TryingToLearn
Puritan Board Freshman
I have long been confused by this phrase in 19.6 of the Confession:
"Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified, or condemned..."
In context, it seems to me that "law" here means the moral law (though I could be wrong). If this is so, I don't understand how one can be "under the [moral] law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified, or condemned". The moral law cannot function as a covenant of works (it isn't a covenant!). And what's more, nobody can even in principle be "justified" by the moral law (that's the point of creating a covenant of works). So, what exactly is being said here?
"Although true believers be not under the law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified, or condemned..."
In context, it seems to me that "law" here means the moral law (though I could be wrong). If this is so, I don't understand how one can be "under the [moral] law, as a covenant of works, to be thereby justified, or condemned". The moral law cannot function as a covenant of works (it isn't a covenant!). And what's more, nobody can even in principle be "justified" by the moral law (that's the point of creating a covenant of works). So, what exactly is being said here?