Green on Article VII: Of the Old Testament

Our Lord Himself declared that He came, not to destroy, but to fulfil the Law (S. Matt. v. 17, 18); the Old Testa¬ ment does not, therefore, stand to the New in the relation of an opposed dispensation, but in that of a preparation. The Law pointed forward and led up to Christ and His Dispensation (Gal. iii. 24; Acts x. 43 ; Rom. iii. 21), its ordinances, sacrifices, &c., deriving their spiritual efficacy

1 It will be remembered that the Old Testament was set in opposition to’ the New by the Gnostic heretics of the second century, being ascribed to a being inferior, or even hostile, to the Supreme Deity. The Old Testament was thus regarded, e.y., by Saturninus, Basilides, and Marcion, and by such sects as the Cainites and Ophites. ,

from the Sacrifice of Christ, His death redeeming the transgressions of those who lived nnder the Old Dispen¬ sation (Heb. ix. i — 1 5 ; x. i — 14). The prophets spoke beforehand of His Kingdom, His Work and Sufferings (S. Luke xxiv. 27, 44 ; S. John v. 39, 46 ; Acts xviii. 28, xxvi. 22, xxviii. 23), and the promises given through the inspired writers of the Old Testament have reference not merely to temporal welfare, but spiritual and eternal blessings are promised to men, and in both Old and New Testament alike are connected with the work of the Messiah (per Christum); see, e.g ., Job xix. 25-27; Ps. xvi. 8— 11 ; Isa. xxvi. 19.

We might exhibit the unity of the Old and New Testament under two main heads : —

(a) Unity of doctrine runs through both. Both proceed from the One God (Heb. i. 1, 2); both tell of His Unity and Personality, His government of the world, His holiness, His choice of certain to be in a special relation with Himself.

(b) Testimony to Christ. Both tell of Him, the Old Testament being typical in character, its rites, ordinances, and even its history, pointing onward to Him. It is in the Epistle to the Hebrews especially that this aspect of the Old Testament is enlarged upon.

Who is the only Mediator between God and Man, being both God and Man.

Moses is called a mediator (Gal. iii. 19), as being the agent through whom the Law was given to the tribes of Israel. He represented the people to God, and was divinely commissioned as a servant (Heb. iii. 5) to represent God to the people. The Incarnate Son of God, being perfect man, is qualified to represent human nature in its perfection before God, and at the same time, being very God, to represent God to man in an infinitely higher and fuller manner than it was possible for the servant to do. Thus, in Christ, God and the human race are brought together in a wonderful and transcendent way, and by virtue of union with Him mankind is brought into such near relation with God as would not be possible without His mediating work. He has wrought the Atonement which none other could effect, and is therefore the only Mediator between God and Man.

Wherefore they are not to he heard which feign that the old Fathers did look only for transitory promises.

That holy men of old understood the spiritual and eternal significance of the promises made to them under the Old Dispensation is distinctly asserted by our Lord Himself (S. John viii. 56) and by the writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb. xi. 10, 14, 26).

Our Church thus insists on the great value of the Old Testa¬ ment Scriptures {cf. Rom. xv. 4), and especially shows her sense of their value by appointing Lessons from the Old Testament to be read daily at Morning and Evening Prayer, side by side with the New Testament. But it must not be inferred from this that the two are exactly on a level. Christ is TeXo? vo/jlov (Rom. x. 4) ; i.e.—

(a) To Christ the Law pointed forward, so that there is a vital connection between the Law and the Gospel.

(b) With Christ the Law ended, so that the Law and the Gospel are not on the same level for Christians (Rom. vi. 14).

(2.) The Force which the Precepts of the Mosaic Law have for Christians. ’

The precepts of the Law are treated in the Article under three heads ; it is stated that —

(a) Ceremonial Laws do not bind Christian men.

(b) Civil precepts ought not of necessity to be received in any commonwealth.

