Chapter 7: The Burden Under the Law Laid Open in Eleven Particulars
Chapter 7:
The Burden Under the Law Laid Open in Eleven Particulars:
1. The Law requires of us things we are unable to perform.
2. It requires absolute perfection.
3. It accepts none of our efforts or endeavours.
4. Upon breaking any one part of the Law, the sinner loses all ability to keep any part of it afterward.
5. Upon breaking it, the sinner is immediately bound over to eternal death.
6. It requires constant obedience.
7. Once broken, it cannot be satisfied with any subsequent obedience.
8. It accepts no repentance.
9. It only reveals a man's misery and leaves him without showing any remedy.
10. There is no appeal from it, nor any repealing of it.
11. The more it is revealed, the more our corruptions are stirred up.
(Where some objections are answered, or doubts resolved.) Having finished discussing the burden of the guilt of sin, the next is the burden of the Law.
"Come to me," says Christ, "you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That is, you who labour under the burden of the Law and legal performances. I will treat these two together, as they are necessarily dependent on one another, though I intend to handle them distinctly.
First, to those who have come to see the great bondage they are under in the Law and feel the heavy burden upon them in seeking justification by the Law, and have done so for a long time: Christ says, "Know that you have been deceived in looking for your justification in that way; you have laboured and toiled in vain, for it will not be attained in that manner. Come to me, and you shall have rest for your souls such as you have never yet felt, nor will you ever feel by continuing in that way." I take this to be fully the scope of Christ's message, as well as the other.
Now, regarding the burden of the Law: that the Law is compared to a burden is clear from Romans 6:14: "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law, but under grace." He speaks to those who are delivered and says they are no longer under the Law. There was indeed a time when they were under the Law— the Law lay upon them as a heavy burden—but they later came under grace. And though even grace has a yoke (for grace itself brings a kind of yoke), it is not like the yoke of the Law. Christ Himself says,
"Take my yoke upon you." But His yoke is easy compared to the yoke of the Law.
Now, to explain what the burden of the Law is (which, if a sinner or any soul comes to understand, will inevitably feel like a heavy burden and load upon them), it is essential to understand this, for unless you do, you cannot understand Christ properly. It is not enough to merely understand Christ; you must understand Christ as the great
Saviour who delivers us from the Law, the one who comes to give us rest and relief from the Law. If we do not understand the yoke and burden of the Law, we cannot truly appreciate the worth of Christ in providing us ease and rest from it.
1. First, I shall endeavour to show what the yoke and burden of the Law are, and then, what is the burdensome condition of the soul that seeks righteousness through legal performances.
In the first place, the Law requires of us things that we are not able to perform; it requires of us things that we cannot do. You might say,
"That is indeed a grievous burden, to be required to do what we cannot." The Law does exactly that, but at first, you may not think it is harsh—it does not require of you anything that God did not once enable you to do. For that, you might say, would be unjust. However, it requires things of you that, because of your fall, you are no longer able to do. But you have brought this inability upon yourselves. The Law would not have been a burden to Adam, as God first created him in innocence; under those conditions, the Law would have been no burden at all. But now, since we are fallen, consider what our condition is: it is indeed a grievous burden, for the Law demands of us what we cannot do. Even if we were to exert all our strength to perform the Law, we still could not fulfill it. Yet, we must not think that because we have lost our power, God's Law should no longer apply. The Law continues in its course, whether we have the power to obey it or not, because God gave us the power, and we lost it.
This, I believe, is the meaning of that Scripture in Acts 15:10: "Now, therefore, why do you tempt God by putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?"
The Law is such a yoke—neither we nor our fathers were able to bear it.
Objection I: But it may be said, "This is meant of the ceremonial law."
Answer: To that I answer: Certainly, if the ceremonial law was a yoke, then take the ceremonial and moral law together, and the
burden is even greater. Simply performing outward ceremonies was not such an intolerable yoke, but we must consider the whole law in its entirety, and it will become clear that this is the meaning. The question here was not only about the ceremonial law but about Moses' law in general and about justification by it. This was the question the church at Antioch sent to the church at Jerusalem to inquire about. For this was the council held in Acts 15, where certain men came from Jerusalem to Antioch and taught that it was necessary to keep Moses' law for justification.
