Review: Loving The Law: The Law Of God In The Life Of The Believer By Stephen Spinnenweber

by on October 23, 2025 | Comment

“The law is good and just and right” (Rom 7:12). So says the apostle Paul, but many Christians today do not believe that statement. The question such Christians ask may sound like, “Well, what use is the law for us if Christ has already fulfilled it?” This is how Stephen Spinnenweber begins his wonderful little handbook on the law, in Loving the Law: The Law of God in the Life of the Believer (1).

The modern Christian confusion over the law surrounds how it applies to us and the world today. What use does it have? What is its purpose? What does the law mean in the life of the believer and even the unbeliever? Does it still apply to both believer and unbeliever? These are questions that Spinnenweber brings to the front and challenges us all to consider.

A Reformed Foundation

From the get-go, Spinnenweber lays the groundwork of the book by presenting the Reformed tradition’s understanding of the law in a threefold way.1 The moral law is binding perpetually; the ceremonial laws are repealed; the civil laws have expired with Israel, except those which may be applied fairly and justly in general.2 With this understanding, the moral law must be addressed, and this also finds a threefold resolution: “It functions like a mirror, muzzle, and map” (3). The moral law judges, guards, and blesses.3 The bulk of the book focuses on and explain these uses of the moral law specifically, for it still has something to say to every human being.4 The believer is not immune or indifferent to the moral law’s lasting impact—there is a new sweet relation to it in Christ Jesus. “The law of God is good and is the key to a truly blessed life when used in the way that God purposes—not as a means of earning eternal life, but of bringing us to Christ for our justification and conforming us into His glorious image through the power of the Spirit in our sanctification (Rom 8:29)” (5).

The Threefold Division

In the first chapter of Loving the Law, Spinnenweber begins with the usual barrage of questions we might face in a discussion of law and sin with someone unfamiliar with the topic. We do not want to be equally unfamiliar! We must know the three types of law: moral, ceremonial, and judicial, or civil (10). Which of these continue and which of these do not? This point is important when questions arise regarding such things as sexuality, authority, diet, or clothing.

The Ceremonial Law

The ceremonial law encompassed all of Israel’s worship—sacrifice, festival, and ritual. The first thing we must come to grips with is that all of these pointed Israel to Christ. By the use of them, Israel was pointed through faith to the Messiah, the substance. These were types in which Jesus is the fulfillment (11). Now, for us, because the substance has come, the aspectual shadows of the ceremonial law are done away with. Spinnenweber skillfully references the book of Hebrews, which explains the purpose of the ceremonial law, the types and their fulfillment (13).5

The Civil Law

Nations and countries, states and provinces, counties and cities all have an array of civil laws. These laws usually have a starting point and are even borrowed from others. They develop and change over time. For Israel, the Mosaic law, composed of the Decalogue, came along with the ceremonial laws and the civil laws. The Mosaic polity was theocratic but was no longer so after exile, occupation, and spiritual bankruptcy (15–16).6

With the change in the status regarding Israel as a nation and as God’s people came a change in laws. “The reason why the church no longer punishes sin corporeally (i.e., physically) [like theocratic Israel] is because it no longer has the authority to do so. Under the Old Covenant, the church existed as a spiritual and civil institution, but under the New Covenant that is no longer the case” (20). Spinnenweber expertly employs an analogy for the fifth commandment. The principle of honor stays the same, but the stipulations of enforcement and punishment change for a toddler compared to a teen (18–19). Civil law may change, and the civil laws of the Mosaic were only for Israel for a time, but the true and good principles may remain.

The Moral Law

Chapters two through five focus on the moral law. But what Spinnenweber captures at the conclusion of chapter one is important: “The Moral Law is the absolute, perfect standard of righteousness” (22). It is so because it reflects the unchangeable, perfect nature and will of God (22). Its force comes upon Israel but also upon all creatures. It is everlasting, universal, holy, just, and good.

