Following the Law of God as Imaging God_ Obedience as Participation in the Divine Life
Following the Law of God as Imaging God: Obedience as Participation in the Divine
The relationship between divine law and Christian living has historically been a central concern of Christian theology. While contemporary evangelicalism often struggles to articulate a proper understanding of the law’s role in the believer’s life, classical Protestant confessions provide rich theological resources for understanding obedience to God’s law not as mere external compliance, but as participation in the very character and nature of God Himself. When properly understood through the lens of classical theism and confessional theology, following God’s law emerges as the natural expression of our creation in the imago Dei and our restoration to that image through union with Christ. This perspective challenges both legalistic distortions that reduce Christian living to rule-keeping and antinomian tendencies that minimize the law’s ongoing significance. Instead, it reveals that true obedience flows from our participation in the Trinitarian life of God, made possible through our union with Christ, who is Himself the perfect image of the invisible God and the ultimate revelation of divine character.
Distinguishing Legalism from True Obedience
Before examining the positive relationship between law-keeping and imaging God, it is essential to distinguish between legalistic distortions and genuine obedience as understood in classical Protestant theology. Legalism, properly defined, represents a fundamental misunderstanding of both the law’s purpose and the nature of Christian righteousness.
The Westminster Confession of Faith articulates this distinction by affirming that justification comes “not for any thing wrought in them, or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone” (WCF 11.1), while simultaneously maintaining that good works are the necessary fruit of saving faith. The Augsburg Confession similarly declares that “we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God by our own merits, works, or satisfactions” (AC 4), yet insists that “good works are commanded by God” and “must follow faith” (AC 6, 20).
Legalism errs by making obedience the ground rather than the fruit of justification. It seeks to establish righteousness before God through law-keeping, thereby denying the sufficiency of Christ’s atoning work and the doctrine of justification by faith alone. This represents what Luther called a “theology of glory” that seeks to ascend to God through human achievement rather than receiving God’s gracious descent to humanity in the Incarnation.
True obedience, by contrast, flows from a heart transformed by grace and united to Christ. It recognizes that the law’s primary function is not to justify the sinner but to reveal God’s character and will for human flourishing. As the Formula of Concord explains, the law serves as a “rule and norm” for Christian living, showing believers “what good works God wants them to do” (FC SD VI.20). Such obedience is not motivated by fear of condemnation or desire for merit, but by gratitude for salvation and love for God’s character as revealed in His commandments.
This understanding preserves both divine sovereignty in salvation and human responsibility in sanctification. It acknowledges that while we contribute nothing to our justification, we are called to active participation in our sanctification through the Spirit’s enabling power. The law thus functions not as a ladder to climb to God, but as a mirror reflecting God’s character and a guide for Christian living.
God's Attributes and Divine Simplicity
Understanding how law-keeping images God requires a proper grasp of divine attributes as understood in classical theism. The classical Protestant confessions, drawing from patristic and medieval theological developments, affirm that God possesses perfect unity of essence while existing in three distinct persons. This understanding is grounded in the doctrine of divine simplicity, which maintains that God is not composed of parts but is identical with His attributes.
The Westminster Confession describes God as “a most pure spirit, invisible, without body, parts, or passions; immutable, immense, eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most wise, most holy, most free, most absolute” (WCF 2.1). Crucially, these attributes are not separate qualities that God possesses, but are identical with God’s essence itself. God does not merely have holiness, justice, mercy, and love—He is holiness, justice, mercy, and love in their perfect, unified expression.
This doctrine of simplicity has profound implications for understanding the moral law. When God commands holiness, justice, or love, He is not imposing arbitrary standards external to His nature. Rather, His commandments flow necessarily from His character and reveal the very essence of divinity itself. The law thus serves as a window into God’s eternal, unchanging nature.
Furthermore, God’s attributes exist in perfect harmony within the divine essence. His justice does not compete with His mercy, nor does His sovereignty conflict with His love. This unity of attributes provides the foundation for understanding moral law as a coherent expression of divine character rather than a collection of arbitrary rules.
When believers obey God’s law, they participate in and reflect these divine perfections. Obedience becomes a form of imaging God because it expresses in human life the same moral excellencies that characterize God's eternal nature. This participation is not metaphysical—we do not become God or share His essence—but analogical, reflecting divine character within the limitations of creaturely existence.
Creation, Fall, and New Creation
The theological significance of law-keeping as imaging God becomes clearer when viewed within the broader narrative of creation, fall, and redemption. This redemptive-historical framework demonstrates both the original purpose of human moral existence and its restoration through Christ’s atoning work.
Genesis 1:27 declares that God created humanity “in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This imago Dei represents humanity’s unique capacity among earthly creatures to reflect divine character and serve as God’s representative in creation. The Westminster Shorter Catechism captures this purpose by stating that humanity’s “chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever” (WSC 1).
