John D. Reuther is pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in Lumberton, NJ, M.Div., Biblical Theological Seminary, 1985. Pastor Reuther is married with five children and two grandchildren.
The Decalogue, the Beatitudes, and the Fruit of the Spirit are Scripture’s three summarizing standards of ethical righteousness for the world. The organic relationship that they share is in the common core concept of righteousness. As each is given, development in the revelation of ethics appears. It is interesting to see that this progressive revelation of ethics has a Trinitarian character, i.e., the standards are associated with the revelation of each Person of the Trinity. It also is noteworthy to observe the differences in these standards, although they represent one monolithic structure properly called “Biblical Ethics.”[2]
I write from the premise that these standards are equally authoritative and applicable in this New Covenant age, although I will not attempt to prove the point.[3] The authority and applicability of the fruit of the Spirit is undisputed. No one in the realm of orthodoxy, to my knowledge, denies that the fruit of the Spirit applies to Christians today. But it is frequently argued that the Decalogue and/or the Beatitudes are not authoritative. For example, classic Dispensationalism regard the Sermon on the Mount as given for a future millennial kingdom, and some Dispensationalists, so-called “new covenant” theologians, and antinomians of various kinds, regard the Decalogue as no longer binding upon believers under the New Covenant. I believe in the present authority of the Decalogue as the moral law for today and as the rule of life for the church. I also believe that the Beatitudes describe the Christian life and thus possess divine authority in our lives. And I maintain that the Decalogue and the Beatitudes are intrinsic to life in the Spirit and involved in the production of spiritual fruit. I hope to demonstrate that each of these three magnificent standards addresses the matter of righteous, ethical living, and that the threads of Exod. 20:2-17, Matt. 5:3-10, and Gal. 5:22-23 are meant to be woven together to clothe us with the garment of righteousness which God provides for us in Christ (justification) and which we pursue in the Spirit (sanctification).
The Importance Of Our Subject
As students and ministers of the word, we must help others to see the harmony and continuity of ethical righteousness in progressive revelation. We need a strong foundation in the Law as consisting of core moral and ethical commandments, but we also need to see how in the progress of revelation the coming of Christ and the Spirit build on that foundation in the development of a system of ethics. These three standards bear witness as summarizing, core revelations of ethical righteousness in the progress of redemptive revelation. They possess differences in form and features, but careful, sober analysis of the relationship that they sustain to each other in the progress of divine revelation reveals that these differences display the beauty of the righteousness which they each commend. The connections sustained among the three relate to the revelation of righteousness. The differences relate to the development of kingdom righteousness, as it is revealed in the progress of redemptive history.
The Heart Of The Standards: Righteousness
At the heart of each standard is righteousness. The Hebrew word צְדָקָה has a broad range of expression. It refers to being just, and to being justified (niph.), to being declared righteous (hiph.), and in the adj. form, it means to be just, righteous, correct, or lawful. The word refers to behavior which accords with a standard or law. It appears in legal settings as well as in community or social settings. It also applies to religious life. Righteousness is a divine requirement that we do not meet, and a social requirement that we fall short of. There is also a personal aspect (stative) in which righteousness refers to a state of being, one which we are either in or out of (in which case we are classified as belonging with the “wicked”). Righteousness is that which is right, just, and normal.[4] Righteousness applies to weights and measures, government, speech, and every compartment of ethics that is touched upon in the Law. In summary, this important Hebrew term in all of its forms and uses speaks of being right with God, with others, and with life.
The Greek word for righteousness is δικαιοσύνη. All of the words in the δίκαιος group are derived from δίκη (punishment), although they speak of the opposite of guilt and punishment, concerning such things as payment and covering for sin, a clear conscience, and acceptance with God and with man. In the NT we find this family of words describing upright, just, righteous men in terms of their legal standing with God and their spiritual lives. It denotes men who do not violate the sovereignty of God and who keep His laws. They are “righteous in the sight of God” (Lk. 1:6).
The English word right conveys the sense readily. Righteousness is simply that which is right, according to the standard. And when things are right they are good and pleasant. Imagine a city whose buildings all lean, out of square. The sight would not be aesthetically pleasing. When things and people are right, they are the way they should be, i.e., the way God designed them to be. So, when things are right they are pleasant, beautiful, and pleasing, because they conform to standards that are perfect, true, and good. This emphasis is seen in Paul’s magnificent statement about the beauty and excellence of righteousness. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things” (Phil. 4:8). In this sin-cursed world, righteousness always stands out because it is inherently beautiful. And while the revelation of righteousness in Scripture is found in moral standards, the true standard of right(eousness) is God Himself: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Righteousness In God
Righteousness as it applies to God refers to His perfection, His excellencies, that is, His attributes, qualities, nature, and being. From His perfection in righteousness flow His majesty, brilliance, and beauty. The Scriptures assign righteousness to His person: “Righteousness belongs to You, O Lord” (Dan. 9:7). And the Scriptures assign righteousness to His works: “The heavens declare His righteousness” (Psa. 50:6). The creation is a manifest demonstration of His perfect work. The universe is majestic, beautiful, and awe-inspiring. It functions according to His intricate design, all of which declares His perfection and majestic beauty.
Righteousness In Man
Righteousness as it applies to man refers to our conformity to God’s being and requirements. Christ proclaimed this as the requirement of the Kingdom: “Therefore, you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matt. 5:48).[5] Righteousness also refers to a life that reflects God’s beauty and majesty, a life lived with a godly purpose. A true Christian is a beautiful person whose life brings praise to God and draws attention to the work that God is doing in him through the Gospel, in “the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Eph. 4:24).
The means of acquiring the righteousness of God is the justification of the sinner in Christ. According to Rom. 4:6, God credits righteousness to us in Christ, just as it was credited to Abraham apart from works, on the basis of faith (Rom. 4:22). Righteousness is a gift (Rom. 5:17), based on the one act of righteousness performed by the Lord Jesus in His death (Rom. 5:18). The word δικαιόω means to declare righteous. This is the gift of an imputed righteousness.
Righteousness Progressively Revealed
The Scripture progressively reveals the righteousness of God in His person, His creation, and His saving work. And it tells of righteous men and women made so by His grace. And it reveals a binding ethical system which is revealed first through Moses, then through Christ, and finally through the Spirit.
The righteousness revealed in this ethical system is not the means of justification, but the manifestations of sanctification and the demonstration of a true ethical righteousness that springs from the pure fountain of justification. Righteousness is always conformity to the standard of God and to the God of the standard, and it displays a beauty that results from conformity what is right, and the usefulness that belongs to a godly life. But the source of righteousness is always justifying faith (Gen. 15:6) and the imputation of Christ’s righteousness in justification (Rom. 5:16, 18). The justified Christian lives with a passion to be perfect as God is perfect, to be pleasing (i.e., morally beautiful) to God and to man (Prov. 3:4, Luke 2:52), and useful according to God’s design for life. I propose that the Decalogue, the Beatitudes, and the Fruit of the Spirit stand together to command, commend, and sustain that life. Carl Henry notes the organic relationship:
The transcendent basis of biblical ethics in special Divine revelation is the consistent affirmation of the whole sacred literature of the Hebrew-Christian movement….The whole of Scripture carries forward the correlation of ethics with the God of creation…..The Decalogue is bound up with God’s election of the Hebrews….Jesus did not modify the theological orientation of ethics. He reinforced it. Neither expediency, nor considerations of pleasure or prudence, nor the utilitarian concern with the greatest happiness of the greatest number, nor the appeal to the constitution of man and his ideal self-fulfillment gave Him the fundamental touchstone of morality…In disentangling the inner meaning of the Law from the accretions of tradition, Jesus correlated the ethical claim with the Word of God….The Pauline ethic bears the same theological stamp…the moral life is conceived of as the spiritual reign of God in the lives of believers…. The idea of God’s rule in the heart is as central in his teaching as in that of Jesus.[6]Comparison Of The Ethical Standards
In the remainder of this article we will examine each standard and its unique contribution to biblical ethics. In the Decalogue, we will see a clearly structured system of ethics. In the Beatitudes we will see a character portrait. And in the Fruit of the Spirit we will see the beautiful fullness of ethical life in terms of Spirit-filled living. The following diagrams will serve as the guide map of our study.
