt. 19:11, οὐ πάντες χωροῦσι τὸν λόγον τοῦτον, ἀλλ᾽ οἷς δέδοται [all men cannot receive this saying, save they to whom it is given].

β. Marriage is honorable among all: Heb. 13:4, τίμιος ὁ γάμος ἐν πᾶσι καὶ ἡ κοίτη ἀμίαντος [marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled], etc.

γ. Blind obedience to men conflicts with Christian liberty and the lordly glory of Christ: Matt. 17:5, “hear ye Him.”

δ. Voluntary poverty does not consist with gratitude toward God and love toward neighbor: Acts 20:35, ὅτι αὐτὸς εἶπε, μακάριόν ἐστι διδόναι μᾶλλον ἢ λαμβάνειν [how He said, It is more blessed to give than to receive]; 2 Thess. 3:12, ἵνα μετὰ ἡσυχίας ἐργαζόμενοι τὸν ἑαυτῶν ἄρτον ἐσθίωσι [that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread]; 1 Tim. 5:8, εἰ δέ τις τῶν ἰδίων καὶ μάλιστα τῶν οἰκείων οὐ προνοεῖ, τὴν πίστιν ἤρνηται, καὶ ἔστιν ἀπίστου χείρων [but if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel], etc.

For continence they object:

1. Eunuchism is commended: Isa. 56:4, 6; Matt. 19:12.

Reply: This means abstinence without a vow, in those who are furnished with this gift and devote themselves to piety.

2. Paul recommends celibacy: 1 Cor. 7:1, 7, 8, etc.

Reply: Not to all, nor with regard to greater perfection, but to convenience in that hard time.

3. Mary and the apostles vowed it.

Reply: This is false; nor did all the apostles become celibates: 1 Cor. 9:5, “have we not power to lead about a sister, a wife, as well as other apostles, and as the brethren of the Lord, and Cephas?”

4. Virgins follow Christ everywhere: Rev. 14:4.

Reply: This means those not polluted with idolatry.

For blind obedience they object:

1. The command of self-denial: Matt. 16:24.

Reply: This obligates all—

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—and leads us to God alone.

2. Teachers are to be obeyed: Heb. 13:17.

Reply: When they are known to lead us to God.

3. The example of the Rechabites is praised: Jer. 35:6.

Reply: They are said to have followed their father’s instructions only in a few very equitable matters.

For poverty they object:

1. The poor in spirit are called blessed: Matt. 5:3.

Reply: These are those conscious of their own spiritual defect.

2. Christ gave the counsel of selling all things: Matt. 19:21.

Reply: It was not a counsel, but a singular and convicting command.

3. The example of the apostles and believers: Matt. 19:27; Acts 4:32, 34.

Reply: The forsaking of all things was temporary, and the communion of goods had respect to use in a most present necessity.

XXXVI. Things indifferent in themselves, or not determined by the law, nevertheless become good or evil by the end of the agent, the circumstances of the action, the commands of superiors, and the giving of scandal among the weak, which must altogether be avoided: Rom. 14:13, 15, μὴ οὖν ἀλλήλους... τὸ μὴ τιθέναι πρόσκομμα τῷ ἀδελφῷ ἢ σκάνδαλον [let us not therefore judge one another… but that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way]; 1 Cor. 8:11–13, “wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend,” etc.

XXXVII. No man is able perfectly to perform this perfect law, as these places teach: 1 Kings 8:46, “for there is no man that sinneth not”; Prov. 20:9, “who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” James 3:2, πολλὰ γὰρ πταίομεν ἅπαντες [for in many things we offend all]; 1 John 1:8, ἐὰν εἴπωμεν ὅτι ἁμαρτίαν οὐκ ἔχομεν, ἑαυτοὺς πλανῶμεν, καὶ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ἡμῖν [if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us]; and the examples of the holiest men, who are reported even—

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—to have fallen grievously.

The Papists and other justiciaries object:

1. The commandments of God are easy and not grievous: Matt. 11:30; 1 John 5:3.

Reply: They are pleasing and not burdensome to believers, whose will is in the law of God.

2. The righteous are described as perfect: Luke 1:6; 2 Kings 22:2, etc.

Reply: Perfection of sincerity, comparative perfection, and evangelical perfection are meant.

3. Believers neither sin nor can sin: 1 John 3:9.

Reply: These things are to be understood of the pursuit of sin.

