Free Books from the Kuyper Foundation

Here are a number of free ebooks available for PDF download, which are all well worth reading. They are solidly written in the Kuperian tradition by Stephen Perks, the Director of the Kuyper Foundation. The Foundation is committed to continuing the worldview mission of reminding the Church and culture that there isn’t a single square inch of human culture or experience that Christ doesn’t claim as his own.

Calvin on Matthew 5:17—22, an Abridgment

“We must keep in mind the object which Christ had in view. While he invites and exhorts the Jews to receive the Gospel, he still retains them in obedience to the Law…

“I am not come to destroy. God had, indeed, promised a new covenant at the coming of Christ; but had, at the same time, showed, that it would not be different from the first, but that, on the contrary, its design was, to give a perpetual sanction to the covenant, which he had made from the beginning, with his own people.

“I will write my law, (says he,) in their hearts,
and I will remember their iniquities no more,” (Jeremiah 31:33, 34).

 “By these words he is so far from departing from the former covenant, that, on the contrary, he declares, that it will be confirmed and ratified, when it shall be succeeded by the new. This is also the meaning of Christ’s words, when he says, that he came to fulfill the law: for he actually fulfilled it, by quickening, with his Spirit, the dead letter, and then exhibiting, in reality, what had hitherto appeared only in figure.

“With respect to doctrine, we must not imagine that the coming of Christ has freed us from the authority of the law: for it is the eternal rule of a devout and holy life, and must, therefore, be as unchangeable, as the justice of God, which it embraced, is constant and uniform…

“Let us therefore learn to maintain inviolable this sacred tie between the law and the Gospel, which many improperly attempt to break. For it contributes not a little to confirm the authority of the Gospel, when we learn, that it is nothing else than a fulfillment of the law; so that both, with one consent, declare God to be their Author.

“Whoever then shall break Christ here speaks expressly of the commandments of life, or the ten words, which all the children of God ought to take as the rule of their life. He therefore declares, that they are false and deceitful teachers, who do not restrain their disciples within obedience to the law, and that they are unworthy to occupy a place in the Church, who weaken, in the slightest degree, the authority of the law; and, on the other hand, that they are honest and faithful ministers of God, who recommend, both by word and by example, the keeping of the law…Those who shall pour contempt on the doctrine of the law, or on a single syllable of it, will be rejected as the lowest of men…

“The kingdom of heaven means the renovation of the Church, or the prosperous condition of the Church, such as was then beginning to appear by the preaching of the Gospel…The meaning of that phrase is, that God, restoring the world by the hand of his Son, has completely established his kingdom. Christ declares that, when his Church shall have been renewed, no teachers must be admitted to it, but those who are faithful expounders of the law, and who labor to maintain its doctrine entire…Again, we must observe the description he gives of good and holy teachers: that not only by words, but chiefly by the example of life, they exhort men to keep the law…

“The principal charge brought by Christ against their doctrine may be easily learned from what follows in the discourse, where he removes from the law their false and wicked interpretations, and restores it to its purity…

“It has been a prevailing opinion, that the beginning of righteousness was laid down in the ancient law, but that the perfection of it is pointed out in the Gospel. But nothing was farther from the design of Christ, than to alter or innovate any thing in the commandments of the law. There God has once fixed the rule of life which he will never retract. But as the law had been corrupted by false expositions, and turned to a profane meaning, Christ vindicates it against such corruptions, and points out its true meaning, from which the Jews had departed.

“That the doctrine of the law not only commences, but brings to perfection, a holy life, may be inferred from a single fact, that it requires a perfect love of God and of our neighbor, (Deuteronomy 6:5; Leviticus 19:18.) He who possesses such a love wants nothing of the highest perfection. So far as respects the rules of a holy life, the law conducts men to the goal, or farthest point, of righteousness…

“That Christ, on the other hand, intended to make no correction in the precepts of the law, is very clear from other passages: for to those who desire to enter into life by their good works, he gives no other injunction, than to, keep the commandments of the law, (Matthew 19:17.) From no other source do the Apostles, as well as Christ himself, draw the rules for a devout and holy life. It is doing a grievous injury to God, the author of the Law, to imagine that the eyes, and hands, and feet alone, are trained by it to a hypocritical appearance of good works, and that it is only in the Gospel that we are taught to love God with the heart. Away, then, with that error, ‘The deficiencies of the law are here supplied by Christ.’