Ethical Standards of Righteousness Revealed in Scripture
One Standard ~ Three ViewsHarmony & Continuity of Righteousness |
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The Decalogue
Ex. 20:2-17
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The Beatitudes
Matt. 5:3-10
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The Fruit of the Spirit
Gal. 5:22-23 |
The Standards Viewed in the Progress of Trinitarian Revelation
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The Decalogue is given during the period when the revelation of the Father is prominent.
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The Beatitudes are given during the period when the Son is incarnate.
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The Fruit of the Spirit is revealed during the period when the Spirit has been poured out.
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The Standards Compared in Summarizing Statements
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Under Law
We are under the Law, bound by the strict, unbending requirement of righteousness to keep the whole law or face judgment. This is the foundation of ethical righteousness in all ages, because God is righteous and the Law is good (Rom. 7:16).
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In the Kingdom
The Sermon on the Mount is the manifesto of the promised kingdom inaugurated by Jesus in His incarnation. Jesus calls us into this kingdom with an inviting appeal to possess the blessedness which comes from righteousness.
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Fullness &Perfection in the Spirit
Christ baptizes us with His promised Spirit in order to do for us and in us what the Law cannot do. His presence in us gives power to produce the fruit of righteousness.
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The Form of the Three Standards of Righteousness
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A Structured System of Spiritual Ethics
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A Christian
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A Spirit-Filled Life
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The Summarized Content of the Three Standards of Righteousness
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Analysis of the Decalogue
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Analysis of the Beatitudes
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Analysis of the Fruit of the Spirit
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· Holiness in Worship
1st-3rd
· Holiness in Work
4th
· Holiness in Family & Society
5th
· Holiness in a Regard for Life
6th· Holiness in Marriage & Sex 7th · Holiness in Wealth & Possessions 8th · Holiness in Truth 9th · Holiness in Heart & Motive[7] 10th |
· The Character of Kingdom Citizens
Poor in spirit
Mourn for sin
Meekness
Hungry & thirsty for righteousness
· The Concurrences of Kingdom Character
Showing Mercy
Maintaining PurityPeacemaking Enduring Persecution |
· Ultimate Godliness
Love· Ultimate Blessedness Joy Peace · Ultimate Usefulness Patience Kindness Goodness Faithfulness Gentleness · Ultimate Human Freedom Self-Control · Ultimate Law-keeping “Against such there is no law.” |
The Ethical Standard Of Righteousness Revealed In The Decalogue
The Ten Commandments were written by the “finger of God” on “tablets of stone” (Deut. 5:22). They were the centerpiece of the faith and life of a people had experienced His redemption from bondage and had received the gift of His theocratic rule over them as a nation. They alone were a nation “under God.” He gave them the very first standard of ethical righteousness, yet it was a standard that was authoritative and applicable for all time and for all people. Carl Henry writes:
The Bible is the superlative propositional revelation of God; in defining man’s duties it is the repository of the world’s noblest ethical ideals. It is the supreme evidence that God has not withheld from individuals and nations the moral instruction they need for the perfect fulfillment of their calling. Those who exhibit its moral claims assert them to be more than human representations; indeed, we do not hesitate to identify them as the very will of God, revealed and written. The Torah gained its hold on Hebrew life because it was considered to be revealed instruction. The reverence Jesus held for the Law in written form is clear in Matt. 5:18, “not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law.” This implies that He appealed to the Old Testament as authoritatively containing the Divine command. Paul declares the glory of the Hebrews to be that they alone knew God’s will (Romans 2:17), possessing the very oracles of God.[8]The Decalogue is the standard of righteousness and the standard of judgment. It is lofty, yet realistic. Moses told the people, “For this commandment which I command you today is not too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach” (Deut. 30:11). If the Decalogue is a divinely-given code of ethics, then we expect it to be functional and useful. Indeed, it comes to us as a structured system of spiritual ethics.
Ethical Foundations
Antinomianism in all its varied forms strikes at the heart and nerve center of Christian ethics when it downgrades the Decalogue, which is the clearest standard of ethical righteousness that we possess in the Scriptures. Minimize, marginalize, or remove the Decalogue, or any part of it, and you have destroyed the foundations (Psa. 11:3). Richard Barcellos points out:
So even after the New Covenant replaces the Old Covenant, the Ten Commandments are viewed as a unit outside the Old Covenant and in a prescriptively positive context…..This not only supports the unity of the Bible, but the basic unity of ethics, Old or New Covenant. The Ten Commandments are, therefore, transcovenantal.[9]Antinomian beliefs also undercut the wisdom material of the Bible because wisdom in the OT is based on the commandments of the Law of Moses. Moses exhorted the people: “So keep and do them, for that is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples who will hear all these statutes and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people’” (Deut. 4:6). Again, Carl Henry is helpful:
One need only read the rest of the Old Testament to note that the Decalogue is supplemented by comprehensive ethical principles that are worked into the warp and woof of a revelation at once progressive and propadeutic, that is, adopted to the moral growth of the redeemed people....the commandments of the Law are fundamental to Old Testament ethics. Alongside them stand the moral principles set forth in the Psalms, Proverbs and prophets.[10]God spoke of the law as a standard in Lev. 24:22, where we read: “There shall be one standard (מִשְׁפַּט; LXX, δικαίωσις) for you; it shall be for the stranger as well as the native, for I am the Lord your God.” The Hebrew word מִשְׁפַּט means judgment. The law therefore is the righteous standard of judgment—a standard that is based on His being, not just on His will, for He Himself is holy.
Although the Jews misused, abused, and misapplied the Law, Scripture still says that “the Law is good” (Rom. 7:12, 16, 1 Tim. 1:8[11]). The godly love God’s Law and it is their meditation all the day (Pss. 1, 19, 119).[12] The Torah Psalms stand as a monument in Scripture to the abiding love of God’s law that we are meant to have. These expressions of love for the Law are expressions of basic godliness. If we cannot confess a love for God’s law like the love we see expressed there, then the whole Bible is not ours to love.
The psalmist was not seeking justification through the Law. Indeed, David had written of the blessedness of the man to whom the Lord does not impute iniquity, whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sin is covered (Psa. 32:1-2). He loved God’s law because it was good, pure, holy, righteous, godly, and essential for sorting out the complex situations of a life in which unrighteousness and injustice abound. The Law serves the same purpose for us today. The Law of God is a call to obedience, binding us to a strict and unbending requirement of righteousness, which we must keep in its entirety or face judgment. Only in Christ and in His Spirit can we fulfill the whole Law (Rom. 8:4).
The Decalogue manifests a marvelous structure that is more discernible than that of the Beatitudes or the Fruit of the Spirit. We have already seen that the organizing principle of the Decalogue is holiness.[13] Each commandment is a call to obedience to the standard of right that God has given. But what is the structure of this standard, and what system of ethics does it set forth?
The most obvious structure is seen in commandments dealing with our relationship to God (#1-4). But the element of structure also is present in the commandments dealing with our relationship to man (#5-10). This division in itself is very general; however, the Great Commandment and its corollary, that we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-40), suggest that this two-part structure is valid. Kaiser gives us a good working analysis and breakdown of the structure of the Decalogue.
- Holiness in Worship ~ 1st-3rd
- Holiness in Work ~ 4th
- Holiness in Family & Society ~ 5th
- Holiness in a regard for Life ~ 6th
- Holiness in Marriage & Sex ~ 7th
- Holiness in Wealth & Possessions ~ 8th
- Holiness in Truth ~ 9th
- Holiness in Heart & Motive ~ 10th[14]
Let me suggest that we illustrate the “structural system of spiritual ethics” by viewing it like a grid-work upon which a well-functioning city is built, where all the systems properly work together to support and sustain the city. So also the Decalogue as a system-standard addresses the inter-relatedness of all of the parts of morality and spirituality. This “grid” enables us to interpret and live life righteously.
Man is a worshiping creature, and so he needs authoritative direction concerning the worship that he is to offer to God. The Lord has given us the first four commandments for this purpose. Man is a working creature, designed and commanded to work as God’s steward. The relationship of worship and work is a major hurdle and sometimes a stumbling-block in the life of man.[16] But how is he to view his work and engage in it so that it does not become his god or alienate him from God? For this he needs the 4th commandment.
The basic building-block element of human society is the family. We must be taught how to relate to one another in a family. And that is only the beginning of what the 5th commandment teaches us. It also teaches us how to relate to all authorities. This commandment even prepares us for life in the church of Christ.
