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The Rule and Role of Divine Law
The Rule & Role Of Divine Law
We are a nation of laws. They exist to keep society orderly, free from the whims of a mob mentality that can change from day to day. They establish standards to which all are held accountable (at least in theory). They provide stability in an unstable world. Without law, anarchy reigns, brute force seizes the reigns of power, and life becomes a daily struggle for survival. But for all the virtue of law, it is powerless without the authority to impose and enforce it. One father’s house rules have no effect on his neighbor, for he has no authority to impose rules on his neighbor. One state’s tax laws have no jurisdiction in another state, for no state has the authority to rule another. All law is predicated on authority. Some may exert authority by force of arms. Others may establish government by mutual consent of the governed.
But the authority of God is different; it is both natural and supernatural. Nature demonstrates the authority of a cow over the calf by virtue of birth. And we can see the authority of a potter over a piece of clay he shapes on the wheel; he made it and he owns it. In just this same way, God’s authority over us is evident by virtue of creation. He is the Creator. We are the created. Divine authority over man is a natural consequence of creation. However, creation itself is hardly natural! It is only by the supernatural power of God’s spoken words that our universe has come into existence. And it is by the continuing authority of His Son that all things are sustained (Col. 1:17). Likewise, God’s law has been revealed through supernatural revelation. God is supreme, and His law cannot rightly be challenged.
For those of us whose “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20), divine law is inextricably linked to the sovereign rule of Christ. He has been given “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Mt. 28:18), and His word is that which will judge us in the last day (Jn. 12:48). To refuse His law is tantamount to refusing His lordship.
But what is the role of law in Christianity? The law of Christ, revealed in precepts
and principles, teaches us how to honor God by doing and being what He wants. Scripture shows us the character of God in the life of Jesus Christ. It records the example of Jesus that we may see what it truly means to do the Father’s will. Its letters to churches and individuals reveal the Spirit’s message of life and godliness. Its instructions give us an understanding of how we should be working together as Christians. By reading the God-breathed text of the Bible we glean principles to be applied in our lives everyday. God’s word, His revealed law for mankind, is meant to be obeyed, yet law does not save us. Law has never been intended as a means of salvation; that is not its role. The means of salvation is the blood of Jesus and our faith therein. Law, on the other hand, teaches us how to glorify God in whom our faith and trust resides. Our obedience to His law is generated by faith and love in Him. So closely linked are faith and the obedience it produces, that without love and obedience, we cannot be said to have faith at all (see Jas. 2:14-26).
Over the centuries law has often been recast into roles that God never intended.
Christians with a genuine desire to please God have sometimes transformed “God’s will” into a legalistic system of rules, in the apparent belief that salvation lies in a perfect understanding and execution of truth. It is this mindset of legalism that takes salvation out of the realm of faith and into a humanistic formula of “belonging to the right church” and “believing all the right things.” Now without question, Christians should desire to follow the Bible as closely as possible, but not because we believe it will earn us a place in heaven. We should
follow God’s word closely because our faith and love drive us to please Him. It is just another form of humanism that sets man’s legalistic requirements as the focal point of our relationship with Christ. Such was the approach of our spiritual
forebears in the American Restoration Movement of the 19th century. Alexander
Campbell, Walter Scott and others sought to “restore primitive Christianity,” but instead created a new sect based on the legal constructs of their reasoning. They were not bad men, but they were men after all. We owe no loyalty to the “Restoration Heritage” they created, nor do we owe any loyalty to the sects which
have emerged in their wake. Our only loyalty should be to the will of God as expressed in scripture. And when our loyalty lies with scripture alone, it is inevitable that we will collide with legalistic, sectarian minds from time to time.
The divine rule of law stands in spite of the abuse it has suffered at the hands of
men. “Let God be true and every man a liar!” (Rom. 3:4). Our task as disciples of
Jesus is to live by faith, glorify Him by conformity to His will, and share the message of redemption with the world. Let’s honor and submit to divine law, but let’s never transform it into a humanistic, legalistic system of “churchianity.”
Steve Dewhirst
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