BY JOHN COLQUHOUN
MEDIA
Introduction
Watch below as Dr. Joel R. Beeke introduces the history and legacy of Colquhoun and the significance of this book for the believer today.
THE BOOK
The Law and the Gospel
In Treatise on the Law and the Gospel, Colquhoun helps us understand the precise relationship between law and gospel. He also impresses us with the importance of knowing this relationship. Colquhoun especially excels in showing how important the law is as a believer’s rule of life without doing injury to the freeness and fullness of the gospel.
THE AUTHOR
John Colquhoun
John Colquhoun (1748–1827) was ordained as minister of St. John’s in South Leith in 1781, where he served for forty-six years. He was a minister in the Church of Scotland whose sermons and writings reflect those of the Marrow brethren of the Secession church. Colquhoun’s writings are theologically astute and intensely practical.
LECTURES
Understand the Book
Paul Smalley of Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary presents a series of 15 concise yet detailed lectures below on The Law and the Gospel, discussing each chapter and its central themes, as well as important background on the life and times in which John Colquhoun ministered and wrote. Scroll to the right to access all 15 lectures, and be sure to download the accompanying Lecture Notes below for deeper study individually or with a group.
Lecture 1
The Law of God
Who gave us the Law? Colquhoun’s first chapter teaches us how the Law serves as a Covenant of Works that binds us to God, the Lawgiver.
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Lecture 2
The Grace of the Law
The believer and unbeliever have differing relationships with the law. Understand how the Covenant of Grace informs the Christian’s view of the law in Colquhoun’s second chapter.
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Lecture 3
The Law of Moses
Have you considered that the Ten Commandments come in the context of grace? In his third chapter, Colquhoun introduces this key principle to reconcile the wrath and grace that God demonstrated when he gave the Law to Israel.
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Lecture 4
The Glory of the Law
What are the attributes of God’s moral law? Colquhoun lists seven reasons to rejoice in God’s Law and obey it with willing hearts.
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Lecture 5
The Heart of the Law
We need to meditate on the full meaning of each of God’s commandments. To help us in this, Colquhoun’s fourth chapter gives us several rules for rightly interpreting the Law.
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Lecture 6
The Gospel of Jesus Christ
What is the message of the Gospel? In chapter five of A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel, Colquhoun asks if we have experiential knowledge of the message of salvation.
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Lecture 7
The Law and the Gospel in Salvation
What are the uses of the Law? Colquhoun shows in his sixth chapter how the Law and the Gospel meet in salvation.
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Lecture 8
The Difference Between Law and Gospel
The Law of God says, “Do this work and live.” The Gospel of Christ says, “Live, for the work is done.” The seventh chapter in Colquhoun’s A Treatise of the Law and the Gospel presents several differences between the Law and the Gospel of Christ.
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Lecture 9
The Harmony of Law and Gospel
Though the Law and the Gospel are different, they are not enemies but friends. Colquhoun teaches in chapter eight of A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel that there is a lovely harmony between the two.
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Lecture 10
The Law Established in the Gospel
How does the Gospel ground the Law? Colquhoun fully embraced what Paul wrote in Romans 3:31, “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.”
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Lecture 11
The Believer’s Death to the Law
The Christian life requires death and remarriage: death to the Law and remarriage to Christ. In his tenth chapter, Colquhoun shows us how union with Christ is the key to freedom from the Law’s burden.
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Lecture 12
The Believer’s Life in Christ
Believers cannot just die to the Law—they must live unto it. Colquhoun’s Reformed Doctrine of union with Christ reveals how the believer’s life can bear spiritual fruit.
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Lecture 13
The Believer’s Lawful Obligation
As long as God is God and we are his human creatures, we will owe God full obedience to his commandments. Colquhoun unpacks the weighty reasons why believers must obey God’s Law.
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Lecture 14
The Believer’s Good Works
In the final chapter of A Treatise on the Law and the Gospel, John Colquhoun addresses a controversial and crucial subject: the necessity of good works in the believer.
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Lecture 15
The Preeminence of Christ
In light of the Law and the Gospel, what should we do? In his final reflections on this glorious subject, Colquhoun instructs us to walk in the way of Christ through Christ.
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Lecture Notes
Dig deeper into Dr. Joel Beeke and Paul Smalley’s lectures on the Law and the Gospel with this free study guide.