We are living beings, and relate to persons. The 6th commandment teaches us how to regard and safeguard human life, whether our own or the lives of others. As males and females we are created with a distinct sexuality, with complementary design, roles, and functions. The 7th commandment contains crucial principles governing and maintaining holiness in human sexuality.
We possess things and gather possessions and claim ownership of property. We have legal rights in society regarding the things we call our own, and the 8th commandment shows us the regard that we are to have for the sacredness of wealth and possessions, both for ourselves, and for our treatment of others.
Our relationships with God and men demand truth-telling, for God is the God of truth, and truth is an absolute, fundamental, law of life. We find ourselves in a world of good and evil, truth and falsehood. Our speech must be holy, righteous, and sacred. The 9th commandment is God’s abiding word for this crucial area of life.
But the 10th commandment has a special place in the Bible’s system of ethics and righteousness. It is directed at our deepest motives and desires. Every other commandment finds its support in urging man to look at his heart and to search out his desires and motives. Man’s wants are the motivations for actions. This vital fact is dealt with in the 10th commandment.
The Decalogue has a remarkable symmetry. It places our duties toward God and toward man side-by-side. It puts our relationship to worship and work side-by-side. And it puts our deeds and our motives side-by-side. This symmetry shows the interrelatedness of all of life.
The Expansion Of The Decalogue
Kaiser develops the thesis that Deuteronomy 12-25 is Moses’ exposition of the Decalogue given at Sinai. Moses restates the law in Deut. 5:6-21, and then in Deut. 12-25 he proceeds to apply the law to the particulars of Israelite life. The basic outline is seen in the following chart.[17]
Deut. 5
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Commandment
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Deut. 12-25
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Description
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5:6-10
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1-2
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12:1-32
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Worship
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5:11
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3
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13:1-14:27
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Name of God
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5:12-15
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4
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14:28-16:17
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Sabbath
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5:16
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5
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16:18-18:22
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Authority
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5:17
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6
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19:1-22:8
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Homicide
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5:18
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7
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22:9-23:19
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Adultery
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5:19
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8
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23:20-24:7
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Theft
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5:20
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9
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24:8-25:4
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False Charges
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5:21
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10
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25:5-16
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Coveting
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Kaiser says:
I am persuaded that the Decalogue forms the proper structuring outline for the order and sequence of the stipulations in this part of Deuteronomy. In fact, the entire second discourse of Moses is a single literary unit that convincingly demonstrates that the moral law forms the statutes, judgments, and commands of God.[18]Kaiser’s proposal is worth pursuing. We will see this principle again in the relation of the Beatitudes to the Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes have the character of a standard, but they are exegeted and expanded in the rest of the Kingdom manifesto of the sermon.
A Catalogue For Timeless Ethical Questions
The scope of the Decalogue relates not only to the life of the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant, but to the whole catalog of ethical issues that man faces in all generations. This is one of the amazing features of the Decalogue. J. Douma treats the Ten Commandments with this in mind, calling them “A Manual for the Christian Life.”[19] I have harvested from this book an impressive list of spiritual-ethical issues which the Ten Commandments address (and added others to it) in order to illustrate that the Decalogue provides the foundation for a comprehensive system of ethics which is necessary, useful, and binding in all ages and for all people.
1st
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The nature of religion
Idolatry
Sorcery/Witchcraft
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2nd
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Idolatry/Images in worship
Cultic images/Visual arts/Iconoclastic campaigns
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3rd
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Taking oaths/Vows
Swearing/Cursing
Dice/Casting lots
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4th
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Work and rest
Work and leisure
Work and worship
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5th
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Roles of parents/Attitudes of children
Discipline of children/Honor of parents
Forms of authority in life and society
Authority and power/State authority
Civil disobedience
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6th
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Sanctity of life/Unlawful killing
Abortion/Euthanasia/Suicide/Homicide
Self-defense/Capital punishment/War
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7th
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Marriage/Artificial Insemination/In Vitro Fertilization
Sexual pleasure/Choosing a Spouse/Preparing for Marriage
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8th
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Weights & Measures /Money/Merchandise
Stewardship/Private Property
Work/Showing Mercy/Giving/Kidnapping
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9th
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Lies/Deception/Slander/Gossip/Mental Equivocation
Concealment/Truth-telling/Promises/Intentions |
10th
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Motives/Integrity/Purity/Desires/Contentment/Humility
Lust/Envy/Jealousy/Pride
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Often the Decalogue is caricatured as a mere list of do’s and don’ts relating mainly to external performance. But three things show that this is not so: first, the prominence of the 10th commandment, which deals with the heart and motives; second, the teaching of the OT (esp. Deut. 1-11) on loving God, God’s love for us, and the importance of keeping the heart; and third, Christ’s expositions of some of the commandments in the Sermon on the Mount, which show their true intent.
The commands of the Decalogue are authoritative directives. The Beatitudes and the Fruit of the Spirit are not cast in this form. Many regard this as a strike against the Decalogue and a vote for the Beatitudes and the Fruit of the Spirit. But the New Testament confirms the need for such authoritative direction, i.e., for commandments, yes, for “do’s and don’ts.”
For example, we see the commandment form in Paul’s revelation of the nature and outworking of love in 1 Cor. 13:4-7.
Do
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Don’t
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Be patient.
Be kind.
Bear all things with love.
Believe the best through love.
Be hopeful.
Endure all things lovingly. |
Don’t be jealous.
Don’t brag about yourself.
Don’t be arrogant.
Don’t act rudely or unbecomingly.
Don’t seek your own.
Don’t be provoked.
Don’t keep a record book of wrongs.
Don’t rejoice when bad things happen to others or when they do evil, so you can feel triumphant about yourself.
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Paul is doing just what we see in the authoritative directives of the Ten Commandments. He is not just saying, “Let’s just love one another because that’s the important thing.” He knows that the proper behaviors of love must be stated specifically, and that not only in positive ways, but in negative ways also.
In Gal. 5:14, Paul says that “the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The goal is love, but the path that leads to love’s proper expression is paved with many negative and positive directives. At Rom. 13:8, Paul says, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another, for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” But then (at v. 9) he sets before us the 7th, 6th, 8th, and 10th commandments as the divinely authoritative statement of what love is. His point is that true love is not a mere feeling but that it fulfills the commandments of the moral law.
The design of the Decalogue is functional, with solutions to the problems caused by human sin. A new heart is needed and the Gospel is anticipated. The Law is not given as a means of justification (Gal. 3:21) but to show the way to live. The Beatitudes will address the path of true blessedness and point us to Christ and the Kingdom. The Spirit will reveal the fruit which He gives, leading us still further along the path of life and perfection. The Decalogue is not the whole solution, but it is the basis of and remains an integral part of it. The Decalogue cannot be set aside, minimized, or voided. Nor has it been replaced by another code that makes lighter demands on us.
Among the attractions of the Beatitudes and of the Fruit of the Spirit are their beauty and literary genius. We naturally warm to them. But the Decalogue possesses a beauty and genius as well, though perhaps not with the same level of aesthetic appeal. Kaiser writes:
We conclude by refusing to bifurcate a person’s response in the ethical world of the Old Testament. Neither Pietism, which often emphasizes the heart and attitudes of a person while underrating the importance of ethical action, nor social activism, which places its emphasis on action in the marketplace and community while often underrating the priority of the heart and attitudes of man, will fit the Old Testament pattern. Both, in a balanced and biblically arranged set of priorities, must play their part. Both emphases, in abstraction from each other, are to be faulted as being sub-biblical and clearly counter to the call for a holistic view of ethics as set forth not only in the summarizing texts of the Old Testament but also in the leading strains of Old Testament ethics as we have just seen in organizing them around the most extensive symbol of ethical teaching in the Old Testament: the Decalogue.[20]The Decalogue is a presentation of requirements. The Beatitudes are a statement of blessedness or well-being. And the Fruit of the Spirit is a description of the ultimate perfection and development of the righteousness of God working itself out (and worked out by us) in our lives in terms of ethical fruitfulness. If we will pause to reflect on the relation of these three, we must stand in awe of God’s wisdom. And seeing its relation to the Beatitudes and the Fruit of the Spirit should increase our esteem for the Law. And our desire to live in conformity to its commands should be heightened. We have much more than the Decalogue, i.e., the power of the Kingdom and the indwelling presence of the Spirit of Christ to enable us to live out this standard of righteousness, but the Decalogue remains foundational to Christian ethics.
