March 27, 2025: Moral Law
- petronationresourc
- Mar 29
- 3 min read
“Do you not realise that, though all the runners in the stadium take part in the race, only one of them gets the prize? Run like that—to win. Every athlete concentrates completely on training, and this is to win a wreath that will wither, whereas ours will never wither. So that is how I run, not without a clear goal; and how I box, not wasting blows on air. I punish my body and bring it under control, to avoid any risk that, having acted as herald for others, I myself may be disqualified.” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27, NJB)
Grace is God’s expression of love for us; it is pure gift. Because this is true, then any form of faith that relies on our own ability to live up to the standards of God is proven false. But what then is our response to this gift of grace? For some, this automatically leads them to embrace the heresy of antinomianism: “that Christians are by grace set free from the need of observing any moral law.” (Oxford dictionary of the Christian Church) This must be rejected.
Moral law continues to serve three purposes: 1) it provides a foundation for civil law to curb evil in society, 2) it portrays the justice and nature of God, and 3) it catechizes us in the Christian way of living. It is this third use of the law that I want to emphasize. The Ten Commandments are not made superfluous by the Gospel; Archbishop Thomas Cranmer first placed the Decalogue at the beginning of every Eucharist service in the 1552 Book of Common Prayer, where it continues to this day. At its conclusion, the congregation responds: “Lord, have mercy upon us, and write all these laws, in our hearts, we beseech you.” Our response to grace is never passive; Christianity is not a “Get out of Hell Free” card that we hold for a future event without present repentance. We faithfully respond to grace— as Paul says—by running the race as one who is disciplined like an athlete.
Discipline is scarcely identified with grace in contemporary teaching. Theological terms like repentance and regeneration are too seldom taught. The doctrine of sanctification, so important in the ancient Church, is often glossed over. Those baptized into Christ are baptized into his death and are in no way licensed to sin (Romans 6). We have been released from sin, freed to live under the sovereignty of our Lord. The life we live, we live for the Lord. Jesus said, “unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never get into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20, CSB) This should sober us to the awesome call of God on our life. Jesus said, "what is impossible with man is now
possible with God." The race Christians run is never run alone, for alone we would surely fail. Our race is empowered by and run with the Holy Spirit directing the steps of the children of God.
“…you who have now by Baptism put on Christ, it is your part and duty also, being made the child of God and of the light, by faith in Jesus Christ, to walk answerably to your Christian calling, and as becometh the children of light; remembering that Baptism representeth unto us our profession; which is to follow the example of our Saviour Christ, and to be made like unto him; that as he died, and rose again for us; so should we, who are baptized, die from sin, and rise again unto righteousness; continually mortifying all our evil and corrupt affections, and daily proceeding in all virtue and godliness of living” (Presbyter's charge to the newly baptized, BCP).