Moral Tutors

How Natural Law, the Noahide, and Torah Are Like Moral Tutors

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.,

1.  http://odl.studylight.org/desk/interlinear.cgi?ref=47003024