The Law of Christ

The Law of Christ is a subject near and dear to my heart because “the law of Christ is Christ...in all the wonder of His perfect divine humanity, calling His disciples to follow Him and empowering them to do so by His own resurrection life working within them. The high calling of every Christian is nothing less than to put on the Lord Jesus Christ.”1

This morning, our pastor, Phillip Dancy, PhD, preached on Roman 6:12-23.2 He has been preaching through the Epistle to the Romans since February 11th. This area of the epistle is on the subject of sanctification: “being made holy as God is holy.” He named the sermon, “The Gospel of Freedom.”3 Today’s sermon inspired me to write about the law of Christ which he mentioned in his sermon.

Based on what Dr. Dancy said, I believe that he and I share the same understanding regarding the law of Christ. Dr. Dancy said, “since we are free from the law, are we free to sin? Of course not! We have freedom to do what we ought to do.”4 He went on to say since we have been set free from the law we must look to God to know what we ought to do, Christ is our example as to what we ought to do. To use a 1980’s popular Christian phrase, “What would Jesus do?”5

Recently I obtained a copy of the first London Baptist Confession of Faith. Article 29 is about sanctification: “All believers are a holy and sanctified people, and that sanctification is a spiritual grace of the new covenant, and an effect of the love of God manifested in the soul, whereby the believer presseth after a heavenly and evangelical obedience to all the commands, which Christ as head and king in His new covenant hath prescribed to them.”6

These early Baptist understood that sanctification occurs by following Christ and not by following Moses. Sanctification is a God given desire to do what we ought to rather than fulfill fleshy desires. The law of Christ, therefore, is not a set of precepts for us to follow like the Ten Commandments given to Israel on mount Saini. We have been set free from the law; and therefore, have the freedom to do what we ought to do. You must be born again.7 Sanctification is a change in desire that comes from above. A justified Christian has been given the desire to be holy as God is holy. Christ Jesus is our example and great Doctor of Theology;8 therefore, follow Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord. I pray that you have a blessed week.

In Christ alone,

Mike Peek


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1 Charles Leiter, The Law of Christ(Hannibal: Granted Ministries Press, 2012), 16
2 Phillip Dancy, Sylvania Church Sermons,https://www.sylvaniachurch.com/blog/podcast/or Join Us for Worship, Sundays: 9am Bible Study, 10:20am Corporate Worship, Address: 2801 S Southeast Loop 323, Tyler, TX 75701.
3 Ibid
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Matth. Simmons, A Confession of faith of Seven Congregations or Churches of Christ in London, Which are Commonly (But Unjustly) Called Anabaptist, (Belton: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 2004), 11.
7 John 3:3.
8 Cf. John 14:7-11.

Why Do I Write

The first post that I made to this blog was named: Jesus the Fulfillment of God's Law, posted June 19, 2010. Today's post will be my 420th which means that I have averaged one writing a week for eight years. During that time I have grown in understand of God the Father and Jesus Christ His only begotten Son our Lord and the Holy Spirit, the church, the forgiveness of sins, and the resurrection of the body to eternal life. Lord willing I will continue to grow in my understanding because Jesus prayed to the Father that this is eternal life. (Jn 1-5)

The past few days I have desired to write, but did not know what I should write. I have had several things on my mind: my job as a Registered Nurse, the great commission, the law of Christ and a discovery that I made just yesterday in The Gospel According to John. I have a great deal to say about all of these and will write about them in the days to come but today I would like to reflect on the why I write this blog.

I have never had much of a following, therefore, my persistence in writing is not connected to popularity. If you’ve interacted with me at all you would know that for the most part I’m a quite shy man. Writing this blog has given me a medium on which I might express what I have been thinking and learning to other people. I truly love the Lord and His word; therefore, I desire to tell people about Him and all that He commanded.

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Prophets. (Mt 5:17) In other words, He is the fulfillment of everything that is written in the Old Testament. On the first anniversary of this blog I wrote a blog called Beginning Word (John 1:1-5) in which I committed to memorizing The Gospel According to John because I wanted to know the Lord better. I have been reciting a portion of this book everyday for the past seven years in addition to reading the other books in the Bible. I have to tell you that nothing on earth can change your heart and mind like the word of God and it is because of my love for the Lord and His word that I write and Lord willing will continue to write.

How Persecution Changed Baptist Theology

I love reading the Scriptures, because like the apostle Paul said to Timothy:

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.¹ 

I also like reading church history because it helps me understand why things are the way they are especially when they do not line up with what I understand from reading Scripture.

