In Moorcock's books, the whole Law and Chaos conflict is between forces of stability and change. Law tends to be 'good' for the most part, because in books the forces of Chaos are dominant and, unchecked, excessively destructive - but should Law become strongly dominant, it will bring about stagnation.
Early DnD only featured Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic alignements, and was strongly inspired by Moorcock (although Law and Chaos there roughly corresponded to Good and Evil). When Good and Evil were added, Law and Chaos became more about what they are today.