Journal: Detroit Baptist Seminary Journal
Volume: DBSJ 26:1 (NA 2021)
Article: The “Law Of Christ” In Pauline Theology And New Testament Ethics
Author: Paul A. Hartog

DBSJ 26 (2021) p. 81

The “Law Of Christ” In Pauline Theology And New Testament Ethics

Paul Hartog1

Todd Wilson declares that the expression “law of Christ” continues to “bedevil interpreters.”2 The phrase “introduces serious cognitive dissonance and disrupts perceived theological patterns.”3 As pronounced in a previous DBSJ article, “The secondary literature on ‘the law of Christ’ is immense.”4 Summarizing the major alternatives, Charles Talbert explains that the “law of Christ” has been interpreted as (1) Christ’s ethical teachings, (2) the love commandment, (3) Christ’s example of burden-bearing and/or self-sacrificial surrender, (4) the Mosaic Law as determined or transformed and then fulfilled by Christ, (5) Christ’s power within believers enabling the fulfillment of the law, and (6) some combination of the above.5 Other interpretations of the “the law of Christ” have included the Torah of the New Covenant (or the “Zion Torah”), the eschatological law of the Messiah (or the “messianic law”), the person of Christ himself, and the “prescriptive

DBSJ 26 (2021) p. 82

principles stemming from the heart of the gospel.”6 Broad explanations of the expression include “the way Christ exercises his lordship” through his Spirit, “the revelation made in Christ as a way of life,” “the new way of life given by Jesus,” and “the will of Christ for believers today.”7 More precise identifications of the “law of Christ” (Gal 6:2) include the economic support of others (cf. Gal 6:6–10) and the restoration of erring brethren (cf. Gal 6:1).8

This essay will develop the “law of Christ” as the self-giving and burden-bearing “love of neighbor” as taught by Christ, as exemplified by Christ (chiefly in his Gospel sacrifice), as empowered by the Spirit of Christ, and as communally observed within the Body of Christ.9 This comprehensive, Christocentric definition develops rather than contradicts the brief definition of Myron Houghton, who linked the “law of Christ” in Gal 6:2 with Jesus’s command to love others.<...