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LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

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Understanding the Law: Pauline Understanding and Use of the Law

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RESEARCH PAPER SUBMITTED TO DR. JEFFERY GINN

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR

THE COURSE NBST 520-B01

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LIBERTY BAPTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY

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DENNIS E. ELLINGBURG (ID# 82974)

VIDALIA, LA

June 20, 2014

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INTRODUCTION

Paul’s understanding of the Law is that it has been fulfilled in Christ’s death and

resurrection and now it functions to reveal the sinner’s desperate position before Holy God, and

acts for the believer as a Scriptural guide for how to walk before God.

The question of what role the Law of Moses plays in the life of a Christian is a much

debated and argued theological debate. Especially when we consider the writing of the Apostle

Paul and add them to the debate. Paul’s writings with their pastoral tone and detailed theology

have helped to form the foundation of Christian belief for centuries. As a Jewish convert to

Christianity, Paul has a lot to say about the Law of Moses and its place in the life of the

Christians and thus understanding his view of the Law in Christian life is an essential foundation

of our theology.

But understanding exactly what Paul says about the Law is not as straight forward as it

sounds. Paul often goes from lauding the Law, as in 1 Timothy 1:8 where Paul notes that the

“Law is good, if one uses it Lawfully” (cf. Gal. 5.14; 1 Cor. 7.19; Rom. 2.25ff; 3.31; 8.4;

13.8-10) , to declaring that “Christ is the end of the Law” in Romans 10:4 (cf. Gal. 3.15-4.7;

Rom. 6.14; 7.1-6; 10.4; 2 Cor. 3.4-18; cf. also Gal. 2.18; Rom. 14.14, 20). This almost

antithetical view of the Law has caused much debate recently. In the past twenty years, numbers

articles and books have been written to discuss Paul’s view of the Law especially in light of the

“new perspective” on Paul championed by N. T. Wright. So how did Paul view the Law and

what can his view of the Law tell us about how Christians are to apply the Law to their daily

lives.
 In this paper an attempt will be made to clearly define how Paul viewed the Law and its use

in the life of the unregenerate and the believer. It will be shown how Paul viewed the Law

primarily as a mirror showing mirror reflecting God’s holiness and man’s sinfulness and need for

a savior, as a restraint on evil, and a guide to God’s nature and will.

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THE CONVICTING WORK OF THE LAW

“This letter is truly the most important piece in the New Testament. It is purest Gospel. It is

well worth a Christian's while not only to memorize it word for word but also to occupy himself

with it daily, as though it were the daily bread of the soul. It is impossible to read or to meditate

on this letter too much or too well.” These words opened Martin Luther’s preface to his

commentary on the book of Romans and highlight this letter’s importance in forming the basis of

the Christian theology of salvation and justification. For this reason, it is a key source of

information on Paul’s understanding of the Law. Paul uses the term an impressive seventy-two

times in the letter to the Roman. What makes this letter even more essential to our understanding

of Paul’s view of the Law is the fact that these seventy-two mentions constitute over 60 percent

of the appearances of nomos in Paul’s letters.1

Paul begins his letter by proclaiming the absolute need of all men before a righteous God for

salvation (Romans 1-3). This necessary because no one is able to achieve complete adherence to

the law and according to Paul failure to obey the law is a violation of all the law (Gal. 3:10). This

need extends to the pagan world because God’s moral law (which we will discuss in greater

detail in our next section) has been written on the hearts of all men. (Romans 1:18-19) This ties

1 Frank Thielman, Paul & the Law, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1994), 161.
into Paul’s first understanding of the Law, “God’s purpose in giving the law was to identify sin

as the violation of his directly revealed will.”2 Thus in Romans 3:10-20 Paul quotes a

compilation of various Old Testament verses (Ps. 5:9; 10:7; 14:1-3; 36:1; 53:1-2; 140:3) to show

that no one is righteous before Almighty God. This illustrates the first work of the Law in

Pauline theology, namely the Law as a Mirror.