The Ethical Standard Of Righteousness Revealed In The Beatitudes
The fame of Moses is the Law (Jn. 1:17), and the fame of the Lord Jesus is His kingdom manifesto known to us as the Sermon on the Mount. We will consider the Beatitudes as the ethical standard which Jesus revealed to us, and the relationship that they have to the rest of Matthew 5-7. The Beatitudes can be studied as a self-contained literary unit, but their position in the Sermon on the Mount is an equally important consideration, especially from the standpoint of ethics and righteousness.[21] Carl Henry says: “The Sermon bears the dual theological emphasis on the uncompromising righteousness of God and of the absolute necessity that the moral law be fulfilled if man is to contemplate a felicitous destiny in eternity.”[22]
Blessedness
The Beatitudes are the preface to Christ’s kingdom manifesto. Most will recognize that one of the striking differences between the Beatitudes and the Ten Commandments is that the Beatitudes are not a list of duties or requirements, but rather a description of blessedness, happiness, and well-being. The Beatitudes raise the question: Who would not want to be happy and blessed, rather than burdened and cursed? Christ is appealing to sinners to enter the kingdom of God. He sets the glory of the kingdom before them and urges them to pursue the kingdom earnestly and to “enter in by the narrow gate” (Matt. 7:13).
Requirements
A kingdom exists by rule, and though the Beatitudes are pronouncements of blessedness, they are still requirements of life in God’s kingdom, under His sovereign rule. The Beatitudes do not look like a list of rules, but in reality they are, because to be a citizen of a kingdom one must obey the rules of the kingdom. Christ stated the Beatitudes in a poetic and proverbial form, after the fashion of Hebrew poetry; but they are still directive. The demand for holy living therefore is built into his description of the conditions of blessedness. This command/demand factor is seen in other places (cf., 1 Pet. 5:6; Matt. 6:33; Rom. 12:1-3; Lk. 6:36), yet the Beatitudes are prefaced by a promise of blessedness, which obviously is meant to encourage us in the path of obedience. And so, while the Decalogue is the ethical grid-work of the Father, the Beatitudes are the artistic landscape of the kingdom of Heaven sketched by the Son. The Beatitudes are superior to the Decalogue, but lead us closer to the fullness of the revelation of and participation in the kingdom. Carl Henry writes:
Obviously, the Sermon does not contain “thou shalt not” commandments as its characteristic pattern. Some negations do appear. But the prohibitory form is not necessary to commandment (although it is specially suited to man in the state of sin), it seems unnecessary therefore to contend that the sermon gives us only principles but not specific commandments. Its declarations do not deal directly with the lesser matters; nor is the whole of life covered in the outward pharisaic sense. But it includes commandments as definitely as does the Decalogue.[23]Each pronouncement of blessedness then is a call to duty: be humble (Js. 4:10; 1 Pet. 5:6); be merciful (Lk. 6:36); don’t be self-seeking (Phil. 2:3); be pure (1 Tim. 4:12; Tit. 2:5).
Righteousness
There are good reasons for placing the Decalogue and the Beatitudes side-by-side. One reason is the relationship between Moses and Jesus. “For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ” (Jn. 1:17). This is not an antithetic comparison, of course, but a synthetic comparison, declaring that Moses and Christ go together (cf., Matt. 5:17-19; 17:1-3; Deut. 18:15-19), and that Moses and Christ work together (cf., Gal. 3:21, 24; Rom. 8:3-4). The great contribution of Moses was the Law (yet there was grace in the Mosaic period). The great gift of Jesus Christ is the fullness of grace and truth. Another reason is the connection to righteousness and ethics which both the Decalogue and the Beatitudes (as preface to the rest of the Sermon) clearly have. Carl Henry says, “The Sermon is the final and deepest statement of the Law.”[24]
The sermon which begins with the inviting promises of blessedness goes on to develop the true intention of the Ten Commandments in a series of Decalogue illustrations, i.e., in Matt. 5:21-48 where the Lord gives six illustrations of the “greater righteousness” required for entrance into the kingdom of Heaven (cf., 5:20). Further, His exegesis of select commandments illustrates what He said in 5:17-19.
Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill…not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.The Beatitudes speak of the righteousness required to enter into the kingdom of Heaven, and they come trimmed with the beauty of blessedness, i.e., that kingdom citizens are blessed people whose lives are transformed and whose world is impacted by their righteousness.
Structure Or Portrait?
Do the Beatitudes exhibit the feature of clear structure like the Decalogue does? If indeed they are an ethical standard, we would expect them to have a discernible structure and not be simply an extemporaneous piece of verbal art. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones gives his studied opinion on the question:
There is, beyond any question, a very definite order in these Beatitudes. Our Lord does not place them in their respective positions haphazardly or accidentally; there is what we may describe as a spiritual logic sequence to be found here. This (the poor in spirit), of necessity, is the one which must come at the beginning for the good reason that there is no entry into the kingdom of Heaven, or the kingdom of God, apart from it…as we go on…we shall see that it really means an emptying, while the others are a manifestation of a fullness. We cannot be filled until we are empty…..The Sermon on the Mount comes to us and says ‘There is a mountain that you have to scale, the heights you have to climb, and the first thing you must realize, as you look at that mountain which you are told you must ascend, it that you cannot do it…..yourself.’[25]Structure, according to Lloyd-Jones, is seen in the preeminent position of the first beatitude, which heralds the themes of emptying and fullness. This certainly is a prominent theme of the NT, especially with regard to the person and work of the Spirit. Lloyd-Jones relates this emptying/filling theme to a mountain climbing illustration which he develops further along in his treatment of the Sermon on the Mount.
A possible analysis, which commends itself to me, is as follows. I regard Matt. 5:6 (“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be satisfied.”) as….in the centre; the first three Beatitudes lead up to it and these other Beatitudes follow it. If we regard verse six as a kind of watershed, I think it helps us to understand why this particular statement comes at this point…The first three Beatitudes are concerned with our need….the vital importance of a deep awareness of need. Then comes the great statement of the satisfaction of need and God’s provision for it (righteousness). From there on we are looking at the result of that satisfaction, the result of being filled. We become merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers….In the first three we are going up one side of the mountain, as it were. We reach the summit in the fourth, and then we come down on the other side.[26]Let’s go further into the content of the Beatitudes to consider the two main features expressed in the ethics of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount: characters and concurrences (attendants). If we relate these features to Lloyd-Jones’ illustration of the mountain, the characters are manifest in the journey up the mountain, and the concurrences or attendants of these character traits are manifest in the journey down the mountain.
Character Traits
In the first beatitude, poverty of spirit is the recognition that we have nothing to bring to God. We are empty, naked, spiritual beggars before His majestic holiness. We have renounced all of our pride and consider ourselves nothing apart from His grace and mercy, which is the basis of all of our pleading. The mourners mentioned in the second beatitude therefore are the poor in spirit. There is a natural relationship between these things. We mourn our desperate condition. We mourn our sins and the sin of the world. We yearn for the overturning of this sinful order and the coming of the new order. And in this spiritual frame we go forth emptied of self-assurance, knowing that we are poor and there is nothing in us that commends us to God or to the world. The meekness mentioned in the third beatitude is not weakness but the presence of an all-absorbing purpose, which is then developed in the fourth beatitude. There we read of a hunger and thirst for righteousness which leads us to seek the path of moral perfection.
Is the emphasis on character absent in the Decalogue? No, in fact it needs to be emphasized more in teaching the Law. The Decalogue portrays a true worshiper who loves Yahweh because of His grace manifested in the loving deliverance from Egyptian bondage and bequest of an inheritance in the Promised Land. It also portrays one who loves his neighbor by careful attention to the laws of holiness and righteousness among brethren (cf., Leviticus 19). But the Beatitudes picture a vision of the universal kingdom of God where character can now be exhibited in its splendor because the citizens of the kingdom possess blessedness beyond imagination. The poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of God and the meek will inherit the earth. Going through life mourning is not a pleasant prospect, but Jesus makes it precious, for those who mourn will be comforted. Satisfaction, not frustration or disappointment, is promised to those who hunger and thirst all their lives. Those who are merciful will themselves receive mercy, and those who prayerfully and faithfully strive to keep themselves pure will have the spiritual capacity to see God, and will see Him face to face with unbounded joy. Peacemakers wear a noble badge. They alone are the sons of God.
