Even to Unbelievers – Uses of the Law: The Law Defines Sin (6)

Even to Unbelievers

Uses of the Law: The Law Defines Sin (6)

Matthew 14:3, 4

For Herod had seized John and bound him and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because John had been saying to him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.”

Believers, who have had little use for the Law of God in recent generations, will be even more suspect of the need to confront unbelievers with the Law as the defining standard of good and evil. How can we expect them to accept what we say about matters of right and wrong?

Because they know the Law is true—its work is written on their hearts—and the Spirit of God is striving with them in their souls to bring whatever discomfort is needed to get them to acknowledge their sin and seek relief. And even if they will not repent unto salvation, it is the believer’s responsibility, for the sake of loving his neighbor (Matt. 22:34-30), to employ the Law of God in exposing the sins of his generation (Eph. 5:7-11)

This is what John the Baptist did. Herod was not a Jew; he was an Idumean appointee of the Roman government. What duty did he owe to the Law of God? The duty of obedience, John insisted, because, as a ruler of a nation, Herod was God’s servant for good, and good is defined by the Law of God (Rom. 13:1-4; cf., in this instance, Lev. 20:21).

In this John was simply following the example of Daniel, who called the pagan Nebuchadnezzar to repent of his wickedness and bring his administration into line with the teaching of God’s Law (Dan. 4:27), as well as of all the prophets—such as Amos—who called the nations to account for their “three transgressions and four” against God and men.

The Law of God is the defining standard for matters of good and evil, right and wrong, truth and justice, for all people in all times. We must not—we must not—be reluctant to bring this holy and righteous and good standard to bear in all matters of moral concern in our day.

For a practical guide to the role of God’s Law in the life of faith, get The Ground for Christian Ethics by going to www.ailbe.org and click on our Bookstore, then Church Issues.

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.