The Moral Law, Justice and Its Implication to Human

Rights
A Reformed Perspective
And when Reformed tradition in theology is mentioned there is
but one decisive source for its identity, the work of John Calvin.
1. The Meaning of the Law
The law is understood here as "the moral law" which is
defined by Calvin as the "true and eternal rule of righteousness
prescribed for men of all nations and times, who wish to
conform their lives to God's will. 1
Calvin believes that the law of God has been "engraved" in
the hearts of all human beings, serving as an "inner witness
and monitor" which enables the conscience to discern the
difference between good and evil.2 But since the fall, our nature
has become totally deformed and wicked but not absolutely
destroyed.3 Man's corrupted will makes him incapable of
following the inner moral law, nevertheless his conscience
accuses him when he fails in his moral duty. 4 Calvin's
recognition of "inward moral law" should not be misconstrued
as an approval of the "natural theology" of the Roman Catholic
type. Rather Calvin believes the true knowledge of God is
inseparable from the gift of grace. In a state of sinfulness, the
human reason to know God's will has been blinded and
corrupted, hence every notion about God based on human
powers alone is inevitably a perversion.5 Consequently the
inner moral law, apart from grace,
comes to judge and
condemn sinful human beings. It is only through God's grace
which makes the inward moral law function according to God's
intended purpose.
Institutes, IV, 20. 15.
Institutes, II, 8. 1. p. 368.
3
Institutes, II. 2. 12. p. 270.
4
Institutes, II, 2. 22. "The sinner tries to evade his innate power to judge between good and evil. Still,
he is continually drawn back to it, and is not so much as permitted to open his eyes. It is falsely said,
therefore, that man sins out of ignorance alone."
5
Institutes I, 5. 14.
1
2

Furthermore, Calvin believes that the inward moral law

has been inscriptured. "The Lord has provide us with a written
law to give us a clearer witness of what was too obscure in the
natural law."6 The Ten Commandments serves this purpose.7 In
short, for the sake of sinful human being, the eternal law of
God has been "inscriptured" to concretely serve as the
instrument by which God's will may be made known to all.
Moreover he divides the ten commandments into "two
parts, which contain the whole of righteousness, as to assign
the first part to those duties of religion which particularly
concern the worship of his majesty; the second, to the duties of
love that have to do with men."8 No attempt must be made to
separate the two parts. Calvin argues:
"It is vain to cry up righteousness without religion.
This is unreasonable as to display a mutilated, decapitated
body as something beautiful. Not only is religion the chief
part but the very soul, whereby the whole breathes and
thrives. And apart from the fear of God men do not
preserve equity and love among themselves. Therefore we
call the worship of God the beginning and foundation of
righteousness. When it is removed, whatever equity,
continence,or temperance men practice among themselves
is in God's sight empty and worthless. We call it source
and spirit because from it men learn to live with one
another in moderation and without doing injury."9
But the clarity of the Law was finally revealed in Gospel.
He refers to the Gospel as the "proclamation of the grace
manifested in Christ."10 He saw no antagonism between the Old
Testament law and the Gospel.11 Christians are subject to both.
For the Reformer, Christ is the fulfillment of the law and not an
antithesis. The gospel does not negate the law. Rather the
Institutes II, 8. 1.
Institutes, II, 8. 1. p. 367.
8
Institutes II, 8. 11.
9
Institutes II, 8. 11.
10
Institutes, II, 9. 2. p. 425.
11
Helmut Thielicke, Theological Ethics, Vol. I, ed. by William H. Lazareth (Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1966), pp.120 - 125.
6
7

gospel fulfills the law. Reformed Christians are only opposed to

the law if understood as a means to earn salvation through
works of righteousness performed under the law.
Moreover Calvin asserts that "the gospel did not so
supplant the entire law...rather, it confirmed and satisfied
whatever the law promised".12 The law remains significant
because it points to Christ. It already contained the promise of
salvation, and yet requires the gospel for its full realization.13
For Calvin the relation of the gospel to the law is that the
gospel that reveals the real nature, purpose and function of the
law. Therefore the law apart from the gospel is like a shadow,
unclear and imperfect.14

2. The Threefold Function of the Law

For Calvin the law has a threefold function. The first use
of the law is to move sinners to repentance by revealing their
sinful rebellion against God. Calvin describes this first function
of the law:
"...while [the law] shows God's righteousness, that is, the
righteousness alone acceptable to God, it warns, informs,
convicts, and lastly condemns, every man of his own
unrighteousness. For man, blinded and drunk with selflove, must be compelled to know and to confess his own
feebleness and impurity. If man is not clearly convinced of
his own vanity, he is puffed up with insane confidence in
his own mental powers, and can never be induced to
recognize their slenderness as long as he measures them
by a measure of his own choice. But as soon as he begins
to compare his powers with the difficulty of the law, he has
something to diminish his bravado. For, however
remarkable an opinion of his powers her formerly held, he
soon feels that they are panting under so heavy a weight
as to stagger and totter, and finally even to fall down and
12
13
14

Institutes, II, 9. 4. p. 427.

