Chapter 30: The Rest That Believers Have From the Burden of the Law by Coming to Christ
Lastly, we are delivered from the Law as the covenant for life.
Initially, the Law was given as the covenant through which God made a contract with humanity, offering life. Since mankind is a rational creature capable of entering into a covenant with God, the Lord dealt with humanity in a covenantal way from the moment of creation. The covenant was essentially this: "Do and live." God told our first parents, Adam and Eve, "Upon your obedience, your life—both present and eternal—shall depend."
Now, through Christ, we are delivered from the Law as the covenant for life. For believers, the Law is no longer the basis of life. Once in Christ, they are brought under a new and better covenant. Thus, in these five respects, we are delivered from the Law by Christ:
1. From the rigour of the Law, 2. From the bondage of the Law, 3. From the binding-over power of the Law,
4. From the condemning power of the Law, 5. From the Law as the covenant for life.
Surely, this is enough to quiet the soul and give peace, if not for the wild and wanton nature of some. These truths should suffice to bring rest to those troubled by the burden of the Law.
Chapter 30 The Rest That Believers Have From the Burden of the Law by Coming to Christ, Laid Out in Ten Particulars.
1. They do not stand or fall for life by the Law.
2. The Law-giver is the Redeemer.
3. The least spark of grace is accepted.
4. Their will shall be accepted as the deed.
5. Obedience is required in a sweet and gentle way.
6. The grace of God in Christ melts the heart.
7. Their sins make them an object of God's pity.
8. They have Christ to undertake for them as a surety.
9. They are delivered, and yet satisfaction is made to the Law.
10. They have assurance that they shall never forfeit the covenant of grace they are under in Christ.
Now then, from all these, we shall lay down several propositions wherein you may see what ease and rest believers have in Christ by being delivered from the Law. Consider the rest that comes from Christ in these particulars, O believer, who art under the load of the Law, and come to Christ.
First, know that you do not stand or fall for your eternal estate by the Law. This is the first ease and rest. The Law may indeed threaten you, and dreadful things may be revealed against you by it, but be of good comfort in this: your eternal estate shall not be determined by it. Though the Law is full of severity, you are free from its power in such a way that it no longer has the authority to determine your eternal condition. Before, you depended and relied upon the Law for your eternal state, but now you are beyond its reach—it cannot cast your soul for eternity.
We would not want to be at the mercy of someone who is full of severity and rigor when dealing with matters of great consequence.
Instead, we desire to be under the care of those who are full of pity and compassion. Know this, O believer in Christ: you are no longer
subject to the Law, which is full of severity, for your everlasting condition. Instead, you are under the Gospel, the covenant of grace, which is filled with mercy and compassion beyond what even the infinite wisdom of angels or men could have devised or imagined.
If you were under the care of a person with as much mercy as all the mercy of all the people in the world combined, you would feel greatly relieved. You would think yourself fortunate to be at the disposal of such a person rather than at the mercy of someone rigorous and severe. Now, in Christ, this is the rest you have. While your soul once lay at the mercy of the Law, full of rigor and severity, your eternal estate now depends on a covenant that is as full of grace and mercy as your soul could ever desire. Your soul could not ask for a covenant more filled with grace and mercy than the one your eternal life now rests upon. Is there not rest in this for the believer who understands it rightly? This is the first aspect of the rest believers enjoy in Christ by being freed from the Law.
Secondly, know that the Law-giver is now your Redeemer. You now receive the Law from the hand of a Mediator, and this is where the principle ease and rest of a gracious heart lies. For the believer, there is great comfort in knowing that they now receive the Law from the hand of a Mediator.
Many speak of deliverance from the Law as it came by Moses. But if we understand this rightly, we have no need to desire such deliverance in one sense. Moses was a type of Christ as a Mediator, as it says in Galatians 3:19: "It was ordained by angels in the hand of a Mediator." God used the ministry of angels to deliver the Law, and He gave it into the hand of a Mediator—Moses—because the people could not bear to receive it directly from God. Moses brought the
Law from God to the people as a Mediator. In this, Moses was a type of Christ.
