The Covenant is a Covenant of Law. WHOA! Isn’t the Christian Covenant a covenant of grace, as opposed to works? Doesn’t Saint Paul complain that the Law, the "dispensation of death," kills, while only the Spirit gives life? (2 Corinthians 3:6-7)

"Law" has often gotten bad press among Christians. While not arguing for the kind of legalism that rightly offended Jesus and very nearly made a neurotic out of Saint Paul, there are some positive features of God’s Law.

1. Martin Luther, who waged a famous quarrel with the Law, acknowledged that there was at least one positive purpose of Law: it condemns us and throws us upon God’s mercy.

How is God’s Law so encountered? Answer: through what theologians refer to as Natural Law. Natural Law is the way in which each person, through reflection abou…