Law, Faith, Works, Obedience & Justification: a proposal (version 2)

The other day in the Oak Hill post graduate seminar we were discussing things like faith, works, obedience, merit, legalism, the sacrificial system, the Mosaic and renewed covenants and how people are justified.

Chris Thompson gave some thoughts mainly from Dt 29ff about whether or not the Mosaic covenant is presented as keepable.

I plan to post here some "theses", numbered for convenience more than logical order, to sum up the whole thing as a work in progress.

I'll try to be both precise and impressionistic (not reductionistic). I'll try to keep in mind both biblical language and traditional systematic categories.

Comments, questions, challenges etc most welcome.

Folk at Oak Hill are due to discuss it all in another couple of weeks.

1. No one has ever been or will every be justified by what they do on the basis of merit (with the possible exception of the Lord Jesus Christ, though even in his case we may distinguish).

2. Justification is only ever in union with Christ alone, in the Spirit, through faith alone.

3. The Old Testament law could be kept in the sense that one could be a faithful covenant keeping member of the people of God and blameless.


4. The Old Testament law could never be kept by human sinners in the sense that once could attain sinless perfection and merit salvation.

5. The Old Testament law always had 3 purposes:
(a) Mirror - to reveal sin
(b) Telescope - to point to salvation by the sacrifice of Christ
(c) Light - to show God's people how to live
and continues to fulfill each of those functions today.

6. Present justification is God's verdict of the future announced in the present on the basis of trust in Christ; futre justification will be according to works as a genuine (evidential) non-meritorious ground on the basis of a whole life fundamentally lived on God's side.

7. The Old Testament law is not abolished or abrogated but fulfilled, transformed and renewed.

8. The (propitiatory) sacrificial and Aaronic priesthood ends with Christ in the sense that it is not to be set up again today in the Jerualem temple.

9. The Mosaic administration is ended and the Covenant is now in its (re)newed administration.


10. All God's laws have lasting force but must be applied according to local circumstances and in a manner appropriate to the stage of salvation history.