It's not clear to me that Orwell was saying that. And neither of the passages I vite are talking about laws as such. The Declaration of Independence was certainly extralegal, and perhaps it is more foundational than any given body of law, even.

That's a pretty political bent on things, especially if you are considering the protestant world view:

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God -- not by works, so that no one can boast." (book of Ephesians)

The text (and theology) clearly divorce the outcome from the work being done. Frankly a plan reading of the text would be sympathetic to socialism (also see the day of Pentecost, the parable of the workers, etc..). It's very tortured to suggest that somehow this is actually a libertarian "pull yourself up" world view.