The Letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth Life
Hence is that of the apostle, “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” But you will say, Can this be true of the spiritual divine letter of the gospel? Can it kill, or give death? Yes, it kills, when it is rested in; when it is taken for divine power, and supposed to have goodness in itself; for then it kills the Spirit of God in man, quenches His holy fire within us, and is set up instead of it. It gives death, when it is built into systems of strife and contention about words, notions, and opinions, and makes the kingdom of God to consist, not in power, but in words.
When it is thus used, then of necessity it kills, because it keeps from that which alone is life and can give life. This then is the whole of the matter; all the literal truths, and variety of doctrines and expressions of the written word, have but one nature, one end, and one errand, they all say nothing else to man but that one thing which Christ said, in these words, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you”; just the same, as when it is said, “Jesus Christ, who is of God made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification”; this is the only refreshment from Christ. Again, “But ye are washed, but ye are cleansed in the name of our Lord Jesus”; just the same as when it is said, “Except ye abide in Me, and I in you, ye have no life in you.” Again, “By grace ye are saved, by faith ye are saved,” says neither more nor less than this, “He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life”; the same as when Christ says, “Without Me ye can do nothing”; the same as the apostle says, “Yet not I, but Christ that liveth in me”; the same as “Christ in us the hope of glory; if Christ be not in you, ye are reprobates.”
Therefore to come to Christ, to have our heavyladen, fallen nature refreshed by Him, to be born spirit of His Spirit, to have His heavenly flesh and heavenly blood made living in us, before we put off the bestial body and blood of death which we have from Adam, is the one only thing taught and meant by all that is so variously said in the Scriptures of the merits and benefits of Christ to us. It is the spirit, the body, the blood of Christ within us that is our whole peace with God, our whole adoption, our whole redemption, our whole justification, our whole glorification; and this is the one thing said, and meant by that new birth, of which Christ says, “Except a man be born again from above, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Now, the true ground why all that is said of Christ in such a variety of expressions has only one meaning, and points only to one and the same thing, is this, it is because the whole state and nature of fallen man wants only one thing, and that one thing is a real birth of the divine nature made living again in him, as at the first; and then all is done, that can be done, by all the mysteries of the birth, and whole process of Christ, for our salvation.
All the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel are fulfilled, when there is in Christ a new creature, having life in and from Him, as really as the branch has its life in and from the vine. And when all scripture is thus understood, and all that either Christ says of Himself, or His apostles say of Him, are all heard, or read, only as one and the same call to come to Christ, in hunger and thirst to be filled and blessed with His divine nature made living within us; then, and then only, the letter kills not, but as a sure guide leads directly to life.
But grammar, logic, and criticism knowing nothing of Scripture but its words, bring forth nothing but their own wisdom of words, and a religion of wrangle, hatred, and contention, about the meaning of them. But lamentable as this is, the letter of Scripture has been so long the usurped province of school-critics, and learned reasoners making their markets of it, that the difference between literal, notional, and living divine knowledge, is almost quite lost in the Christian world. So that if any awakened souls are here or there found among Christians, who think that more must be known of God, of Christ, and the powers of the world to come, than every scholar can know by reading the letter of Scripture, immediately the cry of enthusiasm, whether they be priests, or people, is sent after them. A procedure, which could only have some excuse, if these critics could first prove, that the apostle’s text ought to be thus read,
Hence is that of the apostle, “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life.” But you will say, Can this be true of the spiritual divine letter of the gospel? Can it kill, or give death? Yes, it kills, when it is rested in; when it is taken for divine power, and supposed to have goodness in itself; for then it kills the Spirit of God in man, quenches His holy fire within us, and is set up instead of it. It gives death, when it is built into systems of strife and contention about words, notions, and opinions, and makes the kingdom of God to consist, not in power, but in words.
When it is thus used, then of necessity it kills, because it keeps from that which alone is life and can give life. This then is the whole of the matter; all the literal truths, and variety of doctrines and expressions of the written word, have but one nature, one end, and one errand, they all say nothing else to man but that one thing which Christ said, in these words, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you”; just the same, as when it is said, “Jesus Christ, who is of God made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification”; this is the only refreshment from Christ. Again, “But ye are washed, but ye are cleansed in the name of our Lord Jesus”; just the same as when it is said, “Except ye abide in Me, and I in you, ye have no life in you.” Again, “By grace ye are saved, by faith ye are saved,” says neither more nor less than this, “He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath eternal life”; the same as when Christ says, “Without Me ye can do nothing”; the same as the apostle says, “Yet not I, but Christ that liveth in me”; the same as “Christ in us the hope of glory; if Christ be not in you, ye are reprobates.”
Therefore to come to Christ, to have our heavyladen, fallen nature refreshed by Him, to be born spirit of His Spirit, to have His heavenly flesh and heavenly blood made living in us, before we put off the bestial body and blood of death which we have from Adam, is the one only thing taught and meant by all that is so variously said in the Scriptures of the merits and benefits of Christ to us. It is the spirit, the body, the blood of Christ within us that is our whole peace with God, our whole adoption, our whole redemption, our whole justification, our whole glorification; and this is the one thing said, and meant by that new birth, of which Christ says, “Except a man be born again from above, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Now, the true ground why all that is said of Christ in such a variety of expressions has only one meaning, and points only to one and the same thing, is this, it is because the whole state and nature of fallen man wants only one thing, and that one thing is a real birth of the divine nature made living again in him, as at the first; and then all is done, that can be done, by all the mysteries of the birth, and whole process of Christ, for our salvation.
All the Law, the Prophets, and the Gospel are fulfilled, when there is in Christ a new creature, having life in and from Him, as really as the branch has its life in and from the vine. And when all scripture is thus understood, and all that either Christ says of Himself, or His apostles say of Him, are all heard, or read, only as one and the same call to come to Christ, in hunger and thirst to be filled and blessed with His divine nature made living within us; then, and then only, the letter kills not, but as a sure guide leads directly to life.
But grammar, logic, and criticism knowing nothing of Scripture but its words, bring forth nothing but their own wisdom of words, and a religion of wrangle, hatred, and contention, about the meaning of them. But lamentable as this is, the letter of Scripture has been so long the usurped province of school-critics, and learned reasoners making their markets of it, that the difference between literal, notional, and living divine knowledge, is almost quite lost in the Christian world. So that if any awakened souls are here or there found among Christians, who think that more must be known of God, of Christ, and the powers of the world to come, than every scholar can know by reading the letter of Scripture, immediately the cry of enthusiasm, whether they be priests, or people, is sent after them. A procedure, which could only have some excuse, if these critics could first prove, that the apostle’s text ought to be thus read,
An excerpt taken from:
An Humble, Earnest, and Affectionate Address to the Clergy
William Law
(1761)
William Law
(1761)
“The Spirit killeth, but the letter giveth life.”
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