Law Court Justice in Christian Perspective

Reconciling Christianity toward suspects and convicted persons, yet at the same time pursuing justice for the offender and for the victim is in itself recognizing that this is truly the epitome of the meaning of justice found in the very character of God.  Justice, according to Black’s Law Dictionary (2011), is, “The fair and proper administration of laws” (p. 426).  This vague definition, especially for the Christian, demands what is “fair and proper,” but does nothing to explain what exactly that means. 

Walter C. Kaiser (1983), offers this in regards to justice, “Justice demands impartiality; not compliance with the masses or favoritism to the poor, and would also be best served by extending that same impartiality even to one’s enemies” (p. 110; see Ex. 23:1-9; Lev. 19:15; Deut. 22:1-3).  This obviously moves us toward a more biblically-informed approach to justice.  Christians are to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God (Mic. 6:8).  This means that justice is commanded for the Christian.  As such, what does this justice look like?

Justice and righteousness are, according to Peter A. De Vos (1973), “nearly synonymous” (p. 360).  This means that the righteousness of the Lord is the justice of the Lord.  God himself is justice and righteousness.  Jeremiah 50:7 says, “All that found them have devoured them: and their adversaries said, we offend not, because they have sinned against the LORD, the habitation of justice, even the LORD, the hope of their fathers.”  To effectively administer justice, is to recognize that God himself has established its basis.  Kaiser (1983) rightly offers,

What, then, I would ask, is God’s honour apart from God’s justice?  His honour can be nothing but the reflex action or display of His moral attributes; and in the exercise of these attributes, the fundamental and controlling element is justice.  Every one of them is conditioned; love itself is conditioned by the demands of justice; and to provide scope for the operation of love in justifying the ungodly consistently with those demands, is the very ground and reason of the atonement—its ground and reason primarily in the mind of God, and because there, then also in its living image, the human conscience, which instinctively regards punishment as ‘recoil of the eternal law of right against the transgressor,’ and cannot attain solid peace but through the medium of valid expiation.  Thus has the law been most signally established by that very feature of the Gospel, which specifically distinguished it from the law—its display of the redeeming love of God in Christ (p. 147-148).

It is clear from this explanation that God’s justice and God’s love are mutually dependent. 

As such, the Christian can rightly seek justice for the offender and for the victim and at the same time seek God’s love in acting “Christianly” towards the suspects and convicted persons.  For it is through God’s justice that Christ died to pay the penalty for sin and our transgression against the holy God.  But, by God’s grace, it is through God’s love that this act satisfied the penalty for our sins and thus made us righteous before the same God.  As Psalm 89:14 says, “Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.”  Christians can seek justice for the transgression and still exhibit love and kindness towards the transgressor. 

--Fanny

  

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References

Black’s law dictionary (2011) (4^th ed.). Bryan A Garner (Ed.). St. Paul, MN: West Publishing Company.

De Vos, Peter A. (1973). Justice. In Baker’s dictionary of Christian ethics. Carl F. H. Henry (Ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House Company.

Kaiser. Walter C. Jr. (1983). Toward Old Testament ethics. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Enjoy Kevin DeYoung's "A Conversation About the Law," His Chat with the Westminster Confession and the Christian's Relation to the Law

There are few theological issues more important and more difficult than the relationship of the Christian to the law. In recent years in particular there have been a lot of conversations and controversies about the proper use of the law in the believer’s progressive sanctification. We all know we are justified by faith apart from works of the law, but what is the place for obedience to the law after we are justified?

One explanation—and the best succinct one I know of—comes from Chapter XIX of the Westminster Confession of Faith (WCF). For Reformed Christians in general, this ought to summarize what we believe. For Presbyterian office bearers in particular, this is what you swear to uphold. For Christians at large, there are plenty of Bible references in the WCF so you can see for yourself if these things are so.
I’ll ask the questions, and let Chapter XIX give the answers. Whenever the text is in italics that means I’m quoting directly from the Confession.

*******

Me: Hey, thanks for being willing to meet with me WCF. I know you are busy and very old, so I’ll try not to take up too much of your time. I just have a few questions about the law. For starters, where did the law come from? Was it just added after the fall?

WCF: God gave to Adam a law, as a covenant of works, by which he bound him and all his posterity to personal, entire, exact, and perpetual obedience, promised life upon the fulfilling, and threatened death upon the breach of it.

Me: Kind of wordy, WCF, but I think I get it. God gave Adam the law from the very beginning, even before sin entered the world.

Continue reading...

Gospel First!

