# “Christ is the law and the gospel in His own person” by Herman Bavinck

- Link: https://tollelege.net/2021/03/12/christ-is-the-law-and-the-gospel-in-his-own-person-by-herman-bavinck/
- Published: 2021-03-12T12:00:12-06:00
- Author: tollelege

“According to the New Testament, all the different testimonies of the Law and the
Prophets culminate in Christ. The whole Old Testament is basically fulfilled in 
Him. In Him all the promises of God are yes and amen (**Rom. 15:8; 2 Cor. 1:20**).

He is the true Messiah, the king of David’s house (**Matt. 2:2; 21:5; 27:11, 37;
Luke 1:32**); the prophet who proclaims good news to the poor (**Luke 4:17**); the
priest who, according to the Letter to the Hebrews, in His person, office, appointment,
sacrifice, and sanctuary far exceeds the priesthood of the Old Testament.

He is the Servant of the Lord who as a slave (_δουλος_, **Phil. 2:7–8**) came to
serve (**Mark 10:45**), submitted to the law (**Gal. 4:4**), fulfilled all righteousness(**
Matt. 3:15**), and was obedient to the death on the cross (**Rom. 5:19; Phil. 2:
8; Heb. 5:8**).

As such Jesus made a distinction between the kingdom of God as it was now being 
founded by Him in a spiritual sense and as it would one day be revealed in glory;
between His first and His second coming, events that in Old Testament prophecy still
coincided; between His work in the state of humiliation and that in the state of
exaltation. The Christ had to enter glory through suffering (**Luke 24:26**).

The work that Christ now accomplishes in the state of humiliation is described in
the New Testament from many different angles. It is a work that the Father gave 
Him to do (**John 4:34; 5:36; 17:4**); generally speaking, it consisted in doing
God’s will (**Matt. 26:42; John 4:34; 5:30; 6:38**) and specifically included the“
exegesis” of God (**John 1:18**), the revelation and glorification of His name (**
17:4, 6, 26**), the communication of God’s words (**17:8, 14**), and so on.

Christ is a prophet, mighty in words and deeds (**Luke 24:19**); He is not a new
legislator but interprets the law (**Matt. 5–7; 22:40; Luke 9:23; 10:28; John 13:
34; 1 John 2:7–8**), proclaims the gospel (**Matt. 12:16–21; Luke 4:17–21**), and
in both preaches Himself as the fulfiller of the former and the content of the latter.

He is the law and the gospel in His own person. He is not a prophet only by the 
words He speaks but primarily by what He is. He is the Logos (**John 1:1**), full
of grace and truth (**John 1:17–18**), anointed without measure with the Spirit (**
John 3:34**), the revelation of the Father (**John 14:9; Col. 2:9**).

The source of His message is Himself, not inspiration but incarnation. God did not
even speak with Him as He did with Moses, face to face, but was in Him and spoke
through Him (**Heb. 1:3**). He is not one prophet among many, but the supreme, the
only prophet.

He is the source and center of all prophecy; and all knowledge of God, both in the
Old Testament before His incarnation and in the New Testament after His resurrection
and ascension, is from Him (**1 Pet. 1:11; 3:19; Matt. 11:27**).

The will of God that Jesus came to do further included the miracles He performed.
The one work (_ἐργον_) is differentiated in many works (_ἐργα_, **John 5:36**), 
which are the works of His Father (**John 5:20; 9:3; 10:32, 37; 14:10**).

They prove that the Father loves Him and dwells in Him (**John 5:20; 10:38; 14:10**),
bear witness that the Father sent Him (**John 5:36; 10:25**), and manifest His divine
glory (**John 2:11; 11:4, 40**). He not only performs miracles but in His person
is Himself the absolute miracle.

As the incarnate Spirit-conceived, risen and glorified Son of God, He is Himself
the greatest miracle, the center of all miracles, the author of the re-creation 
of all things, the firstborn of the dead, preeminent in everything (**Col. 1:18**).”

–Herman Bavinck, _[Reformed Dogmatics, Vol. 3: Sin and Salvation in Christ](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0801035767?tag=toletaupanre-20)_,(
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2006), 3: 337-338.

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