a christian worldview

The first concept of law that we need to grasp relates to Natural Law. Natural law can be divided into two parts.

The first part is found in God’s general revelation to humanity. General revelation relates to what we, as human beings, can observe about God based on the natural operation of the universe. As we observe how the universe is structured and operates, we can discern certain things about God himself. For instance, by our observation, we can discern that God is a God of order and values what is orderly. We can also observe that the universe operates based on cause and effect. Based on our observation of the universe’s operation, natural law affirms that we can discern what is “natural” (right). As it relates to human law, we apply the principles from natural law to create human laws, which are ordered based on these principles.

The second part of natural law is seen in the existence of the human conscience. The conscience is an inherent sense of right and wrong that we find operative in the lives of all human beings. Based on conscience, we intuitively understand that certain things are wrong – such things as spitefulness, pride, boasting, hating God, disobeying parents, breaking promises, homosexuality, and any other kind of sex outside of marriage. Our conscience is rooted in the very personhood of God and causes us to sense right and wrong intuitively. This sense exists in us because we are created in his image. Of course, our understanding of what is right and wrong based on conscience is flawed and incomplete. From this part of our personhood, we cannot affirm everything about right and wrong. However, the fact that the sense exists at all is a profound clue concerning the operation of God in the lives of mortal humanity and has significant implications regarding the law.

There is a second element of God’s revelation, which is much more specific than natural law. This relates to God’s special revelation – the Bible. While natural law gives us a general understanding of right and wrong, the Bible specifies what God considers moral and lawful, immoral, and unlawful.

As God’s purpose for humanity involves living in a relationship with him and requires that we put away sin as a requirement of living in that relationship, we must have specific knowledge as to what that involves. To fulfill that need, God has revealed himself to humanity by giving special revelations to particular people in history whom he commissioned to write them down. This has ultimately been compiled in the Bible.

Divine law is a combination of both natural law and Biblical law. Based on these two together, we have an objective and unchanging means of evaluating human laws. As we consider how to develop our human legal foundation based on divine law, we should recognize that it is not based on preferences. God has given us the foundation of morality by his revelation. It is up to human beings to take these moral principles and make specific applications of them in society through the creation of societal laws.

The result is that it is not the purpose of governments to create laws. Instead, the work of governing authorities should be to apply divine law to human society along with proper enforcement. The government’s job is to encourage people to obey divine law by punishing wrongdoers and protecting those who live rightly. A Christian understanding of the law is founded on several basic concepts.

First, the source of all divine law is the character and nature of God himself. The important thing for humanity is not to merely follow a set of laws but to become like God. Divine law is an explanation of what that looks like.

Secondly, the moral order emerges from and reflects God's character. The central theme in God’s character is holiness. Thus, the law should lead to living holy lives.

The third important concept is that human beings are created in the image of God. As such, humans have exceptional value. The purpose of the law is not to control people or provide a platform for exercising human power. Instead, it is to promote an orderly society in which every person can achieve their highest potential in God’s economy.

Fourthly, human life assumed even greater significance when Jesus Christ took on human form. God saw enough value in humanity to take the form of a man to provide a means for overcoming sin and death. If God values man this highly, how much more should we?

Finally, through Christ, God will judge the whole human race according to his standard of good and evil. That standard is reflected in divine law. If divine law is that special and God saw fit to reveal it to us, we ought to regard it highly and base human law on it.