The Decalogue Archives - Gentleman Theologian

Why Christians Don’t Observe the Torah

By M.Ferris | November 19, 2020November 20, 2020 by M.Ferris

Questions about how Christians relate to the Law are a theological expanse that seems only to keep growing. In interacting with other Christians, there are some shared assumptions, but when speaking with Jews, these assumptions don’t necessarily work. When answering questions from Jewish interlocutors, I can only speak about the New Testament perspective on the law. I admit that part of this is due to my own ignorance about the fullness of the Jewish tradition…

The Spirit and the Letter: A New Covenant Contrast

By M.Ferris | October 10, 2020 by M.Ferris

photo by Ferdinand Feng Does the indwelling of the Holy Spirit bring to the believer in this age of salvation history something prior ages did not have? It is hard to answer otherwise, for the new covenant is a better covenant than the old, and whole the Spirt came upon God’s saints to do certain things, the indwelling and sealing of the Holy Spirit puts us in a different realm from what came before. No…

Antinomianism Is A Word Not Found In Scripture

By M.Ferris | July 27, 2020October 11, 2022 by M.Ferris

Freedom from the law is not something to look at warily. The words “antinomian” and “antinomianism” are polemical terms, and as is often the case, they carry connotations. But does the claim of what’s behind these words stand up to scrutiny? A dictionary definition says an antinomian is “one who holds that under the gospel dispensation of grace the moral law is of no use or obligation because faith alone is necessary to salvation.”[i] The…

What Does Scripture Mean by the Word “Law”?

By M.Ferris | March 10, 2020 by M.Ferris

Context and salvation history help us see not all uses are equal. The word “law” is an important one in the Bible, in the Old Testament, especially, but also in the New. If we read the word and always think it has a single meaning, we will be led astray from what the Holy Spirit is trying to say. Only by reading and comparing can we arrive at the various ways Scripture uses the word.…

What Did the Jerusalem Council Decide?

By M.Ferris | February 15, 2020 by M.Ferris

Putting Christians under the law was wrong then, as it is now. Acts 15 contains the account of the first council of the church, in Jerusalem. The topic was the law, and whether Gentile converts to faith in Jesus need to adhere to the Mosaic law. Despite the clear verdict of the council, there are still those who say that the Christian must keep the law. But just as it was wrong then, so is…

A Gospel Contrary: The Danger of Grace Plus Law

By M.Ferris | December 8, 2019December 8, 2019 by M.Ferris

If we say we are not saved by keeping the law, but once saved, we must obey it, we have fallen from grace. Paul’s letter to the Galatians is one of his most polemical, perhaps the most forceful of any. One of the prime things Paul aims to do is dispel the idea that Christians retain any obligation to the law of Moses. In the first chapter, Paul expresses his astonishment at the desertion of…

Salvation History and the Christian’s Understanding of the Law

By M.Ferris | November 22, 2019February 13, 2020 by M.Ferris

Salvation history is the unfolding of God’s plan. It is an unfolding not because God is somehow making it up as he goes, but because in his divine counsel, he chooses to reveal aspects of it in time. As one example, Paul is explicit about such an unfolding regarding the church, when he says to the Ephesians, “When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made…

The Opposite of Lawlessness is not Lawfulness, but Righteousness

By M.Ferris | October 29, 2019 by M.Ferris

The question of the law of Moses and what place it has in the Christian life is a perennial one. There is often as much to unlearn around such questions as there is to learn. When words such as lawlessness are in view, this is especially true. I leave aside the more specific uses of the word, such as “the man of lawlessness” and “the mystery of lawlessness.” These are more eschatological in scope. I…

The Law as “Wisdom” or the “Third Use”—What’s the Difference?

By M.Ferris | June 30, 2019May 3, 2020 by M.Ferris

When one reads the New Testament, and in particular Paul’s epistles, one can’t help see how the law of Moses is a prominent theme in the apostle’s thought. How he treats it is of great importance to how Christians should regard it. First, one has to say that for Paul, “the Law” is specifically those commandments given at Sinai, and following. The holiness code of Leviticus 18-22 is also part of the law, and an…

10 Things About the Law of Moses (and 5 Answers to Objections)

By M.Ferris | April 7, 2019May 14, 2022 by M.Ferris

These points are a synopsis of my book If One Uses It Lawfully: The Law of Moses and the Christian Life. 1. The Law was given to Jews, and not to Gentiles. The law was given at Sinai, after the people were redeemed from Egypt. The Ten Commandments form the “treaty document” between God and Israel. (Gentry/Wellum, Kingdom through Covenant, 327-28.) The psalmist wrote “He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and rules to…