5Solas5Points
Puritan Board Freshman
What are the various positions on this topic? I know there is variation but what are all the possible views one could have on this and still be true to the reformed confessions?
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Thank you for the detailed and informative answer. My main question is where I've read reformed theologians say the 10C is actually the moral law written on the heart. From my understanding of the passages you cited it seems at it's heart the moral law is more fundamental than the ten. It seems that the law written on the heart would be love God and neighbor and everything else such as the ten would be the natural outworking of those two. Are you familiar with Kline's view on this and is what I've said about that two greatest commandments being written on the heart outside of the reformed tradition? Also, in what way is the law written on the heart of an unbeliever vs the believer? Why does Paul seem to suggest he was ignorant of what coveting was prior to special revelation? I know I've been going on about this particular subject but I'm really trying to understand this.Neither statement is precisely the dominant Confessional position as codified for orthodox Protestantism in the 16th-17th centuries.
The moral law is summarized variously in the NT:
Rom.13:8, 10; Gal.5:14--according to the Apostle Paul, in one word: Love.
Mt.22:37-40--according to Christ Jesus the Lord, in two great commandments: Love to God and Love to Neighbor
From such commentary, and passages like 1Tim.1:8-10, we are directed back to the Decalogue for the "classic" summary of the moral law, the cornerstone of the Israelite national covenant. At the "steps" of increasing clarity (from one to two, from two to ten) we find answer to the questions, "OK, Love... what might that look like?" and "OK, Love God and my neighbor... what might that look like?" Loving and submitting to God, whether as an OT Israelite or a NT Christian, means obedience from the heart to know and to do everything as our Lord wills for his pleasure (Lk.6:46; Mt.7:21).
If someone desired to play a verbal fencing-match, he might attack the couplet (is) that declares the moral law equals the 10C. He might suggest there were matters of morality that are not bracketed (allegedly) or not clearly so by the bound of the 10C. Conversely, he might say the 10C are more than moral (by some definition) and therefore an appeal to them imposes false burden on men and their consciences.
By recognizing the 10C summarize the moral law rather than defining it, one debate straitjacket may be avoided.
I am not that familiar--probably to my detriment--with MGKline. Therefore, I cannot comment on his opinion regarding the substance of that which is graven on the heart, either originally with man in creation or re-inscribed on believer's hearts when they are restored to covenant fellowship through the Mediator. MGK comes in for various criticisms, some valid, others less so. As a seminary professor and author, he helped form many faithful ministers for the church, in spite of any idiosyncrasies and errors (and no one is error-free).Thank you for the detailed and informative answer. My main question is where I've read reformed theologians say the 10C is actually the moral law written on the heart. From my understanding of the passages you cited it seems at it's heart the moral law is more fundamental than the ten. It seems that the law written on the heart would be love God and neighbor and everything else such as the ten would be the natural outworking of those two. Are you familiar with Kline's view on this and is what I've said about that two greatest commandments being written on the heart outside of the reformed tradition? Also, in what way is the law written on the heart of an unbeliever vs the believer? Why does Paul seem to suggest he was ignorant of what coveting was prior to special revelation? I know I've been going on about this particular subject but I'm really trying to understand this.