Chariots of God: God's Law in Relation to the Cross and the Christian

by Alan Cairns (clergyman)

Publisher:

Ambassador

, 2000

Overview

David described the angels present when God spoke His law at Mount Sinai as "the chariots of God" (Psalm 68:17). His fine symbolism reminds us of the awesome majesty of God at the giving of the law. However, the angels were merely the symbols of the majestic glory of God while His law itself was the essential revelation of it. Thus, the Ten Commandments—even more than the angels at Sinai—may be called God's chariots of fire.

The voice of God at Sinai must forever be a voice of condemnation unless God had something more to say. He had, and He said it at Calvary. Out of the darkness of the cross the Lord Jesus Christ cried with a loud voice, "It is finished" (John 19:30). Here is the voice of salvation from Him who perfectly fulfilled the law. Though no angels were present at Calvary when the Lord Jesus Christ died as a sacrifice to put away God's wrath and our sin, the chariots of God were there. His majesty was never more cleary revealed and His law was never more strictly in force than at the cross.

We may say that God rode down from glory to Mount Sinai in chariots of fire to state His law, closing heaven against us as law-breakers, but Christ our Savior rode up to glory from Mount Calvary in those same chariots of God, opening heaven for us by His perfect satisfaction of the law.

Chariots of God is a careful, consistent, and eminently Christ-centered examination of the relation of the law to the gospel and to believers. It avoids the extremes of legalism and lawlessness. These studies have been greatly used through thousands of audio copies of the original messages preached in Faith Free Presbyterian Church, Greenville, South Carolina. In print, they offer Christians a scriptural and readable guide to the vitally important subject of God's law.

Key Features

• Analyzes the meaning and nature of the Ten Commandments
• Explains the purpose of the Law
• Shows the relation of the Law to Jesus Christ's sacrifice

Contents

Top Highlights

“First, God gave His law to make men know that they are responsible and accountable to Him for all they are and do.” (Page 19)

“God’s answer to the crimes of lawbreakers. He saves them without any law-keeping on their part, solely on the merit of Christ’s obedience unto death. And in doing so He makes them lovers of His law, people who obey it, not in order to be accepted as righteous in His sight, but as those who have been justified freely through the redeeming blood of Christ.” (Page 143)

“They expounded it at length and, fully aware that the law had no saving power, used it as the backdrop against which they displayed the glories of the gospel. It is not too much to say that the past success of the gospel was in direct proportion to the extent of the recognition of the proper place and purpose of the law.” (Page 17)

“Third, God gave His law to establish the only standard of acceptance with Him. Micah tells us, ‘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). The law sets forth God’s standard of holiness.” (Page 21)

“Fifth, God gives His law to slay all self-righteousness. By His law God established the standard of acceptance with Him as absolute, sinless, undeviating perfection in obedience to the substance and spirit of the law.” (Page 22)

Product Details

• Title: Chariots of God: God's Law in Relation to the Cross and the Christian
• Author: Alan Cairns
• Publisher: Ambassador
• Publication Date: 2000
• Pages: 316

About Alan Cairns (clergyman)

Alan G. Cairns (August 12, 1940 – November 5, 2020) was a Bible teacher, retired pastor, and author. A native of Belfast, Northern Ireland, he was converted to Christianity through The Salvation Army. He joined the nascent Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster as a teenager. After working for an insurance brokerage in Belfast for two years, he was called to the ministry and attended the Theological Hall of his denomination. Cairns became pastor of Free Presbyterian churches in Dunmurry and then Ballymoney.