The Covenants of Law and Grace

The Covenants of Law and Grace

The practice of Christianity has often been characterized inappropriately. Because of this, most would describe Christianity as a religious system rather than as a spiritual perspective. Therein lies the reason why many see it in a negative light.

At its core, Christianity is best described as a perfect healing relationship where we are changed as we experience God’s support, compassion and love – His grace. God meets us where we are. We don’t HAVE TO change. In fact, healthy change can’t come until we begin to connect with God according to the principles of grace. We then begin to reflect the qualities we experience in that relationship. Christian spirituality is not simply something you do, it’s something you experience.

Yet, many would characterize Christianity as moralistic and authoritarian. This is true in part. The Bible uses authoritarian terms such as obedience. It also seems harsh and judgmental in places. To clarify the reason for this apparent paradox it is necessary to understand the TWO covenants in the Bible, the covenants of law and grace.

The covenant of law was meant to establish a moral system of rules, backed by God’s authority and enforced through reward and punishment. Its purpose was to establish order and personal responsibility. The heavy-handed morality found in many places in the Bible, punctuated by threats of judgment, arise from this system. It creates a moral policeman which functions much as our civil law and for many of the same reasons, to restrain bad behavior. However, this legal system creates rigidity and limits our freedom.

The covenant of law has created much of the misunderstanding about God. Why, then, was it used? The covenant of law gives right and wrong teeth. It calls us to account for our actions. However, it is also a foundation for experiencing grace. Grace is best seen in contrast to the demanding nature of the covenant of law. You could say the law is a catalyst creating a need for grace. Why would you seek a relationship with someone you can't experience with your senses unless you really need to?

The covenant of law is not simply a Biblical construct. It tends to be the way we interact with others and ourselves. This is tied to our moral make up. The conscience is not relational in nature. It does not possess the personal qualities of mercy, understanding and compassion. Our conscience creates a rigid and authoritarian relationship to right and wrong. It creates guilt and makes us judgmental. We feel guilty for relatively small infractions like putting on those extra pounds. We also judge others for their flaws. Many think it’s our standards that are the problem. Not so. It has to do with the rigid and legal way in which we deal with those standards. In other words, it’s the way we go around “right and wronging” people and things. It doesn’t even have to be about moral issues. We judge people for being in the wrong crowd, wearing the wrong clothes, or in some other way failing to live up to our rules.

We need to be brought to the place where we see our judgmental self, our personal covenant of law, and want an alternative. We must be convinced that the power for change is not in simply choosing to do the right thing. So, as our standards call on us to change, if we are honest, we find that simply choosing to do the right thing doesn’t really work. We either think we’ve done it and feel self-righteous or fail and feel guilty and frustrated. A performance oriented perspective creates an unhealthy focus on our actions. We now begin to see the flawed nature of a conscience dominated morality and a right and wrong reference for change. We begin to see the need for an alternative moral perspective.

In the covenant of grace, the conscience is brought under the authority of God’s grace. God reaches out to us with mercy and understanding. We are forgiven and accepted because of the goodness of God, not our own. This covenant is characterized by freedom. It is not authoritarian or coercive. The motivating factors are faith and love alone. This is accomplished by entering into a personal relationship with God characterized only by the qualities of love. We are given the freedom to follow as we choose. We choose right because we see it as the best thing we can do for ourselves.

Trying to incorporate our standards/ values into our lives, though important, doesn’t really change us. It’s the moral atmosphere in which our choices are made that’s the more important issue. As choices come, grace asks us to consider how God’s love and understanding would relate to us in contrast to the prodding and judging of our conscience. We are changed as we’re won over to the infectious qualities of grace. We are changed as we experience God’s acceptance, understanding, compassion and support, in the ups and downs of our growth. We are changed as we naturally reflect the goodness of the grace we experience.