Whether it is through an innocently directed question from a small child, who is working through the Q/As in a catechism, or it is the implicitly rebellious  behavior of a teenager, acting as though obedience to the Lord's ways is a trifling matter or wondering why participation in church is so important, or still, we adults are facing an ethical dilemma at work or home, and are struggling with the choice of obedience, we quickly learn that the law simply does not have the power to overcome the flesh. 

However, especially when we are catechizing our young’uns, whether formally or informally, we often communicate to them, whether implicitly or explicitly, that it is law for law's sake.  They should obey, because it is the right thing to do, after all!  In and of itself, however, the law doesn't transform but deforms our spiritual growth.  This gross moralism is rampant in the church's culture, civil American (especially here in the South) religion, and unfortunately our families. 

Of course the law has its proper place in the Christian life.  As the Belgic Confession puts it, "we still use the testimonies taken out of the law and the prophets, to confirm us in the doctrine of the gospel, and to regulate our life in honesty, to the glory of God, according to his will" (Art. 25).  In fact, the Heidelberg Catechism spends questions 92 through 115 expounding the Ten Commandments.  However, by itself, the law only reveals, illuminates, and aggravates our manifold "sins and misery."

Last evening, as Fanny and I were discussing and studying the scriptural basis for catechesis, we of course covered Deuteronomy 4 – 6, the first commands to catechize.  With respect to the law/gospel distinction in Christian praxis, we should ask St. Paul's rhetorical question, "Do you not hear what the law says?" (Gal. 4:21).  Deuteronomy 6:20—25, the law itself, turns our law-for-law's-sake tendency right on its head.  

When your son asks you in time to come, "What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?"  then you shall say to your son, "We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand.  And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes.  And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.  And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.  And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us."

So, when our young disciples ask, or our young people act contrary to the commands of God, or we even ask ourselves whether there is any significant meaning in our obedience in the face of an ethical choice, what are we to say?  Gospel, gospel, gospel!  Gospel first! Moses, the lawgiver, tells us gospel first.  The response to child's hypothetical inquiry in this passage is a detailed summary of Yahweh's mighty deeds in Israel's salvation, their deliverance from the iron furnace of Egyptian bondage...it's gospel first.  Paradoxically, gospel first is obedience to the law! This is likely close to what St. Paul meant when he said, "Do we overthrow the law by this faith?  On the contrary! We uphold it!" (Rom. 3:31).

We too, then, must live gospel first.  When facing these questions of life and practice, we answer: Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day, he arose again from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty!! We must think and act gospel first!

Theologically speaking, the law here also cut right to the heart of dispensational theology.  Because of its popular level influence, dispensationalism is responsible for causing many to believe that Israel and the Church are completely distinct and discontinuous entities in the history of salvation.  Moreover, that God has two distinct programs for these two peoples.  For the Hebrews, it is law; and the gospel is for the Church.  Balderdash!!  In the passage above, Moses himself refutes such wrongheadedness.  It is and has always been gospel first—to the Jew first under the Old Covenant economy and also to the Gentiles through the operative grace in the New Covenant!  

When the Gavel Comes Crashing Down

In the United States, the Supreme Court has final say over whether any law is constitutional. So in a way it's the final barrier that prevents any legislators from getting too crazy or racist in the laws they pass.

But the Supreme Court itself is not made up of gods or wizards. They are just people, with agendas. And sometimes they have rendered opinions that make you wonder if the whole legal system isn't just full of crazy people from the top down. For instance, the court has ruled...continue reading if you have the nerve

Bishop R. D. Campbell on the Law-Gospel Distinction

Bishop R. Dennis Campbell with the AOC has a clear and concise explanation of the purpose of the Law, and the redemptive-historical relation between Law and Gospel as set forth in Galatians.  Below is the first paragraph of his insightful commentary for Monday’s BCP lectionary reading from Galatians 3:19—29.  It is soundly anchored in the traditional Reformed understanding, while being nuanced and articulated in creative ways.

“Galatians 3:19 opens with an important question; what is the purpose of the law of God?  Of course God's law has many purposes.  The moral law, summarised in the Ten Commandments and the teaching of Christ, reveals the absolute perfection of God.  It reveals the will of God for all mankind in everyday life.  It shows mankind how to live in harmony with God and each other, thus it shows the way of peace and happiness (Ps. 19:7-14).  The ceremonial law reveals that those who break the moral law are unacceptable to God unless something is done, apart from the moral law, to make them acceptable.  The law shows, then, that, by our own actions, we are unclean and unfit for any kind of fellowship with God, and that we need to be made clean by something outside of the moral law, or we will remain forever unacceptable to God.” Continue reading here.