Matthew Statler

"The Antinomians therefore gather passages in vain in an attempt to overthrow the necessity of good works, such as those which say that we are no longer under Law but under grace (Rom. 6:14; 7:4). It is one thing not to be under the Law as a covenant from which life is to be acquired, as Adam was; another to be under the Law as the rule of life by which conduct is to be ordered piously and holily. It is one thing to be under the Law insofar as it is opposed to the Gospel, namely in its rigid exaction of perfect obedience and the terrible curse with which it threatens sinners; another to be under the Law insofar as it is subordinated to the Gospel as its sweet direction. In the former sense we are no longer under the Law, from whose condemning yoke Christ has freed us; in the latter we remain bound to it. The same Law which prescribed duty and obedience to Adam under the old covenant remains under the new and can never be abrogated, although the end differs. Under the covenant of works man was to do these things that he might live and acquire life by the Law; under the covenant of grace he does them because he lives, as the fruit of possessing life and the testimony of a grateful heart."