Institutes, II, X. 1-2, p. 429.
Institutes II, 7. 16 cf. II, 8. 28, 29.

faint away. 15
The Law is used here to confront and convict human
beings of their failure to live up to the righteousness of God
which it sets forth. It is "like a mirror" revealing our weakness
and iniquities.16 In the state of sinfulness, the law reveals our
incapacity to fulfill it. And the more we attempt to fulfill the
requirements of the law the more it "uncovers our iniquity." It
is characteristic of sinful human beings to go on living under
the pretension of self-righteousness, believing in their own
power to render one righteous before God and the world. But
the law uncover the pretension of self-righteousness by
revealing our failure to live up to the righteousness of God
which it sets forth. The disclosure of our sinful state moves us
to confession and repentance. Therefore law serves as the
pedagogue for repentance.
But not all men find the law as a pedagogue for
repentance. There are men who resent the requirements of the
law and rebel against God who is the divine lawgiver. For these
men the law functions in a second sense. The law holds them in
restraint because they fear the punishment which comes from
the disobedience to the law. It is used in checking evils and
wrongdoing of sinful human beings in society in order to
maintain civil order and justice. The function of the law is civil
or political. And God has entrusted the enforcement of the law
to the state with the intention to preserve social peace and
civic order in the human community. And even without the
knowledge of the Decalogue, civil governments and authorities
have some sense of justice which regulate the affairs of the civil
government. "For their seeds have, without teacher or lawgiver,
been planted in all men." He noted that "there exists in all
men's minds universal impressions of a certain civic fair
dealing and order" and a "conception of equity".17
The third use of the law which Calvin expounded in his
works is a creative one. It offers positive and helpful guidance
15
16
17

Institutes II, 7. 6
Institutes II, 7. 6.
Institutes, II, 2, 13. pp. 272-73.

to the justified persons within the framework of sanctification.

This is how Calvin defines the third function of the law
specifically for the believers:
"The third and principal use, which pertains more
closely to the proper purpose of the law, finds its place
among believers in whose hearts the Spirit of God already
lives and reigns. For even though they have the law
written and engraved upon their hearts by the finger of
God - that is, have been moved and quickened through the
directing of the Spirit that they long to obey God, they still
profit by the law in two ways.
Here is the best instrument for them to learn more
thoroughly each day the nature of the Lord's will to which
they aspire, and to confirm them in understanding of
it...For no man has heretofore attained to such wisdom as
to be unable, from the daily instruction of the law, to make
fresh progress toward a purer knowledge of the divine
will.
Again, because we need not only teaching but also
exhortation, the servant of God will also avail himself of
this benefit of the law: by frequent meditation upon it to be
aroused to obedience, be strengthened in it, and be drawn
back from the slippery path of transgression. In this way
the saints must press on; for, however eagerly they may in
accordance with the Spirit strive toward God's
righteousness, the listless flesh always so burdens them
that they do not proceed with due readiness. The law is to
the flesh like a whip to an idle and balky ass, to arouse it to
work."18
Before, the law acted as a "mirror" disclosing our
sinfulness and our inability to fulfill the law, but now, for those
who are under God's grace, the law serves as a helpful and
faithful servant and guide. The law serves as "a loving reminder
for the believers."19 The Reformer has rediscovered the biblical
Institutes II, 7. 12.
Helmut Thielicke, Theological Ethics, Vol. I, ed. by William H. Lazareth (Philadelphia: Fortress
Press, 1966), p. 133 ff.
18
19

