To understand aright, the perfection, spirituality, and great extent, of the Divine law, is necessary to qualify believers, for delighting in it after the inward man, and for performing acceptable obedience to all its precepts. The holy Psalmist, therefore, prayed thus: “Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.” Ps. 119: 34. “I am a stranger in the earth; hide not thy commandments from me.” Ps. 119: 19.
Seeing the ten commandments contain very much in few words, which cannot render it the more difficult, to apprehend their full meaning; the rules, to be carefully observed for understanding them aright, are chiefly the following:
1. Where a duty is required, the contrary sin is forbidden; Isa. 58: 13, and where sin is forbidden, the contrary duty is required, Eph. 4: 28.
Every command forbids the sin which is opposite to, or inconsistent with, the duty which it requires. The duties required in the law, cannot be performed, without abstaining from the sins forbidden in it; and the sins forbidden, cannot be avoided, unless the contrary duties be performed. We must, not only cease to do what the commands forbid, but do what they require; otherwise we do not obey them sincerely. A negative holiness is far from being acceptable to God. Every affirmative precept includes a negative one, and every negative command contains an affirmative. Every precept, whether affirmative or negative, has two parts; it requires obedience, and forbids disobedience. The fourth commandment, for instance, whilst it requires us to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy,” forbids us to profane that holy day. The Lord Jesus, accordingly, comprehends all the negative, as well as affirmative precepts, in these two great affirmative commandments. To love God and our neighbour. It is also remarkable that, where a promise is annexed to a precept, the contrary threatening is included, Exod. 20: 12; Prov. 20: 17, and that, where a threatening is annexed to a prohibition, the contrary promise is implied, Jer. 18: 7, 8; Psal. 24: 4, 5.
2. Where a duty is required, every duty of the same kind, is also required; and where sin is forbidden, every sin of the same sort, is prohibited.
Under one duty, all of the same kind are commanded; and under one sin, all of the same sort are forbidden. When the Lord commands us, to “have no other gods before him”, He requires us, to know and acknowledge Him, to be the only true God, and our God, and to love, worship, and glorify Him accordingly. When He commands us, to “remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy,” He requires us, to engage in prayer, praise, hearing the word, receiving the Sacraments, and in all the other duties of that holy day. Where a duty is commanded, the avowing of that duty, is required likewise. Believing in Christ, and a profession of faith in Him, are enjoined in the same commandment. Where the duties of children to parents, are commanded, not only are all the duties of inferiors, to superiors in every other relation, required, but also all the duties of superiors to inferior. On the other hand, when the Lord forbids us to kill, He forbids us also to strike, or wound our neighbour, or to harbour malice and revenge against him. When He forbids to commit adultery, He at the same time prohibits fornication, incest, and all impure imaginations, affections, and purposes. Where great sins are expressly forbidden: and they are prohibited under the names of the grosser sins, in order to render them, the more detestable and horrible in our view, as also to shew us, how abominable, even the very least of them is, in the sight of an infinitely holy and righteous God. (I refer the devout reader to Boston’s excellent Exposition of the commandments in his Sermons on our Shorter Catechism).
3. That which is forbidden, is at no time to be done; but that which is required, is to be done, only when the Lord affords opportunity.
What God forbids, is sin, and is never to be done what He requires, is always our duty, Rom. 3: 8; and yet, every particular duty is not to be performed at all times Deut. 4: 8, 9. That which is forbidden, is at all times sinful, and therefore ought never, on any pretence whatever, to be done, Matth. 12: 7. That which is required, as it is always our duty, so it is to be performed as often as opportunity is afforded, and as it does not interfere with the performance of our other duties. We are commanded, for instance, to honour our parents; but unless they be alive, or present with us, we have not the opportunity of performing this duty. In the third commandment, we are required to use, in a holy and reverent manner, the names and ordinances of God, especially in all our acts of worship; but we cannot, and should not, be every moment employed in acts of immediate worship; for we are commanded to abound in the performance of other duties, equally necessary. Although the affirmative part of every precept, is of as high authority and binding force, as the negative part; yet, it does not bind us to the performance of every particular duty, at all times: it obliges us, to be always in a suitable frame for our present duty, but not to be always in the actual performance of every duty. It binds us to the performance of a particular duty, every time that we are called to perform that duty; every time in which, the performance of it, can glorify God, and the omission of it, dishonour Him. There is, however, one affirmative precept, which binds us to perform the duty required, at all times; namely, the commandment to “love the Lord our God, with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our mind.” There is no state, nor time, nor place, in which, we can be exempted from the duty of loving God supremely.
