Lesson No. 10. Justification, Grace and God's Law
  There are two important questions that we wish to answer at this time; and in doing so we clear up some serious misunderstandings about justification by faith and obedience to God's Law by those who are justified and who are living under grace. First we have a question about justification:
"Why teach people to seek justification by keeping the Law, when Paul says, 'Whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace' (Galatians 5:1-4)?"
  ANSWER: We do not teach people to seek justification by keeping God's Law, but we do teach that all who have been justified by faith in Christ Jesus must keep God's Law in order to live the holy life that God requires of all His children (1 John 3:4,10). What did Paul mean by his statements in Galatians 5:1-4? In the first place, Paul was not speaking of the Ten Commandments at all, but the book of the Law of Moses. This fact we will prove from the Book of Galatians itself. Let us examine Galatians 5:1-4 carefully and see exactly what Bible truth we can find concerning this question about justification: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I Paul say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every man that is circumcised, that he is debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whatsoever of you are justified by the law: ye are fallen from grace."
  Please note that the law that Paul referred to commanded circumcision. That one point of identification shows clearly that he was not speaking of the Ten Commandments (see Exodus 20:1-17). The Ten Commandments say nothing about circumcision. It was the book of the law that some of these Christians were going back to (Galatians 3:10). That was the law that required circumcision and many other rites and ceremonies, all of which were types pointing to the death of Christ for the sins of the world (Hebrews 9:1-14; 10:1-8). Those types ended at the Cross and so did that law that regulated all those sacrifices and rites. It was that law (Moses' book of the law, 2 Chronicles 34:14) that the Galatian brethren were going back to. Some Jewish Christians had taught some of the Gentile churches that they could not be saved unless they were circumcised and kept the law of Moses (Acts 15:1-5). The Galatian Christians had evidently heard that doctrine and many of them had believed it. They had already been justified and forgiven of their past life of sin though faith in Christ and obedience to the Gospel (Galatians 3:1-5,26,27; Romans 6:17,18). Now after having been made free from sin through Christ, if they turned to circumcision and other rites in the law of Moses, Christ would profit them nothing. Why? Because when they turned to the law of Moses, circumcision, etc., they showed that they did not believe that the death of Christ fully paid the penalty for their sins. The law of Moses (the book of the law) could never take away sins, nor make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience (Hebrews 9:9,10; 10:1-4). That is why Paul said to those Galatian brethren who had turned back to that law, "Whosoever of you are justified by the law: ye are fallen from grace" (Galatians 5:1-4). Remember that it was not the Ten Commandments but by the law of Moses that they sought justification from sin which is the transgression of the Ten Commandments (1 John 3:4; Romans 7:7). Paul plainly taught that through Christ we are justified from all things "from which we could not be justified by the law of Moses" (Acts 13:39; 2 Chronicles 34:14; John 1:17). Seeing that we cannot be justified by the law of Moses, how are we justified?

ARE CHRISTIANS JUSTIFIED BY KEEPING THE TEN COMMANDMENTS?

  No, Christians are not justified by keeping the Ten Commandments. Let Paul answer that question: "Now we know that what things soever the Law saith, it saith to them that are under the Law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight: for by the Law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:19,20). By what Law is the knowledge of sin? By the Law that says, "Thou shalt not covet" (Romans 7:7). That Law is the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). The Ten Commandments were given to give a knowledge of sin, and by it the whole world, Jews and Gentiles, are guilty before God (Romans 3:9,19). All have sinned (verse 23). The Law that condemns a man as a sinner cannot justify him. The Law was not given for that purpose. It would be like trying to wash your face with the mirror (James 1:23-25). The mirror could show that the face needed washing, but the mirror is powerless to cleanse the face. The same is true of the Law of God. It can show you that you are guilty of sins, but it cannot forgive nor cleanse from sin. It takes the blood of Jesus to do that (1 John 1:7,9).
  What is justification? It is the act of making free from guilt or blame, to pardon . . . . All have sinned and are under the death penalty for sin (Romans 5:12; 6:23). Nothing but death could pay for man's sins. No amount of obedience could pay the penalty for disobedience in the past. That is why we cannot be justified by keeping the Ten Commandments. We must keep the Ten Commandments after we have been made freefrom guilt of sins that are past, but the act of keeping the Ten Commandments itself could never free us from the guilt of our past sins.