After the discussion on the threefold division of the law, a chapter is dedicated to explaining and clarifying the moral law. This law, in connection to natural law, is binding always upon God’s creatures. It reflects his perfect nature and holy will. This conclusion is immediately drawn from the focus of Jesus on the first and second greatest commandment: to love God with our whole being and our neighbor as we would love ourselves (28–29). These sum up the Decalogue, that is, the whole moral law.7 Through the aid of the Westminster Catechisms, Stephen points out that each commandment has within it a dual purpose—prohibition of sin and call to righteousness. “Righteousness is more than simply refraining from sin but embracing all that God commands” (29). We are commanded not to do what God commands not to do, but we are also commanded to do what God commands us to do.

Each of the commandments still applies to us today. The level of severity in the punishment for breaking these commands looks different from the time they were first issued to Israel. (Recall that the civil law “passed away” except for the general equity thereof.)8 They are nevertheless important: holy, just, and good. The commandments—everywhere and always binding—encompass and explain true worship of the true God, errors of false worship, keeping sacred the things of God, worshipful rest, honoring authority, and not hating, not lusting, not stealing, not lying, and not coveting. Guilt in one brings guilt in all, and then, the judgment.

The Three Uses of the Law

The three uses of the law refer to the moral law. The remaining three chapters discuss these three uses, which have application for all of humanity, whether a believer or not. The uses come down to purpose. What does the moral law do? What is it for, and why? It depends on the state of each human being in relation to God and his law.

The First Use

The use of the law in this first sense reveals to us the seriousness of sin—the breaking of the moral law. This is the standard of righteousness, and we all fall short. “The law serves to show us our powerlessness to keep it and our condemnation for having broken it” (56). As the true standard of righteousness, it shows us the way of true life.

“The law, rightly used, convinces us that our sin is greater in size and greater in number than we ever could have imagined” (60) The law rightly used should show us the magnitude of our sin. As R. C. Sproul notably pointed out, we all are guilty of cosmic treason!9 As we mount sins upon sins upon sins, we try to sinfully brush them aside as nothing. But this too is sin. The law disallows all such attempts. As Spinnenweber notes, we try to minimize our own sin, compare our peccadillos to our neighbors “greater” sins, or blame our circumstances for our shortcomings (56–68). But there is no escape from the law’s demands. We need serious help. Thus, the law drives us to seek that help. God is the only one who can help, and by his mercy and grace, he does help us through Christ Jesus (69).

The Second Use

This second use of the law shows forth the graciousness of God in keeping the wickedness of sin in the world at bay. The law restrains sinners in their sin from being as sinful as they can be. Wickedness is restrained in two ways by the second use of the law, says Spinnenweber: through a dual-working fear and in societal order by the sword of the magistrate (80). This fear is different dependent upon the estate of the individual—believer or unbeliever. For the believer, this fear is that of a son; for the unbeliever, this fear is that of a bondservant, resulting in anger. The son seeks to please his father, while the slave seeks his demise. Though the unbeliever’s fear results in fist-wrangling at their Creator, by God’s grace, this fear may also lead to repentance (82–84).10

This fear provides for societal order amongst humans. “The Moral Law is God’s instrument for the preservation of societal order and peace” (85) The image of God in humanity is not obliterated by the fall. The conscience remains in some manner, yet the depraved faculties yearn for sin. Here is where God-ordained government steps in. “The second use of the law is a gift of God to fallen humanity as a whole and especially to the bride of Christ” (96). Where the government deals with temporal matters, the church deals with spiritual matters, and Spinnenweber balances the distinctions of God’s rule in his twofold kingdom well (88–96).

The Third Use

The third use of the law is exclusively for Christians. This is where some startling confusion lies within the church today. But understanding the nature of the moral law as an expression of the everlasting and unchanging character of God, it becomes clear why it still applies to all creatures. The law––which still abides––still applies to the believer in Christ. What once was the rule of attaining life still remains as the rule of the Christian life. Christ is the way; the law is the rule. This is not for life, but from life already freely received in Jesus (102–8). Spinnenweber sums up this last chapter expertly: “If we really want to grow to be more like Jesus, we will find ourselves using the law more and more as the roadmap for our sanctification” (110).

