INVESTIGATING ADVENTISM: Chapter 5 — "The Law and the Gospel

Monday, September 22, 2025

Chapter 5 — "The Law and the Gospel — How They Relate"

Chapter 5:

The Law and the Gospel — How They Relate

Introduction — Two Doctors, Two Remedies

Imagine two physicians standing over a patient who has been poisoned. One doctor yells, “Stop eating the poison!” and points to the bottle. The other steps forward with an antidote and says, “Drink this; it will heal you.” Both speak true things, but only the antidote rescues. The first doctor’s warning is necessary — it diagnoses the danger — but it cannot save.

So it is with the law and the gospel. The law diagnoses sin, condemns transgression, and restrains evil. The gospel is the antidote: the finished work of Christ that removes the penalty and gives life. Confusing the two — treating the law as the means of salvation — leaves souls under condemnation. But discarding the law entirely as irrelevant throws away the map showing where the poison is. We need both truth and rescue, but we need them in their proper order and function.

This chapter will walk that road: we’ll define “law” in Paul’s terms, explain how the law functions (including the classic three uses), demonstrate how the gospel fulfills the law, and provide pastoral and practical guidance for living under grace without falling into legalism or lawlessness.

What Paul (and Scripture) Means by “Law” — nomos, function, and scope

When Paul talks about “the law,” he uses the Greek word nomos. That simple word can refer to various realities in Scripture: the Torah (the Mosaic covenant), specific commandments, ethical norms, or the principle of legal obligation. Context governs meaning, which is why careful historico-grammatical exegesis is necessary.

Key biblical observations:

The law reveals and condemns sin. Paul: “Through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Rom. 3:20). The law is like an X-ray — it exposes disease.
The law does not justify. Paul’s conclusion in Romans and Galatians is clear: no one is justified by keeping the law (Rom. 3:28; Gal. 2:16). The law can show guilt but cannot remove the guilt’s penalty.
The law had a covenantal function. The Mosaic law was the binding covenant between Yahweh and national Israel (Exod. 19—24). The Ten Words (Decalogue) were part of that covenant documentary structure. To be under “the law” in Paul’s argument often means to be under the Mosaic covenant as a legal principle that requires perfect obedience for acceptance.

Two quick Greek terms that matter:

dikaiosis / dikaiōsis (δικαίωσις) — justification / the judicial declaration of righteousness. This is an act of God, not a human achievement.
pistis (πίστις) — faith. Paul’s argument is that righteousness is counted (logizomai) to the one who believes, not to the one who keeps the law (Rom. 4:5).

So when we ask “What is the law?” we are asking both about content (commands) and condition (the covenantal legal framework that sought perfect obedience).

The Three Uses of the Law — curb, mirror, and guide (and what they mean)

The Reformed tradition codified three helpful “uses” of the law that remain pastorally and theologically useful. They are not invented creeds — they are interpretive tools that help the church apply Scripture rightly:

The Curb (restraining evil). The law restrains sin by threat of punishment and social order. In a fallen world, the law protects the weak and keeps public order (Rom. 13:1–4). This use is common to the church and the state.
The Mirror (diagnosing sin). The law shows us our sin and drives us to the Savior. Paul repeatedly says the law reveals sin: “I would not have known what sin was except through the law” (Rom. 7:7). This is the law’s pastoral mercy: it wakes up the conscience.
The Guide (directing obedience). For believers, the law functions as a rule of life: it shows what pleases God. For the New Covenant believer, this use is transformed — we live by the “Law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2; 1 Cor. 9:21). The commands instruct the Spirit-empowered life, not as merit or covenant terms, but as the pattern of grateful obedience.

Important nuance: New Covenant Theology (NCT) nuances #3 by insisting the Mosaic covenant’s civil and ceremonial stipulations were covenantal and temporary; the moral principles expressed in the Decalogue reflect God’s moral character and continue as normative insofar as they are summarized and empowered by Christ’s law of love. In short, the moral content often persists (in spirit), but its covenantal framework does not bind Christians in the way it bound Israel.

The law leads you to the Savior and then becomes a taught rhythm for the Spirit’s work. It is never the currency of acceptance. It’s a compass, not the bank.

The Law and Justification — exegesis from Paul (Romans and Galatians)

Two pillars support Paul’s gospel teaching: imputation and penal substitution. The law plays the revealing role; justification is God’s declarative remedy.

