There is nexus between natural law, the Noahide
and Torah. In fact, one might argue that
the Noahide exists as an extension of natural law, and Torah as an extension of
the Noahide. To state it another way,
human beings have an innate knowledge of, and capacity for, understanding and
acting upon natural law, and the Noahide and Torah are but a codification of
natural law.
Even if the Noahide or Torah are not known per
se the basic elements are understood through natural law. Furthermore, natural law and what might be
termed natural truth are attested to
by the very creation. This is why (as
noted previously), the Apostle Paul
declared:
"For
in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith as it is
written, 'BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven
against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in
unrighteousness, because that which is know about God is evident to them; for
God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible
attributes, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being
understood though that which has been made so that they are without
excuse" (Romans 1:17-20).
This same truth is declared throughout the
Psalms. Possibly the best know Psalm on
this subject is 19:1-6:
"The
heavens are telling of the glory of God; And their expanse is declaring the
work of His hands. Day to day pours forth speech, And night to night reveals
knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words; Their voice is not heard.
Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end
of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, Which is as a
bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his
course. Its rising is from one end of the heavens, And its circuit to the other
end of them; And there is nothing hidden from its heat."
Later the Psalmist proclaims: "The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples have
seen His glory. Let all those be ashamed who serve graven images, Who boast
themselves of idols" (Psalm 96:6, 7a).
Thus we can rightly say that natural law, the
Noahide and Torah are like moral tutors to the human mind and heart. Nature speaks to the soul as a tutor though
it speaks without the force of a fuller authority as does the written Word.
The Apostle Paul likened the written Word to a tutor:
"Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so
that we may be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24). The word "tutor" is often
translated "schoolmaster." In
the Greek it is paidagogos (pada-go-gos) from which we get our word
"pedagogy" meaning to teach a subject.
As Paul used it, the word had a much stronger
meaning. According to Thayer: a tutor
was "a guardian and guide of boys.
Among the Greeks and the Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who
were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging
to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the
house without them before arriving at the age of manhood." 1
When Paul refers to the Law, he is referring to
the Torah, or as we call it, the Old Testament Pentateuch. Never is natural law, the Noahide or
revelation from nature ever afforded the tutorial strength of the Old Testament
Scripture. In fact all references to
"the Word of God" in the New Testament are references to the Law and
the Prophets. Only the written Word is
assigned the power to, as Paul said,
"lead us to Christ."
This is not a minor point. Amazingly, what Jesus used to tutor the
disciples on the Road to Emmaus following His resurrection was not His
resurrected body, but the written Word.
So says St. Luke:
"And
He said to them, 'O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the
prophets have spoken! Was it not
necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?' Then beginning with Moses and with all the
prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the
Scriptures" (Luke 24:25-27).
Earlier in Jesus' ministry He tutored His
disciples by using a real-life example of the fundamental importance of the
written Word. It is remarkable that most
Christian preachers and teachers seem to miss the central point of Jesus'
account of the Rich Man and Lazarus. The
main point is that the Rich Man being a Torah observant Jew had no excuse for
neglecting his obligations to moral truth.
Hear our Lord teaching here:
"But
he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they
will repent!' "But he said to him,
'If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded
even if someone rises from the dead'" (Luke
16:30, 31).
Think of it - the testimony of the written Word
was powerful enough to enlighten anyone who would accept it - who would make a
moral choice to accept it, and those who chose otherwise were without excuse.
And therein lies the weakness of natural law,
the Noahide and even Torah.
Next, we will answer the question of, "Why Even Complete Comprehension Is Not Sufficient For Salvation." But first, we will take a break for a few weeks to reflect on the Incarnation of Christ, and what it means to be away from home at Christmas.
For a deeper study, you are encouraged
to consider enrolling in our 3 credit-hour academic course "THE LAW OF
UNIVERSAL RIGHTEOUSNESS: Natural Law, the Noahide, and the Torah." You can
check out all of our regular academic programs by clicking this link: PROGRAMS.
Thank you for sharing time with me. I hope this brief post will encourage you to want to learn more about the laws of universal righteousness, and the manner in which God has implanted the awareness of right and wrong within your own heart and mind.
Dennis D. Frey, Th.D.,
Thank you for sharing time with me. I hope this brief post will encourage you to want to learn more about the laws of universal righteousness, and the manner in which God has implanted the awareness of right and wrong within your own heart and mind.
Dennis D. Frey, Th.D.,
