The Weakness of the Law aims to demonstrate that the five New Testament
references to the weakness of the Law, read in their respective
contexts, support those who advocate the ""third use of the Law"" in the
debate with ""doctrinal antinomianism."" The study falls into two parts:
Part One sets the scene by means of a series of illustrations of the
debate, in approximate chronological order, in which representatives of
each of the two broad positions are set side by side. In Part Two the
four books in which the five key texts appear are studied in their
entirety as they relate to the subject of the Law. ""The scholarly
integration of historical theology and contemporary biblical exegesis in
Bayes's thorough study makes it a useful and informative resource for
scholars, preachers, and teachers. Its carefully researched arguments in
favour of the third use of the law will provoke wide-ranging and
stimulating debate."" --William S. Campbell, University of Wales
""Paul's famous question, 'Why, then, the law?' has haunted the
Christian church. Today questions about the nature of the law of Moses,
its relationship to the gospel, and its function (if any) in the
Christian life remain dominant issues for contemporary New Testament
scholarship as well as for practical Christian living.This careful study
by Dr. Jonathan Bayes makes a welcome contribution to an important
debate, and provides an intelligent and wise corrective to some less
careful thought on the role of God's law."" --Sinclair B. Ferguson,
Westminster Theological Seminary, Dallas ""Meticulous exegesis within
the context of the transition of the Old Covenant to the New is the only
way we will be certain of what is meant by the word law and in
particular the role of the moral law in the life of the Christian
believer. Many will be grateful to Jonathan Bayes for fulfilling
admirably this task and enhancing it by setting his subject within the
parameters of writers past and present who have grappled with this
problem."" --Erroll Hulse, Associate Pastor, Leeds Reformed Baptist
Church Jonathan Bayes trained for the ministry at Trinity College,
Bristol, and Northern Baptist College, Manchester. He holds MA and MPhil
degrees from the University of Leeds and a PhD from the University of
Sunderland. He is Pastor at Hambleton Evangelical Church in North
Yorkshire.
