The puritan pastor Ralph Venning seemed to have encountered similar misguided attacks upon God’s Law. In his book, The Plague of Plagues, Venning wrote a “just vindication of the Law of God.” He based his remarks upon Romans 7 where the Apostle Paul wrestled through the question of how something as good as God’s Law proved so deadly to him. “Did that which is good bring death to me?” (v. 13).

As he developed his argument, Venning said that the Apostle answers his own question “by way of negation and abhorrence, ‘God forbid!’ Far be it from me or anyone else to think so! No! By no means! To find fault with the law would be to find fault with God. The law is not to be blamed. What is, then? for something is to be blamed.”

He then explained “that sin is the true cause of death. The commandment condemns, or is death to man, not of itself, but because of sin.”

In good puritan fashion, Venning then clarifies the issue with a simple illustration.

It is as if a criminal said to the judge, Oh, my Lord, how cruel and unmerciful you are to condemn me to die!

No, says the judge, it is not I, it is the law. I am only the mouth of the law.

No, says the law, it is not I, it is sin. If you had not sinned, I would not have condemned.

So, by the commandment, sin appears to be a desperate, malignant thing, the proper, true and only cause of man’s condemnation and death.

From this brief yet clear account of the text and context, Venning draws the following conclusions:

• The law of God as a whole and in every part is good. It is not only not sin, but good.
• The law, good though it be, when abused condemns and kills.
• Though the law condemns man’s fault, and man for his fault, yet still the law is good and not to be blamed. The law is as good as ever it was; it is to be justified by man, even when it condemns man.
• It is not the law, but sin, that works man’s death and ruin.
• Sin works man’s death and destruction by that which is good, namely, the law. When sin has used man to break the law, it uses the law to break man, to undo him by condemnation and death.

If I could bring this into the 21^st Century a bit: Just because the 9/11 terrorists used plastic box-cutters to threaten and subdue the airline pilots and passengers, doesn’t mean we should direct a barrage of hostile verbal ammunition on box-cutters. Box-cutters are good and helpful; terrorists are evil and destructive. Lets stop targeting a friend and ally, save our hostility for sin, and send barrages of vocabulary against it.

Venning leads the charge with the following fusillade: “Sin is a most hideous, devilish and hellish thing, the most wicked, mischievous, virulent, villainous and deadly thing that ever was. Sinful sin! Worse than the Devil!”

Sin is our greatest enemy, not the Law. Time to re-direct our fire.

This post first appeared at The Christward Collective

Now, let’s see, what happened four months ago?

Oh, yes, President Obama won re-election.

But what’s that got to do with any commandment?

Well, try the fifth for size.

Honor my father and mother? Obama’s not my Dad.

No, but the fifth commandment covers all inferior-superior relationships, including that of citizen-President. As the Westminster Larger Catechism puts it:

By father and mother, in the fifth commandment, are meant, not only natural parents, but all superiors in age and gifts; and especially such as, by God’s ordinance, are over us in place of authority, whether in family, church, or commonwealth (A. 124).

Answer 125 goes on to explain that superiors like Presidents are called father and mother to make us more willing and cheerful in performing our duties to them, as if they were our parents!

Gulp!

It get’s worse, better, worse, whatever. Answer 127 tells us what honor we owe to the President:

1. All due reverence in heart, word, and behavior
2. Prayer and thanksgiving for them
3. Imitation of their virtues and graces
4. Willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsels
5. Due submission to their corrections
6. Fidelity to, defense and maintenance of their persons and authority
7. Bearing with their infirmities
8. Covering them in love

8x Gulp!

Many Christians have shattered this commandment in a thousand pieces over the last four months, perhaps even over the last four years.

Sure, we must defend the sanctity of life and of marriage, but we must not do so at the expense of the fifth commandment. Since when do we get to pick and choose which commandments are most important and which are irrelevant?

Serious moral errors in some areas of government policy and practice are no excuse for failing to obey this commandment in all other areas.

Thankfully and mercifully, God offers forgiveness for this sin too – if we repent of it and believe in Jesus.

I’m guessing this will be the most unshared, unliked, and un-tweeted post I’ve ever written. But I’ll probably make up for that tomorrow when we’ll look at exceptions to the fifth commandment – what we should do when the Government tries to be God.

Update: Here’s a link to When Government tries to be God.