Every so often, a minor “dustup” arises among pastors and church leaders in different parts of the church. The presenting issue is simple: In what way is God’s law still relevant for the Christian life?
When the question arises, the opinions tend to fall into two categories. Some suggest that emphasizing the law risks undermining the gospel of grace. Others respond that to neglect the law is to leave the Christian life undefined, even unformed.
While the conversation itself has largely died down for the moment, the underlying question has not. In many of our churches, the law of God is either underemphasized, misunderstood, or quietly avoided.
It may be time to recover something that Scripture never set aside: the gracious role of the law in the life of the believer.
God’s Law is Never a Means of Merit
One of the persistent misunderstandings — both ancient and modern — is that the law was given as a way to earn God’s favor. But Scripture tells a different story.
Before a single command is spoken at Sinai, God declares:
“I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery” (Exodus 20:2).
Grace precedes law; redemption precedes requirement; relationship precedes responsibility.
God did not give the law to Israel so that they might become his people. He gave the law because they already were his people.
This ordering is not incidental; it is foundational and carries forward into the New Testament. The believer’s obedience is never the ground of acceptance with God, but it is always the fruit of it.
God’s Law is a Gift
If we miss this context, we will inevitably misread the law. Rather than seeing it as a gracious guide, we will treat the law as a crushing demand. We won’t receive it as wisdom, but resist it as a restriction.
But Moses presents the law in precisely the opposite way. In Deuteronomy 4:5–6, he tells Israel that their obedience to God’s statutes will display their wisdom to the nations, leading the watching world to respond, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.”
The law is not merely a set of prohibitions; it is a vision for human flourishing.
Imagine a world shaped by the Ten Commandments: Ultimate allegiance is rightly ordered (Commandments 1–4). Authority is honored, and life is protected (5–6). Commitments are kept, and property is respected (7–8). Truth governs speech, and humility governs desire (9–10)
This is not legalism; it is life as it was meant to be lived.
God’s law was Never the Problem
In the New Testament we find strong words about the misuse of the law, but not about the law itself. The apostle Paul is clear: “So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good” (Romans 7:12).
The problem, then and now, is not the law; it is the human tendency to distort it.
In Jesus’ day, many Israelites had reduced the law to a checklist, a means of earning righteousness through external conformity. This distortion turned a gracious guide into a system of self justification.
Jesus confronts this directly in the Sermon on the Mount not by dismissing the law, but by restoring its true meaning.
“You have heard that it was said… but I say to you… .”
Jesus is not revising the law, but correcting misinterpretation. He brings the law back to its intended depth, addressing not only behavior, but the heart.
God’s Law in the Life of the Believer
Where does the law fit for the Christian today? Historic Reformed theology has spoken of the “third use of the law”— its role as a guide for the believer’s life. This use remains essential, but it must be understood in the right order.
We might frame it this way:
- Being: Through union with Christ, we are made new.
- Knowing: Through God’s Word, we come to understand his will.
- Doing: Through the Spirit’s power, we begin to live it out.
The law belongs in the third category, but it cannot function properly unless the first two are in place. When the law is given to those who are not yet transformed, it becomes a burden. When it is given to those who are being renewed, it becomes a guide.
This distinction also helps us recover another important one: the difference between effort and earning. The gospel eliminates earning, but it does not eliminate effort.
The Christian life is empowered obedience — never to gain God’s favor, but because we already have it.
Preaching the Law — Gracefully
If all of this is true, then we must ask: What should our preaching reflect?
In some cases, pastors have reacted so strongly against legalism as to unintentionally minimize the law’s role altogether. But when the law is neglected, sin becomes less defined; wisdom becomes less concrete; and discipleship becomes less practical.
The result is often a vague Christianity, rich in affirmation, but thin in formation.
To preach the law gracefully is to restore it to its proper place: not as a ladder to climb, but as a path to walk; not as a means of justification, but as a pattern for sanctification; not as a threat hanging over us, but as a gift given to us
It means teaching our people not only what Christ has saved them from, but what he has saved them for.
A Needed Recovery
The question before us is not whether we believe in grace. We do.
The question is whether we are willing to embrace the full shape of that grace, including the gift of God’s law. The same God who delivered his people from Egypt also told them how to live. The same Savior who fulfilled the law also teaches us to walk in it.
To recover the law in this way is not to retreat into legalism. It is to move forward into maturity.
In my book, “Equipping Christians for Kingdom Obedience,” I attempt to trace this theme across both Testaments, showing that the law, rightly understood, has always functioned as a gracious guide for God’s redeemed people.
And perhaps in our time, recovering that understanding is exactly what the church needs.
Tom Lutz serves as a ruling elder at Perimeter Church and professor at Metro Atlanta Seminary.