Give Me That Easy-Listening Legalism
Rereleased From the Archives
“There is law and gospel in the Old Testament, and there is law and gospel in the New. The law comprises everything in Scripture which is a revelation of God's will in the form of command or prohibition, while the gospel embraces everything, whether it be in the Old Testament or in the New, that pertains to the work of reconciliation and that proclaims the seeking and redeeming love of God in Christ Jesus.”
-Louis Berkhof (1873-1957)
Law and Gospel—God’s two distinct words which live in both the Old and New Testaments.
Get this distinction wrong, and you’ll often get preaching wrong, your Bible reading wrong, and potentially cripple your Christian life.
John Calvin’s successor, Theodore Beza, rightly observed, “Ignorance of this distinction between Law and Gospel is one of the principal sources of the abuses which corrupted and still corrupt Christianity.”
One fruit of law/gospel confusion that still poisons Christianity is called moralism.
It grows when God’s people walk away from a sermon or Bible reading, (unintentionally) believing that those justified by faith are actually justified by faithfulness. The remedy lies in distinguishing between what God commands (law) and what God graciously provides (gospel)1, as reflected in differentiating scriptural indicatives and imperatives.
This process will keep the church from moralism, eliminate self-sufficiency, direct attention to Christ as the ultimate fulfillment of the law, and enable true obedience.
Indicative/Imperative Paradigm
Rightly dividing the Word of Truth entails that the believer knows the difference between scriptural indicatives and imperatives. Indicatives are statements of fact; imperatives are commands that could naturally flow from that fact. One could say, “The room is dark.” That’s an indicative statement. The imperative would necessarily be, “Turn on the light!”
Often in scripture, these two elements are connected by the word “Therefore.” You have indicative statements from Paul (gospel)—those in Christ are not condemned, and nothing can separate them from the love of Christ (Romans 8), and then he’ll proceed with law, “therefore… present your body as a living sacrifice” (Romans 12:1).
Gospel indicatives empower us by declaring what we have received; only then does the law guide us in what we ought to do. Thus, many New Testament imperatives can boil down to: “Be who you already are!” In sum, as Dr. Justin Holcomb put it, “Imperatives grow in the soil of the indicatives.”
The Scriptures are filled with imperatives and positive human examples. True Christian discipleship would not be a reality if others were not being taught to obey all that Christ had commanded (Matt. 28:20).
But moralism grows when discipleship is divorced from the gospel's indicatives and from union with Christ. What makes Christian discipleship, well, Christian is that it is rooted in gospel grace. Dennis Johnson eloquently defines moralism in preaching as the
homiletical practice of issuing ethical demands without grounding them in the gospel or showing how they are integral to a grateful response to the redemptive work of God in Christ. The result of such moralistic preaching is that hearers come away with the impression that God’s favor towards them rests to some degree on their (always imperfect) performance of obedience and love rather than wholly on the perfect obedience and vicarious suffering of Jesus Christ.2
Have you sat under this kind of (well-intentioned) preaching? Perhaps this is the cause of man-centered Bible reading.
Apart from Christ, it is natural to desire a moral code to achieve one's status. In the gospel accounts, Jesus reveals how Pharisaic legalism is symptomatic of a deep problem in the heart. The Pharisees drew near to God with their lips while their hearts were far from Him (Matt. 15:8). This kind of living is exalts man rather than God; man is now the focal point, and the worship of God is redirected, resulting in either pride or despair. Geerhardus Vos put it well:
“Legalism lacks the supreme sense of worship. It obeys, but it does not adore.”3
Test Case: Nehemiah
For instance, someone will read the text of Nehemiah, drawing straight-line applications from his life to the lives of people, and go no further. The applications can sound something like, “Nehemiah was a man with a broken heart for people; you all should be broken-hearted over lost people and seek to go reach them.” Or “We should be a Nehemiah to our communities–stepping up to be strong leaders amid much opposition.” Of course, this is not wrong. The Apostle Paul tells us that the things written in the past were written for our example so that we may learn (1 Co. 10:11), but subsequent revelation shows us that Christ is the fulfillment of these themes and characters.
Take a look at Nehemiah chapter 8: God restores the spiritual lives of His people after restoring the city walls. We then see Nehemiah, a compassionate man, leading well and, in essence, shepherding them towards deep joy in God by telling them to “Drink sweet wine” and that “The joy of the LORD is your strength” (8:10). The people are then seen pursuing God through confession and obedience to His law.
But one will quickly find, in the book's rather abrupt and obscure ending, that human leadership is insufficient. The covenant people of God break their covenant with God. They are taking foreign wives and not living out the commands of the Torah. Nehemiah is then seen responding in violent and harsh ways to reprimand the people.
What the text looks forward to is the new heart that is needed, and therefore, the only One who can effectively lead the charge. A better leader who is both God and man, who leads with perfection, humility, and boldness, is the kind of leader needed to restore true covenant faithfulness and true joy.
Jesus Christ is the one who wept over the city of Jerusalem and extended compassion towards the broken (Luke 19:41–44).
Jesus Christ is the one who restores and rebuilds His people (Matt. 16:18).
Jesus Christ is the restorer of true joy and displays this as He begins His public ministry, not by offering sweet wine, but by turning water into wine (John 2).
At the wedding in Cana, He declares in full measure what Nehemiah only gave in part: He alone is the restorer of true joy and the one who shepherds His people into all of God’s promises. After all, they find their “yes” and “amen” in Him (1 Cor. 1:20). Nehemiah points us to a Messiah who, because He is both God and man, can accomplish true restoration because He took the place of those who can’t restore themselves at the cross. Despite the opposition facing Him, He conquered the ultimate enemies of sin and death and took upon Himself the infinite weight of the wrath of God. Three days later, He rose again, securing and providing new life for all of those who would trust in Him.
He is the leader that men desperately needed.
Conclusion
This Biblical distinction enables believers to look to Christ and His grace alone, not only for their justification but for their sanctification. Application of Scripture can shift from, “Here’s what Nehemiah did, be like him,” to, “Here’s what Nehemiah did. You can’t accomplish this. Look to Christ as the one who did this perfectly, and through your constant trust in Him as your substitute, you not only have a desire to carry out these commands, but you have new power.” Or as Paul put it, “You were darkness, now you are light in the Lord (indicative). Walk as children of light (imperative)” (Eph. 5:8).
Dear believer and preacher, don’t settle for easy-listening legalism4; let the law be the law, let the gospel be the gospel, and never confuse the two, and thereby safeguard the church from legalism/moralism. Put yourself under preaching that upholds these two words with enthusiasm and watch a crippled church walk in vibrant obedience by the Spirit. As Pastor Justin Purdue often says, “The law demands everything and gives nothing. The gospel demands nothing and gives everything.”
Thanks, The Pactum!
(Dennis E. Johnson, Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures. (P&R 1 Publishing, 2007), 233)
(Geerhardus Vos, Hebrews, the Epistle of the Diatheke, (CrossReach Publications via 2 PublishDrive, 2017), 70.)
(Michael Horton, Christless Christianity, Baker Books, 2012)
Learn more: Joseph Yu expounds on the indicative/imperative paradigm here.
Learn more: Emily Brockhoff expounds the Bible’s central message in a piece on Bible reading here.
Learn more: J. A. Medders, PhD writes on assurance of salvation here.