4. Whatever we ourselves, are commanded to be, or to do, or to forbear; we are obliged to do all that it is possible for us to do, according to our places and stations in society, to make others around us, to be, or do, or forbear the same.
We are strictly bound, according to our different stations, to endeavour that, every duty be performed, and every sin be forborne, by all to whom our influence can extend. Accordingly, in the fourth commandment, are these words: “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it, thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger, that is within thy gates”. Here, the duty both of the servant, and of the stranger, is required of the master. Whatever sin is forbidden to ourselves, we are forbidden to partake with others in it, either by example, advice, connivance, or by giving them occasion to commit it. “Be not partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.” However free of personal transgressions we may pretend to be, yet we are transgressors of the law, so far as, by connivance or otherwise, we are partakers of the sins of others. What duty soever, others around us are commanded to perform, we are required, by advice, encouragement, prayer, and other helps, to assist them in performing it. How much iniquity, alas, do many even of the saints themselves commit, by not attending more than they usually do, to this rule!
5. The same duty is required, and the same sin is forbidden, in different respects, in several, and even in all the Divine commands.
The transgression of one precept, is virtually a breach of all. They are so intimately connected together, that, if the divine authority be disregarded in any one of them, it is slighted in all. The first commandment, for example, is so closely connected with all the other precepts, that it is obeyed in all our obedience, or disobeyed in all our disobedience, to any one of them. Obedience or disobedience to it, is virtually, obedience or disobedience to the whole law.
6. Where a duty is required, the use of all the means of performing it aright, is required; and where a sin is forbidden, every cause, and even every occasion of it, are prohibited.
When chastity in heart, speech, and behaviour, is required, temperance and diligence in our lawful employments, as means of preserving it, are, at the same time, enjoined. On the other hand, when the Lord forbids the profanation of the Sabbath, He at the same time, forbids all the employments and recreations, by which men profane that holy day. When He forbids uncleanness, He at the same time, prohibits drunkenness, gluttony, idleness, or whatever else may be an incitement to that sin. Where He forbids murder, He also prohibits wrath, malice, and revenge, which prompt men to commit that crime. When children are commanded to honour our parents, parents are, in the same command, enjoined, to regard their children with parental affection, and to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
7. No sin is at any time to be committed, in order to avoid or prevent a greater sin.
We must not “do evil, that good may come.” The very least sin ought not, on any account whatever, to be committed. None of the dispensations of adorable Providence, lays a man under a necessity of sinning. “Let no man then say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man.” As no man is allowed by the law, so none is necessitated by the providence, of an infinitely holy and righteous God, to commit one sin, in order to prevent another. We are commanded in the law, not only to abstain from evil, but even “from all appearance of evil”. But, while no sin must be committed, in order to prevent a greater sin: some duties required, should, as was observed above, give place to other duties.
8. The commandments of the second Table of the law, must give place to those of the first, when they cannot both be observed together.
Our love of our neighbour, for instance, ought to be subjected to our love of God; and we are enjoined to hate, that is, to love in a less degree, father and mother, for Christ, when our love of them comes, at any time, in competition with our love of Him. When our love of our nearest relations, and dearest friends, becomes inconsistent with our love of Christ, the former must yield to the latter. We must prefer Christ, and God in Christ, to all the other objects of our esteem and affection. When the commands of our superiors among men, are at any time, contrary to the commandments of the Lord, then, “we are to obey God rather than men.” But although our natural duties to men, required in the second Table of the law, must give place to our natural duties to God, required in the first; yet, the positive duties enjoined in the first Table, must yield to the natural duties required in the second, when they cannot both be performed at the same time.
9. In our obedience, we should have a special and constant respect to the scope and final end, at which the Lord aims, by all the commandments in general, or by any one of them in particular.
