Second Commandment Christians

Arkansas Governor and presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is quoted in this week's TIME magazine as saying, "I'm a 'grace' Christian, not a 'law' Christian. The Second Commandment--do unto others--is the basic tenet of my faith."

I expect Huckabee's formulation quickly to become a media reference point for politicians who identify themselves as Bible-believing Christians but want to distance themselves from the Christian Right.  But I am less interested in the politics of Huckabee's statement than in its theology.  The dichotomy Huckabee makes between law and grace is a false one.  There is a distinction between law and grace, of course, but they are coordinated in the plan of God.  Even under grace, the law continues to have its right uses, both privately and publically, in both the church and the state.

The dichotomy Huckabee makes between the two great commandments is also false.  Jesus said that the Second Commandment is like the first; that is to say, these commandments go together. 

Still, if used as a distinction rather than a dichotomy, Huckabee's statement may help to explain why Christians are less persuasive in the public square than we ought to be.  People are hearing the First Commandment more than they are seeing the Second Commandment in action.