Romans 3:20–24: “For by works of the law no human being will be justified... but now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law... through faith in Jesus Christ…”

The sequence is critical: law → diagnosis; gospel → remedy.
Romans 4 (Abraham): Abraham was counted righteous before circumcision and before the law (Gen. 15). Paul uses Abraham to show justification belongs to faith alone (logizomai). If righteousness is by works, Abraham’s faith would be irrelevant.
Galatians 2–3: The phrase “works of the law” in Galatians probably refers to boundary-works that identified ethnic Israel (circumcision, food laws, Sabbaths) rather than general moralism. Paul’s point: attempting to be part of God’s covenant by human boundary-works is to seek justification within a system that Christ has ended. Christ delivers the nation and the Gentile believer from having to adopt Israel’s ethnic marks for acceptance.

Paul’s point is theological and pastoral: we are declared righteous by God’s gracious act in Christ — not by law-keeping. The law cannot procure God’s favor; only Christ can.

Law and Sanctification — the Spirit fulfills what the law cannot

A key pastoral question: if the law doesn’t save, is it useless? Absolutely not. But the power to obey is not produced by the law; it is produced by the Spirit.

Romans 8:1–4 teaches the decisive point: the righteousness required by the law is fulfilled in us as we walk according to the Spirit. The law could demand righteousness but had no power to give it — the Spirit now writes God’s will into our hearts (cf. Ezek. 36:26–27; Jer. 31:31–34). That’s New Covenant language.
Galatians 5: Freedom from the law’s condemning jurisdiction should result in life by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16ff). The Spirit produces the fruit that the law names: love, joy, peace, patience (cf. Gal. 5:22–23).

So sanctification is the gospel’s fruit — God’s law remains normative as the moral content of Christian life, but the power to obey comes from God’s indwelling Spirit, not from human resolve or legal coercion.

Christ Fulfills the Law — what did “fulfill” (πληροω / plēroō) mean?

When Jesus says, “I did not come to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17), the verb plēroō carries multiple related senses:

To fill up the meaning, Jesus brings the law to its full theological and historical intention.
To complete the typology — sacrifices, festivals, and priesthood: their types are completed in Christ.
To accomplish what was promised, prophecy and typology find realization in Him.

Telos (end/goal): Paul says Christ is the telos (end/goal) of the law for righteousness (Rom. 10:4). That is, the law’s telos is reached in Christ — the covenant’s purpose is achieved. What follows? The law’s typological system is no longer the covenantal means to acceptance because Jesus is the once-for-all sacrifice, the High Priest, and the true Sabbath rest.

Therefore, fulfillment does not scrap ethical demands; it reinterprets them. Jesus internalized the law’s righteousness and empowered believers to live it by the Spirit (cf. Matt. 5:20 — internal obedience surpassing scribal minimalism).

Sabbath, Ten Commandments, and the Moral Law — a pastoral clarity

This is where many former Adventists struggle. Two questions are often tangled: (A) Are the Ten Commandments morally binding for Christians? (B) Is Sabbath-keeping (Saturday) a covenantal requirement for salvation?

A careful, balanced answer:

The Ten Commandments reflect God’s moral character. Commands like “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” and “You shall not covet” are moral truths reflecting God’s justice. The moral duties of the Decalogue persist as moral teaching for believers because they express the character of a holy God. The New Covenant does not contradict basic moral goods.
But the Decalogue was given as part of the Mosaic covenantal package. Exodus, Deuteronomy, and the covenant ritual context present the Decalogue within Israel’s covenant. Paul calls the letter written on stone a “ministry of death” (2 Cor. 3) in the sense that the covenant as a whole exposed sin and could not produce life. The New Covenant writes the law on the heart (Jer. 31; 2 Cor. 3).
Sabbath-specific: Colossians 2:16–17 — Paul says, “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.” He calls these “a shadow of the things to come, but the substance is Christ.” That places Sabbaths in the category of typological shadows that pointed to Christ’s rest, not perpetually binding covenant signs for the church.

We treat the Decalogue as normative moral instruction (e.g., love, reverence for God, neighbor), not as a set of covenantal rites that administer salvation. The Sabbath’s typological point is fulfilled in Christ’s rest. Christians may celebrate a day of worship (Sunday historically), but must not make the day the basis of their acceptance before God.

“Law of Christ” — what is it and how does it function?

Paul’s phrase “the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2) and his claim to be “not under the law of Moses but under the law of Christ” (1 Cor. 9:20–21) point to a New Covenant ethic rooted in love. What does it mean?

The law of Christ summarizes the moral will of God as fulfilled in Christ. The command to love God and neighbor (Matt. 22:37–40; Gal. 5:14) is the center.
It is enacted by the Spirit. Under the New Covenant, the Spirit empowers believers to live the law of Christ.
It is concrete and relational. The law of Christ is not a dry code but relational obedience expressed in sacrificial love and service (cf. John 13:34–35).

