1 1 Isai. xliv. 24, 26. man and every Israelite; and, consequently, that Psalm cxix. 73. man is bound to obey him. 2 3 Deut. vii. 6-3. 2 Exod. xix. 4, 5. This word, Lord, is also the Name of God as being in covenant; and since to it is added thy God, it shows that he was in covenant with Israel. For, he had brought them out of Egypt to be to him a peculiar, or special,3 people, and had made a covenant with them,* i.e. each generation of them, that they should be his people, and he, their God ; and, therefore, he says, I am the Lord thy God; and this, also, was a reason why they, who were partakers of covenant blessings, should be faithful to him, and 6 Deut. iv. 20, 23. keep his Commandments." 2 9 5 7 Isai. i. 2, 3. 9 Exod. xii. 40-42. + Lev. xxvi. 12,13. And, besides, he mentions certain mercies. For, by his mighty hand he had brought them out of 8 Deut. xxvi. 28. Egypt, which was to them a land of bondage, or slavery, through the sprinkling of the blood of the Paschal Lamb,1 in order to bring them into a fruitful 1 Exod. xii. 21-23. land, even the land of Canaan, and to preserve 2 Deut. viii. 7-9. among them true religion,3 for the good of them- 3 Jer. xiii. 10, 11. selves and the whole world: all which are to be 1 Rom. ix. 4, 5. understood in the words, I brought thee out of Egypt; and, therefore, these, like all acts of goodness, were further reasons for obedience. 4 5 Psalm cxix, 68. THE COMMANDMENTS TO CONTINUE IN CHRIST'S RELIGION. The Ten Commandments, thus given of God, 1 SECTION XXXV. form a part of what is called the Law;' but they 1 Josh. vill. 32-35. are a very distinguished part of it; and, hence, were both declared in an especial manner, and also not written as the rest on parchment, but, to signify their intended durability, engraven on stones; and, 2 Deut. v. 4-22. so, are called, by way of distinction, the Command 3 2 ments. These, with other like laws, make up what 3 Luke, xviii. 20. is called the moral law; and since all begin with 4 them, they are the root and foundation of all. The Exod. xx. 18-24, rest of the Law consisted in peculiar ceremonial laws relating to the outward forms of religion, and in national laws. 5 Gal. iii. 19. 6 Gen. iii. 14, 15. 7 Gen. xii. 1-3. + Exod. xxxv. 2, 3. 6 Now, the religion brought in by Moses was intended only for a time," and as a whole must pass away. For God's promise given to Adam, and repeated to Abraham,' was that all men should be blessed in the true religion. But the religion of 8 Deut. xi. 8-17, Moses was concerned only with one land, viz., that of Canaan; and, so, could only belong to one people; many of its rules also, as concerning the ⚫ Deut. xvi. 16. assembling on the great Feasts at one place,9 were suited only to a limited number of people; and some, as concerning no fire on the Sabbath, only suited to a people in hot climates. Moreover, it was a religion providing in itself no sacrifice for great sins,' such as adultery, and murder; but only punishing them with death; and, so, was not suited to all kinds of men, Hence, in such a system there could not be continuance. Accordingly, Moses, foretelling the coming of Christ, speaks of him as a prophet like Deut. xviii. 18. unto himself, i. e. a lawgiver, and, therefore, the bringer in of a new law; and, so, when he came, God, passing over Moses and Elias, who appeared 5 Matt. xvii. 1-5. with him, bids men hear Christ; and, in like manner, he is called the messenger of the covenant,& i.e. the angel or herald of some new one; and, therefore, one whereby the old must pass away." 1 Ps. li. 14-16. 6 Mal. iii. 1. 7 IIeb. viii. 7-13. 4 5 8 Hence, all the national laws of Moses, such as 8 Levit. xxv. 1-10. those belonging to the rest and restoration of land, Num. xxxvi.6-8. inheritance of property," borrowing and lending of ↑ Deut. xv. 1-6. money, and marriages with kindred for the pre1 Deut. xxv. 5, 6. servation of a name or family,' passed away, as binding laws, when his system or dispensation of religion ceased, and an universal Church, having no regard to particular lands' was set up; and much more all laws regarding slavery and polygamy,5 which were states never approved of even by Moses, and only tolerated at that time because of the hardness of men's heart,' and the deep root they had in them. 2 Gal. iji. 27, 28. 