LAW AND GRACE

There is much confusion among students of the Bible as to the proper functions of law and grace in God‘s Word. On the one hand there is those who say we must keep God’s law in order to be saved, and on the other hand those who say God’s law is now irrelevant to us because we are under grace. Both of these understandings are incorrect, and the truth lies somewhere in between.

In the Book of Galatians, Paul specifically addresses a group of men who are commonly called “Judaizers.” Their claim was that we must be circumcised and keep the law of Moses in order to be saved. Paul refers to these men as false brethren, which means that they were not true believers.

Galatians 2:4 But {it was} because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage.

The reason these men were not Christians, was because their faith was in their own works of the law rather than in Christ.

Galatians 2:16 nevertheless knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM." Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, "THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

 

Galatians 2:21 "I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness {comes} through the Law, then Christ died needlessly."

Romans 3:20 because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law {comes} the knowledge of sin.

If we were able to keep the law, then we wouldn’t have needed a Savior. The truth is that none of us can. If you are trying to save yourself by keeping the law, then you have rejected the grace of Jesus Christ.

Galatians 5:4 You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.

Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one {point,} he has become guilty of all.

None of us can save ourselves by keeping the law, because no one can fully keep it. That’s why God had to come in human form and pay for the sins of us all, by His grace alone.

Ephesians 2:8-9 "For by grace you have been SAVED through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the GIFT of GOD; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast."

We are saved by God’s grace alone, and not by keeping the law. Does that mean we are now free to sin? Of course not. To do so is to deny our only Master and Lord.

Jude 1:4 For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

God’s law is good, and still applies. It is not nullified by faith, but it is rather established by faith.

Romans 3:31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

Romans 6:12-14 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

We see our own sinfullness, and need for a Savior through the law. Paul refers to the law as our tutor to lead us to Christ.

Romans 7:12, 14, 16, 21-25 So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. For we know that the Law is spiritual, …I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. …I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

1 Timothy 1:8-10 But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,

Galatians 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor {to lead us} to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

Romans 7:6-12 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter. What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET." But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin {is} dead. I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Although we are no longer under the law, we are still subject to it, and will be judged for breaking it. Many Christians falsely teach that once we are saved by God’s grace, we no longer need to fear His judgment. Paul says otherwise…

2 Corinthians 5:10-11 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men,…

You don’t have to fear being sent to Hell if you truly placed all of your faith in Christ.

1 Corinthians 3:15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

You may lose the reward of your inheritance for being a poor servant.

Colossians 3:23-25 Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

The Bible clearly teaches that sin carries three penalties:

1) Earthly--incarceration, execution, punishment, etc., depending on the nation where you live. Romans 1:32

2) Heavenly--discipline directly from God. I Corinthians 11:30-32

3) Eternal-- flames of Hades at the moment of death, then finally the lake of fire. Luke 16:19-31, Rev 20:13-15

Jesus’ suffering on the cross and in Hades paid the eternal penalty of our sins. The Bible teaches that God will discipline disobedient Christians who violate the laws of God that apply to them today.

Hebrews 10:26-30,

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he [the Christian] will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, “VENGEANCE IS MINE I WILL REPAY.” And again, “THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE.”

All believers - Old Testament and New Testament - were and are saved by grace, through faith, from the eternal penalty of breaking the LAW. That penalty is Hades and finally the lake of fire. No believer could ever reject, revoke, lose, or give back the free gift of eternal life. The following verses explain that it is the obedient Christians who need not fear the earthly and/or heavenly discipline of God.

Ephesians 4:1 Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called,

Romans 8:4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Galatians 5:16, 18 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.

1 Corinthians 11:27-32 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks, eats and drinks judgment to himself if he does not judge the body rightly. For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep. But if we judged ourselves rightly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world.

The following verses give us a broader view of what the Bible teaches concerning the Law in the New Testament Church:

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

Romans 2:12-16 For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; for {it is} not the hearers of the Law {who} are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.

In order for anyone to be saved, they must first know God’s law, and that they violate it. This brings us to repentance, and understanding of a need for a Savior.

If we try to save ourselves by keeping the law, we are rejecting God’s free gift of eternal life, which He gives by His grace alone.

Once we are saved and become a child of God, He will discipline us more harshly than unbelievers for breaking His laws. The good news is that we will never cease to be His child once we are adopted.