Grace Does Not Determine How We Respond To The Law Essay

Utrum: Whether it is the case that grace determines how we will respond to the law.

Videtur: It would appear that, grace does not determine how we respond to the law. Calvin’s explanation of the uses of law: “as an evidence to us of our moral powerlessness apart from the grace of God, as an external constraint upon the behavior of the wicked, and as a teaching tool for the believers.” For Calvin this means that grace does not change how we respond to the law but, that the law has already existed and will continue to exist. The way we respond to the law does not change if we have been chosen to receive grace or not. Grace does not change how a person would respond to the law because the law is in place to “restrain certain men who are untouched by any care for what is just and right unless compelled by hearing the dire threats in the law.” Laws were created to maintain order and right living. These laws would still apply to a person who has received grace the same as it would someone who has not received grace. Grace is a gift received by God that is not based on any action we do or do not take. “For no Man has heretofore attained to such wisdom as to be unable, from the daily instruction of the law, to make fresh progress toward a purer knowledge of the divine will.” Calvin is bringing to light the fact that the gift of

“Although the Christian is this free from all works, he ought in this liberty to empty himself, take upon himself the form of a servant, be made in the likeness of men, be found in human form, and to serve, help, and in every way deal with his neighbor as he sees that God through Christ has dealt and still deals with him. This he should do freely, having regard for nothing but divine approval.” That action would place the person well within the confines of the law. Grace does determine how we respond to law and that response is to claim it is not a