Now, the church at Antioch, troubled by this doctrine, sent some brethren to the church at Jerusalem to gain further insight into the matter. At verse 5, we read that certain believers from the sect of the Pharisees said it was necessary to circumcise the Gentiles and command them to keep the law of Moses as a matter of justification.
Then, in the assembly at Jerusalem, Peter rose up and warned the others to be cautious about imposing such a yoke upon the disciples, particularly the yoke of the law, which neither they nor their fathers were able to bear. It is clear that this refers not only to the ceremonial law but also to the moral law. This is shown in verse 11:
"We believe that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." Now, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is not only opposed to the ceremonial law but also to the moral law when it is taught as a way of justification for life.
So, the law that is described as a yoke is the one opposed to the grace of Christ, which brings salvation. It is the law that reveals sin, the law that is the minister of death, by which the mouths of all are stopped.
This is the heavy yoke for those under the law, that is, those who are under the first covenant—the covenant of works—and who seek justification by it. They are under a grievous burden, as they are the children of the bondwoman, for the law requires what is impossible
for them to perform. When a soul comes to realise and understand that it is under such a law, a law that demands the impossible, it burdens the soul. By this, the soul sees its need for Christ, and Christ calls such souls to come to Him. It is as if He says, "As long as you remain in unbelief, in your natural condition, you are under a covenant for life that requires what you cannot possibly do, and therefore there is no rest in that condition. Come, therefore, to me.
Take my yoke, my easy yoke. The other is a heavy yoke, but I will show you a way to ease and rest for your souls." That is the first point.
But though the law may require difficult and even impossible things, perhaps it allows some leniency in other matters. Therefore:
2. The second aspect of the yoke and bondage of the law is this: in everything it commands, the law requires absolute perfection. It accepts nothing less than absolute perfection in all that it commands.
It does not merely command difficult things; whatever the law demands, it demands perfect obedience. If there is any failure in any particular point, no matter how small, the law condemns the soul. It not only requires that the deed be done, but that it be done in the right manner, from the right principle, and to the utmost degree of perfection. The law requires that our lives be directed fully by the rule, and that we adhere completely to it.
What a miserable yoke and burden this is for a poor soul—to see that the law requires not only things that are impossible for me to do, but also demands absolute perfection, accepting no imperfection whatsoever. This is a heavy yoke—one that neither we nor our fathers could bear. Those who come to understand this must be under a grievous burden, which shows them their need for Jesus Christ.
Christ calls those who understand this. It is true that if this were the
end, and we were left without any help or remedy, it would be a sad condition indeed. Truly, if Christ had not come into the world to put
Himself under the law, we would have been left in this condition.
And all those who do not understand the Gospel, who have not had Christ preached to them, are still in this condition. They are under a law they cannot fulfill, a law that requires absolute and perfect obedience in everything, or else it condemns them.
3. The third burden of the law is this: You may say, "Though it requires perfect obedience, will it not at least accept our endeavours? Suppose we strive to obey as much as we can?" There are many who, though they require difficult things, will accept attempts or efforts to fulfill them. But you must understand that the law accepts no endeavours. Even if a man or woman were to strive with all their heart to obey the law and reach the height of perfection, the law does not accept such efforts.
It is true that when the soul comes to Christ in the Gospel, and under the covenant of grace, endeavours are accepted. Therefore, do not think that God will not accept your efforts. If you come to Christ, your endeavours will indeed be accepted, as we will discuss when we come to speak about the rest the soul finds in Christ. But here is an argument to drive poor souls to Christ: consider that while you are outside of Christ, your endeavours are not accepted, and you are not in the way of life. Life and salvation cannot be found in your current condition, for the law demands obedience. It must have the work done. You are either under the covenant of works or the covenant of grace. So long as you remain under the covenant of works, the work is called for, not just endeavours, for that will not suffice.
Therefore, the Apostle says in Romans 10:5, "For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the law: 'The person who does these
things will live by them.'" You must either be righteous by the righteousness of the law or by the righteousness of Christ. If you would be righteous by the law, hear what it says: "The person who does these things will live by them." Moses does not say, "The person who strives to do these things," or "The person who endeavours to do these things," but rather, "The person who does them will live by them." It must be doing, not merely trying, that the law accepts. And that is the third aspect of the bondage of the law.