The Law of Moses in the life of unregenerate man acts as a mirror reflecting an image

both of God’s glory and majesty, and man’s absolute sinfulness before God. Put simply, the Law

of God gives us an accurate picture of who God is and, conversely, who we truly are. Paul

plainly states this noting that, “through the Law comes knowledge of sin.”3 Mark Seifrid agrees

noting that, “the Law brings the ‘knowledge of sin,’ i.e. the experiential knowledge of sin as a

comprehensive (and therefore enslaving) reality. Only through the Law does sin come to exert its

full power.”4

This is expounded upon by Paul in Romans 7. Paul begins by noting man’s death to the

Law through the resurrection of Christ (Rom. 7:4). Using a rhetorical question, Paul highlights

that though the Law was not itself sin (v. 7), and in fact is holy, that it serves the purpose of

revealing sin. Brian Rosner agrees noting that, “the law does not lead to obedience, holiness, and

life, but rather, by increasing sin (cf. Rom. 5:20), it leads to death.” 5 Using the tenth

commandment Paul makes clear that the Law serves its purpose of showing the unregenerate

2 Theilman, 192.
3 Romans 3:20
4D. A. Carson, Peter T. O’brien, Mark A. Seifrid, Justification and Variegated Nomism, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Baker Academic, 2004), 141-142
5Brian Rosner, Paul and the Law: Keeping the Commandments of God, (Grand Rapids, MI: InterVarsity
Press, 2013), 55.
what sin is. “If it had not been for the Law, I would not have known sin…for apart from the Law,

sin lies dead.” This is not to say that the Law produces death, but rather that it is sin that

produces death in men by making us impotent to fulfill the Law. It is sin that makes men

incapable of obeying God’s righteous demands, thus the Law that was meant to bring about

righteousness instead comes to, as Paul notes earlier, “increase the trespass.”

Paul further illustrates this point by saying that the Law acts as a pedagogue. (Gal. 3:24)

The pedagogue was a slave in charge of guarding, discipline, and in a limited role, teach the

children of wealthy Greco-Romans.6 In this context, it’s clear that the law acts in the disciplining

as the Law by bringing all men under sin, constrains them until faith in Christ Jesus could be

revealed. This does not mean until Christ came upon the earth, but rather until Christ awakens in

the hearts of men, or as Paul says it, “so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given

to those who believe.” (Gal. 3:22) Thus, as a pedagogue, the law therefore reveals “to us our

sins clearly and even causing them to be multiplied and increased to the point where we stand

before God utterly void of any hope of self-reclamation.”7

This usage of the law is well summed up the by Westminster Longer Catechism question 96:

What particular use is there of the moral law to unregenerate men?

The moral law is of use to unregenerate men, to awaken their consciences to flee from
wrath to come, and to drive them to Christ; or, upon their continuance in the
estate and way of sin, to leave them inexcusable, and under the curse thereof.8
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6 Theilman, 132.
7Timothy George, Galatians, Vol. 30, The New American Commentary, (Nashville: Broadman & Holman
Publishers, 1994), Logos Digital Version.
8 Westminster Larger Catachism, 1st ed, Q: 96, viewed online.
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THE RESTRAINING WORK OF THE LAW

A second use of the law that we find in Paul’s works is the restraining work of the law. In

Romans 1 we find Paul first noting this restraining work of the Law by noting that God’s wrath

falls upon the unrighteousness of man because “what can be known about God is plain to them,

because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes…have been clearly perceived,

ever since the creation of the world.”9 The Law, according to Paul, is given to restrain the

wickedness of men and is known by nature. This view of the law is known as the moral or

natural law. This view of the Law has come under fire recently as some have questioned if it is

possible to separate the moral from the civil/ceremonial Law in the Law of Moses and whether

this division is an a priori argument. While it is not the corpus of this paper to answer this

question, I think Dr. D. A. Carson gives a helpful statement on the question,

“We may still usefully speak of the tripartitc division from an a posteriori perspective: after
we have observe the patterns of continuities and discontinuities that Paul establishes, those
old covenant laws which Christians “fulfill” in a fashion most closely aligned with their
function within the old covenant may safely be labeled “moral,” without fear that an a priori
definition is domesticating Paul’s thought.”10
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Willem A. VanGemeren agrees, “The law has also the power to restrain us by reminding us

of the consequences of our own disobedience.”11 In 1 Timothy 1:8-10 Paul states that the law is

good when used lawfully. And what is the proper use of the law? Its restraining function upon

9 Romans 1:19-20
10 Carson, Justification and Variegated Nomism, 429.
11Willem A. Gemeren, Stanley N. Gundry, ed., Five Views on Law and Gospel, (Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan, 1999), 53.
unregenerate: "knowing this, that the law was not enacted for a righteous man, but for the

lawless and unruly, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murders of

fathers and mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for homosexuals, for menstealers, for liars,

for false swearers…" So according to Paul, the law acts as a limited restraint on the sinfulness of

man. Thus, man perceives a moral law, even though he himself might have no contact to the

Gospel of Jesus Christ.