So the Christian’s rule of life is not “keep the Torah to be accepted,” but “live out the law of Christ because you are accepted and transformed.”

Law, Gospel, and the Problem of Legalism or Antinomianism

Two errors loom large:

Legalism: Treating obedience as the basis of acceptance. This ruins faith, fosters pride, and produces conditional theology. It makes salvation into a sliding scale of achievements.
Antinomianism: Treating the gospel as an excuse to sin. This denies the transformative power of the Spirit and misreads Paul (Rom. 6:1ff — “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!”).

The healthy center is gospel-infused obedience: we are justified by faith and then live by the Spirit in obedience as evidence of that faith (Eph. 2:8–10; Titus 2:11–14).

Practical Pastoral Application — how to teach and live the law under the gospel

Preach the gospel first and always. When Christians hear the law, it must be accompanied immediately by the gospel. Jesus and the apostles used the law to expose the heart and then pointed to Christ’s remedy.
Use the law as a mirror, not a bank. Teach church members to use the law to see sin and turn to Christ. Encourage confession and repentance as responses to gospel assurance.
Teach the law’s moral content in catechesis. The Ten Commandments can be used as a catechetical tool to shape conscience and discipleship — but always as a guide under grace, not as a salvific checklist.
Model Spirit-empowered obedience. Encourage practices of prayer, repentance, and reliance on the Spirit rather than mere rule-keeping.
Pastoral care for those leaving legalism. For Former Adventists: validate the pain of leaving rule-driven religion, but reorient the heart toward Christ’s rest and the law of Christ’s love.
Disciple in community, not isolation. The Spirit works in a covenant community. Small groups and discipleship relationships teach the law as wisdom for life, not as a terrifying audit.

Case Studies and Counselling Scenarios

Scenario A — “I feel guilty for working Saturdays.”

Pastoral response: affirm the burden caused by prior teaching; unpack Colossians 2 and Hebrews 4 gently; help the believer find rest in Christ. Encourage a worship rhythm (Sunday or another day) that becomes a gospel practice — not a legal performance.

Scenario B — “Does the Ten Commandments still matter?”

Pastoral response: Yes, as moral truth reflecting God’s character and as teacher; no, not as a salvific covenant that binds Christians to Israel’s cultic system. Use the Decalogue as a lens for confession and discipleship.

Scenario C — “My conscience says I must keep food laws.”

Pastoral response: Ask whether the practice is considered a condition of acceptance. If so, teach freedom in Christ (Rom. 14). If a believer finds spiritual value in such habits (personal piety), counsel wisdom and avoid judgmentalism.

Law’s passing in history

From a Biblical perspective, the New Covenant’s inauguration in Christ found decisive historical consummation in the first century. Hebrews and the apostolic letters prepare believers spiritually, and the events of AD 70 (the Temple’s destruction) marked the end of the sacrificial and cultic system that embodied the Mosaic covenant. That historical rupture corresponded to what the New Testament had spiritually declared: the old cultic administration was passing away because Christ’s sacrifice had achieved finality (Heb. 8–10).

This is not mere academic trivia; it shapes pastoral confidence: the sacrificial system will not be re-instituted to supplement Christ. The New Covenant is the enduring administration of God’s grace.

Final Pastoral Exhortation — rest in the remedy, live by the rule

Beloved, the law points you to your need; the gospel gives you the remedy. God’s moral will remains true — God is holy and He calls His people to holiness — but the way we are made holy is not by returning to Sinai’s legal jurisdiction. It is by Christ's atoning work and the Spirit’s renewing presence.

Will you build your life on the stone of condemnation (your performance) or on the rock of Christ (His finished work and rule of love)?

Allow the gospel to be both your rest and your engine: rest in the finished work of Christ that secures your acceptance, and then live out the law of Christ in the grateful power of the Spirit.

Reflection Questions & Practical Steps

Read Romans 3–5 and write out how Paul distinguishes law and gospel. Where is your assurance rooted?
Memorize Galatians 6:2 and practice one act this week to “bear a brother’s burden” as the law of Christ in action.
For leaders: design a 6-week small group that studies the Ten Commandments as gospel-shaped catechesis — each week look at the command, confess sin, read Christ’s fulfillment, plan one gospel good deed.
If you have Sabbath guilt, journal the specific fears, pray through Colossians 2:16–17 and Romans 8:1, and discuss with a trusted gospel pastor.