Christ says, "Come to me, and you shall have rest." It is by believing in Christ that you will find rest. There can be no rest but a grievous burden upon the soul until it comes to Christ. If the soul understands this, and if it does not, it is in an even worse condition. Though it may not feel the burden due to ignorance, most people spend their lives in such ignorance and never become aware of it. But when the soul comes to understand the terms between God and itself, and how it must stand before God—whether under a covenant of works or a covenant of grace—and realises that, by nature, it is under the covenant of works, this law that accepts no mere efforts becomes a great burden upon the soul, and it sees the absolute necessity of coming to Christ for ease and rest.
Fourthly, the burden of the law is exceedingly great in this respect: upon any one breach of the law, the soul becomes so broken that it loses the ability to keep any part of the law forever. I have said that this is something unique to the law, in contrast to the Gospel. Under the covenant of works, upon breaking the law in any one instance, the soul becomes so broken that it loses all ability to keep any part of the law again, unless God restores that ability through His grace.
Consider Adam as an example. Adam was the head of the first covenant of works, under the law. Now, Adam broke the law in one
particular—he failed in one thing that God required of him. In breaking the law in that one instance, he and all his posterity were so broken that they lost all ability to keep the law forever, unless God should come and create a new ability within them. They lost the ability given to them at their creation. So, this is a profound mystery: by committing a single act of evil, a person weakens the opposite habit—by doing something wrong, one can completely lose the ability to do good. Not only does one lose the habit that is contrary to the evil committed, but one loses all habits of all good whatsoever—and that by one act.
Now, this is something beyond nature—it occurs by virtue of the covenant of works. God established such a covenant that if Adam sinned in one thing, he must die. That is, his soul as well as his body must die a spiritual death, and he would lose all the habits of grace.
This is why, by nature, we are dead in sin.
Moreover, such is the condition of the law that even if God were to restore us to the perfection Adam had in the state of innocence—void of all sin, and having the image of God in its perfection—if God were to place us under the covenant of works again, a single failure in any one thing would still break us. We would lose all our abilities to perform any duty thereafter. This is the nature of the law. But it is not so with the Gospel: though we sin against the Gospel, we do not immediately lose all our habits of grace.
The reason for this difference—why Adam, after sinning against the law, lost all his ability to do good, yet we, even after sinning against the Gospel, do not lose all our habits of grace—I shall explain later when I discuss how the yoke of the Gospel is easier than that of the law. This is the fourth aspect of the burden of the law.
Fifthly, another aspect of the burden of the law is this: upon every breach of the law, it immediately takes advantage against the soul. I say, it takes advantage against the soul at once and binds it over to death—to eternal death—instantly. It places the soul under a curse for every breach, immediately. It is true that the law may not be executed as soon as a sinner breaks it, but rest assured, these three things happen to everyone who is outside of Christ as soon as they commit any sin:
First, the sinner is bound over by God's justice, by such a bond that has more strength in it than all the power of heaven and earth combined could break. As a man who has committed an evil act, the law may not execute punishment upon him immediately, but he is nevertheless bound over at once.
And not only that, but, in the second place, the law passes sentence. The binding over constitutes the guilt, but the law passes the sentence upon the sinner and condemns him. The soul is immediately under the sentence of condemnation.
Thirdly, the law places the sinner under a curse, for it is written at the end of Deuteronomy 27: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Notice, "everyone" who does not continue in "all things" is pronounced accursed. This is the fifth particular burden.
Sixthly, the sixth burden is that the law demands constant obedience. Such is its rigor that even if you were able to obey it perfectly for most of your life, yet at the last hour you were to fail in even one particular, all your prior obedience would be for nothing.
The law would still take advantage of that one failure and condemn you for it. This is the condition of the law. Even if you could keep it perfectly for your whole life, one single failure would cause it to
reject all your previous obedience and condemn you. This is the condition of all who are under the covenant of works. Is this not a heavy load? Would this not burden the soul? If the soul comes to understand it, or even if it does not, it is nevertheless the truth of God.