As Moses was a type of Christ in various respects, so he also typified Christ in this particular: the Law does not come to believers directly from God as a righteous and just Judge but through Christ as their
Mediator. There is great comfort in receiving the Law in this way— from the hand of Christ, who is not only their Mediator but also, as Scripture says, their Advocate.
To receive the Law from the hand of Christ, who stands at the right hand of the Father as their Advocate, pleading for them when they break the Law through frailty, is a mighty rest to the soul. Therefore, believers are to view the Law as coming from God, but through Christ, their Mediator. They should see Christ not only as the one who hands the Law to them, as Moses did, but as the Law-giver
Himself. Christ, the Mediator, gives the Law to them and receives the Law for them. This understanding brings great ease and rest to the soul.
Thirdly, in Christ, your condition is such that, although you may have many imperfections, weaknesses, and even strong corruptions, if there is but the smallest spiritual good in you, the least work of God's grace, the Lord will have a special regard for that small good.
All your corruptions and imperfections will not hinder the acceptance of that little spark of good in your soul. This is the freedom we have in Christ.
In explaining the Law earlier, I showed that whatever good a person does while under the Law, unless it is perfect, is rejected. Those who remain in their natural condition, under the first covenant, will find that any imperfection mixed with their works causes them to be entirely unacceptable. However, here is the rest believers have in
Christ: their case is changed. Now, though much corruption remains in them, if the Lord sees but one spark of grace—though it be as small as smoking flax or a bruised reed—they are accepted by God.
Even the smallest spark of good in them is accepted.
This is a great relief to those souls who labour under the bondage of the Law. When they previously saw so much corruption in their hearts, they had little hope that anything in them would be accepted.
But now, the Lord regards even the smallest good. He will find it out, too, even if it is so small that it is buried beneath heaps of corruption, and you are unable to find it yourself.
The condition of some Christians is like that of a maid searching the hearth for a spark of fire in the morning. She rakes through the ashes but finds none and is ready to think there is none left. Yet perhaps, hidden in a corner, there may be a small spark, though she cannot see it. Likewise, the corruption in the heart is like those ashes, and grace is like the spark hidden in a corner. When poor souls examine their hearts, they see much corruption—like a pile of ashes—and they are ready to conclude the fire has gone out, that there is no spark of grace left. But even if you cannot find the spark yourself, being in Christ, God will find it. There may still be sparks, even in those whose hearts seem so full of corruption that we might wonder where their grace lies. Despite the passion, stubbornness, and other faults, if these people are under the covenant of works, all their corruption would cause them to be rejected. Yet now, if they are under the covenant of grace and the Lord has brought them to Christ, this is their rest and ease: all the corruption in them will not hinder the acceptance of the least spark of God's grace that He has worked in them.
Fourthly, not only will the Lord find every spark of good in them, but He will also accept their desires and efforts to do His will, even when they cannot achieve what they would like. Their will shall be accepted as the deed. In the previous point, I explained that even if no visible action is done, yet if there is any habit, disposition, or principle of grace—even if they cannot perceive the beginnings of it— this will be accepted. But this goes further: if they strive to do God's will, if they labour towards perfection, the Lord will accept their will as if it were the deed itself.
Thus, in Scripture, the godly are called perfect. "As many as are perfect," and "Be ye perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Question: Can we be perfect in this world?
Answer: No. But this is the grace of God in the Gospel: those who come to Christ will have their will accepted for the deed. Here is blessed ease and rest for the soul in Christ. If you were still under the Law, this could not be. Though people may hope that God will accept their desires and efforts, know this: it is only the privilege of a believer, not of everyone. There is a generation of people under the Law whose desires will not be accepted, as I explained in discussing the burden of the Law. The Law's principle is: "The man that does these things shall live by them." But here is ease for your soul. If you truly understand how the Law works, your heart would sink within you. But this is what brings rest to the soul: you are now in a different condition. Being in Christ, He gives rest and ease to the souls of those who come to Him. Their desires and efforts shall be accepted by God as if they were actual performances. This is a blessed estate.
