The Moral Law
Grasp what the Standards mean by the moral law, how it remains the rule of life under grace, and how its summary in the Ten Commandments is to be rightly read.
Having traced redemption from the covenant of grace to the application of Christ's work, the Standards turn to the shape of the obedient life. The moral law is not the ground of salvation, but it remains God's abiding rule for all whom He has made.
The rule of obedience for all men
The moral law is the declaration of God's will binding every person to perfect, personal, and perpetual obedience. The Standards root it in the very nature of God and in man as created in His image, so that it was written on Adam's heart before it was ever inscribed on stone. It is not a temporary arrangement for one nation but the unchanging standard of righteousness for all men in all ages.
First given as a covenant of works, the moral law still obliges, though no fallen sinner can keep it for life. Its demand of perfect obedience exposes our need of a Saviour and silences every claim of self-righteousness.
Its uses under the covenant of grace
Believers are not under the law as a covenant of works, justified or condemned by it; Christ has borne its curse on their behalf. Yet the law is of great use to them as a rule of life. It informs them of God's will, directs their walk, restrains their corruptions, and drives them afresh to Christ when they see how far they fall short.
The Standards are careful to hold law and grace together rather than against each other. The same God who saves freely teaches His redeemed people to delight in obedience, so that the law becomes a friend to the justified rather than a tyrant.
Summarised in the Ten Commandments, rightly read
The moral law is summarily comprehended in the Ten Commandments, themselves summed up in love to God and love to neighbour. The Larger Catechism then supplies rules for reading them: each commandment reaches the heart as well as the hand, forbids the least degree of sin while requiring the contrary duty, and binds us to the like duties of others.
These rules guard against a shallow, external obedience. Where one sin is forbidden, every cause and occasion of it is forbidden too; where one duty is commanded, all that promotes it is commanded. So the brief commandments open out into the whole of a holy life.
Study the full text, Scripture proofs, and commentary on each:
- Read WLC 99 slowly and list its rules for understanding the commandments; then test one commandment against them.
- Compare WCF 19.6 (section 98) with WSC 40-42 on how the law functions for the believer versus its original giving.
- Trace the proof texts behind WLC 93 to see how the Standards ground the law's perpetual obligation.
See how this doctrine is stated across the Reformed confessions side by side.
The Moral Law →