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THE GUIDING WORK OF THE LAW

The final use of the law in particular, and the most hotly debated is the use of the law in the

life of a Christian. The first two uses of the Law relate to the unregenerate, but now we move to

that work of the Law that affects believers. So how should believers respond to the Law

according to Paul. This is a very deep and rich theological question that must be answered with

some care.

There are four predominate ways to deal with the law. The first is antinomianism. This

view holds that because of the freedom found in Christ from the law that Christians have no

obligation to preach or obey the moral law of the Old Testament. “Antinomians affirm that God

never sees sin in believers; once we are in Christ, whatever our subsequent lapses, he sees at

every moment only the flawless righteousness of the Savior’s life on earth, now reckoned to be

ours.”12 Second is Lutheranism that holds that Christ abolished the law and that the law is in

opposition to the gospel. The third is the New-Perspective which holds that Paul was not

condemning the Law, but was rather condemning Jews who excluded Gentiles from the people

12 Antinomianism: Reformed Theology’s Unwelcomed Guest, (Philipsburg, NJ: P&R Publishing, 2013), x.
of God.13 The final view of the law is the Reformed view. The reformed view holds that the

Law was the fulfilled in Christ and that salvation is by grace alone, but that believers are under a

obligation to obey the moral law to please God.

The confusion comes from a number of seemingly contradictory passages in scripture.

While we do not have enough time in this paper to exhaustively look at all of these, we will look

at some of the more significant. First there is Romans 6:14 and Romans 8:4. In Romans 6:14,

Paul states that, “For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under

grace.” In this verse, many find an end to the law and its demands on the law. But in context,

that is not what we find here. In the context of Romans 6, Paul is speaking about the reign of sin

in our lives being conquered by the grace of Christ. He goes on to expound this in chapter 7 to

show that the damning effects of the Law, the first use of the Law that discussed earlier in this

paper, have been mitigated by our union with Christ in his death.

Whereas before, sin used the law to bring about death because of man’s inability to obey the

Law’s righteous demands, now “there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ

Jesus. For the law of the Spirit has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and

death” (Romans 8:1) and conversely by sending Christ “the righteous requirements of the law

(are) fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans

8:4) On the cross, Jesus set men free from the curse of the Law, their inability to obey is because

of sin’s hold, but in Christ the saved are free from sin. (Romans 6:6) This is Paul’s meaning of

saying that the law of the Spirit of life has set man free. As Bruce notes, “The purpose of the

13 Rosner, 21.
law, that men should be holy as God is holy, is thus realized in the gospel.”14 Before, there is

bondage because of sin, but now man who was at one time unable to “submit to God’s

Law” (Romans 8:8) is now set free to “fulfill the law” by honoring the first two commandment

to love God and love others (Romans 13:8-10) thus fulfilling God’s moral law.

This is what Paul has in view in Galatians 5:13-14:

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity
for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word:
“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
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This in no way means that we can now be justified by our adherence to the Law, on the

contrary no one is able to be made justified by the works of the Law (Romans 3:20) and that is

the whole point of Paul’s argument against the Law in Romans. But what Paul has in view is

seen in the way he deals with the law throughout scripture. Paul does no do away with the moral

law, but rather the sacrificial. As Tim Keller agrees noting that “the coming of Christ changed

how we worship, but not how we live.”15 What it means for the Christian life is that we are now

able to obey God’s moral law summed up by Jesus to love God and love others. “The moral law

outlines God's own character—his integrity, love, and faithfulness. And so everything the Old

Testament says about loving our neighbor, caring for the poor, generosity with our possessions,

social relationships, and commitment to our family is still in force.” 16

14 F. F. Bruce, Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000), 200.
15Tim Keller, “Making Sense of Scripture’s ‘inconsistency,'” Bible & Theology (blog), The Gospel Coalition,
July 12, 2009, accessed June 21, 2014, http://thegospelcoalition.org/article/making-sense-of-scriptures-
inconsistency/.
16 ibid.
 This fits well into Paul’s argument throughout his letters. Paul always promotes the moral

law while tearing down the yoke of the ceremonial law that the Judaizers wanted to lay upon

Gentile Christians. In Romans 14, Paul challenges Christians not to argue with weaker

Christians over dietary rules nor which day of the week one worships while in 1 Corinthians 13

while talking about love fulfilling the Law he upholds the Old Testament sex ethic. In 1