Recently I read The Gospel According to Matthew, in doing so, I found something that does not line up with what is often taught. As a Reformed Baptist I was told that we should adhere to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of faith. I have a copy of this confession on my book shelf, I read it a couple of times a year, but reading through Matthew I found a few things that do not line up.

Article 19 of the 1689 London Baptist Confession speaks to The Law of God. The writers of this confession say that the Ten Commandments is the Law first written on the heart of man at creation and was delivered by God on Mount Sinai written on two tablets. The article then calls the Ten Commandments the moral law and partitions the rest of the Law into ceremonial laws and judicial laws stating that the ceremonial laws were done away with because they have been fulfilled in Christ and the judicial laws were only intended for the nation of Israel, but the moral law is forever binding to all people.² 

I have read through the Law (Pentateuch) several times and have never gotten a sense of the Law being partitioned in that way.³ The sense that I get when reading through the Pentateuch is that it is a uniform code of justice given to a people (Israel) by God through Moses the mediator. Then in Matthew, I read Jesus' response when questioned by a lawyer as to what the great commandment in the Law is:

And He said to Him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."⁴ 

If I am understanding the Lord correctly, and I believe that I am, He is saying that the Mosaic Law, the Law given on Mount Sinai which includes the Ten Commandments (moral law), the ceremonial law, and the judicial law are all dependent on the love of God and the love of neighbor and not the other way around; therefore, the Ten Commandments cannot be the eternal binding Law of God for all people. The love of God and the love of neighbor are the forever binding law of God for all people written on the heart of man since creation and not the Ten Commandments. Does that mean it is ok to murder, commit adultery, or steal? May it never be, "Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."⁵ 

How did it come about that the Ten Commands are said to be the forever binding law for all people instead of the love of God and love of neighbor? The answer to this question is found in the history of the church. The 1689 London Baptist Confession is not the first, but it is the second confession of faith written by the London Baptist. Recently I obtained and read a copy of the first London Baptist Confession of faith, the edition that I have is the 1646 edition. In this confession the Law is almost mysteriously absent. The only mention of the law is found in articles 25 and 29 neither of which are actually about the law.

Article 25 is about preaching the gospel, but does mention the law:

The preaching of the gospel to the conversion of sinners, is absolutely free; no way requiring as absolutely necessary, any qualifications, preparations, or terrors of the law, or preceding ministry of the law, but only and alone the naked soul, a sinner and ungodly, to receive Christ crucified, dead and buried, and risen again; who is made a prince and a Savior for such sinners as through the gospel shall be brought to believe on Him.⁶ 

Article 29 is about sanctification of believers, but does not mention the Law of Moses, but the Law (teaching) of Christ:

All believers are a holy and sanctified people, and that sanctification is a spiritual grace of the new covenant, and an effect of the love of God manifested in the soul, whereby the believer presseth after a heavenly and evangelical obedience to all the commands, which Christ as head and king in His new covenant hath prescribed to them.⁷ 

Why did such a great change occur within the London Baptist in just a little over 40 years?  The answer is persecution. John Bunyan famous for his writing from his imprisonment his great Christian allegory The Pilgrims Progress was imprisoned in 1660 as part of this persecution. The Westminster Confession of Faith was approved by the Westminster Assembly in December of 1646 and adopted by English Parliament in 1649. There is a long history as to how this confession came to be, but to make a long story short it all has to do with infant baptism. In defense of infant baptism, they went to the Old Testament.⁸ John Bunyan and many other Baptist were persecuted as a result. In order that persecution might stop the London Baptist adopted the Westminster Confession only altering it as far as the points on Baptism, this confession became the 1689 London Baptist confession of faith; thereafter, changing Baptist doctrine regarding the law of God.⁹

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¹ 2 Timothy 3:16-17, NASB95.

² The Baptist Confession of Faith 1689 or, The Second London Confession with Scripture Proofs 1646 Edition, (Belton: The Wakeman Trust, 2008), 33-34.

³ The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible referred to as the Torah (Law).

⁴ Matthew 22:37-40, NASB95.

⁵ Romans 13:10, NASB95.

⁶ Matth. Simmons, A Confession of faith of Seven Congregations or Churches of Christ in London, Which are Commonly (But Unjustly) Called Anabaptist, (Belton: Sovereign Grace Ministries, 2004), 10.

⁷ Ibid, 11.

⁸ Gary D. Long, NCT Time For A More Accurate Way, (Gary D. Long, 2013), 41-45.

⁹Gary D. Long, 1980 Preface to The First London Baptist Confession of Faith 1646 Edition, (Belton: The Wakeman Trust, 2008).