JUSTIFIED BY FAITH

  Since we have found that we cannot be justified by the law of Moses and neither can we be justified by the Ten Commandments, by what are we justified? "Therefore being  justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand . . ." (Romans 5:1,2). "Seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and the uncircumcision through faith" (Romans 3:30). We are made free from guilt, our past sins are forgiven, we are justified by faith in Christ the Son of God Who died for our sins (Hebrews 2:9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; Romans 3:25). This faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is preceded by true repentance toward God (Acts 20:21). The Gospel lists certain steps: Repentance, Faith, and Baptism (Acts 2:37,38; Luke 24:47; Mark 16:15,16). By this faith and obedience to the Gospel, we are made free from sin and become servants of righteousness (Romans 6:17,18). We are then just before God, our past sins are forgiven, and we are freed from the bondage of sinful habits. What does God expect us to do then? "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, that ye should obey it in the lust thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin" (Romans 6:12,13). In short, the justified person is commanded to live obedient to God's holy and just law, the Ten Commandments (Romans 7:7,12,13). We do not make void the Law by faith, but we establish the Law. The righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in the lives of those who are led by the Holy Spirit (Romans 3:31; 8:4).
  Many, while claiming to be justified by faith in Christ, refuse to obey the Law of God. They say they are not justified by the Law, and therefore they must not keep the seventh-day Sabbath lest they fall from grace by so doing. This is the argument that we Sabbath keepers meet many times. Yes, they even tell us that we who keep the Sabbath day that God commanded are trying to be justified by the Law and are not under grace. In short, justification by faith relieves the Christian from all obligations to obey the law that says, "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy . . . . the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God . . . ." This is the sum of their reasoning in the matter.
  My friends, let me answer this kindly, but frankly: Truth will stand investigation. So let us try this theory with good, sound reasoning. Remember that the Ten Commandments is the Law that commands us to keep the seventh-day Sabbath holy (Exodus 20:8-11). If we make void our justification by keeping the Sabbath in obedience to one of the Ten Commandments, how about those who obey the Seventh Commandment, "Thou shalt not commit adultery," as a Christian obligation? Does anyone accuse them of falling from grace, or of seeking justification by the works of the Law because they obey that one Commandment in the same Law? Why teach Christians that they must obey nine-tenths of God's Ten Commandment Law and at the same time tell them that they must not obey that one-tenth of the same Law that says "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy," else they will fall from grace? Where is the Scripture that teaches that justified persons must keep nine of the Ten Commandments, but that they must not obey the Fourth Commandment? Please give us the Bible proof for such a doctrine. If we are under the Law and fallen from grace because we keep all Ten Commandments, are not those who keep nine of them under the Law too? We keep the Sabbath after we have been justified by faith because we have been made free from sin, and God forbids us to continue in sin (Romans 6:1,2,17,18). We must keep the whole Law, for if we break the one we are guilty of all (James 2:10-12). Christ is not the minister of sin, but of righteousness (Galatians 2:17,18). If we want to remain just we must be doers of the whole Law (Romans 2:13). Many will agree that nine-tenths of this Law must be kept. Why not take the other step, brethren, and obey all ten Precepts? The Word of God teaches: "The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23; Proverbs 14:12).

QUESTION NO. 2: "Why keep the Law since we Christians are not under the Law, but under Grace? (Romans 6:14)"