Attendant Concurrences
The kind of character that the Beatitudes depict has attendant concurrences. A concurrence is something that goes along with. This is different from the promises attached to the Beatitudes (each one has a blessing corresponding to it). Concurrences have to do with the effects of the character that is depicted by Christ in the Beatitudes.
These character traits therefore directly affect the way we treat others. For example, the concurrence of having a proper self-image (poverty in spirit) and of being meek is the desire and determination to show mercy to those in need and to bring peace where possible. Since poverty of spirit is recognition of one’s own personal need, such a person is attuned to the needs of others. The same is true of mourning. If we mourn the tragic state of this world, mercy will flow from us. These character traits also affect how we relate to ourselves. For example, the poor in spirit long to be pure in spirit. They watch over their hearts with all diligence because from the heart the springs of life flow (Prov. 4:23). These character traits even affect how others treat us, for those who possess the character depicted in the Beatitudes are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, bringing righteousness into relationships and situations, and this sometimes results in persecution.
Paradoxes
This is an interesting feature of the Beatitudes not found in the Decalogue. Those who are poor in spirit are rich in the kingdom. Those who mourn are comforted. Those who are meek and seek not their own inherit the earth. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied. Those who are merciful receive mercy. Those who deny themselves to keep pure see God, which is a far greater pleasure than anything known by those who indulge themselves in sin. Those who are dedicated to peacemaking wear a noble badge. The persecuted inherit the kingdom of Heaven.
The Relationship Of The Beatitudes To The Sermon On The Mount
Are the Beatitudes the only ethical standard that Jesus presented in this monumental manifesto? No, the Beatitudes are an ethical standard that comes to us as a summary, just as the Ten Commandments are a summary of God’s Law. And just as the Ten Commandments are exegeted in Deuteronomy 12-25, and in the wisdom Book of Proverbs, so the Beatitudes are exegeted in the Sermon on the Mount. What follows is an attempt to show this relationship.
Beatitudes
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The rest of The Sermon on the Mount
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Poor in spirit 5:3
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This character of Christian righteousness is developed throughout the SOM, beginning with the relation of the godly to the world as salt and light (5:21-26). This is the proper attitude with which to relate to the world. Since it is the first and fundamental attitude of kingdom participation, it is the basis for all of the attitudes necessary for a proper response to the true requirements of the commandments exegeted by Christ in chapter 5. It is fundamental to the practices of righteousness in 6:1-18 (alms, prayer, and fasting). It also guards against hyper-critical and hypocritical judgments (7:1-5).
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Mourn 5:4
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Mourning for sin and its effects is a godly emotion which affects our relationship to the world as salt and light. If we truly weep for mankind, we will desire to reach mankind. This character trait is the basis for asking for the forgiveness of sins (6:12-14). It is a godly emotion that replaces worry and anxiety (6:25-34). It guards against being proud and lifted up toward others and judging them unfairly (7:1-5).
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Meek 5:5
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Meekness, humility, the emptying of selfish desire and purpose, fosters patience with others enabling us to fulfill the true intent of the 6th commandment and Matt. 5:22-26; 5:37; 5:38-42. Meekness is the power that subdues unrighteous anger and malice. The meek person is totally devoted to God and will not serve two masters (6:24). Meekness keeps us from ostentation in practicing righteousness (6:1-8), and aids devotion to the cause of the kingdom and will of God (6:10). It keeps us from judging with unrighteous judgment (7:1-5), and fosters the applying of the “golden rule” (7:12).
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Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness 5:6
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Since this beatitude is at the very core of the character portrait and core concept of righteousness, it reaches out to just about every part of the SOM. The Christian longs for righteousness in all his dealings with people (5:21-26; 5:38-42; 5:43-47), with women (5:28), in marriage (5:31-32), in the practice of righteousness and worship (6:1-18), in heart and motive (6:19-24), and in the judgment of others (7:1-5). It corresponds to the role of the 10th commandment in the structure of the Decalogue. Coveting is inordinate, ungoverned, selfish desire, and the 10th commandment deals with the real heart issue involved in breaking the other commandments. So this beatitude is the peak of the mountain of our pursuit and victory, which enables us to be useful in this world going forward. It corresponds to Matt. 6:48 and the explicit command to “be perfect, as our Father in Heaven is perfect.” It fosters the storing up of treasures in heaven (6:19-21), and true prayer (6:9-13).
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Showing Mercy 5:7
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A heart inclined toward showing mercy to others fosters patience with others which enables us to fulfill the spirit of the 6th commandment (5:22). Mercy replaces murder (6th) and all unrighteous and mean treatment of others. Mercy relates to the “eye for eye, tooth for tooth” instruction of Jesus in 5:38-42, in that it puts down that desire for personal revenge. Mercy is crucial to granting forgiveness to those who sin against us (6:12-14; 18:21-35).
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Pure in Heart 5:8
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Only the pure in heart can keep the heart from lusting (5:28-30) in pursuit of fulfilling the 7th commandment. The single (clear) eye (pure spiritual vision) of 6:19-24 is one of the manifestations of heart purity.
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Peacemaking 5:9
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Fosters the fulfillment of the 6th commandment (5:22-24) by leading us to “be reconciled” and “make friends quickly with your opponent.” It is an expression of loving our enemies (5:45-47). It is an essential part of obeying the injunctions of Christ about our judgments (7:1-5).
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Enduring Persecution 5:10-12
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Jesus taught that we are to pray for those who persecute us, and love our enemies (5:44).
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The point of this chart is to underscore that the Beatitudes are the work of the Word Artist who paints a picture of the heart and life of a citizen of His kingdom. He paints more of the picture and the background as the Sermon unfolds. And in this we see the beautiful symmetry of Law and Gospel, of Moses and Jesus, of commandment and blessedness. As an ethical standard, the Beatitudes convey a beautiful picture that draws sinners to turn to Christ so that they may be citizens of His kingdom.
The Ethical Standard Of Righteousness Revealed In The Fruit Of The Spirit
We love fruit. God loves fruit, too. Fruit is one of the greatest blessings of our earthly life. We enjoy the harvest of the fruit of the earth. We consume the fruit of the earth for physical life as we harvest the resources that God has given: trees for building our homes, fuel for running our machinery, minerals for making our medicines, and so much more. It is fitting that the work of the Spirit should be described using the beautiful imagery of fruit. And respecting the major categories of the Spirit’s work in the Christian life, this aspect of His work may well be the highest and most important of all, because it is the “fruit” of every other blessing that He gives to His people. Fruit has to do with the culmination and fulfillment of all of the processes that work together according to their natural (or spiritual) design. Fruit is ultimate. This “ultimate” concept of the fruit of the Spirit is vital. And when we study it we find ourselves in awe of God’s design for our spiritual needs, for our spiritual growth and blessing, and most of all, for His own glory in our salvation.
Fruit is given a place of prominence over giftedness in the Scripture, though not always in the thinking and practice of Christians. It is important to have a proper perspective on fruit and gift. Which is more important, fruit or gift? Perhaps an even better question is: Which is more important to you and me? Many believers place more emphasis on spiritual gifts than spiritual fruit. R. C. Sproul writes:
It is no accident that the fruit of the Spirit is not elevated in our ranks as the highest test of righteousness. There abides so much flesh in us that we prefer another standard. The fruit test is too high; we cannot attain to it. So within our Christian subcultures we prefer to elevate some lesser test by which we can measure ourselves with more success.[27]Since the focus of this study is the standards of ethical righteousness in Scripture, we cannot engage in a full study of the Fruit of the Spirit, but only the relationship of the Fruit of the Spirit to the Decalogue and the Beatitudes. In Galatians especially we see clearly stated the relationship of the fruit to the Law and righteousness.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Gal. 5:18-23)At first glance perhaps this sounds as if the Spirit’s work is antithetical to the Law, because Paul says that we are not “under the Law” but led by the Spirit. But it is not.
