Gospel Precepts, The Believer’s Rule of Conduct, by J C Philpot, published by Gospel Standard Trust Publications, paperback, 161 pages, £5.75.
J C Philpot was a respected Gospel Standard pastor during the nineteenth century and was for 29 years involved in editing his denomination’s monthly magazine. Over the years he contributed many series of “meditations”. Some of these were republished in book form during the 1970s, including Meditations on the Sacred Humanity of the Blessed Redeemer and Meditations on . . . the Holy Ghost, both of which this reviewer has enjoyed reading.
The book under review contains another series of these “meditations”. It has, however, a fundamental defect, highlighted by Philpot’s remark that, on the subject under discussion, “Owen, Bunyan and most of the old Puritan writers” were both “confused” and “legal” (p 85); he is arguing that the moral law is not the rule of the believer’s life. One hastens to add, however, that Philpot was no antinomian in practice; he was anxious to promote godly living – which is the theme of this book. He believed that “gospel precepts” – “those exhortations, injunctions, commands, entreaties, admonitions, call them by what name you will . . . which the Holy Ghost has revealed in the new covenant as claiming our attention and our obedience,” are “intended to be influential upon our life” (p 15).
But this distinction between the will of God for the obedience of a believer under the old dispensation of the covenant of grace and for one under the new is not scriptural. The Westminster Confession of Faith summarises, in chapter 19, the Bible’s teaching on the law. It speaks of the law as “a perfect rule of righteousness; and, as such, was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables; the first four commandments containing our duty towards God; and the other six, our duty to man”. The Confession then adds, “Besides this law, commonly called moral, God was pleased to give to the people of Israel, as a church under age, ceremonial laws, containing several typical ordinances; partly of worship, prefiguring Christ, His graces, actions, sufferings, and benefits; and partly of divers instructions of moral duties. All which ceremonial laws are now abrogated under the new testament.” And finally, in defining the third of the three sections of the law under the old covenant, it states: “To them also, as a body politic, He gave sundry judicial laws, which expired together with the state of that people, not obliging any other now, further than the general equity thereof may require”.
Then the Confession goes on to emphasise that “the moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof; and that, not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect
of the authority of God, the Creator, who gave it. Neither doth Christ, in the gospel, any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.” Indeed (though the choice of word is clearly not important to Philpot) it is striking that the word precept is only used in two New Testament verses and both of them refer to Moses’ precepts.
However, it must be emphasised that there is much helpful material in Philpot’s book. For example, he writes, “We can only glorify God outwardly by doing His will; we can only know that will, as regards our practical obedience to it, by the express revelation which He has given of it. Where is that revelation? In His Word . . . It is this which makes it a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Ps 119:105). David therefore cried: ‘Order my steps in Thy word’; ‘Make me to go in the path of Thy commandments’; ‘O that my ways were directed to keep Thy statutes’; as feeling that it was only by walking in the Word and by the Word that he could please God and live to His praise.” There is also a helpful stress on the precepts as applying first to the “inward life” (p 65) but this is just as true of the entire moral law.
The fact is that what Philpot calls gospel precepts are all applications of the moral law. For instance, in successive verses in 1 Corinthians 10, Paul forbids idolatry (v 7 – Second Commandment), fornication (v 8 – Seventh), tempting Christ (v 9 – First), and murmuring (v 10 – Tenth). And in Romans 13:9 Paul specifically mentions the last five of the Commandments – in an Epistle written to the “beloved of God”. We can rest assured that neither Owen or Bunyan were confused about the continuing obligation of believers to keep the moral law; they were entirely scriptural.