Why The Law Is Not Gracious… « Sacramental Piety

1. The law promises no good thing to miserable sinners; it promises good only to those who observe it.

2. The law has no force in itself for removing sins; it has force only for punishing.

3. The law cannot be fulfilled by any sinner, as it says in the text, on account of the feebleness of the flesh.

4. If the law could be fulfilled in the future, nevertheless past sins would destroy all hope of receiving a reward from the law. For this cause, the law is called the slaying letter, the ministry of death, and also the ministry of condemnation.

-William Ames, Sketch of the Christian Catechism, p. 28

Quoted from the Sacramental Piety blog, by Jordan Harris: Why The Law Is Not Gracious… « Sacramental Piety