A Matter Of Control And Rule
Understanding the comparison between being led by the Spirit and being under the Law is crucial, lest we cast aside the Law to embrace the Gospel. Paul says that we are not under the Law, but we are being led by the Spirit (Gal. 5:18). This statement has been commandeered to support the belief that the Ten Commandments are no longer applicable as a rule of righteousness. If we are not under the Law, many reason, the Law is no longer in force. But when Paul speaks of being under the Law, he is referring to being under the total control of something or someone—in this case the requirements of the Law—including the unbending and inflexible requirement of strict justice that demands payment for all deviations from the standard.[28] Paul, therefore, is referring to a contrast in control. Who or what controls us, the Law or the Spirit? But he is not contrasting a former authority and use of the Decalogue with its present abrogation and disuse as a statement of worship and ethics, i.e., as a rule of righteousness.
Paul is doing what he did in Romans 8, where he described the work of the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Life (8:2), who does what the Law cannot do. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” This title is on a par with the Spirit of Truth (Jn. 16:13).
Keep in mind the essential connection between the way, the truth, and the life of John 14:6, as an expression of our need and Christ’s supply. Consider this then in light of Paul’s teaching in Galatians concerning the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of Life working today in this Gospel age. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. The Spirit of Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. And he is this in all generations. This is why Jesus said to His disciples: “It is to your advantage that I go away” (Jn. 16:7).
The Holy Spirit is the way. His name is Paraclete, the one called alongside us as we travel through life. Just as Jesus was the way for His disciples during His incarnation, the Spirit of Jesus given to us is the way for us now in discipleship to Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of Truth” (Jn. 14:17; 15:26; 16:13; 1 Jn. 4:6), just as Jesus declared Himself to be the truth. And the Holy Spirit is the “Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2), just as Jesus declared Himself to be the life. The Spirit gives us direction for our eternal destination because He is the way. He gives us information and revelation, i.e., light, knowledge, and wisdom, because He is the truth. And last, but not least, He gives us every provision needed for living life to the glory of God and for our being presented before Him in the last day. He provides everything to prepare us for heaven, especially in the matter of His part in the ethical righteousness that we pursue, viz., the production of the fruit of righteousness.
Fruit As Righteousness
Let’s consider the connection between Gospel fruit and righteousness, i.e., that the fruit of the Spirit is righteousness.
- Drip down, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds pour down righteousness, let the earth open up and salvation bear fruit, and righteousness spring up with it. (Isa. 45:8)
- Having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God. (Phil. 1:11)
- It yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Heb. 12:11)
- The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 14:17)
- But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season. And its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers. (Psa. 1:2-3)
- Thus says the Lord, cursed is the man who trusts in mankind and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord. For he will be like a bush in the desert and will not see when prosperity comes, but will live in stony wastes in the wilderness, a land of salt without inhabitant. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose trust is the Lord. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream and will not fear when the heat comes; but its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit. (Jer. 17:5-8)
- A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. (Matt. 7:18-20)
- Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for the tree is known by its fruit. (Matt. 12:33)
- For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Therefore what benefit (fruit) were you then deriving from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the outcome of those things is death. But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit (fruit), resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. (Rom. 6:20-22 NASB)
- Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. (Rom. 7:4-5 NASB)
The argument in Rom. 6:20-22 is that being under the Law equals being a slave of sin and free (or so one thinks) in regard to righteousness. No one, however, is ever free from God’s requirement of righteousness. But the enslaved person lives as though he were free from it. Now what fruit does a person have who lives as though he were free from the reality and requirements of God’s righteousness and is, in reality, sold to slavery in sin? The outcome of living this way is death. This is why Paul characterizes this kind of life as bearing “fruit for death.” What a hideous thought. Slavery to sin only produces fruit for eternal death. All of the world’s devotion to sin yields only eternal death. This is all that the unrighteous have to show for their lives.
On the other hand, having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, we “have our fruit into sanctification” and the outcome eternal life. Slavery to God means that our life has been brought into the realm of transforming grace, sanctification, and growth that bears “fruit for God.”
The Person, Presence, And Power For Producing Fruit
The doctrine of the Spirit in the book of Galatians emphasizes the relationship of faith in Christ to the production of fruit in and by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the person, presence, and power behind the production of fruit in the Christian.
Paul says that we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith, not through works (3:2). And how are we perfected? It is “by the Spirit” (3:3). God provides us with His Spirit (3:5). Yes, He has “sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying ‘Abba, Father’” (4:6). Thus filled and armed with the Spirit of the living God and His Son Jesus Christ, we find protection against the desires of the flesh (5:16). Thus the way has been paved, and the ground cultivated, if you will, for the production of fruit, the main concern of living in the Spirit. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit” (5:25). If we walk according to the flesh we will manifest the deeds of the flesh (5:19-21). But if we walk according to the Spirit we will produce the fruit of the Spirit (5:22-23).
Paul’s pneumatology in Galatians is diagramed below.
The Spirit of life resides in us. He is the Spirit of Christ Himself, as Paul says in Col. 1:27, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” But how is Christ in us? Christ is present in us by His Spirit. And the power that now works in us is described vividly in Rom. 8:11. “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.” There is no doubt that the primary reference in the phrase “life to your mortal bodies” is to the resurrection of the body from the sleep of death. But on the other hand, Paul is speaking about the Spirit who now dwells in us. Is His power reserved for the future resurrection only? In Phil. 1:19, Paul spoke about “the provision (supply) of the Spirit of Jesus Christ” working in his deliverance. He spoke about this power also in Rom. 15:13. “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Only the Holy Spirit can give us the power to produce the fruits of righteousness.
We have already seen that the Ten Commandments manifest a grand design. They are unparalleled and unsurpassed, and to say that they are obsolete and replaced by a new law, the Law of Christ, the leading of the Spirit, or the law of love, is to undermine the whole fabric of Judeo/Christian ethics and unleash a flood-tide of easy-believism. But Warfield captures the wonder of the Spirit’s leading in contrast to being under the law:
Accordingly Paul, when he declares that we have been emancipated from the law of sin and of death by the advent of the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus into our hearts, does not leave it so, as if emancipation were all. He adds, “accordingly then, we are bound.” Though emancipated, still bound! We are bound, but no longer to the flesh, to live after the flesh, but to the Spirit, to live after the Spirit….this is no hard bondage, but a happy one….the essence of the new relation is that it also is one of control, though a control by a beneficent and not a cruel power. We do not at all catch Paul’s meaning, therefore, unless we perceive the strong emphasis which lies on this fact–that those who are led by the Spirit of God are under the control of the Spirit of God….The children of God are not directors of their own activities; there is One that dwells in them who is not merely their guide, but their governor and strong regulator. They go, not where they would, but where He would; they do not what they might wish, but what He determines. This it is to be led by the Spirit of God.[30]Warfield goes on to discuss the believer’s own part in this leading by the sovereign control of the Spirit, and says that it is not a substitute for the believer’s actions.
This is not a drawing or dragging of a passive weight toward a goal which is attained, if attained at all, only by virtue of the power residing in the moving Spirit, but a leading of an active agent to an end determined indeed by the Spirit, and along a course which is marked out by the Spirit, but over which the soul is carried by virtue of its own power of action and through its own strenuous efforts. If we are not borne by the Spirit out of our sin into holiness with a smooth and easy movement, almost unnoticed by us or noted only with the languid pleasure with which a child resting peacefully on its mother’s breast may note its progress up some rough mountain road, so neither are we dragged by the Spirit as a passive weight over the steep and rugged path. We are led. We are under His control and walk in the path in which He sets our feet. It is His part to keep us in the path and to bring us at length to the goal. But it is we who tread every step of the way; our limbs that grow weary with the labor; our hearts that faint; our courage that fails–our faith that revives our sinking strength, our hope that instills new courage into our souls–as we toil over the steep ascent.[31]Love Is The Prominent Fruit
There is no doubt that love is the greatest of all the fruits of the Spirit, not just because it is first in this list, but because Paul says so in 1 Cor. 13:13, “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” We might think that faith is most important because without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6), and because the just live by faith (Rom. 1:17). Yet Paul does not even mention faith in the list of fruit in Gal. 5:22-23. Why then is love given priority? Love is the greatest virtue produced by the Spirit’s working for at least four reasons:
- Because God is love (1 Jn. 4:8, 16). When true love is operative in us we are truly, powerfully, reflecting the image of God in this life.
- Because love is native to righteousness. We are commanded to love God and our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:37-39). This is the fundamental requirement of the Law of God in all its forms.
