Law and Grace - 2
Grace
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and
we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,. . . .
.And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but
grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” (Jn. 1:14-17)
When the
One True God was manifested in the flesh as the Lord Jesus Christ “there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” (Lk.
2:13-14) The glory
of God is described as “full
of grace and truth.” Law and
grace are both aspects of God’s nature that He uses in dealing with His
people. Moses emphasized God’s law and
justice, while Jesus Christ came to highlight God’s love, grace, mercy and
forgiveness. The Hebrew phrase for “grace
and truth” is translated as
“unfailing love and faithfulness.” Grace is a place where
God’s love is endless. The Lord Jesus Christ is the way, the truth and the life.
The psalmist speaks of this "Grace and Truth."
"For
Your lovingkindness is before my eyes. and I have walked in Your truth."
(Psm. 26:3)
Grace is
our heavenly Father’s unmerited and unconditional love, mercy and kindness
toward mankind. Grace is a free gift
and we cannot earn it. Many Christians
do not realize that long before our Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth God
had already extended His grace to the human race. The Bible states that God: “has
saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but
according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus
before time began,” (2 Tim. 1:9) God’s plan of salvation by
grace was put into operation in the Garden of Eden. Remember after Adam and Eve’s Fall it was God who
looked for them and called out, “Where are you?” When they covered their naked bodies with
fig leaves it was the LORD God who slew an animal and shed its blood to make “tunics
of skin, and clothed them.” (Gen. 3:20)
This is God’s grace towards fallen man/woman. Every time a repentant sinner presented
him/herself before God, grace and mercy were freely extended to that person.
Many of
the heroes of faith in the Old Testament Hall of Fame were recipients of God’s
grace.
“But Noah found
grace in the eyes of the LORD." (Gen. 6:8)
“So
the Lord said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken;
for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by
name."(Ex.33:17)
David
wrote: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; The Lord
will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk
uprightly.” (Psm. 84:11)
The whole
nation of Israel received God’s grace. "At
the same time," says the Lord, "I will be the God of all the families
of Israel, and they shall be My people." Thus says the Lord:
"The people who survived the sword found grace in the wilderness --
Israel, when I went to give him rest.” (Jer. 31:1-2)
God's
Channel of Grace is His Son Jesus Christ
Although
God’s grace was available to His people in the Old Testament time, but after
the Lord Jesus Christ came to this earth it is channeled to all mankind through
Him. The apostle Paul wrote: “I
thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you
by Christ Jesus.” (1 Cor. 1:4) “For the
grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.” (Tit. 2:11) God saves every
person in the world in the same way. At
the Jerusalem Conference the apostle Peter said:
"But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we
shall be saved in the same manner as they.” (Acts 15:11) In other words, the
apostles believed that any person of any race could find grace in God’s sight
just as the ancients had.
Grace
is God’s Answer to Sin
There can
be no denial in the existence of sin.
It is present in every one of us therefore the Bible informs us: “For all have
sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Rom. 3:23) This
condition exactly fits the definition of sin in the Old Testament. The most
common Hebrew word used for sin is “chata” and its strict translation is “missing of
the mark”. In the first place, sin is
the failure to keep the standard that is established by God. While sin is a missing of the mark from
God’s perfection, it also contains the idea of moral responsibility towards
Him. The most important feature of sin
in all its aspects is that it is directed against the One True God. King David expressed this in his confession, “For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is ever
before me. Against You, You only, have I
sinned, and done this evil in Your sight. . .” (Psm. 51:3-4) When Joseph was seduced by his master’s
wife he said to her: “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
(Gen. 39:9) In the New
Testament sin is defined as transgression of God’s laws. The New King James Bible states: “Whoever commits
sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” (1 Jn. 3:4)
In
contrast with sin grace has connotations of pleasure, delight or favorable
regard. When applied to God it refers
to His redemptive mercy, and the pleasure or joy He designs for the recipient.
Grace is often used to express the concept of kindness given to someone who
does not deserve it: hence, it is undeserved favor, especially that kind or
degree of favor bestowed on sinners through the Lord Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:4-5).
Grace is that unmerited favor of God toward fallen man whereby He has provided
for man’s redemption and determined
to extend favor toward all who have faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior. So we can see the love and mercy of God in
His provision of grace. Man must first
know where he has gone wrong and also to know that he can be saved.
Grace is given to Everyone who believes in Jesus
Christ
Whether we
like to believe it or not we are all born with sin.. The fact that we all die indicates the existence of sin in every
one of us. “For
the wages of sin is death.” (Rom. 6:23)
“Therefore,
just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus
death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12)
Sin is passed on from Adam to all of humanity. Even newborn infants have sin. David
confessed: “Behold,
I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psm.
51:5) Again he wrote: “The wicked are estranged
from the womb; they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.” (Psm.