In the state of innocence, Adam and Eve possessed both the knowledge of God’s will and the moral capacity to fulfill it perfectly. Their obedience was not burdensome external compliance but the natural expression of hearts perfectly aligned with divine character. The moral law written on their hearts enabled them to image God’s righteousness, holiness, and love in their relationships with God, each other, and creation itself. This righteousness was not a separate quality added to human nature but constituted humanity’s essential relationship with God and capacity for moral excellence.
The Devastating Effects of the Fall
The Fall described in Genesis 3 represents more than moral failure; it constitutes the corruption of the image of God in humanity. Sin did not merely result in wrong actions but fundamentally disordered human nature, affecting the mind, will, and affections. This total depravity does not mean humans are as evil as they could possibly be, but that sin affects every aspect of human existence, including the capacity for moral obedience. Crucially, the Fall corrupted not only human moral capacity but also the human understanding of law itself. Fallen humanity tends toward either legalistic self-righteousness or antinomian license, both representing distortions of the law’s proper role. The natural human heart seeks either to establish righteousness through law-keeping or to escape moral obligation entirely.
New Creation Through Christ
The restoration of the imago Dei occurs through union with Christ, who is Himself the perfect image of God (Col. 1:15, Heb. 1:3). Christ’s person and work provide both the means of justification and the pattern for sanctification, enabling believers to fulfill the law’s original purpose of imaging divine character. The incarnate Son possesses both divine and human natures in perfect unity. This hypostatic union enables Christ to serve as both the perfect revelation of God’s character and the representative head of renewed humanity. Through regeneration and union with Christ, believers receive both forgiveness for past failures and the Spirit’s power for future obedience. This new creation does not immediately restore perfect moral capacity, but it does restore the fundamental orientation of the heart toward God and His law. Believers experience what theologians call “definitive sanctification”—a decisive break with sin’s dominion—alongside “progressive sanctification”—the gradual conformity to Christ’s image throughout life. The connection between law-keeping and imaging God reaches its fullest expression in the person of Christ, who serves as both the perfect revelation of divine character and the means by which believers participate in that revelation. Understanding Christ’s role requires careful attention to both His eternal identity as the Son of God and His temporal mission as the incarnate Word.
John’s Gospel presents Christ as the eternal Logos who “was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). This Word is not merely a divine messenger but the very self-expression of God’s nature and character. Hebrews 1:3 describes Christ as “the exact imprint of (God’s) nature,” using language that suggests perfect correspondence between the Father’s character and the Son’s expression. In His eternal existence as the second person of the Trinity, the Son serves as the archetype of divine imaging. The Father expresses His nature perfectly in the Son, and the Son receives and reflects that nature perfectly back to the Father. This eternal relationship provides the theological foundation for understanding how creatures might participate in divine imaging through union with Christ. The Son’s divinity is not derived or secondary but shares fully in the divine essence. When Christ reveals the Father’s character through His obedience to the moral law, He is not showing us something external to God’s nature but displaying the very essence of divinity itself.
The Incarnate Life of Perfect Obedience
Christ’s earthly ministry demonstrates perfect law-keeping not as mere external compliance but as the natural expression of divine character in human nature. The hypostatic union enables Christ to fulfill the law’s requirements as a genuine human being while expressing divine character through that obedience. His temptation in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11) demonstrates His commitment to obey God’s word even under extreme pressure. His declaration that He came “not to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17) shows His understanding of moral obedience as the expression of divine will. The Heidelberg Catechism explains that Christ’s active obedience—His perfect law-keeping throughout His life—serves not merely as an example for believers but as the very righteousness that justifies them before God (HC 60). This means that Christ’s obedience has both substitutionary and revelatory significance: it both satisfies the law’s demands on our behalf and shows us what divine character looks like in human expression.
Christ’s obedience reaches its climax in His willing submission to death on the cross (Phil. 2:8). This supreme act of obedience reveals the depths of divine love and justice simultaneously. The cross demonstrates that God’s commitment to holiness requires judgment of sin, while His love motivates the provision of a substitute who bears that judgment. For believers, the cross becomes both the ground of assurance and the pattern for obedience. Because Christ has perfectly fulfilled the law’s requirements, believers need not fear condemnation for their imperfect obedience. Simultaneously, because the cross reveals the depth of self-sacrificial love that characterizes God’s nature, it provides the supreme example of what imaging God looks like in practice.
Union with Christ and Trinitarian Participation
The believer’s capacity to image God through law-keeping depends entirely upon union with Christ, which brings participation in the Trinitarian relationships that constitute the divine life itself. This union is both forensic—involving the imputation of Christ's righteousness—and transformative—enabling actual conformity to divine character through the Spirit’s work. Calvin describes this union as encompassing “both things together: that we are justified by faith, because we are united to Christ by faith” (Institutes 3.16.1). This union is not merely legal fiction but involves genuine spiritual relationship that affects the believer’s entire existence. This union enables believers to participate in Christ’s perfect relationship with the Father. As adopted children, believers receive the same Spirit that animated Christ’s earthly obedience (Rom. 8:15-16). This means that Christian obedience is not merely human effort to imitate divine character, but participation in the very relationship of love and submission that exists eternally between Father and Son.
