The Three Uses of the Law

I am reading Chapter 21 of Greg Bahnsen's "By This Standard". It is about the traditional three uses of the law. Reading the chapter, caused me to ask questions: Why is it that the contemporary reformed and evangelical communities are not following in the footstep of the reformers and puritans? Is it because the reigning idea in the academe at present is one of philosophical autonomy and now reigning among the thinkers in the Church? Isn't this philosopy the reason for the popularity of antinomianism in mainstream Christianity? I think reading Bahnsen's book will help us answer questions like these?

Among the three uses of the law, the one denied by the majority of both contemporary Reformed and evangelical communities is its political use. It is unfortunate that despite both traditional Reformed and puritans recognized the political as the most obvious use of the law, mainstream contemporary Reformed and evangelical communities consider it strange. 

As an overview of Bahnsen's work, let me restate here the three uses of the law. These are:

1. Political use. The Bible teaches that civil magistrates are "ministers of God". Reformers therefore believed the enforcement of God's law by the civil magistrates. For them, this is necessary for the proper and legitimate restraining of ungodly behavior.

2. Pedagogic use. This is the most popular use of the law. The law convicts people of their sins for them to see their need of a Savior. This is the case where the law is understood as a tutor bringing sinners to Christ. 

3. Didactic use. The prevailing attitude in the Church today is one of antinomianism. They refuse to accept the proper use of the law in Christian life. The didactic use of the law emphasizes it as a rule in Christian living. 

Among these three uses of the law, its third use or known as "tertius usus legis" is largely ignored by most churches today. However, if I understand Bahnsen correctly, the first or the political use is the most controversial one at present both inside and outside the Church. I personally believe that with the ongoing political tension between  the statist and the anarchist around the world, the Church has to recover the first use of the law to restore order and freedom first within herself and next as a tool of her witness to the larger society.