God's law
Law is the moral imperative of man created in the image of God and as such it is the testimony of God's judgments. The law itself is not to be confused with God's very own holiness but as the standard and measurement of God’s word, the law is eternal and unbreakable. The law is only satisfied by the death of the sinner and not by a subsequent keeping or doing of the law, even if ever so perfectly accomplished. The maxim of the law is the death of the sinner. The law is the executor of sin, it makes sin the contradiction of every aspect of our lives and this way only, sin itself is revealed in the concreteness of our daily existence. Law actually increases sin. Indeed sin itself is such an impenetrable mystery; it can only be spoken of in forensic terms: The law reveals sin but does not define sin!
Responses
The law logically comes after the Fall. The Fall has no forensic remedy. The law is to increase and reveal sin. And even though the law is not to be confused with God's own holiness, yet the law is as real as real can be because it is God given...
That is if God's prohibition of eating the forbidden fruit is not already the first instance of God's law. This issue has been discussed in a previous thread (The Act of Being: Why Aquinas Divided Essence from Existence). In that threat the prohibition in the garden was not considered a measure and standard of God's holiness but a necessary boundary for man as the garden was created as a privileged and protected space. After the Fall, the law is primarily to reveal sin and not define the boundaries of a happy life. This contrary to the Reformed view of the law defining the life of the first man, defining the first man as under law. The view here expressed is the life of the first man graciously bounded by a loving creator and the law added because of sin...
As already noted in the opening of this discussion, the law was given as the result of sin. The purpose of the law is to reveal sin and in this context, the law is given to increase sin, until the man of sin is revealed. But is there also another purpose, such as the law restricting sin and preserving man from the extremes of evil? Does not civil law have that function throughout history? Is it not our experience that all great civilizations based public life on the principles of law and order? Without it, is public morality even possible? To what ends?
But here we are discussing the ultimate purpose of God’s law. The law is good, but to state this more precisely, only God is good as to his attributes while the law is good only as to its purpose. Even though the maxim of the Law is the death of the sinner, the purpose of the Law is salvation. The final outcome is death, no matter what, but it is either dying in Christ or dying unto one self. And here the Law functions as a revealer of sin to those so touched by its revelation. But those not touched by the law can never truly forsake sin and consequently die eternally unrepentant.
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