The Law Commands, Grace Helps
We know that the law is good if one uses it properly.
If you have been reading this blog for a spell, you know that I donated over 90% of my books before recently moving. The remaining ten percent are the cream of the cream. It was a rather fascinating process to determine which books that I had not read would be kept. The books I had read, I literally had a better read on. There were keepers and there were not. It still hurt to donate the books but it saved a lot of back-breaking labor where I could not afford to expend the extra effort of packing, moving, and unpacking them. I didn't have the room, time, or energy.
I decided to keep an unread book that a friend had given me as a present many years ago. It is an anthology of letters written from a Christian, some well known and others not, to another individual or group. It has been a daily devotional as it is formatted to start at Christmas and conclude at Easter (where the date can vary quite a lot depending on the lunar calendar).
I was reading a letter from the Early Church Father St. Augustine to a good friend who was confused about the relationship between God's moral law and grace. I think the general question of Augustine's friend was whether the Law of God still stood, was still in force. And, St. Augustine rightly answered that it is. Many these days wish to negate the Moral Law (the Ten Commandments and etc.) as if it should be included with the cessation of the Ceremonial Law (dietary regulations and etc). I find such conversations from otherwise intelligent people quite disturbing. It is really a no-win these days with our post-modern sensibilities.
St. Augustine continues though in the letter to demonstrate the while the Law of God prosecutes sin, the grace of God helps. And not as an assistant but more in its spiritual nature. It has a helping orientation. But, grace does not negate the Law only the penalty of the Law. This careful distinction is quite needed today and would really clear up a lot of the confusion. It also gives us Christ-followers a clear balance of how to proceed through the dangerous land-mines of those who deny biblical teaching on a whole range of moral issues. We can affirm the Law, but help those who are trapped. Not by denying the validity of the Law but personifying grace to our fellow human beings.
We would be advised to read the Early Church Fathers in how they addressed the vexing questions of their times. As Solomon wrote, "There is nothing new under the sun." May we use their light to illuminate these dark days.
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