Difference Between Similar Terms and Objects

Difference Between Rules and Laws

justice-scaleRules vs Laws

The main difference between rules and laws is the consequences associated with breaking them. While each is developed to invoke a sense of order, fair play, and safety, the weight of a law is much heavier than the weight of a rule.

Laws are like the legal version of rules. When you are a child, a parent sets rules to be followed. When you are in a society, the government sets laws to be followed. When a rule is broken, the consequences tend to be uncomfortable but mild in comparison to the breaking of a law.

Laws are enforced by a higher governmental office, usually the police and the prosecutor’s office. Laws are written in specific code so that they can be interpreted as needed. When you break a law there is legal action that follows, provided that you are caught.

Rules are more flexible and carry low end consequences. You can set up rules for games, rules for the home, even rules for fighting or being intimate with a partner. Rules are personal in nature, and they are often adjusted as the conditions and circumstances of the home change.

Laws must be passed through due process in order to take effect. A law starts off as a bill, and must go through a series of checks, balances, and votes in order to become a law. Rules are merely set and adjusted as the need arises, and should be followed out of respect for those setting the rules.

Rules help us learn to prepare for living in society. As youngsters, we tend to learn that there are rules about hitting, stealing, lying, and being wasteful. As young adults, we are held accountable for these rules by becoming law abiding citizens. Laws are not meant to set teaching boundaries, but are there to be enforced, and are punishable by imprisonment and even death if they are broken. By the time you are old enough to contend with the law (outside of children killing children) you have already learned the process by dealing with various sets of rules.

Summary:

1. Laws are the legal variation of rules.

2. Laws are enforced by governmental factors such as the police and prosecutors.

3. Rules are set by individuals.

4. Laws are set by the government.

5. Laws must go through certain processes to become laws, including a voting process.

6. Rules are set by organizations and individuals.

7. Rules are more flexible, and have lighter consequences when broken.

8. Laws are inflexible, and carry stiff penalties including imprisonment, and in some cases, death.

9. Rules are set during childhood to prepare for living in accordance with laws.

10. Laws are not a teaching tool, but a tool for keeping order in society.

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35 Comments

  1. This information is straight to the point and extreamly helpful. Thank you!

    ~ HZ

  2. Something that the Founders of the USA understood is that all laws made by men must be subject to the higher laws of God. When those laws made by men violate those higher laws of God it the right and the duty, of those governed by consent, to throw off that government which violates those higher laws.
    Of course, for citizens of the USA, the Founders made provisions to modify our government peacefully without going to the extremes of throwing off the government the way that they did. But by the Second Amendment they ensured that the people would have the power, being equally armed with the power of their government, to forcefully throw off that government should it become absolutely necessary.

    The laws and lawmakers of the US government of today have so thoroughly violated the higher laws of God by the laws they have created and violated the very Constitution which gave them the power to create those man-made laws, that it is time of the citizens to have a peaceful revolution by voting people of character into office who can fix those violations.

    We have three layers of Law: The laws of God which cannot be violated without indiscrimate consequences, (logic, mathematics, physics, light, energy, gravity, motion, morality – murder, immorality, injustice), the laws of a nation which help the citizens to maintain peace within the higher laws of God, and the rules of men which help us to avoid breaking the laws of our nation.

    • Close but no cigar. There are no “layers of law,” sir! Indeed, what did God say of such things, through His Christ? Matthew 15:6-9: “…Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” Thus, man’s rules and regulations are not “Law!” Suggestions, which are being deceptively being portrayed as law. Indeed, a law does not change by the whims of men. It is constant and unchanging. But such as the likes of you, proclaim that rules of man is, in some in-explainable, undefinable fashion, law, simply because an oligarchical group of men (such as were the Pharisees, Scribes, and Sadducees), familiarly known as a legislative body (composed of such men) go through a man-made procedure known as “Due Process” which is supposed to constitute an idea of men (a bill) transforming into a law. Total deceptive nonsense. God’s law is concrete, needing no interpretation of men, no additions nor subtractions. You are blind to the truth of God. For they do teach for doctrines the commandments of men! And just who are the true “People of God” supposed to follow? Certainly not the “rule of law,” which comes from the ideas of men; and, certainly not under a “republican ‘form’ of government, by which “The People” are the rulers and not their “public servants!” So then, learn the distinction between “Law” and “Legal Rules,” for that “man of perdition” (2 Thess. 2: ) “[thinks] to change the times and laws.” (Dan. 7:25)… Cease from living in the fiction world created by Satan, or else, stop defaming the name of God by your illicit commentaries… God Bless in Truth and Love….

