The Law of Christ: A Theological Proposal

What are Christians to obey? The Bible is the simple answer of course, but upon further investigation, things are not quite that simple. For example, I am sure we have all heard a Christian condemning and calling homosexuality an abomination based upon Leviticus 18:22 or 20:13. However, if one looks on the next page at Leviticus 19:27, should we not also conclude that we should not get haircuts or shave? Why is one normative, but not the other?
Christianity, after all, is not simply a code of ethics. It is not just a moral system. Being a Christian is not simply trying to ‘do what Jesus did.’ No, the foundation of the Christian life is the gospel of Jesus Christ. All else flows from the good news of Christ crucified for sinners. As Michael Horton writes, ‘It is the Good News that yields good works. Salvation is not the prize for our obedience but the source.’
The law of Christ cannot be reduced to a list of do’s and don'ts. It certainly involves specific things that can be ‘listed’ as right or wrong, but it is far more than a list like the ten words written on stone. The law of Christ is love, but it is also the example of Christ. Everything Christ taught is part of his law, but so is everything his apostles taught a vital part of his law. Christ himself is his law personified. The whole of Scripture, as interpreted through the lens of Christ as the new covenant prophet, priest, and king, is a part of the law of Christ. May the Sovereign Lord be pleased to bless you, as you read and contemplate the glory of the new covenant in Christ, to see Christ more fully and more gloriously, as the full and final authoritative Word by whom God has spoken in these last days.