- Because hope is conceived by the love of God. “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom. 5:5). Hope thus is subservient to love.
- Because true faith works through love. “If I have all faith…but do not have love, I am nothing” (1 Cor. 13:2). “In Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6). “So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend…” (Eph. 3:17).
Another reason why love is the most prominent fruit is because it is not only a fruit, but a spiritual gift. Paul calls it a spiritual gift in 1 Cor. 12-13. He calls love “the more excellent way,” i.e., more than the greater gifts (1 Cor. 12:31; 13:1-13). This supremacy of love as a fruit and as a gift relate to the nature of God as love (1 Jn. 4:8, 16) and the ethical requirements of His law (the 1st and 2nd great commandments) and Gospel (“love one another just as I have loved you” Jn. 15:12). We can call it the quality control of the fruit-bearing life. If I have true love I have everything, as opposed to Paul’s “if I do not have love I am nothing.”
Paul is describing the work of the Spirit in terms of ultimates. This relates to the perfection which Jesus commanded in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:48). Love as a fruit of Spirit shows ultimate godliness. Joy and peace may be understood as ultimate blessedness. Patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness exist in the realm ultimate usefulness. Think of how far kindness goes in ministering to others, and how the kindness and gentleness of Christ was the adornment of His person and work. Goodness is crucial because it is by doing good that we overcome evil. The cosmic battle against the forces of evil is waged with the fruit of goodness (Rom. 12:21). And how else will the work of the kingdom advance and prosper unless God’s people are faithful? It cannot be accomplished in any other way.
The last fruit described is the fruit of self-control. This is ultimate human freedom. It is paradoxical (remember that feature in the Beatitudes) that ultimate freedom should be evidenced in ultimate restraint. But when we are in control of our spirits, or rather, when the Spirit grants us the power of the fruit of self-control, we are most free. Without the Spirit’s power in our spirits, we would be in bondage to remaining sin and selfish interests. We would not be meek, nor would we be hungering and thirsting for righteousness. There is an important connection between the Beatitudes and the Fruit of the Spirit.
The Fruit of the Spirit is the culmination of all that Moses and Jesus previously gave to us in the Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes. Paul’s doctrine of the Spirit is the unfolding of the baptism, filling, and fullness of the Spirit. When he displays the Fruit of the Spirit, he is revealing the powerful work of the Spirit in the production of the ultimate blessing of godliness and righteousness. The Decalogue emphasizes obedience to the standard, the Beatitudes emphasize the character and blessedness of the citizens of God’s kingdom, and the Fruit of the Spirit emphasizes the perfecting grace of God in our lives and the production of the good fruit of righteousness. That is why it is important for us to live by the Spirit! We must produce fruit, much fruit, good fruit!
The promise of good fruit was highlighted by the Lord Jesus in the upper room. In preparation for the Spirit’s coming at Pentecost, Jesus gave His fullest explanation of the work of the Holy Spirit. John 15, the very center of the upper room discourse, speaks of abiding in Christ and bearing fruit. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (Jn. 15:5). “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (Jn. 15:8).
Finally, Paul closes with the statement that “against such there is no law.” This is ultimate law-keeping. More on this phrase below.
The Synthesis Manifesting The Righteousness Of Biblical Ethics
Now, let us attempt to apply what we have learned about these three standards of ethical righteousness and relate them to each other.
The Decalogue In Relation To The Other Standards
In light of the position which the Decalogue holds in the revelation of righteousness, we must view it evangelically and pneumatically. When we study, preach, or teach the Decalogue, we do well always to relate the Ten Commandments to the work of Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Preach And Live The Commandments Evangelically.
1st – Christ is God. Have no other gods before Christ. Honor Christ as you honor the Father (Jn. 5:18-23). Keep yourselves from idols (1 Jn. 5:21).
2nd – Make no idol because Christ is the true image of God (Col. 1:15; 2:9; 3:10; 2 Cor. 4:4; Heb. 1:3). Worship the Father in Spirit/spirit and truth (Jn. 4:21, 23-24). Faith in Christ and fixing our eyes on Christ is our greatest weapon against idolatry and false worship.
3rd – Speech and language is elevated to its highest form in the person and work of Christ. Ephesians 4:29 and Col. 4:8 show us that grace-talk conveys the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the ultimate defense against taking the name of the Lord in vain.
4th – The Son of man is Lord of the Sabbath because the Sabbath was made for man. Yet Christ is the substance of the Sabbath (Heb. 4:1-16; Col. 2:16, 17). But we maintain that the Sabbath/Lord's Day is ours to hold and keep today
5th – Christ is our example and pattern in submitting to human authority. He submitted to His parents, to the will of God, and to human government. We possess the wisdom and grace of Christ and are enabled to submit to those whom God places over us.
6th –The sanctity of our lives and the lives of others is now seen through the eyes of Christ. When we consider His love for mankind (Tit. 3:4) and treatment of others, His Spirit will fill us to do the same (Phil. 2:7).
7th – Christ's teaching in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:27-30) is a great example of preaching the Law evangelically.
8th – All things are ours in Christ (1 Cor. 3:21-22). We cannot serve God and money, rather we must labor for the food that endures to eternal life. In Christ we are enabled to overcome the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches. We work for our Master Jesus Christ. We work with our hands to meet our legitimate needs and wants, support the kingdom of God and His Church to give to those who are in need (Eph. 4:28; 1 Thess. 4:11). This is the ultimate exposition of the 8th Commandment.
9th – The Christian man is completely motivated by the truth and speaks the truth in love in order to grow up in Christ (Eph. 4:15). We possess the Spirit of Truth. The power and promise of this gospel of Jesus Christ causes us to dwell on what is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, good repute, excellent, and worthy of praise (Phil. 4:8).
10th - The love of Christ controls us (2 Cor. 5:14ff.; 1 Thess. 1:3, 4). Gospel motivation is at the heart of evangelical law-keeping. Hungering and thirsting for righteousness in and through Christ is the true power for keeping this crucial commandment. The power of the crucifixion of Christ and the corresponding power we are given to put our sins to death, enables us to keep our hearts.
Keep The Commandments In The Spirit
Through His Spirit, Christ does for us what the law cannot do (Rom. 8:3). A more powerful and personal law is working in us, the “law of the Spirit of life.” Dwell on this. It is, to say the least, a remarkable thing to compare the Spirit to a law, or attribute the essential quality of law to Him as a Divine Person. Paul is saying that the Holy Spirit works in us as a law works, but the law in this case is the law of the Person Himself, dwelling in, operating, influencing, and transforming! This is the glory of the new age and covenant.
There should be no hesitation in our preaching to proclaim that the Spirit is more powerful than the Law, and that life in the Spirit is greater than life under the administration of the Law. We may be reluctant to do this for fear that we will be regarded as minimizing the Law, or joining the ranks of antinomianism. So we will always need to qualify these assertions by reminding our hearers that the Law abides, it is good, binding, and foundational. But it is powerless without the Spirit. Those who possess the Spirit have the power to live the Law, and more than this, to bring the Law to perfection in Gospel grace and Spirit fruit. We must not overreact to false teachings concerning the Law by fearing to develop or emphasize the supremacy of the Spirit.
The Beatitudes In Relation To The Other Standards
Note the Mosaic basis of the Beatitudes and their inter-connectedness to the Law. Christ exegetes the commandments with His own exegetical authority and shepherding skill. We see Him in the Sermon on the Mount as the true prophet and the faithful pastor of the sheep. The kingdom which Jesus inaugurated at His first coming has continuity with the Israelite kingdom established in the Old Covenant. It is the same kingdom, yet under a new administration. This new administration over which Christ presides through His Spirit is what Jesus was referring to when He spoke about not putting new wine into old wineskins (Lk. 5:38). The new wineskins are the forms of the New Covenant age, but the kingdom is the same, and the ultimate purpose of God is one, to call out a people for Himself.