How does election help us in our evangelism?

This past week one of the nurses on my unit asked: "Are there any physical proofs for Christianity. I mean, is there anything that we can show an atheist as proof for Christianity?"

Here is the answer that I gave: "Yes, there are archeological evidences for the history of Christianity, you can look these up in a Christian History Book, Bible Dictionary, or Bible Handbook, but none of these are going to convince an unbeliever. The apostle Paul said that the gospel is the power of God for salvation1 and faith comes from hearing and hearing by the word of Christ;2 therefore, we must preach the gospel. Jesus told His disciples: "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning."3 In order for someone to come to faith in Christ they need both the inward testimony of the Spirit and the outward testimony of the apostles.4 During Christ ministry He did many mighty miracles that no man had ever done, yet many Jews saw these signs and did not believe.5 No one can come to Jesus Christ unless the Father draws him. Every one who has heard and learned from the Father will come to faith in Jesus Christ.6 All you and I can do is preach the gospel. Therefore, preach the gospel and pray that God’s will be done."

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1 Romans 1:15.

2 Romans 10:17.

3 John 15:26-27, NASB95.

4 The apostles testimony is located in the New Testament Gospels and Epistles.

5 cf. John 10:25-26 & 12:37.

6 John 6:44-45.

Believe in the Light

Mike Peek, a disciple of Jesus Christ and servant of God called according to His purpose: Grace to you and peace in the name of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.

I took this photograph on the evening of May 20, 2018, from a friend's boat dock. I like the pick because it reminds me of the words of Christ, While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light.1 

Three days a week I work 12 1/2 hour shifts in an intensive care unit but I have four days a week free from those duties. On my days off it is my routine to run a 10k early in the morning. This picture is of the evening, but it reminds me of those early morning runs because the scene and lighting are similar. I run an out and back course from my home. The turn around point is at the end of the levy-dam on Lake Tyler. As I run along the levy-dam I am headed east just as the sun begins to rise above the tree tops.

My thoughts are often reflecting on the word of God having spent time in the scriptures just before departing which is also part of my daily routine. How can one be a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ and serve God except by reading the scriptures and observing all that Christ commanded?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.2 

The light in context of this first day is not the sun or stars because these bodies of light were not created until the fourth day. But the light on the first day is the very Word of God. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.3  It is this Light who is the Word that became flesh and dwelt among us in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior.4

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1 John 12:36, NASB95.

2. Genesis 1:1, NASB95.

3 John, 1:9, NKJV.

3 John 1:14.

Faith, Love, and Hope

Yesterday I was given the privilege to teach a Sunday School class at Sylvania Church. The passage is 1 Thessalonians 1:3. The following is a summary of what the Lord gave me to teach. I hope that it benefits your walk with our Lord. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.




New Testament letters have four features:

1. They are intended to be authoritative.[1]
2. They are situational.[2]
3. They are carefully written and Delivered.[3]
4. They are intended for the Christian Community.[4]

New Testament letters have three main parts:

1. An introduction[5]
2. A body[6]
3. A conclusion[7]

The entire letter is meant to be read in its entirety to the congregation. The body of the letter is situational. The conclusion may include travel plans, commendation of coworkers, prayer and prayer request, greetings, final instructions and exhortations, autograph, benediction and doxology. The introduction usually includes the name of the author(s), the name(s) of the recipient(s), a greeting, and a prayer.[8] The Prayer is intended to secure the readers good will, but in the case of 1 Thessalonians Paul intends to encourage them as well.[9]

Take a look at 1 Thessalonians 1:1, the authors are Paul and Silvanus and Timothy. The recipients are “the Church of the Thessalonians in God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”[10] The greeting: “Grace to you and peace.”[11] The prayer begins at vs. 2 and extends to vs. 10, which is the end of the chapter.

Grasp the text in their town:

Imagine if you can, the year is 50 AD. You live in the city of Thessalonica, on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, in the region of Macedonia. Your church is persecuted by Jews and gentiles alike; many of your brothers and sisters have been imprisoned and or killed. You’ve received an encouraging letter from the men who established your church and taught you the ways of the Lord. You are a Greek speaking person and this letter has come in your native tongue. The culture that your church is in is Greco-Roman and the major religion is pagan, that is except for a few Jews who hate the way. What would this letter mean to you given the situation? What would this prayer mean to you? And what would this statement about work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ mean to you?