  ANSWER: This is a very important question and one that troubles many sincere people. In answering this, we wish to remind you all that there is perfect harmony in all Bible texts when rightly divided (2 Timothy 2:15). Some of Paul's writings are hard to be understood (2 Peter 3:15-17). Peter gives a solemn warning lest we wrest the Scriptures to our own destruction. We must not make one text contradict another text, because the truth does not contradict itself. The Bible is the truth (John 17:17). With these thoughts in mind, let us read Romans 6:14: "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the Law, but under grace." Please notice this one verse closely. Note the first part of the verse. To whom was Paul speaking when he said, "For ye are not under the Law, but under grace?" Who are the "Ye" that he speaks to? Were they transgressors of God's Law or were they obeying God's Law? Paul tells us the answer in the first part of the verse: "Sin shall not have dominion over you" (Romans 6:14). Here it is, my friends. The Roman brethren to whom Paul wrote were not letting sin have dominion over them. They were living a life of obedience to God's Law and were not living a life of disobedience to God's Law. Sin is the transgression of the Law (1 John 3:4). Paul clearly taught that the Ten Commandments is the law that defines sin: "I had not known sin but by the Law: for I had not known lust, except the Law had said, Thou shalt not covet" (Romans 7:7; Exodus 20:1-17). That same Law is holy, just, and good (Romans 7:12,14,22; 8:4). So when he said, "Sin shall not have dominion over you," he was speaking to persons who were obeying the Law of God, the Ten Commandments. They were not servants of sin unto death, but of "obedience unto righteousness" (Romans 6:16-18). Remember that Paul told the Roman Church in the same letter that both Jews and Gentiles were condemned as sinners by one and the same law (Romans 3:9,19,20). That Law is the Ten Commandments and Paul proves that fact in this letter to the Romans several times (Romans 2:17-29; 3:1,2; 7:7; 13:8-10).
  Let us go back to our question. We have found that those to whom Paul said, "For ye are not under the Law, but under grace" were really brethren who had been made free from sin and were living a life of obedience to God's Law. According to this then, the persons who are obedient to God's Law are the ones who are under grace, and those who live a life of disobedience to that Law are really the ones who are under the law. Grace is the "free mercy of God, or the enjoyment of His favor" (Crudens). The person who is not condemned by the Law is under the favor, or grace, of God, but those who transgress the Law are not under the grace, or favor, of God; they are under the Law, condemned as transgressors (Romans 3:19; 7:13,14). ". . . It saith to them who are under the Law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God." Who is "under the Law" according to this text? It is the person who is condemned as a transgressor of God's Law. Let us go back to Romans chapter 6 again and get more proof of that. Read verse 15, "What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the Law, but under grace? God forbid." Here it is again as plain as can be stated. The question is to the point: "Shall we sin, because we are not under the Law, but under grace?" In other words, shall we transgress God's Law because we are not under the Law, but under grace? The answer is positive, "God forbid." God strictly forbids and condemns the idea that we are free to transgress His Law because we are under grace. Why will people continue to teach such an idea when God strictly forbids such a belief and practice? Romans 6:1,2 teaches that those who are under the grace, or favor, of God, are forbidden to continue in sin. They are dead to sin and should not live any longer therein.
  God's grace does not reign where sin reigns, and remember that sin is the transgression of the Law, the Ten Commandments. See Romans 5:21: "That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life." God's grace, or favor, reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, but sin reigns unto death. Why will men pervert the Gospel to their own destruction by teaching that grace frees from the responsibility of obedience to God's Law?
  Paul plainly teaches that a life of disobedience to God's Law will end in death, and that grace reigns only through righteousness unto eternal life. There is not one text of Scripture that teaches that grace reigns in the lives of those who willfully disobey the Law of God. God's grace is the remedy for sin and not a license to transgress the Law of God.
  It was by the grace of God that Jesus died for our sins (Hebrews 2:9). Thus through the riches of God's grace we receive the forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:7). Grace gives us salvation from sin, not in sin. Let us illustrate the point. All sinners are criminals before God and under the death penalty until they receive a pardon through the mercy, or grace, of God for all past sins, or crimes. Does that pardon also liberate them from all responsibility to obey the Law that condemned them in the first place as sinners? To illustrate, let us take the case of a murderer who was serving a life sentence for his crime, but after serving for some years, through the grace, or mercy, of the governor, he was given a pardon and set free. That man is freed from his guilt and condemnation for his past crime as far as the state is concerned. He is now a free citizen of the state and living under the grace, or favor, of the state so long as he obeys the laws of the state. Suppose he commits another crime by violating one of the state laws and he is brought before the judge for trial, and in defense of himself he presents the pardon that he received from the governor and says, "You cannot condemn me for violating that law, because I hold in my hand the pardon received from the governor setting me free and placing me under grace. I am a free man; the law cannot touch me." Would his case stand up in court? No. You know it would not. Even so with those who receive pardon from God. That pardon sets them free from sins, forgives the past, and makes them fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God (Ephesians 2:19). They are then required to be obedient to the Law of God to remain at liberty and under grace. It is dangerous to use that pardon for past sins and the fact that you were placed under God's grace as justification for continued transgressions of God's Law. It will not work in the courts of God any more than it will work in the courts of the land.
  We get into grace by faith (Romans 5:1,2). Faith establishes the Law (Romans 3:31; 8:4). The grace of God teaches us to deny ungodliness and to live righteous, godly lives in this present world (Titus 2:11-14).
  In closing let me ask a question. Why do people accuse Sabbathkeepers of being under the Law when they, themselves believe and teach obedience to Nine Commandments in the same Law, the Ten Commandments? If we are under the Law because we keep allTen Commandments, how about those who keep nine of them? The argument made against keeping the Sabbath is equally valid for each and every Command in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). The Sabbath Commandment is in the same Law that says "Thou shalt not steal" or "Thou shalt not commit adultery." If we are under the Law because we keep the Sabbath, then you are under the same Law when you obey that Command that says, "Thou shalt not steal." If we are not to keep the Ten Commandments in this age of grace, then why do we keep only nine of them? If we must keep nine of them, isn't that proof that this Law was not abolished (James 2:10-12)?

