Is law sinful?

Is the law itself sinful? However, it was the law that made us know what sin is. If the law has not said “Don’t commit adultery.” We, laymen, would not have known what adultery is all about. We could not have known such a desire. So the law has stirred up all kinds of desires and lust in us. Law states us not to commit a particular mistake,
indirectly telling us what the sin is all about.

We shall not challenge the infallibility of the law, Law in itself is infallible. Because of some errors committed by the makers of the law, have made them fallible and having loopholes in the law.

For example: It was during my first year PG in MCC, and it is known for its campus and lake. But, I had only a very wage idea that where the lake was situated, and I wanted to go to lake and I kept walking, due to the heavy rains the lake was flooded, so there were boards displayed at every junction of the road that finally goes to lake that “The lake is flooded with 20 feet of water, so nobody should go to lake.” and in fact the boards which made me cautious and told me not to go lake, were turned to be ways in themselves and finally they led me to the lake.

See, the boards which were supposed to stop me from going to the lake, turned to be signs leading me to the lake. So what is important is the intentionality of the law. We need to understand why we have a particular law in our land.

Despite the fact that we have so many laws, we have so many number of crimes committed. Does the law remain inactive and dead? It’s we human beings give life to the law by closely observing the law, knowing its intentionality.       

What we should understand is the intentionality of the law. The law makers have certain intentions about the law; that is the very reason a particular law is made and enforced. Many a time laws are observed for the sake of observing. No one knows the intentionality of the particular law, as in why we have a particular law in our land and why we need to observe them. We need to live in accordance with the law than blindly observing them.

We as the observers of the law, it is our primary objective to know what is the intention of the particular law and what intention the law tries to convey to us. We shall not try to derive double meanings from the law rather let us treat law as it given to us.

Divine laws are permanent but human laws are dynamic and it should change according to the needs of the time. We can’t have a single universal law for everything; it varies according to the culture, language and the geographical areas of the country.

Therefore, law is not sinful. What makes law infallible is in knowing the intentionality of the law and observing them. No law is sinful rather law is considered as divine, with some divine elements in it, it’s our negligence towards the law and corrupt practices make law look like fallible and dead.   

(Inspired by St. Paul’s letter to Romans 7: 7)

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