See Jer. xxxi. 31, 32 ; Acts xv. 10, 1 1 ; Gal. v. 1 ; Col. ii. 16, 17; Heb. vii. 1 2.

But with regard to (c) Moral Commandments , it is laid down that no Christian man whatsoever is free from the obedience of the Commandments which are called Moral. (See especially S. Matt. v. 17— 20.)1

The question may here be asked, How then are we to ex¬ plain those passages of S. Paul which speak of the Moral Law as the occasion of sin, and represent the Christian as free from it? Cf. Rom. iii. 20; iv. 15; v. 20; vii. 7—13.

1 Cf. Westminster Confession, Art. XIX. § v. :

“The moral law doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof : and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God, the Creator, Who gave it. Neither doth Christ in the Gospel in any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.”

The Apostle represents the Law as —

(i.) Intensifying the sense of sin (Eom. vii. 13 ; 1 Cor. xv. 56).

God’s holiness is therein set forth clearly (cf. Lev. xi. 45). He is righteous, loves righteousness, and demands it from man (Lev., ibid.). Thus the Law is vogos too v evroXdv ev Soy/iao-L (Eph. ii. 15); it said to man, “Thou shalt ” … “ Thou shalt not ”… but this only made him contrast the requirements of God with his own shortcomings, and brought his sin into relief.

(ii.) Bringing man into condemnation.

The very prohibitions of the Law excited opposition between the flesh and the spirit (Eom. vii. 7—1 1 ) ; the inward man approved the Law, the conscience recognising the justice of its demands (Eom. vii. 22), but the flesh could not act up to it, and man, finding himself powerless to perform that which he knew to be good, stood con¬ demned (Eom. vii. 18—23). The Law itself gave no help by which the spirit might overcome the flesh, and hence it is called “ the ministration of condemnation” (2 Cor. iii. 9), “the ministration of death” (2 Cor. iii. 7), and a the letter that killeth” (2 Cor. iii. 6; Eom. vii. 9-1 1); the result was a sense of misery, and of the impossibility of fulfilling the Law (Eom. vii. 21—24).

What man needed, therefore, was pardon for the past (Acts xx vi. 18), and for the future not merely moral teaching, but power to enable him to carry out such teaching in his life. Christ has satisfied the need (Eom. vii. 23-25), bringing to man a new power — Divine grace (Eom. vi. 14) — and delivering him from his condition of helplessness under the Old Dispensation ; thus it is that S. Paul speaks of Christ as having redeemed us from being under the Law (Gal. iv. 4, 5), and of Christians who are led by the Spirit as being under the Law no longer (Gal. v. 18).

At the same time the Apostle emphatically repudiates Antinomianism (Eom. vi.. 15). In one sense the Law is re-established (Eom. iii. 31), no longer, however, as an exter¬ nal command, but as an indwelling principle. Christian obedience is not like that of a slave, but is the obedience of a son who delights to do his father’s will (Eom. viii. 14—16), and, being thus a matter of grace, completely fulfils the ideal of righteousness of which the Law was

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the expression (Rom. viii. 1-4). Not merely, therefore, does the outward obedience of a Christian fulfil the bare letter of the Law, but the thoughts and intents of his heart are, through the indwelling Spirit, brought into harmony with the will of God, Who gave the Law.

Thus the Law of Christ is not merely a ratification of the Moral Law, but goes far beyond it. (See especially S. Matt, v. 20-48.) Luther developed S. Paul’s teaching into Anti- nomianism; e.g., in his Commentary on Galatians he maintains that the Ten Commandments have no right to accuse or alarm the conscience wherein Christ reigns. Even the more cautious Melanchthon, too, seems to have held that the Law may not con¬ demn the Christian although it is not fulfilled by him. Our Article is directly opposed to such dangerous teaching, and simply reaffirms the teaching of the Schoolmen, and, as we have seen, of Scripture on the subject.