"Now we know that the law is good"

THE LAW IS A GOOD GIFT OF GOD: 1 Timothy 1:8

Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully....

"But aren't we supposed to be under grace, and not under the law?"

I hear this question on occasion. Many Christians have the attitude that the law is "Old Testament" (meaning passe') and grace is "New Testament" (meaning for now), the law being a heavy burden which no one could bear and that has been superceded by the Gospel.

So in particular St. Paul is frequently misread.

It's important to remember always that Paul was a Jew -- even as a believer in Jesus (I might say, especially as a believer) he held his Jewish roots in high esteem. And if you ask any observant Jew, s/he will tell you that the Law of God is a privilege, not a burden, a gift to be embraced with awe.

So the Law is good. In fact, without it, we really cannot understand our need for grace or its effectiveness at all.

Then why do we not continue to offer blood sacrifices at church on Sundays, and avoid cheeseburgers, shrimp cocktail and blended fabrics?

John Calvin, the great French reformer and commentator on Scripture, offered a guide which can help here. He writes that there are three uses of the Law in Scripture. The first of these is the "civil law", which contained those guidelines for Israel as a nation and people at a historical time and place. This contains information like where the cities of refuge were to be, how much a man had to pay to replace his neighbor's sheep that he lost, and so forth. These laws, though part of God's divine guidance for Israel and (later) Judah, are no longer binding on us today.

The second kind or use of the law is the moral law, which has to do with avoiding evil such as dishonoring God, stealing, adultery, murder, etc., and pursuing those goods which are enjoined on us, such as honoring our parents and elders, and engaging in honest business practices. The moral law is binding for all time; however, by grace we have been set free from seeking to earn God's favor through rigid adherence to an external code.

Thus Calvin offers a third classification: the usus in renatus, or "use of the law among the regenerate", those made new in Christ by grace. For the believer, the law is a guideline, not in the sense of nice but elective rules to be adhered to at one's option, but in the sense that our holiness in Christ, when filled with the Spirit, will naturally assume the form of the moral law. The moral law is the shape of a believer's walk.

To make what may be an imprecise illustration: a person I know grew up wearing a body-brace all the time, very rigid and very painful, because of a condition with her spine that she was born with. After many years of enduring the brace and all its physical (and social) limitations, her body had adjusted and grown to the place where she could maintain a correct and healthy posture without the brace. She had to remember to do so, and could not become complacent -- but she no longer required the brace to do it. For humankind, the law is a kind of brace, enabling us though seriously compromised by sin to adapt to the shape of life and holiness that God desires for us. Still, it's an incomplete an difficult process. In Christ by the Holy Spirit, we are enabled to assume the correct "posture" toward God and our fellow human beings so that the brace is merely a reminder, not required. We cannot become complacent, and good posture is still needed. But the guidance brought by the brace, so to speak, has moved from being external to being part of our makeup.

But how does one use the law "lawfully"? That's the next look ....

Lord, I give you thanks for your Law, which is holy, good, and true. Forgive me for denigrating it in my mind, and let my holiness in Christ, enabled by your Spirit, assume the shape of that which you require. As Augustine prayed, "Command what you will, but give what you command." For the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen.


Prince Frederick, Maryland (Providence)