Fifthly, the rest of the soul in Christ, as it relates to deliverance from the burden of the Law, consists in this: that now all the duties God
requires from you are required in a sweet and gentle way. The services that God calls you to perform are now required in a loving and gentle manner. While God still requires the same things from you that the Law demands, He now draws your soul with the cords of love. As the Apostle says in Romans 12:1: "We beseech you by the mercies of God that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
Notice the plea: "We beseech you by the mercies of God." Those under the bondage of the Law do not have their duties required of them in such a loving way. For them, it is: "If you do these things, you will live; if you sin, you will die." The Law demands obedience with the terror of its consequences—"Do and live, sin and die."
However, for believers in Christ, their duties are urged upon them by the mercies of God. The Apostle speaks as an ambassador, saying,
"We beseech you." He uses words like, "If there is any love, any consolation." These are the arguments used for those who are drawn by the Gospel.
If we were preaching only to believers, these kinds of arguments would be all that is needed. It is appropriate that those drawn by the Gospel are moved by such loving arguments. It is a sign that your soul is being drawn by the power of the Gospel and has come to Christ when you find that the duties of obedience, which once felt like a burden due to the terror of your conscience (with the fear of hellfire flashing before your eyes if you did not perform them), are now motivated by God's grace in the Gospel, drawing your heart more powerfully. You should always give God obedience, regardless of the circumstances, but when you find that God now draws your soul in this way, it is a sign that you have found rest in Christ.
In the history of the ceremonial Law, we find a type of this rest. The Book of the Law was laid beneath the mercy seat, as you will see in the story. God appointed this place for the Law to be stored—under the mercy seat between the cherubim. This symbolised that, for believers, the Law now comes to them from under the mercy seat.
They look upon the Law through the mercy seat, meaning every commandment comes to them in a gracious, alluring way, accompanied by an abundance of mercy, drawing their hearts to obedience.
Sixthly, coming to Christ brings rest from the Law in this: the grace of God in Christ melts the heart. When the heart has been melted, the outpouring of it—like milk from a jug—is exceedingly precious and accepted by God. This comes from the grace of God in Christ, and it provides great rest for the soul to know this.
As I have told you before, it is not enough for anyone to say, "Yes, we are all sinners, but God knows I mourn for my sins and am troubled by them." That is not enough. The question is: Have you been delivered from your natural condition, from being under the covenant of works? Have you come to Christ and been brought to Him? Are you now in the state of a believer, a member of Christ? If so, then your repentance and mourning are accepted.
It is like this in many human situations: some people are in a position where, if they do a certain thing, it is accepted, but if another person in a different position does the same thing, it will not be accepted. So it is here. Those who are in the position of being in Christ, whose sorrow for sin is accompanied by the sorrow of Christ presented to the Father, are accepted. When you are sorrowing for your sins, can you, by faith, present the sorrows of Jesus Christ to the Father? If so, then you are accepted. But understand this: no sorrow
for sin is accepted unless it is accompanied by the presentation of Christ's sorrows to the Father.
What an ease this brings to the soul! Previously, the heart was hard, and the sorrow for sin left it unchanged. It was like a marble stone: in wet weather, the marble becomes moist, but it remains as hard as ever—it is still a stone. Likewise, some are troubled for their sins, but this trouble comes from the Law and leaves the heart hardened. Even though they may be troubled, there is still much hardness, stubbornness, and resistance toward God and others.
You can often see this in people with troubled consciences: they may still show a lot of peevishness and resistance toward both God and man. When you see this manifested in people's expressions, actions, and conversations, remember the image of stones on a pavement during wet weather. They may become wet, with water trickling down, but they remain hard.
However, when the Gospel comes, it not only produces sorrow but also melts the heart. This melting is precious before God and is accepted. That is why Scripture speaks so highly of broken hearts and contrite spirits, and of how God esteems them. "He who dwells on high looks to the one who is humble and contrite in spirit, and who trembles at His word."
Let me speak a word of comfort to those who are troubled and have come to Christ: the tears that come from your melted heart, through the grace of the Gospel, are among the most precious things in God's eyes, second only to the blood of Christ. Next to Christ's blood, your mourning and lamenting spirit are some of the most precious things before God. He treasures every tear, and this brings rest to the soul.
The soul can find abundant rest in Christ when you know that your mourning for your sins is accepted by God.