Measure the width of the river to cross:

Between us and the Thessalonian church there is a wide river making it difficult to grasp the text as they would have seen it. Let’s call it the river come-between. In this river there are currents that will sweep you downstream if you read it without considering its historical-cultural context. The currents in the river are: date, location, situation language, and culture. For Sylvania, the date is 2018 AD, 1968 years separate us from the Thessalonians. Our location is Tyler, Texas, 6300 miles separate us from Thessalonica. Our situation is much different than theirs, we are free to preach the gospel without fear of imprisonment and or death. Our language is English; glory to God we have men who have the ability of linguistics and have studied first century Greek in order to give us good English translations, but keep in mind that they are translations and not the original. Our culture is American. So, how do we truly relate to the Thessalonians? We can study the time, location, situation, language and culture for years, but unless we’ve actually been in their shoes there is no way to truly understand what receiving this letter and its contents might mean to them.

Cross the principlizing bridge:

We need to cross the river, but how do we accomplish this given that it is so wide? There is one aspect in which Sylvania and the Thessalonians are alike. We share the same covenant. Both the Thessalonians and Sylvania Church are in the New Covenant in Christ Jesus our Lord. Because of this there are timeless theological principles taught in the text for all New Covenant believers. We will call these principles the Principlizing Bridge because they allow us to cross the river from their historical-cultural context into ours. This is the reason that this letter is considered scripture. There are principles taught in this text that the Holy Spirit intended for all Christian, throughout all time, in all locations, in all languages, in all situations, and in all cultures. Do you know what are they? There are three of them: Faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, love for one another, and the hope of salvation. I believe that these three are the main theological principles for the entire letter; and therefore, very important to understanding this letter in our context. Let us look at a few texts from 1 Thessalonians that illustrates these principles further: (1 Thess. 2:9-13) illustrate the work of faith, (vss. 4:1-12) illustrate the labor of love, (vss. 5:1-10) illustrate the steadfastness of hope.

Consult the biblical map:

Our regular teacher Paul McClung points out that the Christian virtues of faith, hope and love are common themes in the apostle Paul’s writings (cf. 1 Cor. 13:13; Gal. 5:5-6; Col 1:4-5) I agree but add that these three are common themes throughout the New Testament.

One of the greatest passages in all of scripture that illustrates this is the Lord’s supper in the Gospel According to John. (cf. John13-17) After the meal Christ washes His disciple’s feet, He then informs them that He is going away. After which He gave them a new commandment to follow as New Covenant believers.

The disciples are troubled by the news that Christ is going away and probably didn’t hear this commandment the first time around; therefore, He will repeat it again twice after comforting them. (Cf. John 15:12-17)

In John 14:1-15 Jesus teaches His disciples where to put their faith. He then comforts His disciples with true hope. Then He says, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”[12] This statement about loving Him and keeping His commandments is sandwiched between His commandment to love one another with Christ like love. (cf. John 13:34-35 and John 15:12-17)

In another letter the apostle Paul tells the Corinthian church whom was struggling with the labor of love, “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”[13]

Grasp the text in our town:

Our actions always follow our beliefs; therefore, if we have faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and hope in His salvation which is yet to come, we will bear good fruit like our Lord did during His earthly ministry in labors of love.

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[1] J. Scott Duvall and J. Daniel Hays, Grasping God’s Word: A Hands-On Approach to Reading, Interpreting, and Applying the Bible, 3rded. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2012), 253.
[2] Ibid, 253-254.
[3] Ibid, 255-256.
[4] Ibid, 256-257.
[5] Ibid, 257-259.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament, 1 Th 1:2.
[10] 1 Thes. 1:1a, NASB95.
[11] 1 Thes. 1:1b, NASB95.
[12] John 14:15, NASB95.
[13] 1 Cor. 1:4-7 & 13, NASB95.

What is the Gospel?

These were the words of Jesus when He began His ministry in Galilee. Jesus demonstrated Himself to be the Christ, the Son of God by many signs and wonders. (Jn. 20:30-31) The gospel is His teaching ministry and His sacrificial death on the cross for the sins of His disciples and His victorious bodily resurrection from the dead. All authority has been given to Him in heaven and on earth. He commissioned His disciples to go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that He commanded them. (Mt. 28:18-20) He promised the Holy Spirit to accompany them on the way. (Jn. 15:26-27) These men witnessed His ascension into heaven and were told by two angels that He would return in the same way in which they saw Him go into heaven. (Acts 1:1-11) Christ is now seated at the right hand of the Father God (Heb. 1:3, 13) and will return with His angels on a day and hour of the Father’s choosing to judge the earth. On that day all the dead will rise to face Him. (Jn 5:25-29) It will be a great and glorious day; eternal life for those who received Him and eternal punishment for those who rejected Him. (My 25:31-46)