A LAW WORKING WITH GRACE AND LAW VS. GRACE
NOTES ON "LAW AND GRACE"

I. THE TEN COMMANDMENT LAW WITH GRACE
  Hebrews 8:6-13: Note that this Scripture positively teaches that under the New Testament--under grace there is a Law that goes hand in hand with grace (verse 10); for God now writes that "Law" in our hearts. This is the Ten Commandments which Christ honored (Matthew 5:18,19,21,22,27-30; also 2 Corinthians 3:3). Remember that the Sabbath is part of the Ten Commandment Law.
  Jesus never came to destroy that Law, but to magnify it (Isaiah 42:21; Matthew 5:20-28). We must now obey from the heart. This is the Law that defines sin (Romans 3:20; 7:7; 1 John 3:4; James 2:10-12). It is not contrary to the Gospel of grace but works with that Gospel. Titus 2:1-14 shows that grace teaches men to live holy, obedient lives and that this Gospel of grace cleanses from all iniquity, or sin. Sin is the transgression of the Ten Commandment Law of God and it is by grace we are cleansed from all sin. The old man of sin is crucified with Christ that the body (life) of sin might be destroyed "that henceforth we should not serve sin" (Romans 6:3-7). If we do not serve sin, we most certainly are obeying the Law of God. Remember that sin is the transgression of the Law and when we quit sinning, we quit transgressing the Law! Grace brings salvation from sin. Anytime grace deals with sin, it must use God's Law to give a knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20). If there is no Law then there is no sin. Take away the Law and the Gospel has no way or means of showing that anything is wrong because "where no Law is, there is no transgression" (Romans 4:15). The Law gives a knowledge of sin, and grace gives the remedy! There is no conflict between the Ten Commandments and grace. Grace sent Jesus to die for our transgression of that holy Law (Hebrews 2:9; 1 Corinthians 15:1-5). Those under grace are "dead to sin" and must not live any longer therein (Romans 6:1,2). Grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life, but sin reigns unto death (Romans 5:21).
  There is, however, another law that is contrary to the Gospel of Grace!

II. THE CEREMONIAL LAW--THE BOOK OF THE LAW--HANDWRITING OF ORDINANCES, etc.

  This is the law referred to in Galatians 3:5-28; 4:1-31; and 5:1-4. This is not the Ten Commandments. This law is contrary to us and was abolished (Colossians 2:14; Ephesians 2:15). This law is clearly identified as the "book of the law" (Galatians 3:10) given by Moses (2 Chronicles 34:14). This law was added because of transgression (Galatians 3:19). This book of the law was added because Israel was transgressing another Law already in existence (Romans 4:15)--the Law which Abraham clearly obeyed: Genesis 26:4,5. (As further proof that the Ten Commandment Law was in effect before Mt. Sinai note Exodus 16:23-30). This added law was not the Ten Commandments, but it was added because they were transgressing the Ten Commandments (Ezekiel 20:24,25). Two laws were given at Mt. Sinai and it was this added law of works that required circumcision and many sacrifices for sins, with other rites, that ended at the Cross of Calvary. It had served its purpose as a type and shadow (Hebrews 10:1-11). It is now contrary to the grace of God (Galatians 5:1-4). The schoolmaster law was to continue only until faith became a reality--till the death of Christ for the sins of the world.
  All those sacrifices, etc., were types pointing to the death of Jesus for the sins of the world. To go back to them is to deny that Christ made a full atonement for our sins. This is the law that Paul had his problems with, and not the Ten Commandments.