There is a growing
movement of teaching in the world today about “Grace”. That is, there has been
an increased teaching about the “Grace” of God and how we are to apply that in
our life today. I sometimes have heard it referred to as; “hyper-grace”. As I listen to the various teachings and
teachers of the Word and study the word on my own, I have found that I have
been dealing with increasing conflict in my spirit over this teaching. Please
allow me a few moments to share with you what I have been dealing with and I
hope and pray that I can bring some understanding to those of you who have been
struggling with this as well.
First of all, I think we
have to have a foundational understanding or definition of what “grace” is. So
here is the definition that I am going to be working from whenever I use the
word Grace: Grace is the understanding that God sent His only Son to be
tortured, humiliated, beaten and crucified (that is murdered) on the cross for
the purpose of paying the penalty for my individual and personal sin against my
Heavenly Father. Sin is anything that I do that violates, offends or creates
separation in my relationship with my Heavenly Father. Grace is also the power
that is granted us from our Heavenly Father (as made available to us through
the sacrifice of His son Jesus Christ and delivered personally to us through
the Holy Spirit) to stand against, resist, and defeat the very source of sin
(that is Satan and all of his works) that is in our lives. Grace gives us the power to overcome the very
things we struggle against that pull us away from our Heavenly Father. Grace
gives us the power and the strength to be obedient to the relationship that God
so eagerly desires to have with us.
Now anyone who has had any
familiarity with church or the bible has heard reference to “the Law”. I also
want to have a common understanding of what I am referring to when I reference
“the Law”. The Law refers to any directive that has been handed down from God.
Now, this is not just referring to the “10 Commandments”. God speaking to Isaac
put it this way;
I
will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your
offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed, because Abraham obeyed
my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.
(Genesis 26:4-5 ESV)
So when I make reference
to “the Law”, I make reference to all the above.
So here enters the
struggle for me and I think for many others. We are somewhat mislead when we
are taught that because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we now live under the
“grace” of God and no longer under the “law” of God. This is an accurate
statement, however it is incomplete. I think that sometimes we can be given the
impression that it is an either/or conversation. Just like it is difficult at
times to understand that Jesus was “fully God and fully man”; that just sends
our brain cells into “TILT” mode. Allow me to elaborate.
Under “the Law” of Moses;
God made it clear to us that because of our sin, we were not worthy to be in
His presence. We were not worthy to speak to him, not worthy to ask for His
help and certainly not worthy of being in His presence. Under “the Law”, in
order to seek some redemption for our sins; we would have to offer some sort of
sacrifice in the form of a food offering or the slaughtering an animal, and we
would have to go through a “priest” in order to make this intercession on our
behalf. What “grace” does is that through the sacrifice of the body and blood
of Jesus Christ, our offering for redemption has been given in the sacrifice of
Jesus Christ. Grace is the body and blood of Jesus Christ. Grace does not
abolish the law; grace is the love of God sacrificing his Son that we would no
longer be liable for the punishment of “the Law”.
The main point that I want
to get across to everyone is that it is not and either/or conversation. It is
both! (This is where people begin to get uncomfortable.) Give me a minute to
clarify.
There is only one person
who walked the Earth that was without sin; that is Jesus Christ.
“for
all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV)
No one can earn salvation
by following the law. Salvation is only accessible through grace by the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Grace does not abolish “the voice, the charge, the
commandments, the statutes and the laws” of God; it allows for the forgiveness
in our times of failure. It strengthens us in our times of weakness. Grace is
the power to overcome evil and the allowance for the weakness of our flesh.
Jesus said:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the
Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For
truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot,
will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one
of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be
called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them
will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your
righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter
the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-20 ESV)
Matthew chapters 5-7 are a
collection of the teachings of Jesus. In this particular statement, he is
laying the groundwork for the need of Him. He is beginning to let us know that
on our own ability, we are unable to achieve a level of righteousness that will
grant us access to the kingdom of Heaven. But there is also instruction of not
relaxing the law and warning against teaching others to relax the teachings of
“the law”.
The laws and commandments
of our Heavenly Father do not go away through Christ; it is in
Christ that we are able to escape the penalty
of our inability to keep the law. Here is the rest of what Paul said in Romans:
But now the righteousness of God has been
manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness
to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by
his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness,
because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to
show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the
justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Then what becomes of our boasting?
It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of
faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of
Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the
uncircumcised through faith. Do we
then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold
the law. (Romans 3:21-31 ESV)
When we come to the
conclusion that we are no longer under the law because of grace; we base that
conclusion on an assumption that the law only existed to point out our sins.
The problem with that assumption is that the law does so much more.
The law points us to
righteousness. Paul continued:
Let
not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.
Do not present your members to sin
as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who
have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments
for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not
under law but under grace.
What then? Are we to sin because we
are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient
slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to
death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God,
that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the
standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free
from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms,
because of your natural limitations. For
just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to
lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves
to righteousness leading to sanctification.
For when you were slaves of sin, you
were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that
time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things
is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves
of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in
Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:12-23 ESV)
Paul continues:
There
is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law
of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and
death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do.
By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he
condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to
the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the
things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds
on the things of the Spirit. For to set
the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and
peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not
submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh
cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the flesh
but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does
not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you,
although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who
raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies
through his Spirit who dwells in you.
So then, brothers, we are debtors,
not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the
Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who
are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the
spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of
adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then
heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in
order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:1-17 ESV)
Paul is clearly stating
that for those who are under the grace of God, as provided by the Holy Spirit
by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, you will desire righteousness
through obedience; obedience to your Heavenly Father, obedience to His
righteousness, obedience to His laws and commandments. This is not to say to
earn grace - this is to say to desire righteousness because of grace. Grace is
the free gift of the sacrifice of Christ; obedience towards righteousness is
natural outpouring of love to the relationship that we have been granted access
to through grace! This is not an expectation of perfection or perfect
righteousness, for we know that we all have sin. Paul wrote to Timothy in both
letters encouraging him to “pursue righteousness” knowing that only Christ has
obtained perfect righteousness.
Not only does the law
point us towards righteousness, in pursuing obedience and righteousness we find
protection from the consequences of sin. The law explicitly points out to us
Gods desire for us. I could write a book on all that our Heavenly Father has to
say to us in the bible in regards to blessings to the righteous and judgment to
the unrighteous. I think the very first Psalm sums it up nicely for us.
Blessed is the man
who walks not in the
counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of
scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates
day and night.
He is like a tree
planted by streams of
water
that yields its fruit in its season,
and its leaf does not
wither.
In
all that he does, he prospers.
The
wicked are not so,
but are like chaff that
the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand
in the judgment,
nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous;
for the LORD knows the way of the
righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish. (Psalm 1 ESV)
I would just like to
conclude with this – the conversation we should be having is not grace instead
of the law. It is obedience to the law because and through grace. It’s not one
or the other; it’s both. To put it another way; Jesus Christ did not sacrifice
Himself on the cross for you to pursue more sin; He died to grant you the
freedom to pursue your relationship with your Heavenly Father, free from penalty
and restrictions of sin. Grace abounds for the forgiveness of sin, not the
allowance of it.
May the abounding love and
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ guide your heart and your mind towards a greater
understanding of, and relationship with your Heavenly Father. May all the
blessings of God fill you and strengthen you as we all battle against the flesh;
and through the power of the grace of God lead us to victory over sin so we may
walk in victory, walk in obedience, walk in peace…walk in grace. -Amen
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