teaching that the law was to serve humanity in the pursuit of

justice.
Karl Barth, a modern interpreter of Calvin, upholds the
positive function of the law for the believers. Like Calvin, he
asserts that there is no contradiction between gospel and law.
"The law is nothing else than the necessary form of the Gospel,
whose content is grace."20 Barth asserts that the law has taken
the form of the Gospel because the law and the gospel both
come from God's Word.21 For "God's Word can indeed say
many things to us. It can not only comfort us, heal us, vivify us,
it not only can instruct and enlighten us it can also judge us,
punish us, kill us, and it actually does all of these." 22 But the
law is subsumed under the gospel. "It is first Gospel and then
Law."23 The hearing of the gospel, for Barth, takes place before
the knowledge of the law. He reverses the common assumption
that human beings must first know the law before they can
hear the gospel. The law under God's grace becomes a gift of
grace. In Volume II/2, Barth shows that the Decalogue or Ten
Commandments are grounded on the experience of Israel's
liberation from slavery in Egypt. The Decalogue is God's gift
within the framework of the Exodus-event. Christians on the
other hand, see the law as God's gift within the context of the
Christ-event. In Jesus Christ we can freely obey the law. The
believers can freely obey the law because the content is grace.

3. The Moral Law: as Justice

Important to Reformed tradition is the notion of justice.
This capacity to know and do justice is universal. As the Calvin
puts it
"Equity, because it is natural, cannot but be the same for
Karl Barth, "Gospel and Law," in Community, State, and Church, ed. Will Herberg (Garden City:
Doubleday & Co., 1960), p. 80.
21
Karl Barth, "Gospel and Law," in Community, State, and Church, ed. Will Herberg (Garden City:
Doubleday & Co., 1960), p. 72. cf. CD II/2, p. 511.
22
Karl Barth, "Gospel and Law," in Community, State, and Church, ed. Will Herberg (Garden City:
Doubleday & Co., 1960), p. 72.
23
CD II/2, p. 511.
20

all, and therefore, this same purpose ought to apply to all

laws, whatever their object. Constitutions have certain
circumstances upon which they is part depend. It
therefore does not matter that they are different, provided
all equally press toward the same goal of equity.24
Although human being's natural gifts were corrupted by
sin, nevertheless, they are "God's excellent gifts" which no
Christian can abhor without doing "dishonor to the Spirit of
God who is their sources."25 This capacity is God's gift to all
humankind. This sense of justice is not exclusive of those
belonging to the Judeo-Christian tradition for the same tradition recognizes the universality of the notion of justice.
Thus Filipinos have also the sense of equity or justice.26
The late Senator Jose W. Diokno gave a Filipino interpretation
to the important concept of justice or katarungan.
Katarungan, he said, is used by Tagalogs, Ilongos, Cebuanos
and Pampangos. The word is derived from the Visayan tarong
"which means straight, upright, appropriate, correct." Diokno
said that "...justice is rectitude, the morally right act, and
because it also connotes what is appropriate, it embraces the
concept of equity." 27
In the book of
justice.

Outka he identified for conceptions of

All human beings, both Christians and those who belong

Calvin, Institutes,IV. 20. 16.
Institutes, pp. 273-74.
26
Kerkvliet, Benedict. Everyday Politics in the Philippines: Class and Status Relations in a Central
Luzon Village. (Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1991) pp. 242-274
27
Jose W. Diokno, "A Filipino Concept of Justice" in Priscila S. Manalang, ed. A Nation for Our
Children: Selected Writings of Jose W. Diokno (Claretian Publication, Quezon City: 1987) pp.16-31.
24
25

to other faiths, are equipped by God with the capacity to know

and work for justice. The Second Table of the Mosaic law
contains specific provisions that serve as a concrete guide to
righteous social living. It contains the specific prohibitions
against murder, theft, robbery, coveting another's property as
well as those positive provisions that oblige the well-off families
to care for the poor, widows and orphans and refugees, which
are to some extent common to all cultures and societies.28 All
these provisions are concrete expressions of justice.
Consequently Christians and non-Christians can come together
to work for justice.

4. Justice as Human Rights

Today our concept of justice is closely intertwined with
our modern understanding of human rights.

a. The Right to Life

Consider our notion of right to life and the duty not to
commit murder. God commands it. His command "Thou shall
not kill29 is a law that seeks to protect the right to life against
the practice of unjust killing. It is not an absolute prohibition
against killing because there are circumstances where the
killing of persons is not only allowed but required. And the civil
society has recognized this right to life as intrinsic to human.
Thus it is an essential element in our concept of justice. For
civil society cannot exist without this essential right granted
and protected to all its members. Without this right to life
justice would become meaningless. For this reason the State
must impose obligation (law) upon every member not to
David Little, "Calvin and the Prospects for a Christian Theory of Natural Law" in G. Outka and
P. Ramsey (eds.), Norm and Context in Christian Ethics (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968),
chap. 6 pp. 175-197.
28

