Posted by
ValiantForTruth on Sunday, April 05, 2009 10:12:57 AM
There are three texts in the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith which speak to the relationship between the Natural Law and the Ten Commandments. In the confession Moral Law and Natural Law are functionally synonymous. The Ten Commandments are identified as Moral Law based on creation and are therefore binding to all men at all times.
At creation God wrote Moral Law, the Decalogue, in the hearts of Adam and Eve. All men as image bearers have this same law written in their hearts. This Moral Law was later written upon tablets of stone by God and delivered to Israel through Moses. This law remains in effect even after the Old Covenant was abolished. Christ upholds this law "as a rule of life" for His church.
Let’s look at the three texts in order, 4:2; 19:2; and 19:5.
[http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/1689lbc/english/1689econtents.htm]
In chapter 4, Of Creation, the confession teaches that Adam and Eve had "the law of God written in their hearts." Here is the full text of paragraph 2 followed by Scripture references…
After God had made all other creatures, he created man, male and female, with reasonable and immortal souls, rendering them fit unto that life to God for which they were created; being made after the image of God, in knowledge, righteousness, and true holiness; having the law of God written in their hearts, and power to fulfill it, and yet under a possibility of transgressing, being justify to the liberty of their own will, which was subject to change.
[Genesis 1:27; Genesis 2:7; Ecclesiastes 7:29; Genesis 1:26; Romans 2:14, 15; Genesis 3:6]
In chapter 19, Of the Law of God, the confession defines what is meant by "the law of God written in their hearts." The full text of paragraph 2 says…
The same law that was first written in the heart of man continued to be a perfect rule of righteousness after the fall, and was delivered by God upon Mount Sinai, in ten commandments, and written in two tables, the four first containing our duty towards God, and the other six, our duty to man.
[Romans 2:14, 15; Deuteronomy 10:4]
"The major assertion of paragraphs 1 and 2 is that the same law written in the heart of Adam was reiterated in the Ten Commandments." [Sam Waldron, A Modern Exposition of the 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith]
The final text in the confession is found in chapter 19:5. The text reads as follows…
The moral law [Decalogue] doth for ever bind all, as well justified persons as others, to the obedience thereof, and that not only in regard of the matter contained in it, but also in respect of the authority of God the Creator, who gave it; neither doth Christ in the Gospel any way dissolve, but much strengthen this obligation.
[Romans 13:8-10; James 2:8, 10-12; James 2:10, 11; Matthew 5:17-19; Romans 3:31]
It is clear that the confession teaches that all men are obliged to obey the Ten Commandments. "The moral law doth for ever bind all …" The obligation for man to keep the Ten Commandments is based on God’s authority as Creator. He demonstrates this as Judge and Redeemer. All sin is dealt with either in everlasting punishment for the unrepentant or in a rich display of mercy in Christ for all who repent and believe the gospel.