Are the Ten Commandments the standard for Christian living? There are many viewpoints on the place of the Mosaic Law today. Some affirm that while we are not saved through keeping the law, it remains our standard for living, a pattern to be followed. Others say we are free from the law. This brief examination of the law affirms all of God's revelation as Christian Scripture, but acknowledges covenantal differences in God's dealings with believers. The progress of salvation history, and our identification with Christ, has altered our relationship to the Mosaic Law. Using the Law ""lawfully"" requires us to recognize the way in which the New Testament, and chiefly the Apostle Paul, treats the law. Paul presents the believer as having died to the law, and serving now in the new way of the Spirit, a way that does not depend on the Mosaic law. The pattern for the New Testament believer remains Jesus himself. While keeping all of God's law, he went beyond its requirement to demonstrate a love for sinners that the law did not know. ""Matthew Ferris's If One Uses It Lawfully argues forcefully for the view that, while Christians are indeed called to holy living, the path to sanctification does not lie in conforming with the law's commandments. The author has read widely and thought much about his subject, and there can be few readers who will not learn something new or find something challenging in his work."" --Stephen Westerholm, Author of Perspectives Old and New on Paul: The ""Lutheran"" Paul and His Critics ""In If One Uses It Lawfully, Matthew Ferris has provided his readers with a helpful critique of one of the most common positions regarding the Mosaic Law and the Christian. With an exegetically robust and historically conversant argument, Ferris demonstrates the weaknesses of what he calls the 'rule of life' view, the position that argues the Ten Commandments are the rule of life for modern Christians. Yet, Ferris's book goes beyond just critique; he also offers a positive, Christ-centered explanation of how Christians live as a people under the headship of Christ and by the power of the Spirit."" --James M. Todd III, Author of Sinai and the Saints: Reading Old Covenant Laws for the New Covenant Community ""If something so central to Scripture as the Law can be mishandled in such a devastating way, we better make sure we don't mess it up. That's why I am so thankful for If One Uses It Lawfully. Instead of following the historic trend of avoiding legalism and licentiousness with the opposing errors of over and under-emphasizing the Law, Matthew Ferris 'looks intently in the perfect law that gives freedom' (James 1:25) and finds its ultimate purpose in Jesus. In a clear and immensely biblical way, Ferris leads his reader to not only understand the Law, but also to love it and comprehend its place in their life."" --Noel Jesse Heikkinen, Author of Unchained: If Jesus Has Set Us Free, Why Don't We Feel Free? Matthew E. Ferris lives in Wheaton, Illinois, and has been involved in local church ministry through teaching Sunday school, small group Bible studies, and music ministry. He has previously written Evangelicals Adrift. He blogs at gentlemantheologian.com.