29

The command "Thou shall not kill" is undergirded by the principle of lex talionis. "An eye for an eye, and a
tooth for a tooth" is a principle of retribution which demands the imposition of punishment equal to the crime.
This reflect a concern for equality and fairness. When the punishment is the same as the crime, the rich person
is reduced to equal status with the poor person, for the payment of money for the penalty is not an option.

commit murder. To violate this law the State has the power to
impose sanctions and punishment as decided by its judicial
system. This ensures the right to life of all its members.
Without this prohibition against murder, unjust and arbitrary
killings, revenge, and homicides would go on unabated.
The command does not only protect the physical life but it
upholds the dignity of the person. Human life is not just
breathing. Human life is more than animal existence. Right to
life binds us to respect human life. For Calvin the command not
to kill covers the desire to harm another person. "He who has
merely refrained from shedding," says Calvin, "blood has not
therefore avoided the crime of murder. If you perpetrate
anything by deed, if you plot anything by attempt, if you wish or
plan anything contrary to the safety of a neighbor, you are
considered guilty of murder."30 For God's grace has shown us
the real value of human life. Jesus the Christ by becoming
human and by his willingness to give up his own life so that
others may live reveals the greatest expression of God's
concern toward human life.31 For every human life bears an
intrinsic value bestowed by God - that is, value apart from any
special uses or circumstances that confer value.32 Because all
human beings have this intrinsic value, it is always wrong "to
use another human being merely as a means to some end" to
borrow the Kantian maxim. To treat one human being as so
inferior to another human being subject to humiliation and
degradation is impermissible and morally unacceptable. As
Calvin puts it, "all violence, injury, and harmful thing at all that
may injure our neighbor's body are forbidden to us."33

b. The Right to Property

The right to property with the corresponding command
"Thou shall not steal" is essential in our understanding of
Institute, II. 8. 39
Barth, CD III/4 sec.55
32
The doctrine of Imago Dei or "the image of God" constantly affirmed the sanctity of human life and
the intrinsic value of human beings.
33
Institute, II. 8. 39
30
31

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justice. It follows that right to property is really a creation of

the law. The law determines the who has access to what and
who is entitled to what. In modern capitalist society this right
has been understood as control over it to justify the
accumulation of great wealth. Thus the business of the State is
to protect this right. But this view has forgotten that the right
to property is derived from the right to life. Access to resources
and social goods is necessary in order to maintain one's life.
Hence, access to property is subject to certain moral
conditions. No property can be acquired nor controlled through
fraud, deceit, and violence. To commit theft is to deprive
someone of his access to the resources and social goods which
also means depriving him of the means of sustaining one's life
and the lives of one's dependents. Stealing, thus, becomes not
only unjust but a violent crime because it deprives a person or
family of their resources to sustain their life. Thus, the persons
who commit theft are required by justice to restore what they
have stolen manifold.34 The State can and must expropriate
properties which were stolen to serve the cause of justice. It is
a form of reparation or restitution.
On the other hand, if the exercise of ownership endangers
the lives of other, the right to property losses its moral basis.
The act of the owner could even be considered as robbery. 35 It
is like slaughtering the innocents in pursuit of profits.
Therefore, the right to property and the command against theft
are never in defense of absolute private property and the
accumulation of great wealth. This is how the Biblical writers
understood the command "Thou shall not steal."36 Jesus even
showed to his disciples that proper attitude towards wealth was
non-attachment.37 For Jesus, persons are more important than
34

Exodus 20:1-15

"This is robbery: not to share one's resources. Perhaps what I am saying astonishes you. Yet be not
astonished. For I shall offer you the testimony of the Sacred Scriptures, which say that not only to rob
other's property, but also not to share your own with others, is robbery and greediness and theft" by John
Chrysostom quoted in Charles Avila, Ownership: Early Christian Teaching (Maryknoll, N.Y., Orbis,
1983) p. 83.
36
Robert Gnuse, You Shall not Steal: Community and Property in the Biblical Tradition, (Claretian
Publication, Quezon City, 1985)
37
"33 Sell your possessions, and give alms; provide yourselves with purses that do not grow old, with
a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For
where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Luke 12; cf. Matt 6: 19-21. See also Robert
35

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property. Therefore, the command "Thou shall not steal" in

light of God's grace, cannot be invoked to punish persons who
take what they need in order to provide for themselves and
their dependents from others who possess far more than is
required for their economic security.