Seventhly, the ease that the soul finds from the burden of the Law is this: whereas before, under the severity of the Law, sin made your soul an object of God's wrath—if taken as it was in itself, and coming from you without any regard to Christ—your sin made you an object of God's wrath, even His hatred. The Scriptures plainly tell us that "the Lord hates the workers of iniquity." But now, having come to Christ according to His invitation, "Come to me, all you who are laden," your sins, when seen in Christ, make you an object of God's pity and compassion, rather than His wrath. This is not due to anything virtuous in the sin itself, but because of your condition in Christ.
Consider this: when a tender mother looks upon her sick or wounded child, it is true that she cannot love the sickness or the wound. She would not wish for the illness or the injury, but doesn't the sickness or wound make the child an object of her pity and compassion?
Doesn't it stir the tender feelings of a father or mother even more for their child? So too, the Lord now looks upon your sin, being in Christ, as your sickness, as your wound, and therefore He pities you as one suffering affliction rather than one in rebellion.
The truth is, all the saints of God who have come to Christ see their own sins as their greatest affliction. This is the greatest burden they bear, as I explained earlier when speaking of the burden of corruption that remains in their hearts. God, therefore, looks upon your sin as an affliction. And regarding the breach of the Law or other effects of sin, Christ has undertaken to deal with those, delivering you from the wrath and consequences they deserve under God's justice.
Though you are delivered from guilt and condemnation, a gracious heart reasons this way: "Though I am delivered from my sin, from its guilt and from the condemning
power of the Law, yet it remains my affliction and my trouble, and I grieve over it."
Thus, peace and rest come to the soul from what the Law once demanded. And as we continue, we can not only see the benefits we have in Christ but also identify those who are truly delivered. These are the ones who, though they know they are freed from the burden of sin, still regard their sins as the greatest affliction of their souls.
Others, who are merely legalists, see their souls as guilty and under condemnation. But if they were delivered from this guilt, they would view their sins as wounds and afflictions. The saints, on the other hand, understand that they have now become objects of God's pity and compassion.
This is also why Christ is so willing, whenever possible, to find any excuse for His poor servants. You do not need to seek out excuses for your sins, for if there is anything that might lessen or alleviate them,
Christ Himself will find it and make it known. Recall what Christ said to His disciples when they were sleeping and could not watch with Him for one hour. Although He rebuked them, He also excused them, saying, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Notice that the disciples did not offer this excuse themselves. When Christ asked, "Could you not watch with me one hour?" they did not reply, "Master, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Instead,
Christ said this to them. This is the way it should be: leave the excuse to Christ. Your responsibility is to aggravate your sin as much as possible, laying it upon your heart to humble your soul. Christ will take care of making the excuse.
Therefore, those of you who constantly make excuses for your sins, just as your ancestor Adam did—shifting blame to the woman, and the woman to the serpent—beware! You may say, "It is true, I am
naturally passionate," or, "I am naturally stubborn," or a hundred other such excuses. But all your focus should be on humbling your soul for your sins. If there is anything that may lessen your guilt,
Christ will do that. The more you excuse yourself, the greater your sin becomes. It is far better to have someone else excuse your sin than to do so yourself.
It is like when a child or servant offends, and a close friend or neighbour comes to excuse them. This is far better than if they were to excuse themselves. Now, those who are under the Law have no one to make excuses for them, but those who come to Christ have Christ to make all their excuses.
Oh, be careful not to abuse the rich grace of God in Christ! I know that this grace is so pure that it does not carry within it any malignant quality that could lead to abuse. Where you see such abuse, know that the person does not truly possess this grace but has something else in its place. It is like two drinks made from different compositions: they may look the same, but one may contain a poison that could kill, while the other is wholesome and could restore health. Although they appear identical in colour and taste, their effects are entirely different. So it is with the free grace of God in Christ. You may hear the same words spoken, the same thing preached to one person as to another, the same doctrine proclaimed.
Outwardly, it may seem the same, but to one person it carries a malignant power, while to another it brings healing and life.
When the soul truly finds rest in Christ, this rest does not have the power to make the heart worse. But I will speak more on that later.
Eighthly, when you come to Christ, your soul may find rest in Him.
This is because in Christ there is the promise of a surety, revealed through the grace of the Gospel. The Law requires perfect obedience
from us personally, demanding that the soul which sins must pay the debt itself—"The soul that sins shall die." But the grace of the Gospel brings the message of a surety, and this surety is one whom God
Himself declares He is pleased to accept. God is as satisfied with the payment made by this surety as if the debt had been paid by the debtor themselves. What a great relief this is!