Jesus established and declared His solidarity with the Law in Matt. 5:17-19. And yet He called for a righteousness that surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees (5:20). Notice the delicate balance here. The Law abides because it is foundational. Indeed, it is for this age (Mt. 5:18). And yet, Jesus declared, the people who claimed to be the embodiment of the Law possessed a righteousness that was defective and insufficient. In the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was declaring the content of the greater righteousness required for entrance into the kingdom of heaven. So we need to proclaim that the Beatitudes contain the righteous requirements which we must meet for entrance into the kingdom of Heaven. Further, we need to show that though the Beatitudes are descriptions, they are also commands which must be obeyed. And we must demonstrate that the Beatitudes represent the development of ethics for the kingdom which Christ came to establish in His first coming. In speaking of this development, it is important to show that disposition, attitudes, character, views of self and sin, are essential to morality and ethics. This is emphasized in the Beatitudes in a unique way. But remember that this emphasis is not lacking in the Decalogue. Character also is in view there.
The Fruit Of The Spirit In Relation To The Other Standards
Here it is important to understand and proclaim the significance of the person, presence, and power of the Holy Spirit in the Christian life and the profound transformation that He brings our lives in the formation of fruit. In the Fruit of the Spirit we realize God’s ultimate purpose for life and godliness.
How does the Fruit of the Spirit relate to the law of God? Paul’s statement in Gal. 5:23, “against such things there is no law,” helps us see the connection. Is Paul saying that these manifestations of the Spirit belong to a sphere with which the law has nothing to do? No. Life in the Spirit is not a life in which we are led by spiritual impulses (whatever they might be), but a life in which we are guided by the Spirit of Truth into all the truth, and empowered by the Spirit to fulfill the righteous requirements of the Law. So Paul is saying that there is no law against the fruits of the Spirit because those who manifest these fruits are fulfilling the Law (cf., Rom. 8:4).
How does the Fruit of the Spirit relate to the Beatitudes and the Decalogue? The age of the Spirit is the age of fullness. The promised Spirit baptism was the greatest promise given and John the Baptist and Jesus both announced this blessing at the beginning of the Gospel and Apostolic periods respectively (Mt. 3:11; Acts 1:5). The baptism of the Spirit conveys the fullness of the Spirit to us and inaugurates the age of the fullness of the Spirit. This is why we are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Eph. 5:18). But fullness and filling produce fruit, and fruit speaks of perfection because fruit is really only fruit when it is ripe and ready to eat. Fruit growers cultivate with the end product in view.
Fruit is ultimate godliness, holiness, and righteousness. It is the test of who is truly saved (Matt. 7:16). Fruit was the issue that Jesus emphasized in the upper room as He taught about the coming of His Spirit. “My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (Jn. 15:8). The will and expressed desire of Jesus for His own is that we bear lots of fruit. The fruit of the Spirit is a description of this “much fruit.” It is also the fullness of all of the ethical revelation that came before it and a description of what the final product looks like.
The Fruit of the Spirit is the fullest and finest description of what a person who lives out the Ten Commandments in his or her life looks like. The Fruit of the Spirit is the fullest and finest description of what that citizen described by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount looks like. It is the “quality control” as to whether we are rightly keeping the Law and living out the requirements of the Gospel.
Conclusion
We have tried to see the relationship of the Decalogue, the Beatitudes, and the Fruit of the Spirit as the three great summarizing standards of ethical and moral righteousness given to us in Scripture. We have noted their Trinitarian development. We have also seen the many inter-relations of these standards in our analysis. May the Spirit Himself work righteousness in us and through us as we seek to do His will as it is expressed in these standards. May we always study them carefully and relate them to each other in such a way as to strengthen our foundation and beautify the fullness of righteousness which we have in our triune God. Let us commend these standards together, and lead fellow-believers to desire the Fruit of the Spirit, built upon the foundation of the Law and cultivated in the soil of the Gospel.
Scripture’s Great Ethical Standards
Decalogue
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Beatitudes
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Fruit of the Spirit
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The Nature & Essence of the Standards
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Moral/Legal Foundation
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Evangelical/Gospel Promise
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Pneumatic/Spiritual Fullness
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You must meet this STANDARD
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This is the kind of PERSON Christ will make you.
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You will produce this kind of SPIRITUAL/ETHICAL FRUIT
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Foundation & Fullness
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Ethical foundation for all of life’s needs and complexities (as well as for kingdom life).
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Ethical foundation and fullness for Kingdom life (as well as all of life’s needs and complexities).
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Ethical fullness bringing the foundational ethical standards to perfection (fruition) in the Spirit.
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Relative Relations & Emphases of the Standards
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The foundational moral basis of our legal standing with God in Christ. Christ fulfills the Law in Himself, for us, and in us.
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New Covenant phase of the Kingdom and righteousness is built upon the Law.
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Fullness of righteousness developed in the Church of Christ through the Spirit’s indwelling presence.
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- This article is the development of a part of the treatment of the Fruit of the Spirit in my syllabus, entitled The Gift of the Holy Spirit, Jan. 2009 ed., Reformed Baptist Seminary, Taylors, SC, pp. 538-544 (unpublished, available at http:/www.rbseminary.org/syllabi.php or from Covenant Baptist Church, Lumberton, NJ).
- J. Douma argues for “Christian Ethics” in Responsible Conduct (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 2003), 97. This is only because he is concerned that we “not stay standing at Sinai….The word ‘Christian’ means that we proceed from Christ’s work, even though through Him we come back to the Ten Commandments.” This is one of the fundamental aims of this study, to show the organic relationship between the three standards.
- I recommend a careful reading of Richard C. Barcellos, In Defense of the Decalogue: A Critique of New Covenant Theology (Enumclaw, WA: Winepress Publishing, 2001).
- Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament, Francis Brown, et. al., (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1977), 841.
- This is allied with the command “Be holy for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44). The Heb. קָדוֹשׁ means sacred, separate, or consecrated. Holiness is related to righteousness in this way: righteousness is the standard, holiness is the state or status. Walter Kaiser emphasizes God’s holiness as the essential nature in God’s character that reveals His absolute perfection. See Walter C. Kaiser, Toward Old Testament Ethics (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Academie, 1983), 140-141. I agree, and righteousness would do just as well. Righteousness and holiness are essentially referring to the same truth, but from different viewpoints. Righteousness is His perfection; holiness is His position: He is separate and sacred in the universe.
- Carl F. H. Henry, Christian Personal Ethics (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1957), 197-199.
- Ibid.
- Henry, 265-66.
- Barcellos, In Defense of the Decalogue, 40. This statement comes in his helpful treatment in chapter 2 of the “Identity of the Old Covenant,” i.e., whether the Old Covenant consists only of the Ten Commandments.
- Henry, 276.
- See Richard C. Barcellos, “First Timothy 1:8-11 and the Utility of the Decalogue” in Reformed Baptist Theological Review (1:1, January 2004), 3-25.
- These “Torah Psalms,” written in praise of the Law and the Commandments, show us that the godly in all ages love God’s Law.
- See footnote 5 above.
- Kaiser, 84-95.
- Again, refer to footnote 5.
- An excellent resource on this subject is Leland Ryken, Redeeming the Time – A Christian Approach to Work & Leisure (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1995).
- Kaiser, 129.
- Ibid.
- J. Douma, The Ten Commandments/Manual for the Christian Life (Phillipsburg, NJ: P&R, 1996).
- Kaiser, 244. See Kaiser’s excellent treatment of this in the chapter entitled “Holiness in Motive and Heart,” in Toward Old Testament Ethics, 235-44.
- See the diagram at the end of the Beatitudes section below.
- Henry, 289.
- Ibid., 301.
- Ibid., 316.
- David Martyn Lloyd-Jones, The Sermon on the Mount (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1979), 1:43-44.
- Ibid., 1:106-107.
- R. C. Sproul, The Mystery of the Holy Spirit (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 1990), 165.
- The phrase under grace, in Rom. 6:14-15, also refers to being under the total control of grace, even in matters of keeping the Law in Christ. Law and grace are antithetical in the sense of being under the control of, but they are not antithetical in terms of the content of ethical righteousness. Paul is not speaking of It is Law versus grace or Law versus the Spirit, but of condemnation versus justification.
- “Fruit” should be the translation of καρπὸς in all of these references (cf., ESV). The NASB and NIV render karpos as benefit. The RSV uses the word advantage. Advantage, however, is not a good translation and neither is benefit.
- Benjamin B. Warfield, The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit (reprint ed., Amityville, New York: Calvary Press, 1997), 39. At this point in the article, Warfield compares the leading of the Spirit to the work of the Spirit in bearing the prophets along (2 Pet. 1:21).
- Ibid., 41-42.
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