c. The Right to Basic Security

In modern society, the right to basic security and welfare
is not considered as an essential element in the understanding
of justice. To help those in need is an act of charity not justice,
and never obligatory. However, the Bible mandates those who
are able to produce more surplus to give the poor, the widows
and orphans, and refugees.38 The obligation to rescue the poor
and weak members of the community implies the right of the
poor to basic security and welfare. Almsgiving, then, becomes
an act of justice.39 Resources and surplus must be provided to
the needy because of their neediness. Failure to meet their
basic needs would result to harm, or be adversely affected in
some identifiable or publicly recognizable way. Therefore
others have the duty to assist those in need, and those in need
have right to the assistance of others. It is a moral process of
correcting past or present injustices so as to restore persons to
wholeness and gain equal status in society.
To a certain extent the right to basic security and welfare
and the duty to assist those in need are observed to a certain
Gnuse, You Shall not Steal: Community and Property in the Biblical Tradition, (Claretian Publication,
Quezon City, 1985) pp. 91-99.
38

1 "At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: every
creditor shall release what he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, because
the LORD's release has been proclaimed. 3 Of a foreigner you may exact it; but whatever of yours is with your
brother your hand shall release. 4 But there will be no poor among you (for the LORD will bless you in the
land which the LORD your God gives you for an inheritance to possess), 5 if only you will obey the voice of
the LORD your God, being careful to do all this commandment which I command you this day. 6 For the
LORD your God will bless you, as he promised you, and you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not
borrow; and you shall rule over many nations, but they shall not rule over you. 7 "If there is among you a poor
man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the LORD your God gives you, you
shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, 8 but you shall open your hand to him,
and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. (Deuteronomy 15).cf. Lev. 25:39-46.

Jose Miranda, Marx and the Bible: A Critique of the Philosophy of Oppression, (Maryknoll, N.Y.
Orbis, 1974)pp.
39

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degree in modern society. Take for example public education,

all members are enjoined to acquire the basic educational
skills, such as reading, writing and arithmetic. For such skills
are necessary for one's existence in society. However in modern
society education is not sufficient. To be able to sustain one's
life such assistance must be extended to other needs such as
health, livelihood, and housing.
In the light of this understanding the right to basic
security and welfare includes also the equality of opportunity.
Cognizance of the fact that natural resources are scarce and
human beings have different abilities but with common basic
needs, conditions or opportunities must be provided by society
wherein everybody could compete fairly. Where everybody will
have a fair start in life. In other words, rich and poor alike have
access to the basic services available in society.

d. The Right to the Truth

In the light of God's grace, the right to the truth has
become broader in scope and meaning. This right covers not
only the judicial system but also the economic and political
systems. It encompasses all aspects of human existence. It is a
right that liberates human beings. "The truth will set you free"
said Jesus.40 This right, therefore, enables a human person to
be free.
Our notion of Justice is not complete without the freedom
from deception and lies. The right to the truth implies the
command "Thou shall not bear false witness." It is a command
that seeks to protect the right to the truth against the practice
of false accusation.41 False accusation in court can undermine
justice. Thus, truth must be upheld in court to protect the
innocent.
In economic and political spheres, the right to the truth
means the right to information and knowledge necessary to
40
41

John 8:32
Institutes, II. 7. 47

13

enter into a transaction fairly; and the right to know those

actions of others that will seriously and adversely affect him or
her. Contemporary understanding of this right implies the right
of the citizens to know and the freedom of expression
necessary for their well-being and participation in society. The
right to the truth obliges people, government and business
enterprises not to employ deception, disinformation and other
means that will make the transaction unjust and the adverse
consequences hidden from the party affected. For example if a
company or a government intends to construct a nuclear power
plant in a certain location, those in the vicinity of the site have
the right to know this. If such a plant potentially endangers
them, they have the right to this information. But to engage in
deception is to subvert the truth. To subvert the truth is to
violate the right to information which violates the dignity of
human persons and society's welfare. For truth creates the
basis for trust, which means, we can rely on another's integrity.
Persons who trust one another count on each other to tell the
truth and not to betray or cheat each other. Therefore truth is
to be protected just as much as the air we breathe or the water
we drink. When it is damaged, everybody suffers; and when it is
destroyed, societies falter and collapse. For no society can
exists for so long if it violates the criterion of truthfulness.
In sum: our common notion of justice remains imperfect.
It can and perverted. However the Moral Law of God can offer
guidance in the pursuit of justice in this sinful world. Thus
regardless how imperfect our notion of justice, it mirrors God's
justice. Justice, therefore, becomes the ethical norm in politics.