The Law of Grace & the Gospel
When the Word of God, Jesus Christ, became man and dwelt among us, He came to fulfill the old law, not to destroy it. In fulfilling the old law, Christ demonstrated that He is its Author as well as the one who perfects it. In doing so, Jesus also established a new law. We call this new law the “law of grace,” the “law of the Gospel,” or “the law of love.”
Generally speaking, the New Law of the Gospel is the Way of life to which Jesus calls Christians. The New Law “raises the bar,” going beyond what was required under natural law, and even, in some respects, the divine law of the Old Testament. Whereas natural law calls us to live in harmony with each other, the Christian is required by means of divine law to “lay down his life” for his friend, according to the pattern of Jesus.
This pattern was established because Jesus, as true God, is the author, perfecter and end of the moral law. He is its ultimate fulfillment as well as its point of unity. In the person of Jesus Christ, you and I come to understand the perfection of what the moral law teaches us to do.
The content of this New Law is Jesus’ teachings, His example, and the grace of His divine Spirit. The Scriptures record His teaching and example, and the Sacraments give us His grace. By these we are built up as obedient servants under the new law. We often call this new law “the law of grace,” because first and foremost it consists of grace.
The new law of grace is also called “the law of love.” It is called this because it flows from God who is love itself, and calls us to return to God. The love between the Father and the Son is the Holy Spirit; and He is communicated to all those who live in Christ through baptism. In receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, the believer is called to live in accordance with love rather than fear. The believer is called to do all things out of filial love for the Father who has adopted him into His divine family.
The Old Law established kinship between YHWH and Israel by means of divine Covenant. Yet worship necessitated continual animal sacrifices that would not ultimately and perfectly unite man to God. Christ alone fulfilled what the Old Law could not. In Christ, therefore, man is veritably delivered from slavery, in order to become a true heir of the kingdom, as co-heir with Christ. What the Old Law promised and foreshadowed, Christ elevates, fulfills and divinizes. The new law of grace is built upon love and gives the power to fulfill the command of love.
The Holy Spirit endows the believer with strength and grace to act upon this new law with conviction. For this reason, this law is also called a “law of freedom,” because it sets man free from slavish fear and thrusts him upon a path of freedom in sonship. There is a kind of vitality and spontaneity to this new law, this law of grace, this law of freedom, that the old law, and the natural law, could never possess.
The New Law is also called the “Law of the Gospel.” As we know, the word “Gospel” means “good news.” And we know what the good news is. But we should ask ourselves: how does this good news relate to the call to salvation?
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is directly linked to the process of justification and sanctification. When we proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we also proclaim that the work of the Holy Spirit in Jesus Christ is being worked right now in the world; through faith in the Gospel and through the Sacraments. By the proclamation of the Gospel, people are able to enter into salvation.
Salvation is not simply about keeping the new law; it is first and foremost about loving Christ, the Eternal Lawgiver Himself, and being transformed into His image. It is this fact that prompted St. Charles Borromeo to say, “Behold Jesus Christ crucified, Who is the only foundation of our hope; He is our Mediator and Advocate; the victim and sacrifice for our sins. He is goodness and patience itself; His mercy is moved by the tears of sinners, and He never refuses pardon and grace to those who ask it with a truly contrite and humbled heart.”