What is law 4?

Legitimate law is God's law or law that is derived logically and legitimately therefrom. As Paul wrote, "we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully." I Timothy 1:8. It's not just knowing the law, it's using the law lawfully.

Who can do this? Any Christian can do this job of judging the law better than an unbeliever.

"Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church."

I Corinthians 6:3-4. Paul wrote this in the context of a discussion of Christians taking other Christians to a Roman court. In other words, the least esteemed in the church is better at judging than the best unbelieving judge.

As quoted in "Oaths 3," the 1776 Pennsylvania Constitution required representatives to swear to the following: "I do believe in one God, the creator and governor of the universe, the rewarder of the good and the punisher of the wicked. And I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by Divine inspiration." Magistrates had to swear to this oath: "And I, A.B., profess faith in God the Father and in Jesus Christ his eternal son, the true God, and in the Holy Spirit, one God blessed for evermore; and do acknowledge the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration."

Notice the elements of these two Oaths: 1. A belief in the most important and reliable authority for a source of law, "God, the creator and governor of the universe." 2. Belief in the God of final judgment, meaning the oath taker recognizes there are consequences for wrong behavior and right behavior. 3. Belief in the bible, which identifies the correct authority (the Trinitarian God), the correct law, and the correct savior.

That last point is important for several reasons. For one, the correct God is critical. The Islamic faith believes in a creator and a final judge, but it does not posit the Trinitarian God, who is more than just a creator and judge. The Trinitarian God is a God of community - three in one; He's a God of mercy, offering His own Son, the second person of the Trinity, as a sacrifice for our sin; He's also a God who offers His Spirit, the third person of the Trinity and the author of the scripture, as a guide and teacher to man. He is with us, as well as above us.

Also, there are many laws in the world, perhaps as many laws as there are nations and political subdivisions and religions and sects; however, God's law is not a matter of human choice, thereby denying its nature. This is the very problem the modern secularist cannot solve and which results in the very problem the above oath is supposed to resolve.

The simplest, most uneducated believer in the cross has two things going for him as a judge above anyone else. He believes in a fixed law that requires punishment for violation - the cross, and he believes in mercy, even for those who violate that law - the cross. The cross combines the most perfect and severest law and the greatest mercy for the violators of that law. By holding to the cross, the Christian combines two of the most important elements that a judge should have. The third follows right behind.

"He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?" Micah 6:8.