4. Otherwise the law would be proposed to man in vain.

Reply: By no means, since he is thereby impelled to humility and fervent pursuit of piety.

But if the saints cannot perform the law, no works of supererogation for others can be boasted of; these Paul did not establish in Col. 1:24, ἀνταναπληρῶ τὰ ὑστερήματα τῶν θλίψεων τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν τῇ σαρκί μου ὑπὲρ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ ὅ ἐστιν ἐκκλησία [I fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake, which is the church], where he speaks of his sufferings for Christ unto the good of the church’s edification.

XXXVIII. This law is of perpetual duration; not with respect to life covenantally expected from it, compared with Rom. 8:3, τὸ γὰρ ἀδύνατον τοῦ νόμου ἐν ᾧ ἠσθένει διὰ τῆς σαρκός [for what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh], etc.; nor with respect to damnation because of sin committed in believers, compared with Rom. 8:1, “there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,” etc.; nor with respect to its rigid denunciation, which ceases under the New Testament, compared with Gal. 3:24, “wherefore the law was our schoolmaster unto Christ,” etc. But it endures:

1. With respect to our natural obligation; otherwise, by one sin we would be freed from every further transgression, and the active righteousness of Christ would not be necessary for us.

2. With respect to the use—

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—of acknowledging our misery and the perfection of Christ’s righteousness: Rom. 3:20–21, “by the law is the knowledge of sin; but now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets,” etc.

3. With respect to the direction of our life, according to Matt. 5:17–18, “think not that I am come to destroy the law,” etc.; and Rom. 3:31, νόμον οὖν καταργοῦμεν διὰ τῆς πίστεως; μὴ γένοιτο, ἀλλὰ νόμον ἱστάνομεν [do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law]. The gospel most powerfully incites us to holiness described by the law: Matt. 5:48, “be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”; Tit. 2:11–12, “the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, justly, and godly in this present world,” etc.

This must be maintained against various Antinomians, who object:

1. The law lasted only until John: Matt. 11:13.

Reply: With respect to its rigid ministry and its predictions concerning Christ to come.

2. Believers are not under the law: Rom. 6:14.

Reply: Not under the legal economy and the condemnation of the law.

3. The law is not made for the righteous: 1 Tim. 1:9.

Reply: Not for perfect observance or for damnation; nor is it chiefly preached for those reasons.

4. The law was given to Israel.

Reply: To Israel as representing the whole church.

XXXIX. The precepts of this law flow partly from the nature of God, partly from His perpetual will. They are either purely moral, or in some part ceremonial; again, either affirmative or negative, which have equal authority to bind, although the latter have respect more to all moments of time; finally, they belong either to the first or second table. Christ set forth the argument of both: Matt.—

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—22:37, 39, 40, ἀγαπήσεις Κύριον τὸν Θεόν σου ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ καρδίᾳ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ ψυχῇ σου καὶ ἐν ὅλῃ τῇ διανοίᾳ σου· αὕτη ἐστὶ πρώτη καὶ μεγάλη ἐντολή· δευτέρα δὲ ὁμοία αὐτῇ, ἀγαπήσεις τὸν πλησίον σου ὡς σεαυτόν· ἐν ταύταις ταῖς δυσὶν ἐντολαῖς ὅλος ὁ νόμος καὶ οἱ προφῆται κρέμαται [thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind; this is the first and great commandment; and the second is like unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets].

Nor does Paul contradict this when he sets down one commandment of love: Rom. 13:8; 1 Tim. 1:5. For either he has respect to the love of God and neighbor together, or he is treating of the second table, or he considers the love of neighbor as proceeding from the love of God. The precepts of the second table ought commonly to yield to those of the first, although not always in every case.

XL. The Papists and Lutherans wrongly assign three precepts to the first table and seven to the second, since the precept concerning other gods and the precept concerning images differ altogether, just as the object and mode of our worship differ; and since the prohibition of concupiscence is only one: Rom. 7:7, οὐκ ἐπιθυμήσεις [thou shalt not covet]. Its various objects do not alter the species of the vice, nor can they multiply the precepts according to their likeness. Therefore there are four precepts of the first table and six of the second table, which begin from the honoring of parents, according to Eph. 6:2, τίμα τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ τὴν μητέρα, ἥτις ἐστὶ πρώτη ἐντολὴ ἐν ἐπαγγελίᾳ [honor thy father and mother, which is the first commandment with promise], etc.

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