Before I start, I have to offer an apology. Although I have tried hard to keep this
chapter in bounds, and to make it as systematic as I can, I have, nevertheless, failed to
do as well as I had hoped. I considered breaking it into parts, but that would
accomplish nothing. In short, I have to admit defeat, leaving the end-result, I am afraid,
somewhat unwieldy.
In a sense, however, I am relieved. As I understand the law of Christ, as I discover
it set out in the pages of the New Testament, I find it to be of such a nature or character
that defies simplistic systematisation. The decalogue, of course, can be set out in ten
straightforward commands; even the law of Moses can be set out as one rule after
another. But you cannot possibly do that with the law of Christ. Notwithstanding, this
is not a weakness of the law of Christ; it is, in fact, one of its greatest glories. The law
of Christ is not a ‘law’ in the Mosaic sense at all. |