Corinthians Paul upholds Jesus’ condemnation of divorce (1 Corinthians 7:10-11) which was

based on Jesus’ interpretation of the law in Mark 10:1-12 which pointed back to the creation in

Genesis. It is the same with Paul’s warnings to the churches at Colossae and

It is also consistent with Paul’s argument in Galatians. Paul’s desire was to free the

Galatians from those who would demand adherence to the law for salvation by keeping the

Jewish ceremonial law of circumcision. It is clear that the apostles understood that while the

ceremonial laws had ended at the cross, the moral laws, those laws that reveal God’s nature and

glory are to be kept for the edification and for his glory. Graeme Goldsworthy agrees, “(The

Law) reflects in various ways (God’s) own character. It is their faithful response to the character

of God that will demonstrate that they are his children.”17

In fact, Paul’s consistent use of the moral law shows us the proper use of the Law, as a guide

for living a life pleasing to God. That’s why in Ephesians 6 Paul can affirm proper use of the

Law to obey your parents (Exodus 20:12). We see this also in Romans 13:9 where Paul quotes

the sixth, seventh, eighth and tenth commandments. These are a clear example not only of Paul

taking pains not only quote the Law, but “he quotes them in their Decalogal form. The moral

17 Graeme Goldsworthy, The Goldsworthy Trilogy, (Colorado Springs, CO: Paternoster Press, 2000), 75.
core of the law does not simply furnish raw materials for Paul's independent moral reflection. It

provides the concrete standard by which Paul expects believers to order their lives.”18

It seems clear both by Paul’s usage of the law as a guide for the Christian life is the intended

purpose that Paul has in mind for the Christian. Thus we can agree with the Westminster Larger

Catechism Q 97

Q. 97. What special use is there of the moral law to the regenerate?
A. Although they that are regenerate, and believe in Christ, be delivered from the moral law
as a covenant of works, so as thereby they are neither justified nor condemned; yet besides
the general uses thereof common to them with all men, it is of special use, to show them
how much they are bound to Christ for his fulfilling it, and enduring the curse thereof in
their stead, and for their good; and thereby to provoke them to more thankfulness, and to
express the same in their greater care to conform themselves thereunto as the rule of their
obedience.
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CONCLUSION

The question of how Paul uses the Law is a difficult and twisting subject, one that cannot

easily be answered in one paper. There are numerous books and articles written on this subject

and so there is no way for a twelve page paper on the subject to be completely exhaustive. All

that being said it is clear based on the evidence of the whole body that while Paul viewed us to

be free from the Law of sin and its demands, that the moral law serves a threefold purpose of

convicting of sin, restraining evil and guiding the Christian in personal holiness. Though the

ceremonial demands have been fulfilled by the ultimate sacrifice, Jesus Christ, we still find a

consistent message and example in Paul is that the law leads us to holiness.


18Guy Waters, “A Review of Rosner's Paul and the Law,” Reformation 21, December, 2013, accessed
June 29, 2014, http://www.reformation21.org/shelf-life/paul-and-the-law.php.
 REFERENCE LIST

Bruce, F. F. Paul: Apostle of the Heart Set Free. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2000.

Carson, D. A. editor, Peter T. O’Brien, editor, Mark A. Seifrid, editor Mark A. Seifrid.

Justification and Variegated Nomism: The Paradoxes of Paul, volume 2. Grand Rapids,

MI: Baker Academic, 2001.

George, Galatians. Vol. 30, The New American Commentary. Nashville: Broadman & Holman

Publishers, 1994.

Goldsworthy, Graeme. The Goldsworthy Trilogy. Colorado Springs, CO: Paternoster Press,

2000.

Keller, Tim. “Making Sense of Scripture’s ‘inconsistency’.” Bible & Theology (blog). The

Gospel Coalition, July 12, 2009. Accessed June 21, 2014. http://thegospelcoalition.org/

article/making-sense-of-scriptures-inconsistency/.

Rosner, Brian S., Paul and the Law: Keeping the Commandments of God. Downers Grove, IL:

IVP Academic, 2013.

Strickland, Wayne G., editor. Five Views on Law and Gospel. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan,

1996.

Theilman, Frank. Paul & The Law: A Contextual Approach. Downers Grove, IL: IVP

Academic, 1994.

Waters, Guy. “A Review of Rosner's Paul and the Law.” Reformation 21. December, 2013.

Accessed June 29, 2014. http://www.reformation21.org/shelf-life/paul-and-the-law.php.