Wilhelmus à Brakel on the Law of God and the "Dim Light of Nature"

Wilhelmus à Brakel writes,

The Lord has perfectly revealed the law of the ten commandments to His church, and partakers of the covenant are obligated to live accordingly. We must therefore not make the dim light of nature to be the judge which determines which commandments we are and are not obliged to observe. Nor ought it to be a touchstone determining whether or not they pertain to us (and are thus binding for us) simply because reason--that is, the dim light of nature--judges it to be so. Rather, it is so because God as Lawgiver commands it to be so, and we must judge by means of the law declared on Sinai what the conduct of sin and virtue are--all of which nature and reason should have taught them. Our reason even originates with God and He declares by means of it what His will is. Thus, the heathen must judge as to whether a matter is evil, not because their reason affirms it to be so, but because God wills it and makes His will known to them by means of their reason, that is, by means of the light of nature.

The Christians Reasonable Service. Vol. 3: The Law, Christian Graces, and the Lord's Prayer. Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 1994. p. 83-4.