The Use of the Moral Law After the Fall: WLC Question 94

The Westminster Larger Catechism asks, “Is there any use of the moral law to mankind since the fall?” The answer is, “Although no person, since the fall, can attain to righteousness and life by the moral law, yet there is great use of it, in a way common to all people, and also as it particularly applies either to the unregenerate or the regenerate.”

This question helps us hold two truths together. The moral law cannot save sinners, but that does not make it useless. Since the fall, no one can earn righteousness before God by keeping the law. Yet the law still has great use. It reveals God’s holiness, exposes our sin, restrains evil, points us to Christ, and teaches believers how to walk in thankful obedience.

The moral law is not the ladder by which sinners climb into heaven. But it is still a holy, wise, and gracious gift from God.

The Moral Law Cannot Give Righteousness and Life

The Catechism first makes clear that no person can attain righteousness and life, that is, salvation, by the moral law since the fall. This is not because the law is defective. The problem is not with the law; the problem is with us.

Paul says in Romans 8:3, “For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.” The law is not weak in itself. It is weakened “by the flesh,” by our sinful nature. God’s law commands what is holy, righteous, and good, but fallen people cannot obey it perfectly from the heart.

That is why Galatians 2:16 says, “A person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ.” If we try to stand before God on the basis of our obedience, we will be condemned. The law requires perfect, personal, and perpetual obedience. One sin is enough to make us guilty before God.

So the moral law cannot be used as a way of salvation. It can command righteousness, but it cannot give righteousness. It can reveal guilt, but it cannot remove guilt. Only Christ can do that.

The Moral Law Is Still Good

Because the law cannot save, some assume the law no longer matters. But Scripture never speaks that way. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:8, “Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully.”

That phrase matters: “if one uses it lawfully.” The moral law is good when it is used according to God’s purpose. It is not good when we twist it into a system of self-righteousness. It is not good when we use it to pretend we can earn God’s favor. But when used rightly, the law remains a blessing.

The moral law teaches us who God is. It shows us that God is holy, pure, just, truthful, faithful, and loving. His commands are not arbitrary rules. They reveal what is consistent with His own holy character.

The law also teaches us what human life was created to be. We were made to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. The moral law shows us that sin is not merely “breaking rules.” Sin is rebellion against God and a failure to live according to the purpose for which we were made.

The Moral Law Has a Common Use for All People

The Catechism says the moral law has a use “common to all people.” This means it serves a purpose for mankind in general, whether or not someone is a believer.

One common use of the moral law is that it reveals sin. Romans 3:20 says, "Through the law comes knowledge of sin." The law acts like a mirror. It shows us what we are really like before God. We may compare ourselves to other people and think we are doing well, but the law brings us before the holy standard of God Himself.

The moral law also restrains evil in society. Even when people do not love God, the law still bears witness to right and wrong. Civil laws against murder, theft, perjury, and other evils reflect, however imperfectly, the moral order God has written into creation.

This does not mean the law changes the heart by itself. A person may be outwardly restrained and still inwardly rebellious. But even outward restraint is a mercy from God. Without it, human society would collapse into chaos.

The Moral Law Shows the Unregenerate Their Need for Christ

The moral law also has a particular use for the unregenerate, those who have not been born again. For them, the law reveals guilt and helplessness before God.

But this is not meant to drive sinners into despair without hope. It is meant to drive them away from self-righteousness and toward Christ. The law says, “You are guilty.” The gospel says, “Christ died for the guilty.” The law says, “You have not obeyed.” The gospel says, “Christ obeyed in the place of His people.”

This is why we should not soften the moral law when speaking about sin. If sinners do not understand their guilt, they will not understand their need for grace. If they think God merely wants them to try harder, they will not see the glory of Christ crucified and risen. The law wounds, but it wounds in order to show us our need for the Physician. It strips us of excuses so that we might flee to the Savior.

The Moral Law Guides the Christian in Thankful Obedience

The moral law also has a particular use for the Christian, those who have been born again by the Spirit of God. For believers, the law is not a covenant of works by which we attempt to earn life. Christ has fulfilled the law for us. We are justified by faith in Him, not by our obedience.

But being freed from the law does not mean being freed from obedience to God. The believer now receives the law as a guide for grateful living. As Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”(John 14:15).

The difference is not that the moral law has changed. The difference is that the believer’s relationship to the law has changed. Outside of Christ, the law condemns us. In Christ, the condemnation has been removed. Now the law no longer stands over us as a curse. It teaches us how to please the God who has saved us.

The Christian does not obey to be loved by God. The Christian obeys because he has already been loved by God in Christ.

The Moral Law Points Us to the Grace of God

Question 94 gives us a careful and balanced view of the moral law. It guards us from legalism on one side and lawlessness on the other.

Legalism says, “I can be right with God by my obedience.” But no one since the fall can attain righteousness and life by the moral law.

Lawlessness says, “Since the law cannot save, it has no real use.” But there is still great use of the moral law for all people, for the unregenerate, and for the regenerate.

The moral law is not our Savior. Jesus Christ is our Savior. But the moral law is still good when used rightly. It reveals our sin, restrains evil, exposes our need, and guides us in holiness.

So we should not run from the moral law as though it were bad. We should receive it as the good law of a good God. But we must always remember its proper place. The law shows us our need. Christ meets that need. The law exposes our guilt. Christ bears that guilt. The law commands obedience. Christ gives His Spirit so that His people may begin to walk in obedience from the heart.

And that is why, even after the fall, there is still great use of the moral law.

Soli Deo Gloria