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Charles Raleigh said:
Pilgrim, where have I gone wrong in these beliefs?
I believe that ...
Prior to the events on Mt. Sinai, the Ten Commandments had the status of eternal decrees. They had not yet undergone the providential outworking that took place on Mt. Sinai. The Persons of the Trinity had not yet translated them, through the covenant of redemption, from their status as eternal decrees, into their status not only as eternal decrees but also as “providential ... outworking{s} of eternal decrees”. They had been promulgated as eternal law, but they had not been promulgated as “providential ... outworking{s} of eternal decrees”.
I am not comfortable with this statement. What I believe is that from the very day Adam was created in the "imago dei" (image of God), the moral aspects of God's "eternal law" were written upon Adam's heart, i.e., they were an integral part of Adam's very being. And since all men are created by God, albeit through human promulgation and not out of the dust of the ground, in His image, they too without exception are conceived bearing that image and that law as part of their soul (cf. Rom 2:13-15; 3:23; 5:12-14). If all men are to be judged, which they infallibly shall be, according to the law and their breaking of it, then surely law existed among men from Adam onward, for all men die due to both their inputed guilt of Adam's sin and their own transgression of the law.

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You then state:
Prior to the events on Mt. Sinai, since the Ten Commandments existed as eternal decrees, they existed as embedded in creation. They therefore existed as eternal law, and the people who lived before the events on Mt. Sinai were subject to Paul’s description in Romans 1:18-25. Some people, the elect, were necessarily conscious of such eternal law -- the eternal decrees of the Ten Commandments -- and therefore understood it as natural law, and obeyed it. For example, there’s a possible christophany in Genesis 15 through which Abraham was possibly regenerated, and obedience to the Ten Commandments, as natural law, is certainly required of anyone who is regenerated.
Continuing from the above, again my disagreement must be voiced for similar reasons. But, here it appears that you exclude unregenerate men from the "natural law" with which all men are in possession of by virtue of their being created with the imago dei. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/shrug.gif" alt="" /> I believe that all men from Adam onward were very much conscious of the moral law of God written upon their hearts and thus suffered in their conscience when they violated it. Even Cain was very much aware that the offering which he brought before the Lord (in partial obedience to a law set forth by God yet not written, aka: assumed from context) was not in compliance with that law. (cf. Gen 4:3-7) I would challenge anyone to try and submit evidence that Cain was regenerate. <img src="/forum/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

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Then you state:
There are certainly penalties accompanying violations of the Ten Commandments. But the penalties appearing in both the Exodus and Deuteronomy versions of the Decalogue are penalties executed by God. In neither version of the Decalogue is there mention of penalties to be executed by humans. There are certainly penalties to be executed by humans that are indicated in the Pentateuch AFTER God’s giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai. The point at which humans are required to enforce laws with penalties is the point at which human cognition, aka “human free agency”, becomes crucial to the enforcement of such law. And it’s the point at which such law becomes promulgated as positive law (or “human law”, or “man’s law”, or whatever one may want to call it).
Here again I find myself in disagreement. The fact is that the civil laws found in Deuteronomy, e.g., were the application of the Decalogue within the theocracy of Israel. And these civil laws and their commensurate penalties were executed by those in authority within Israel. Further, those leaders who did not apply the law were chided and sometimes punished by God for not doing so. Thus it can be clearly seen that men had a very active and responsible role in carrying out the enforcement of God's revealed law (aka: divine law). I believe that the instances were God brought punishment upon individuals and/or groups directly was to emphasize the profundity of His law and the severity for breaking it upon the people so that by way of example, among other things, they would faithfully strive to keep that law and to punish transgressors.

Allowing for the term "positive law", I would suggest that this would be applicable for all laws created by man without direct command of God. Some would be legitimate in that they are based upon biblical principle (aka: good and necessary consequence), e.g., times of worship, Bible Studies, etc., speed limits, housing codes, etc. which benefit all mankind. Others, which I am sure you will unhesitatingly agree, are not legitimate, e.g., Gay marriage, abortion, prostitution, pornography, etc.

Well, there you have my [Linked Image].

In His grace,

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simul iustus et peccator

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