THE HUMAN

PERSON IS CALL
TO LIVE THE
SPIRIT OF THE
LAW
How are loving obedience to just laws
manifestations of love of God and love of
neighbor?
Laws are significant in Christian moral living. St.
Paul recognizes that “the law is good, provided that
one uses it as law” (1 Timothy 1:8). St. Thomas
Aquinas defined law as “an ordinance of reason,
promulgated by competent authority for the sake of
the common good.
St. Thomas Aquinas defined law as “an
ordinance of reason, promulgated by
competent authority for the sake of the common
good.”
So, it implies that a law is a reasonable decision,
prudent and with purpose, not a capricious whim. By
promulgated, it means that it must be communicated
with sufficient notice to its subjects while respecting
their rights and dignity.
Competent authority refers to those who
have legitimate power to do so. For the
common good means for the social
betterment of its subjects.

Law is based on a vision. It is based on

who we want to become, what we want to
achieve, or where we want to go. It exists to
support our dream or vision.
Law also arises
from basic values
and expresses
them at the same
time. When we
obey a certain law,
we communicate
what we hold
important.
This is clearly exemplified in the Ten
Commandments:
• “Thou shalt not kill,” commands respect for
human life
• “Thou shalt not commit adultery,” commands
respect for sexuality
• “Thou shalt not steal,” commands respect for a
person’s possessions
• “Thou shalt not bear false witness,” commands
respect for the truth.
Laws provide a criteria
for judging who we are
and how we should act.
It provides a criteria of who
we are not who other are.

Laws are not something we

could use indiscriminately-
without discretion or care to
judge others. For example, if you
do not listen to your parents or you
do not thank them or care for
them, you are somebody who
does not honor your father and
mother.
Laws also help our moral
development, especially
in the formation of
conscience. By consistently
obeying the laws, we promote
peace, unity, and progress in the
community.

So, laws provide stability and

consistency in our lives by
acting as a constant and reliable
point of reference. Positive norms/
laws can challenge us by stretching
our view of ideals and illuminating
our faults.
However, morality is
different from legality.
There are existing civil
laws that are contrary to
the standards of just law
defined by St. Thomas.
Positive civil law judges
crimes against the state
while Authentic moral law is
the objective norm of judging
sin.

Something is legal when it does

not contradict any law of
state, but it is morally good
only if its nature, intention,
and circumstances are
positively good for the person
as person living with others
according to moral norms.
 Biblical Law - The Law of
Moses/ Ten Commandments

Jesus fulfilled the Law by

saying to “Love God and
neighbor.”
The Greatest Commandment
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the
Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the
law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is
the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your
heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38
This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the
second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
When Jesus summarized the
numerous commandments of
the Israelites into these two
great commandments and
used to term “love”, He did not
only bring the inner bond
between love of God and love
of neighbor.

He also taught us that the

basic Christian motivation
and power is love.
However, most of the time we
struggle to even follow this
simple law.

St. Paul in his letter to the

Romans 7:15 said, “What I do, I
do not understand. For I do not
do what I want, but I do what I
hate.”

This tells us that doing well

(pagpapakabait) can sometimes
be very difficult to do even if that
is what we want.
Maybe we find it
difficult to follow God
because we often see
doing good as mere
compliance and we do
not instill in our hearts
the real reason for doing
good, that is to love as
Jesus loved because
that is our ultimate end-
to be more like Christ.
REFERENCES:
• Afire with Gratitude: We Live a Life of Love
pages 89-93