      • Omg please. Not everything is about you and your “God” Troy. please note that not all of us are Christian, Catholic or whatever. stop being so ignorant.

        • Read the comment previously relevant to mine, thiago. It seems you are a presumptuous fellow, and not to intelligent. Define the term “Christian” and you will see that there is no such thing!!!

          So then ask me an intelligent question, or cease with your pretentious psycho-babble. Only a fools say on their heart “there is no God. Indeed, there are many gods. Such is whatever you choose to worship (duh!!!).

          Again, READ BEFORE COMMENTING, and cease from insulting your own intelligence.

          God bless in Truth and Love…

  3. Laws came into existence long before the universe was made. Whether made by an all knowing Almighty or simply by Nature The laws of the universe brought order to the solar system via gravity and energy. Humans discovered that these laws already existed by studying the orderliness of the universe and looking at the reason for such ordeliness. Even these laws are broken and celestial bodies crash into each other.
    Rules are made by a person or persons to bring ordeliness to our lives and those around us. It is interesting to note that rules are there to be broken as soon as they were made as Adam ate the apple and Kane got rid of Abel.

    • Please, Please, Please, note the difference between Law and Legislation (legal forms of law created by men). If something is “of” something, it is not that something from which it is of. It is simple reason that says: the something that is “of” something is inferior to the something which it came from. To wit: is man of the earth? Looking at the chemical composition of the human being, it is without contest that earth’s minerals are also found in humans. Now then, was the creation of the earth before all that which is of it? Use your logic (common sense). Thus, there is a distinction between laws and rules and regulations, which are of men.

      Moreover, “laws came into existence long before the universe was made,” is an unsubstantiated statement, and ill use of words, as they are properly defined. What constitutes a “law” and a “universe?” And how, by the mighty name of God, do you know that “law” was in existence long before the creation of the universe? And yet, the one making this statement is indecisive as to whether all things of the subject were created by an “All Knowing All Mighty, or Nature. Define these subjects, sir, and edify us as to which was created by which. I wait….

  4. interesting artical but i think thats more then just to detail of the individgual rights as well when it comes to rules and or laws even those that have not commented any to towards those that may do so or and have doing so to them for just manner things as living

  5. I am appalled at the number of comments that reference “laws of God”. Get real, guys.

  6. The word “rule” has multiple meanings (“senses”)… and the legal meaning of “rule” includes the notion of mandatory compliance with penalties for non-compliance.

    For example, the U.S. tax regulations include “laws” enacted by Congress and codified in Title 26 of the United States Code (26 U.S.C.), and “rules” ordered by the Internal Revenue Service and codified in Title 26 of the Code of Federal Regulations (26 CFR). Federal agencies are empowered by Congress to create rules, so those rules have the force of law. Penalties for non-compliance with federal rules can be very serious.

    Other authorities can also create rules; for example, the judicial authorities in each state implement rules that apply to court procedures, and in some cases the penalties for non-compliance can also be very serious.

    • Tsk, tsk! “[T]he legal meaning of “rule” includes the notion of mandatory compliance with penalties for non-compliance.”

      This contravenes common reason. The term “notion” cannot comport with “mandatory.” It is an idea. Rules are not, by nature, concrete! But a law is. And, the penalty for breaking a true law, is irreversible. Take for instance, the commandment of God in His garden: if Adam (which includes the woman, which is of one flesh and bones, as records Gen. 2:23) eats the fruit (indeterminate of being an apple) from a certain tree in that garden, he shall surely die. This was a “flesh and bones” man (no indication of blood prior to eating the fruit of this tree), and, of course, to this day, no matter what you believe or what you do, ye shall surely die in the flesh, precipitated by the contamination of blood and its loss. This is a law, and it is unchanging to anyone and everyone of flesh and blood, even bones. But what of, say, statutes or legislation of men? They (government public servants) can elect to prosecute for violation of such contrived legislation (Chisholm v. Georgia, 2 U.S. 419, 455-465) (1793)) or not! A so-called “police officer” can pull one over for a traffic violation, yet elect to cite him/her or not! Thus, “rules and regulations” are not “mandatory” but discretionary. The enforcement of real law is NOT discretionary. It is “mandatory.”