Consider the ease it would bring to someone when a creditor comes after them for a debt, threatens to imprison them, but then the debt is paid by another on their behalf. The creditor says, "If this man will be your surety and pay the debt, I am satisfied." What a tremendous relief this would be to the debtor! This is exactly the case with the soul that comes to Christ. When the soul, burdened under the demands of the Law, finds itself unable to pay the debt, Christ steps in as the surety. God the Father accepts Him as such, and the debt is transferred to Christ. This is the relief from the demands of the Law.
Ninthly, beyond this, there is yet another source of rest from the Law. In Christ, the sinner is delivered from all the rigor, bondage, and other demands of the Law, but this deliverance comes through satisfaction made to the Law. This provides additional rest for the soul. It is not simply that we are delivered from the Law without consequence, but rather, the Law has been fully satisfied. God, as the Lawgiver, accepts Christ's satisfaction of the Law on our behalf. No matter what we do, we could never achieve this satisfaction on our own. Even if we imagined God to be merciful enough to accept our best efforts, they could never truly satisfy the Law's demands. But in Christ, we are freed in a way that also satisfies the Law. This is where the soul finds true rest—knowing that the Law's demands are met in full, and we are free.
Tenthly, whereas the Law required constant obedience—such that even if someone obeyed right to the very end, but the last act was a sin, all their previous obedience would be forgotten, and the soul would still perish—the Law could never assure anyone of perseverance to the end. The Law never had the power to give assurance to those under it. Even if a person had the ability to obey and had done so for many years, they could never be sure that they would not fall at last and perish.
But now, in coming to Christ, there is not only satisfaction for past sins, but also assurance of enduring to the end. There is a promise in the new covenant that you have in Christ, that there will never be any forfeiture of it. This is a mighty comfort and rest. The foundation of many of these truths was already explained when I spoke of how, in Christ, we are freed from the guilt of our sins. But now we see the further implications of those truths. Presenting these additional points shows the consequences of what was previously said and brings further rest to the soul.
Although I mentioned the core principles earlier, not every struggling soul is able to understand and draw out each of these particulars. It is the task of those who are weak in faith to see the various steps of God's grace in Christ—not just to see it as a whole but to behold how it flows in specific, individual ways. When these are clearly presented to the soul, it is a great help to faith and comfort. This final point I have spoken of is not less important than the others—it is, in fact, the completion of all the rest. The soul that comes to Christ has this assurance: it is brought into a covenant with the guarantee that there will never be any forfeiture of that covenant.
One part of the covenant is that God will give grace to the soul in such a way that it will never forfeit the blessings of the covenant.
Though a believer may lose some of the comfort of the covenant for a time, they will never lose the blessing of it. It is part of the purchase of Christ's blood that all who come to Him will never be cast off again. This is a privilege that believers now have, which Adam did not. Adam was under a covenant of works and had the ability to keep it, but Adam never had a promise from God that he would never forfeit the covenant, that he would never break it so badly as to be undone. Adam had no such assurance. But all believers who come to Christ have this promise, grounded on a sure foundation, for it is based on a costly purchase—Christ has laid down His blood for you, not only for your forgiveness but also so that your soul may enter into an everlasting covenant that can never be broken.
Now, if all these particulars are put together, and if these truths are made clear to the soul by the eye of faith—if faith can see the reality of all these things I have presented to you—I ask you, is there not rest for those who come to Christ? Is it not worth great effort to come to Christ? Is there not something in this rest that will make up for all the trouble you may experience at first—the work of humiliation, repentance, and so on? When you come to Christ, there is something that will more than repay all your former struggles.
As I said before in concluding the previous points, so I say again here, as it is written in Psalm 116: "And now, my soul, return unto thy rest." All believers may say this confidently. If the things we have now heard are true, then indeed, "my soul, return unto thy rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you."
Oh, therefore, be in love with the Gospel. Study it deeply, consider its depths, and prize Jesus Christ, who has purchased such rest for your soul. For those of you who are still coming to Christ, do not rest in your spirits until you have found this rest. It would be tragic if