Seventhly, the seventh burden of the law is that once a sinner has broken it, the law cannot be satisfied by any obedience the sinner may offer afterwards. Suppose a person has greatly angered someone and wishes to make amends. A servant might think, "Though I have offended my master and made many mistakes, I will make amends for all." Similarly, many people think, "Though we have broken
God's law and lived in sin for a long time, we will make amends. We will give alms, go to church, and do better." These are the thoughts of many poor, ignorant souls who do not understand the terms under which they stand before God. All people stand before God either under the covenant of works or the covenant of grace—one of the two. Those who reason in this way are surely not acquainted with the covenant of grace; they are under the covenant of works. And they should know that the covenant of works admits of no such amends.
Once you have broken the law, no amount of good you do can ever satisfy for what is past.
Even if you were to live for a thousand years and be perfectly obedient, or be willing to suffer greatly for God, it would not make up for your previous sins. Many, when they have sinned and their consciences are somewhat awakened, think that by living better and doing otherwise in the future, they can make amends for what has been done. But you must understand that this is a deceit and will never satisfy. You must come to Christ, for only through Him can amends be made. You may say, "If we cannot make amends, what will become of us?" It is true that, if there were no Saviour, no Christ,
your condition would be utterly hopeless. Amends must be made, but it is impossible for you to make them yourself.
You must not only think about what you are bound to do for the future, but also how you will make up for the breach of the law in the past. When the sinner contemplates both of these things—"I have sinned; Lord, what shall I do for the future?" and "How can I make up for breaking the law in the past?"—this will burden the soul. The soul will feel such a heavy weight that nothing in the world can give it rest until it comes to Christ. If we truly understood this, we would see that our condition outside of Christ is a restless one, and Christ's invitation would be most welcome.
Now, I was reluctant to speak of rest before first explaining this burden. Otherwise, you might respond as those Jews did to Christ in another instance, when He said, "If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed." They replied, "We have never been in bondage to anyone." (John 8:33) You might have similarly questioned, "Why do you speak of rest? What restless condition are we in?" But now that you see your restless condition, I trust you will be more willing to listen to Christ's invitation: "Come to me, and I will give you rest."
These things will help you understand what it means to believe and come to Christ, once you comprehend the state you are in when outside of Christ.
8. An eighth particular is this: the law accepts no repentance. Just as it will not allow for any amends to be made, neither will it accept repentance. Let the sinner be as sorrowful as they wish for what they have done, and lament their sin as much as they can; even if they were to bewail their sin with tears of blood, the law would not accept it. You may say, "This is a strange doctrine—that our repentance should not be accepted." I do not say that God absolutely refuses to
accept repentance, but I do say that the law refuses it. Repentance is the doctrine of the Gospel; the law preaches no such doctrine as repentance. Repentance is an evangelical doctrine. However, there is a kind of repentance that arises merely from a troubled conscience— a natural repentance, not evangelical. This is when a person sees that they are in danger because of their sin, becomes troubled by it, and goes no further. I say, this is a natural repentance, not evangelical.
When you consider repenting of your sins, it is a saving meditation to reflect upon your repentance in this way: "I am now sorry and repent and am humbled for my sin." But know that this is only accepted because of the second covenant—the covenant of grace. It is through infinite mercy in God, and that in Christ, purchased by the blood of Christ, that any sorrow for sin is accepted by God. You must thank Christ for this. Therefore, when you come to mourn for your sins, approach it as a work of the Gospel, an evangelical work. Come freely to it, for anything that is a work of the Gospel is a fruit of the blood of Christ. It is a great mercy from God that you are even allowed to come before Him to sorrow for your sins in such a way that you may be saved.
All your tears and trouble for sin, unless they come through the grace of the Gospel, are not accepted. Yet how many thousands of poor souls never consider this when they repent? Perhaps when they lie on their sick or deathbeds, their consciences tell them there is a hell and misery for sinners. There they lie, roaring and crying out, but the truth is they never understood the way of God in the covenant of grace, or how the Lord views the children of men under the covenant of works. They do not realize that God has now entered into a second covenant through His Son, providing a way for salvation that could not be found under the first covenant.
We must understand that the law accepts no repentance. Oh, what a burden it is when, in sorrow for my sins, I think that God will pardon me, yet find myself cursed under a law that accepts no repentance.