The great end at which, God aims in general, in subordination to His own manifested glory, is perfect holiness of heart and life in His people, even as He himself is holy. Whatever obedience, therefore, he enjoins, He requires that it be absolutely perfect; and whatever obedience we perform, we are bound to aim at perfection in it; and to assure ourselves, that in proportion as we fall short of perfection, we sin, and come short of his glory. This rule, in the hand of the Spirit of truth, is of special use, to teach both sinners and saints, the true meaning of every Divine precept. The aim of God, in each of His commandments, is, perfection of holiness or of conformity “to the image of his Son, that He may be the first-born among many brethren.” And the perfection in obedience, which He requires, is, as has been hinted above, a perfection of principle, that our obedience proceed from “a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from faith unfeigned;” a perfection of the parts of it, so that it be universal, in respect of all the commandments, or of all things written in the book of the law; a perfection of degrees, that every part of it, be raised to the very highest degree of conformity to the holy law; and a perfection in respect of duration, that from the beginning, to the end of our life, we continue “in all things, which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
10. Lastly, The beginning and the end, as well as the sum, of all the commandments, is love.
“Love is the fulfilling of the law.” “The end of the commandment is love.” As all the blessings of God to His people, flow from, and are comprised in, His love to them; so all the duties of man to God, are comprehended in love to Him. The love of God to man, is the sum of the gospel; the love of man to God, is the sum of the law. Love to God as our God, is the sum of what is required in the first Table of the law; and love to our neighbour, is the whole of what is enjoined in the second. The former is called, “The first and great commandment;” and the latter is “like unto it”. These two commandments are so closely connected together, that obedience to the one, cannot be performed, without obedience to the other. We cannot love God supremely, unless we love our neighbour as ourselves; nor can we love our neighbour, who was made in the image of God, as ourselves, except we love God who created him in his own image, with supreme affection. All the duties required in the First Table of the law, are but the native expressions of supreme love to the Lord our God; and all the duties enjoined in the second, are only the genuine expressions of sincere love to our neighbour.
Now, Is it so, that our love of our neighbour, is to be subjected or subordinated to our love of God? We may hence learn, how we ought to love God, and how to love our neighbour. We must love God, more than we love ourselves, and love our neighbour, as ourselves. We are bound to love the Lord our God supremely, or with all the powers of our souls, and to love our neighbour co-ordinately, or as ourselves. To love the Lord our God, according to the commandment, with all our heart, is to love Him with a perfect degree of sincerity. To love Him with all our soul, is to love Him spiritually and affectionately, and that in a perfect degree; and to express our ardent affection to Him, by every instance of obedience in which, any faculty of our souls can be exercised. To love Him with all our strength, is, to love no other amiable object, so much as Him, and none, but in Him and for Him, or in subordination to Him. And to do it with all our mind, is, to regard Him with an intelligent love, or a superlative esteem: and to love Him principally, for His own infinite amiableness, as manifested especially, in the person and work of our adorable Redeemer. The highest degree of love, then, of which man, even in his state of innocence, was capable, is due to our God; but a less degree of it, is due to ourselves and our neighbour. To love our neighbour as ourselves, is, to love him in the same manner, as we ought to do, ourselves. A lawful and regular love of ourselves, is here implied: for it is made the pattern according to which, we ought to love others. This regular self-love is, an habitual desire and endeavour, always to aim at the happiness of our souls and bodies, in subordination to the glory of God. To love, then, our neighbour as ourselves, is, to love him as constantly, as sincerely, as tenderly, as ardently, as actively, and as inviolably, as we love ourselves. This love of our neighbour should be expressed, by our doing to him, all that we would, from a well informed judgment, have him to do to us, in the same relations and circumstances. We are required to love all men, with a love of benevolence and beneficence; but, the saints, not only with a love of benevolence, but with a love of complacency and delight. This love of God and of our neighbour, must flow “from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from faith unfeigned”. And when it proceeds from these principles, it is “the fulfilling of the law,” the essence of true holiness, and “the bond of perfectness.” Reader, trust in the Lord Jesus with all thy heart, for all His salvation to thyself in particular, and especially for purity of heart, and peace of conscience; and then, thy faith will work by love.
