The Apostle Paul and C.S Lewis on the Moral Law

“It is after you have realized that there is a real Moral Law, and a Power behind the law, and that you have broken that law and put yourself wrong with that Power – it is after all this, and not a moment sooner, that Christianity begins to talk.”(pg 311) In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis unfolds the topic of the divine Moral Law and the Power behind it. It is not until humans realize their rebellion and sinfulness that they can truly look unto Christ as Lord and Savior. But do all men see the Moral Law as a means of grace, or do they see it as a standard no one can attain? Thus, this is the problem: is God just using the Moral Law to harm us, or using it to show us something about Him?

First, the Apostle Paul penned a statement in his epistle to the Roman church. Found within the letter is a declaration that will be the basis of all Paul’s reasoning for the conviction of sin in the letter. Paul writes: “What then shall we say? That the Law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the Law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the Law had not said, “You shall not covet.”(Romans 7:7) Coming from statements in regard to “dying to the Law”, Paul lets his readers know that the Law is an instrument for revealing sin in one’s self. This is only possible by God, who is within Himself morally perfect, setting up the Moral Law. Once humans stand and look into the mirror of the Moral Law they can see their rebellion. “It tells you to do the straight thing and it does not seem to care how painful, or dangerous, or difficult it is to do.”(pg 310) This provokes a question: is the Law good? Better yet, is God good?

Next, the examination of God is a must in order to understand the Law. “If God is like the Moral Law, then He is not soft. It is no use, at this stage, saying that what you mean by a “good” God is a God who can forgive” (pg 310) God is behind the power of the Law that bears upon the world. Every man, woman, and child knows the difference between right and wrong. All mankind has a sense of morality but as a result of sin, does not follow it. Therefore God, being in a perfect moral state, provides the Moral Law as a means of grace to sinners. He does this ultimately to show Himself to be holy, righteous, and then being able to save sinners from their sins. As an answer to the question posed, God is without a doubt good by writing the Law on all the hearts of mankind. As Paul said in Romans 2:15-16 “They show that the work of the Law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bear witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.” He does this not to harm, but to reveal Himself to humans by setting up a means of goodness.

Lastly, to carry on the last thought, if God sets up the Law, knowing that men cannot keep it, God must provide some way a sense of forgiveness. It is within God Himself who could provide that forgiveness from the rebellion of the Law. He does this by allowing Jesus Christ to fill that gap of mankind’s imperfectness. We could never keep the Law and be perfect. Romans says “None are righteous, no not one.” We all have had other gods before Him. We have all lied and stolen, therefore as a result deserve to die. “For the wages of sin is death” Paul says. But Jesus Christ acts as the agent who delivers us from the curse of sin. “Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in a new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the letter.” We could never be perfect by the Law, but through Christ, we have died and live through Him. He fulfills the Law when we could not.

In conclusion, the Moral Law acts as a means of grace from God. Thus showing sinners their sin, and allowing them to respond to Jesus Christ by submitting themselves to His lordship and free gift of salvation. If it were not for the Moral Law, we would never have a standard of goodness and would not care for goodness either. But God, in order to show His goodness, acts in humanity but sending His Son to fulfill the Law and by giving humans the great gift of all: freedom from sin and eternal life.