by Samuel Rutherford

1 John 1:8
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us."

The question is asked: Can we, by the grace of God granted to the elect and the faithful in this life, perfectly keep the Law? The Remonstrants, together with the Papists and Socinians, affirm this. We deny it.

1. Because, apart from the fact that the Apostle John, in the cited passage, asserts the contrary, it is written in Proverbs 20:9: "Who can say, 'I have made my heart clean; I am pure from my sin'?" And in James 3:2: "For we all stumble in many ways." Also, in 1 Kings 8:46: "There is no one who does not sin." Ecclesiastes 7:20 adds: "Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins."

2. Because "cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things that are written in the book of the Law, to do them." Therefore, those who seek justification by the works of the Law are under a curse, because there is no other reason for this conclusion than that no one, whether regenerate or unregenerate, can continue in all things written in the Book of the Law.

3. Because in all people there is a culpable deficiency and an inability to fulfill the Law; and a morally impure and corrupt cause cannot produce morally pure and perfect effects. And Paul, the chosen vessel, truly says of himself in Romans 7:14: "The Law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin." Verse 18 adds: "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh." Verse 19 continues: "But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members."

4. Fallen men, who are not yet fully reformed to the image of God and are bound to love God with all their heart, with all their soul, and with all their strength, cannot perfectly fulfill the Law, even by the grace of God given in this life. But all the regenerate are such and are thus bound to love God; for this is the sum and end of the Law, which all mortals without distinction are obligated to fulfill. The major reason is that no one after the fall, in this life, can love God with the utmost intensity, for there is no love for God here that cannot be increased and perfected.

The claims of the adversaries are vain and false when they assert that men are obligated to love God above all things objectively, willing the highest good for God, and to esteem Him above all other things; yet they deny that we are bound to fulfill the end of the Law except in will and effort, that is, they claim the Law does not bind us to love God intensively above all things, for this is impossible in this life. But the Law does not bind us to the impossible.

Response:

1. This distinction is vain and fallacious. For Christ rebukes a lesser love for Himself, a lesser appreciation for any person or thing than for the Savior Himself. Matthew 10:37, Luke 14:26-27: "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me." Thus, whoever loves God less than created things, and so esteems God less than parents or children, loves God too weakly and tepidly, and loves the creature more intensely than the Creator. Whoever loves God above all things appreciatively, judging Him to be preferred over any desirable object, loves God most intensely. For the degree of esteem for a beloved thing follows the degree, measure, and intensity of that love. However, there is no saint in this life who does not often violate this love for God with disordered and excessive love for themselves or their own, or even for sin, demonstrating in practice that they value these things more than God—as did the devout Eli in 1 Samuel 2:29, and all saints whenever they sin. Thus, the parts of this distinction coincide.

2. It is false that the end of the Law does not bind; nor is the argument valid that the end is impossible because this impossibility was culpably contracted by us. It is not an absolute impossibility, but only in a certain respect and conditionally.

3. If we are bound to love God with all our strength, then a remission of strength to three when the Law demands an intensity of strength to eight will be a violation of the Law.

4. Because no one, not even the most just of mortals, dares to appear before the Tribunal of God relying on their inherent righteousness (Psalm 143:2; 130:3; Job 42:5; 9:3; 1 Corinthians 4:4).

5. All who keep the Law shall obtain eternal life under the title of legal obedience. But no mortal attains, or can attain, eternal life under this title. Therefore:

   • The major is evident from Romans 2:13 and Galatians 3:12: "The one who does these things shall live by them."
   • The minor is evident from the whole Gospel. Romans 8:3-4, Galatians 3:21: "If a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law." Likewise, verse 22: "Scripture has confined all under sin." Likewise, Galatians 2:21: "If righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing." Likewise, Galatians 3:10: "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse."

6. Because if anyone offends in one point, he becomes guilty of all, as James 2:10 states. Yet there is no mortal who does not offend in one point. Therefore, etc.

7. Whoever seeks righteousness and life through the fulfillment of the Law becomes a debtor to the whole Law (Galatians 5:3-4). But the regenerate are not debtors to the whole Law; they are under grace, not under the Law (Romans 7:6).

8. Those who can fulfill the Law by the grace of God are given the Spirit in such a measure that the grace infused is no longer imperfect and capable of increase, but perfect and sufficient to love God with all the heart, all the soul, and all the strength. Yet no mortal has been given such grace:

   1. Because all are called to grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18, Philippians 3:12, 2 Thessalonians 1:3).
   2. Because the Spirit distributes to each one as He wills (1 Corinthians 12:11).

9. Scripture says that the Law is a yoke which neither we nor the Jews could bear, and that it is impossible to observe due to the weakness of the flesh, to make way for the fulfillment of the Law by Christ (Romans 8:3, Romans 7:14-15, 16-17, compared with 7:24 and 8:1).

10. The adversaries admit that men cannot escape all sins, such that they must say daily, not only humbly but truly, "Forgive us our sins," and that there is no one (they say) who can even avoid venial sins. But every sin, however venial (as they call it), is a violation of the Law. Therefore, those who cannot, by grace, avoid such sins cannot, by grace, fulfill the Law.

-----

Source:  Examination of Arninianism