It is evident from what has been said, that we were all born into the world, utterly destitute of conformity to the holiness of God’s law. We were “born in iniquity and conceived in sin”. We came into the world, entirely destitute of the moral image of God, and wholly under the dominion of natural depravity. The holy law commands us to love God supremely; but we by nature love ourselves supremely. It enjoins us to love our neighbour as ourselves; but we on the contrary hate our neighbour, especially, in relation to the momentous concerns of his immortal soul. The law requires us, to delight supremely in the Lord our God; but we, instead of this, delight only in sin, or at least, in that which is not God. We are commanded in the law, to “do all the glory of God;” but we are naturally disposed, to do all our own glory. These corrupt propensities are native, in the heart of every descendant of Adam and are directly contrary to the holy nature and law of God. So great is the contrariety, between the holy nature of God as expressed in His law, and the nature of a sinner; that God is said to hate sinners, and sinners, to hate Him. And no man has attained a true conviction of his sin, but he, whom the Holy Spirit has made to see and feel, that by nature he is a hater of God, and of the whole revealed character of God.
Hence it is manifest also, that the very best actions of unconverted persons, are sinful in the sight of God. Such persons, indeed, do many things that are materially good, but, nothing that is formally good; nothing, from a good principle, in a good manner, and to a good end. All that they do, is done, either directly or indirectly, in opposition to the holy commandments of the Lord; and so, it is sinful and hateful to Him. How then can such performances, atone for their past transgressions, and entitle them to the favour of God, and eternal life? Ah, how deep the infatuation, how great the folly, of relying on our own righteousness, for a title to eternal salvation!
From what has been said, it is evident, that it is a righteous thing with God, to require of unregenerate sinners, what they cannot perform. He commands them to love Him with all their hearts, and so, to perform perfect and perpetual obedience to His righteous law: but, in their state of unregeneracy, they have no moral ability, to perform a single duty according to the commandment. It is infinitely just, however, that the Lord should require of sinners, what they are unwilling, and so, unable to perform; and, that He should condemn them to death, in all its latitude and extent, for not performing it. For, nothing can be more just and reasonable, than that, they should yield perfect obedience to His righteous law. He gave them, in the first Adam, sufficient ability to perform perfect obedience; and they chose to deprive themselves of it, by their transgression in him, as their federal representative. Besides, they have no inability but what is voluntary. They love the depravity of their hearts, and choose to commit iniquity. Indeed, if the Lord could not justly require of sinners, what they cannot perform; it would inevitably follow, that they could have no need, either that, the son of God should fulfil all righteousness for them, or that, his Holy Spirit should implant holiness in them. To say then, that God cannot justly, require sinners to perform that obedience to Him, which, of themselves they are unable to perform, tends to undermine at once, both the law and the gospel.
To conclude: We may hence see that, no influences of the Holy Spirit, but such as are irresistable, will suffice to convert a sinner to God, and to the love and practice of sincere obedience to his law. So strong and inveterate is the corruption, which is in the hearts of unregenerate sinners, that elect sinners do resist the saving operation of the Spirit, as much, and as long as they can; and were it not, that the adorable Spirit is infinitely efficacious in His operation, they would all so resist Him, as to hinder Him from converting them. An infinitely powerful operation of the Holy Spirit, such as will be sufficient, to conquer all the resistance made to it by sinners; is necessary to change their natures, and to make them willing to believe in Jesus Christ, and return through Him, to God as their God. Accordingly, the Holy Spirit, in converting sinners, is in Scripture represented, as “putting his laws into their minds, and writing them in their hearts,” as “creating them in Christ Jesus unto good works,” as quickening and raising them up from the dead, and as “opening their eyes,” and “calling them out of darkness into his marvellous light.” Hence, they are said to be born of the Spirit, to be new creatures, and to walk in newness of life. This great and wonderful change is indispensably necessary to true conversion. Happy, inexpressibly happy are you, reader, if you be a subject of it! No sooner do you begin to experience this happy change, than you begin, so to believe the gospel, as to have communion with the second Adam, in His righteousness and salvation, and so to obey the law, as to “walk worthy of the Lord to all pleasing”. — John Colquhoun of Leith.