Trinitarian Dimensions of Sanctification
Understanding law-keeping as imaging God requires attention to the distinct roles of each person of the Trinity in the believer’s sanctification. The Father serves as the ultimate source and standard of holiness, the Son as the means and pattern of conformity to that holiness, and the Spirit as the agent who applies Christ’s work to produce actual transformation.
The Father’s role in sanctification reflects His position as the fount of divinity within the Trinitarian relationships. His will, expressed in the moral law, provides the standard for human obedience. Yet this will is not an arbitrary command but the expression of divine love seeking human flourishing. The Son’s role involves both His historical work of redemption and His ongoing intercession for believers. His perfect obedience provides the pattern for Christian living, while His continuing priesthood ensures that believers’ imperfect obedience is acceptable to the Father. The writer of Hebrews emphasizes that Christ “is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Heb. 7:25). The Spirit’s role encompasses both regeneration and progressive sanctification. He creates the new heart capable of loving God’s law (Ezek. 36:26-27), enables the actual performance of good works (Gal. 5:16-25), and progressively conforms believers to Christ’s image (2 Cor. 3:18). Importantly, the Spirit’s work is not independent of Christ (nor is any work of the Trinity independent of all three persons) but specifically applies the benefits of Christ’s person and work to believers.
The Eschatological Dimension
This Trinitarian participation has both present and future dimensions. In this life, believers experience only the “first fruits” of their full inheritance (Rom. 8:23), meaning that their imaging of God through law-keeping remains imperfect and incomplete. The struggle with remaining sin described in Romans 7 represents the normal Christian experience of tension between the renewed nature and persistent corruption. However, the believer’s union with Christ guarantees future glorification when the image of God will be perfectly restored. First John 3:2 promises that “when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” This transformation will not diminish human nature but will perfect it, enabling the complete fulfillment of humanity’s original purpose to image divine character perfectly. This future hope motivates present obedience while providing comfort for those discouraged by their current failures.
Practical Implications for Christian Living
This theological framework has significant implications for how believers approach moral obedience in daily life. Rather than viewing God’s commandments as burdensome external requirements, believers can understand law-keeping as participation in divine character and preparation for eternal fellowship with God. Understanding obedience as imaging God transforms the believer’s motivation from duty to delight. When believers recognize that God’s commandments reflect His perfect character and serve human flourishing, obedience becomes an expression of love rather than mere submission to authority. The psalmist’s declaration that “your law is my delight” (Ps. 119:77) reflects this proper understanding of the law’s role in Christian experience. This motivation protects against both legalistic self-righteousness and antinomian license. Believers obey not to earn God’s favor—which they already possess through Christ—but to express gratitude for salvation and to reflect God’s character to the watching world. Their identity as children of God, established through justification, provides the secure foundation for growth in holiness.
Christ’s earthly life provides the supreme pattern for how believers should approach moral obedience. His perfect submission to the Father’s will, His love for God’s law, His compassion for others, and His willingness to suffer for righteousness all serve as examples for Christian living. Yet believers follow this pattern not through mere external imitation but through spiritual participation in Christ’s relationship with the Father. This means that Christian obedience will necessarily involve both individual piety and social engagement. Just as Christ’s love for the Father expressed itself in service to others, believers’ love for God must manifest in practical care for their neighbors. The greatest commandments—love for God and love for neighbor—cannot be separated (Matt. 22:37-39).
It is important to emphasize that sanctification occurs within the context of the church community. The means of grace—word, sacrament, and discipline—provide the ordinary channels through which the Spirit applies Christ’s benefits to believers. This communal dimension prevents individualistic distortions of Christian living and ensures that growth in holiness occurs within proper theological boundaries. The confessional traditions also emphasize the importance of Christian vocation in sanctification. Rather than viewing spiritual growth as escape from worldly responsibilities, believers are called to serve God through faithful performance of their earthly callings. This integration of sacred and secular enables believers to image God’s character in every sphere of life.
Conclusion
Following God’s law as a means of imaging divine character represents one of the most profound truths of Christian theology. When properly understood through the lens of classical theism and confessional Protestant theology, moral obedience emerges not as external rule-keeping but as participation in the very character of God Himself. This participation is made possible through union with Christ, who is both the perfect image of God and the means by which believers are restored to that image. This understanding preserves the essential balance between divine grace and human responsibility that characterizes mature Protestant theology. It affirms that salvation comes entirely through God's gracious work in Christ while simultaneously maintaining that believers are called to active participation in sanctification through the Spirit’s enabling power. The law thus serves neither as a means of justification nor as an arbitrary imposition, but as the revelation of divine character and the guide for Christian living.
For contemporary believers struggling to understand the place of moral obedience in Christian life, this classical framework provides both theological clarity and practical guidance. It shows that the same God who saves by grace also calls His people to reflect His character through their daily lives. In doing so, believers participate even now in the eternal relationships that constitute the divine life itself, while anticipating the perfect fulfillment of this calling in the eschaton when they shall see God face to face and be perfectly conformed to His image.