      Moreover, in this country (The Continental United States) the supreme Law of the Land (not the sea or Admiralty Law) is the Constitution for the United States (Const. Art. VI cl. 2), and not the constitution “of ” the United States, which is Congress or the Federal Legislature. This document is not directed to “The People” who, by their appointed public officials, created it, making it in the interest of controlling such officials and not themselves. Thus, limiting the power delegated to all governments, these officials are subject to “The People.” References to “The People” in that document are not of a subservient nature but to be served, and that there be no doubt as to rights of these People, which are to be defended, upheld, and protected by their government servants. You may follow the dictates of an oligarchy, under the auspices of democracy, for the most insolvent right one has is that of choice, but let it not be of fraudulent deception in suggesting that The People have a right to remain under a “republican form of government, which is one that MUST acknowledge its treasonous conduct not to adhere to such implementation of law…

      God bless in Truth and Love, Amen

  7. I feel like rules are to help with your well being and laws are to protect the well being of others from those who are not law abiding.

    • There is no such thing as “law abiding!” Who, among mankind, have not transgressed law? Name one human being who did not pay the penalty of sin (death)? Just one, if you can… I wait.

  8. To make sharp division between Law and Rule You need to know the purpose of the Law .Rules help us to reach the prupose of law without enforcing it;with awaraness understanding and orderliness(mostly)Which means the practicing of rules with peoper awareness of the purpose will give all the good ness of the Law to all those who prctice it.Practicing Rules for the sake or without pirpose will result in breaking the Law without quidproco.
    This will also result in legally nullifying the Law in content.
    WE OFTEN OBSERVE THAT
    THE MAKERS OF THE LAW ARE THE BREAKERS OF LAW.
    Leaving a feeling that the Law is for those without education and understanding.
    Therefore we need to break the Rules whcih are practiced without purpose and follow the Law in its exact content with whole heart.

  9. It helped with my work and is very useful and taught me about laws and rules!

  10. thank you

  11. i didint know well about principle and laws in practice an enforcement

    • And you still do not know the difference!!!

      • Dear Troy of Helen,

        Read Geeta and follow Buddha, then say you may not :”If something is of something, it is not that something from which it is of. It is simple reason that says: the something that is of something is inferior to the something which it came from.”
        ‘kan kan mein hain Ram basey’ means that God is in every molecule in the Universe. And child is the father of man!

        And disturb not lucies with their work ; As for work means service.

        And my dear troy, we don’t die because of our sin. We die for good, so that the law is preserved. Imagine, people not dying. What disorder will there be on earth!

        And yes rightly said, we won’t need law if there was only one man in the universe. THE TERM ‘LAW OF NATURE’ IS ITSELF A MYTH. We need it so that rights are preserved and the powerful not encroach on the powerless.

  12. This diffrence article is very good

  13. I am very exicted to this read

  14. Dear Troy of Helen,

    Read Geeta and follow Buddha, then say you may not :”If something is of something, it is not that something from which it is of. It is simple reason that says: the something that is of something is inferior to the something which it came from.”
    ‘kan kan mein hain Ram basey’ means that God is in every molecule in the Universe. And child is the father of man!

    And disturb not lucies with their work ; As for work means service.

    And my dear troy, we don’t die because of our sin. We die for good, so that the law is preserved. Imagine, people not dying. What disorder will there be on earth!

    And yes rightly said, we won’t need law if there was only one man in the universe. THE TERM ‘LAW OF NATURE’ IS ITSELF A MYTH. We need it so that rights are preserved and the powerful not encroach on the powerless.

  15. thank you , I got the point.

  16. it was ok I needed it for my exam review.

  17. This subject and moot!

    Man ( including the government – a collection of humans) makes rules. Rules have voluntary (can be broken) compliance.

    God (Universe) has laws. Laws have mandatory compliance (can not be broken) – such a death.

  18. Golden Rule! Love God and your neighbor as yourself-in this is contained the whole law!
    Author: Jesus Christ or Son of God or God!

    We’ve all broken or come short of the law but there is forgiveness through Jesus Christ! Only a perfect being (God) has never broken the law!

    • Rajah,

      “Only a perfect being (God) has never broken the law!”

      A perfect bring would have no need for law, because it would be perfect. And just another logical point, if there were no laws, there be nothing to be broken

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