But when we come to Christ, then godly sorrow is accepted, and it becomes "sorrow unto life." That is the privilege of those under the covenant of grace in Christ. Therefore, consider this point seriously, that you may make a clear distinction between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. There is nothing more important in all theology for you to understand than these two things. People who are not acquainted with these two covenants understand very little of the mysteries of salvation. Indeed, I say that those who do not understand the difference between the first and second covenants— between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace— understand very little, if anything, about true divinity. The right understanding of the difference between these two covenants opens the door to a great deal of knowledge. I dare say that after people come to understand this difference, they will, in just a few months, gain more knowledge in the main principles of religion than they had in many years before. For lack of understanding this one thing, people make gross errors in many points of religion and never come to know Christ in the way He is presented in the Gospel. That is the eighth point.
9. Ninthly, the burden of the law also appears in this: it only reveals man's misery and then leaves him there. It is like a surgeon who opens a wound but then leaves it exposed in the open air without healing it. The law tells us of our misery but does not reveal any way of redemption or deliverance; it merely shows us our misery and leaves us. I do not mean the law as found in the Old Testament
Scriptures, for there, the Gospel is mingled in. I am not saying that Moses does not tell us of redemption, but I am referring to the law as part of the covenant of works, as far as it is revealed in Moses and
also in much of the New Testament. This law only shows us our misery and then leaves us, but grace, truth, and mercy come through Jesus Christ.
Tenthly, A tenth particular in which the grievous bondage under the law appears is this: it is such a law that there can be no appeal from it, nor any repeal of it. Though it is strict and severe, I say there is no appeal from it, nor any repeal of it. Many laws allow for an appeal or may be repealed if found to be too harsh. However, with this law, there is no appealing its authority, nor can it be repealed. You might say, "This leaves us with no help." Though human laws may be hard and oppressive, people can often find ways to repeal them. But with God's law, there seems to be no appeal and no repeal.
Can we not appeal from God's justice to His mercy seat? I have indeed mentioned such an expression, but it must be carefully understood. The truth is, there is no proper appeal from God's justice to His mercy. When the sinner comes to Christ, the pardon is sealed in the court of justice as well as in the court of mercy. No soul is saved without both God's justice being satisfied and His mercy being glorified. There is no repeal of this law.
You may ask, "Must the law stand in force then?" Yes, the law shall stand in force, and yet thousands of souls will be saved. "How can that be?" you may ask. This is the mystery of the Gospel—that the law shall stand in force, and yet people will be saved. There is a way to save souls, despite this. Certainly, if the law were to continue on its course, it would carry all mankind to eternal destruction. And so it would have done, but for the great Saviour and Redeemer, Jesus
Christ, who calls sinners to Him that they might find rest.
Christ comes and puts Himself under the law. He fulfils what the law requires, both in His actions and in His sufferings. The law continues
its course, but where it might have required punishment upon us in person, God is content that it should take its course upon our surety
—Christ. When a person owes a debt, the law requires repayment.
It's one thing for the law to be repealed, and another for the debtor to be delivered. If a surety steps in to repay the debt, the debtor is delivered, even though they did not pay it themselves. Yet, the law has been satisfied because the surety has discharged what the debtor owed.
In the same way, the path of salvation for any soul is not through appealing from the law or having it repealed, but through acknowledging that the law has its course, though that course is directed toward Christ, our surety. Christ fully satisfies the law. To view Christ this way—as the one made under the law, who endured the law's course upon Himself and satisfied it—is to see Him as the true object of our faith. Unless we understand Christ in this way, we do not see Him rightly as the object of faith. Christ calls upon those who are weary and heavy-laden to come to Him, as if He were saying,
"Poor sinners, you are under such a covenant, and though it has not been repealed, I have come and placed Myself under it. The law has had its course upon Me. Come to Me, and the law will be satisfied— it will have no more to say against you. You shall find true rest in Me. Come, therefore, to Me."
Eleventhly: The eleventh point about the law is this: it is so far from enabling us to perform the obedience it requires that, in our wretched condition, the more it is revealed, the more our corruptions are stirred up. Through our own fault (not any fault in the law), the law stirs up our corruptions all the more. Luther compares it to water poured on lime—it causes a reaction. Similarly, when the law comes into the heart in its natural state (before God overcomes it with the grace of the Gospel), it stirs up even more corruption.