58:3) Because we are all born in sin we need the
new birth. The Lord Jesus said: “Most assuredly, I say to
you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn. 3:3) He continued: “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is
born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” (Jn. 3:5) He further explained: “For John truly baptized
with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
(Acts 1:5) Baptism of water and the
Spirit corresponds with “the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He
poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been
justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal
life.” (Tit. 3:4-7) Here the Bible
informs us that Baptism of water and Baptism of the Holy Spirit is God’s
provision of grace whereby sins may be remitted and also the believers may be
sanctified and go on to perfection. On
the Day of Pentecost Peter preached: “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is
to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord
our God will call.” (Acts 2:38-39)
The grace of God is promised to every family who believes in the Lord
Jesus Christ, repents of the sins and who are baptized into Him. Praise and thank God for His universal plan
of salvation.
Misunderstanding
of Grace in relationship to Sin
Although sin and grace seem to have opposite effects
yet they are closely connected to one another in the life of the Christian.
“For
as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s
obedience many will be made righteous.
Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much
more, so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through
righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Rom. 5:19-21)
What
shall we say then? Shall we continue in
sin that grace may abound? Certainly
not! How shall we who died to sin live
any longer in it?” (Rom. 6:1-2)
Grace is a free gift but some primitive Christians apparently
misunderstood its real purpose. They
had rationalized, “Let us do evil that good
may come.” (Rom. 3:8) If God loves to
forgive, why not give Him more to forgive?
If forgiveness is guaranteed, do we have the freedom to sin as much as
we want? Paul’s forceful answer is “Certainly not!” Such an attitude – deciding ahead of
time to take advantage of God – shows that a person does not understand the
seriousness of sin. God’s forgiveness
does not make sin less serious; His Son’s death for sin shows us the dreadful
seriousness of sin. Our Lord Jesus
Christ paid with His dear life so we could be forgiven. The availability of God’s mercy must not
become an excuse for careless living and moral neglect.
Misunderstanding
of Grace in relationship to the Law
Many have
the misguided notion that since Christians are no longer under the law but
under grace they can now sin. The
apostle Paul wrote: “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not
under the law but under grace. What
then? Shall we sin because we are not
under the law but under grace? Certainly not!” (Rom. 6:14-15) There were some misunderstanding between the
Jewish and Gentile Christians in Rome.
Worried Jewish Christians were asking Paul, “Does faith wipe out
everything Judaism stands for? Does it
cancel our Scriptures, put an end to the Ten Commandments, declare that God is
no longer working through us? Here is
Paul’s answer: “Do
we then make void the law through faith?
Certainly not! On the contrary,
we establish the law.” (Rom. 3:31)
The
doctrine that faith in Jesus Christ frees the Christian from obligation to
observe the moral law as set forth in the Old Testament is called
antinomianism. This word is derived
from the two Greek words “anti” meaning
against, and “nomos” meaning the law. The insistence in Paul’s epistles upon the inadequacy of the law
to save, and upon salvation by faith without “works
of the law” or deeds of righteousness could easily be interpreted as
a claim of freedom from all obligation to obey the moral law. (see Rom. 3:20, 28; Eph. 2:9; 2 Tim. 2:9;
Titus 3:5) Thus righteous persons might
well hold such a doctrine and behave in an exemplary way, not from compulsion
but from a devotion higher than the law.
Gross and vicious persons, however, might well interpret the exemption
from obligation as positive permission to disregard the moral law in
determining their conduct. Such
concepts had evidently begun in the apostles’ own day, as appears from the
arguments and warnings in the epistles of the New Testament (see Rom. 6:8; 1
Pet 3:5).
On the surface antinomianism
appears to be an ideal concept of ethics but deep down inside it really
undermines the very foundation of the Judeo-Christian religion. When the Law in the Bible is discussed they
refer to the specific code of rules and regulations that were given by God to
Moses on Mount Sinai. The Law was part
of the covenant that set Israel apart as God’s people. It governed their worship, their
relationship to God, and their social relationships with one another. What set the Law that was given to Israel
different from those of the other cultures is, first of all, its origin. This Law was given by the One True God
Himself. It came from His very
nature. It is because God is holy,
righteous, and good therefore His Laws are also the same (Rom. 7:12). God is perfect and so is the Law. (Psm.
19:7-8)
The Law
can be divided into three categories – commandments, judgments, and
ordinances. The Ten Commandments that
form the Moral Law is distinct from the other laws that form the judgments and
ordinances. They were the two tables of
stone “written
with the finger of God.” (Ex. 31:18)
The judgments and ordinances may be grouped together to form the
Ceremonial Law. The Ten Commandments
are given to mankind whereas the Ceremonial Laws were given only to Israel
until the “time
of reformation”. The
Ceremonial Laws were abolished when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross,
and that leaves one set of laws for all Christians that include both Jewish and
Gentile converts as well. The Ten
Commandments have never been abolished as can be seen in the teachings of Jesus
Christ.
A sermon based on this article was preached by Paul Wong
to a Congregation in Houston, Texas on August 2, 2003
This is the response to a discussion in the ARK Forum on August 4, 2003
For comments please write first to: [email protected]
May God bless you.
Paul Wong is a Christian minister and the
President of ARK International.
His ministry also serves as an architectural service company in Houston.
The ARK Forum on the Internet is international and non-denominational.
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