3 Acts, ii. 40-47. Exod. xxi. 2-6. 6 Exod. xxi. 16. 5 Levit. xviii. 18. 7 Mark, x. 2-8. 8 6 So also the ceremonies, which were not principal * Jer. vii. 21-23. things, but only outguards in religion, and, so, changeable, were intended to continue only for a time; and being only types, figures, or shadows of Christ and his religion, they were abolished in his human nature, in which all men are united in him,' 9 Heb. ix. 10. and ceased in his death, having been fulfilled in 2 Heb. x. 8, 9. him. Thus, we read that the Covenant at Sinai 3 4 was to be changed; and, hence, that the sacrifices 3 Jer. xxxi. 31, 32. of the Law were to cease; and, in consequence, the 1 Ps. xl. 6–8. priesthood which offered these sacrifices to be 8 6 Gal. iv. 9, 10. changed for another; the Jewish times and feasts,7 5 Heb. vii. 12. so far as they were Jewish, to be abolished; the one 7 Col. ii. 16, 17. place Jerusalem, chosen for the Temple, to cease ® Ps. lxxviii.67-69. from being the place of Jewish worship; and the John, iv. 20, 21. Ark, the most sacred thing in the Temple, to be forgotten.t 3 4 2 9 4 † Jer. iii. 16. Gen. v. 5-21. But, the Ten Commandments and all those of a like nature in the Old Testament' are not to cease 1 1 Cor. ix. 21. in the coming of Christ." For, first, these, though commanded more clearly and solemnly, were not altogether new at the time of giving the Law; but had either been taught to Adam, as the one commanding the Sabbath, or to Noah, as the one for- 2 Gen. ii. 2, 3. bidding murder; and handed on by tradition : 3 Gen. ix. 5, 6. which would not be difficult at first; since the facts of tradition were few, and Adam lived until the birth of Methuseleh, he to that of Shem," and Shem until the days of Isaac; or else they are implanted in us naturally, or written in the heart of man,' and seen more or less clearly according to the light that is in him hence, we find that Abraham, Isaac, 98 Gen. xvii. 1, 7. and Jacob understood that they should have no Gen.xxviii. 20,21 other but the true God; Jacob put away idols as wrong; Abimelech and Isaac understood the 1 Gen. xxxv. 2-4. sacredness of an oath,2 in which the Name of God 2 Gen. xxvi. 26-31. was used; Noah observed a period of seven days; 3 Gen. xxiv. 3. Isaac knew the duty of obedience to a father; 5 Gen. xxii. 6-8. с 6 a Since the commands of a perfect life are the same in both Testaments, they show the same God: who has commanded, indeed, particular precepts suited to both; but the more eminent and highest, without which we cannot be saved, he has appointed to be the same in both. Before there was the Law written by Moses on Tables of stone, I maintain that there was a law not written, which was understood naturally, and was kept by the fathers. God at first admonishing them (the Israelites) by natural commands, which from the beginning he had implanted in men, that is, by the Decalogue, which if any one should not do he has not salvation, required nothing further from them. (Deut. v. 22.) 5 Gen. v. 25-32. 6 Gen. xi. 10, 11. ' Rom. ii. 14, 15. 7 9 Gen. xxxi. 42. 4 Gen. viii. 10-12. Ireneus, Lib. iv. 23, 1. Tertullian, adv. Judeos. 2. Ireneus, Lib. iv. 25, 3. 1 Pt. II. sec. 34. 2 Acts, iv. 24. 6 Isai. lix. 16. 71 Pet. i 18, 19. 8 Rom. vi. 21, 22. 9 Rom. vii. 14. † Col. i. 12-14. 1 Eph. i. 3-5. 21 Cor. vi. 20. 2 + 9 4 6 6 Gen. iv. 23, 24 Lamech, that murder was wrong;" Joseph, that 7 Gen. xxxix. 7-9. adultery was a sin; Jacob's sons, that stealing was 8 Gen. xliv. 7, 8. improper; one of the first Pharaohs, that deceit 9 Gen. xii. 18, 19. was to be avoided; and Jethro, that covetousness + Exod. xviii. 