This is a vital chapter for the church today, where dysfunction of faith and the law persist. The tripartite divide of the Heidelberg Catechism is an apt tool here. The law serves us in our gratitude response to God for his saving us from our sins and misery. Oh what a deliverance! So, living in love for God and our neighbor through a new obedience to the law glorifies the God who graciously saves and upholds the world. “If the world’s darkness is its evil deeds (John 3:19), then the light that Jesus says is fundamental to our identity as Christians is good deeds done in faith and love for our Savior” (116). A dark and dying world needs this kind of light.

The End of the Matter

If it is not evidently clear by now, this excellent book ought to be picked up and read by many. Spinnenweber’s Loving the Law is the beginning of a cure for the antinomian plague that afflicts many Christians today. “When believers bear fruit in keeping with their repentance (Luke 3:8), when the fruit of the Spirit abounds in their lives, God is glorified in them (Gal 5:22–23)” (115). Why would the once-lost-now-saved child of God not want to glorify their heavenly Father, their Savior-King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the indwelling, advocating and sanctifying Holy Spirit? Of course they would want to, and the means to do so is obedient love through the law. The believer should know and remember that the law is for our blessing—that we might honor and glorify God with our holy living, which is for our own good, and that we might also do good for our neighbor in need.

Notes

  1. Spinnenweber makes note of a modern work that details this, which succinctly lays out the three types of law in its opening pages: Philip Ross, From the Finger of God: The Biblical and Theological Basis for the Threefold Division of the Law, (Mentor, 2018), 1–6.
  2. For a fuller explanation from the Reformed tradition, look no further than the Westminster Confession of Faith [WCF] 19.
  3. Spinnenweber uses the terms, “conviction, protection, and direction” (4).
  4. For a detailed explanation of the three uses, see Francis Turretin, Institutes of Elenctic Theology, vol. 2, trans. George Musgrave Giger, ed. James T. Dennison Jr., (P&R Publishing, 1994), 11.22.9–18; 23.1–15, 139–45. See also the twenty-fourth through twenty-sixth questions on the ceremonial and judicial laws with explanation, 145–67.
  5. “The writer of Hebrews does not regard the old Diatheke [covenant] as something evil, but rather as the world of shadows (the Levitical world).” Geerhardus Vos, The Teaching of the Epistle to the Hebrews, ed. Johannes Vos, (Eerdmans Publishing, 1956), 52. Later, Vos would say “that the old prefigures the new” (55). See also Vos as he discusses the relation of type and antitype in the ceremonial system (57–65).
  6. “When the Mosaic polity passed away, we are meant to infer that the specific applications of the Civil Law passed away with it” (15).
  7. See Heidelberg Catechism 4 and Westminster Larger Catechism 98, 102, 122 (cf. WCF 19.2, 5). For more on the Heidelberg Catechism, see Zacharias Ursinus’ earlier Larger Catechism, questions and answers 10, 15–17 in Lyle Bierma, An Introduction to the Heidelberg Catechism: Sources, History, and Theology, Charles Gunnoe Jr., Karin Maag, and Paul Fields, (MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 164–65.
  8. See also Spinnenweber’s brief and poignant discussion on Positive Law in chapter 1 (24–26).
  9. Sproul referred to sin as “cosmic treason” in his popular teaching series, “The Holiness of God.”
  10. Here Spinnenweber cites John Calvin from, Institutes of the Christian Religion, 2.7.10–11.

©Charles Vaughn. All Rights Reserved.

Stephen Spinnenweber, Loving the Law: The Law of God in the Life of the Believer, (Christian Focus, 2025)

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  • Charles Vaughn
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    Charles lives in San Diego county with his wife and four covenant children. He has a B.A. in Biblical & Theological Studies from Regent University and an M.A. in both Biblical and Theological Studies from Westminster Seminary California. Charles works as a Junior High history teacher at a Christian school in Escondido, CA.

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