21. Was to be hated. Therefore, as these were duties before the Law, they are not changed when it passed away. Again, the reasons contained in the Introduction to the Commandments1 are general reasons, and apply to Christians as well as to Jews. For, Israel's God is our God and the Author of being to us, as well as to them; we are also his peculiar people,3 and made his sons by a covenant; and, so, are equally with them bound to obey ; and, besides, like as it was with Israel, God has by his own arm, through the blood of Christ our Paschal Lamb,7 brought us out of bondage, even that of sin, to which we were sold as slaves, to give us a rich inheritance, and bless us in his Church with all spiritual blessings; thereby laying on us the same obligation to obey.2 Therefore, as the reasons are the same, the Commandments are binding on us as much as upon them. Moreover, all nations were to join the Jewish Church to learn God's ways and Law; and, so, since all the other parts of the Law were to cease, this must mean the Ten Commandments. Further, Christ, who came to call sinners to repentance, could only do so by recalling them to the moral Law, i. e. to these Commandments: nay, he expressly says, that he came not to destroy, i. e. to repeal, the Law, but to fulfil it; and this part he fulfilled, not only by obeying it fully; but by enlarging it where confined; by elevating it where low," or unsuited to a better religion; and by explaining,' correcting, and, as if it were the outline of a picture, making it more complete. Hence, we find that the Ten Commandments are all supported by the laws of the New Testament, either 3 Matt. xxii. 36,87. in their principles, or in commands like them ;* 3 Isai. ii. 2, 3. 4 Matt. ix. 13. 5 John, x. 35. 6 Matt. v. 17. 7 Luke, x. 29-37. 8 Levit. xix. 18. + Deut. vii. 1, 2. 4 Rom. xiii. 8-10. Ireneus, Lib. iv. 24, 1. Clemens Alex. 3 4 5 3 d The Lord has not dissolved the natural Commandments of the Law, by which man is justified, which also those who were justified by faith and pleased God kept before the giving of the Law; but has enlarged and completed them. e The faith in Christ and the knowledge of the Gospel are Strom.iv.21.p.625. the exposition and fulfilling of the Law. 6 5 Rev. ix. 20, 21. Matt. v. 19. that as they, so the Gospel condemns the ungodly, profane, and perjured, who sin against the first Table; murderers, stealers, liars, and others who sin against the second Table; and foretells the 51 Tim. i. 8-11. punishment, not only of idolaters, but of murderers and thieves, i.e. of those who sin against both Tables; that all, even the least, are to be taught in the Church of Christ; that, whilst it is free from Jewish ceremonies, which were a burden, it must yet keep the whole moral Law, and be ruled by the Ten Commandments, which are part of the Law of liberty,* i. e. of the Word or Gospel which is able to † James, ii. 10-12. save: nay, as these Laws are holy and good, so 1 James, i. 21-25. they are to be written in our hearts; 3 and, therefore, 3 Heb. viii. 10. we still serve God by them, but in a better manner; since we are not only ruled by the Letter, or written Command; but are assisted by the Spirit to obey it 9 8 Acts, xv. 5-10. 9 James, ii. 9, 10. 2 Rom. vii. 10-12. 3 7 more completely:* indeed, the gift of the Spirit is 4 Rom. vii. 6. not only a help, but an obligation to keep the Law.5 5 Rom. viii. 3-10. Hence, these Commandments belong to, and are spoken to us Christians as much, or even more than 6 Article vii. to the Jews; and though not able, nor now intended meritoriously to justify us," are still given to guide Pt. I. sec. 10. us on the way of life, and still necessary to dis- 8 Matt. xix. 17. tinguish men on the judgment day: the purpose of 9 Rom. ii. 5-9. them being less extensive than with the Jew, but the obedience and holiness produced by them more complete. DIVISION AND INTERPRETATION OF THE The Ten Commandments were divided by God into SECTION XXXVI. Two Tables.1 The manner of dividing them, how- 1 Deut. iv. 12, 13. ever, has not been preserved. Hence, the Jews in our Lord's time," and some early Christians' divided ƒ Both Laws, that by Moses and this by the Apostles, Clemens Alex. minister to the Word, for the education of humanity. a In this Ark were deposited the Two Tables of the Decalogue. Each Table comprised five of the Commandments, two and a half in a column. In five Books Moses delivered the Law to the people. Each of the Tables he received from God had five Commandments. Pædag.iii.12.p.307 Josephus, Antiq. iii. 6. Ireneus, Lib. ii. 36, 2. |