LAW AND/OR GRACE

 

LAW AND/OR GRACE

2Timothy [MKJV] 3:16-17 All Scripture is God-breathed, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfected, thoroughly furnished to every good work.  

  Is there those confused as to the place of the law, especially the 10 Commandments, under the new blood covenant? There was. There is. And there will be.

  Being saved by grace, then what place does the law have in the believer’s life?

  Are we, though saved by grace, kept by keeping the law . . . or in keeping rules to then grow in lawful holiness . . . or is the law our teacher with grace our enabling?

  Consider God’s Word on the matter of grace:

  Romans [GW] 3:20-31 Not one person can have God's approval by following Moses' Teachings [the laws given to him by God]. Moses' Teachings show what sin is. Now, the way to receive God's approval has been made plain in a way other than Moses' Teachings. Moses' Teachings and the Prophets tell us this. Everyone who believes has God's approval through faith in Jesus Christ. There is no difference between people. Because all people have sinned, they have fallen short of God's glory. They receive God's approval freely by an act of his kindness [grace] through the price Christ Jesus paid to set us free from sin. God showed that Christ is the throne of mercy where God's approval is given through faith in Christ's blood. In his patience God waited to deal with sins committed in the past. He waited so that he could display his approval at the present time. This shows that he is a God of justice, a God who approves of people who believe in Jesus. So, do we have anything to brag about? Bragging has been eliminated. On what basis was it eliminated? On the basis of our own efforts? No, indeed! Rather, it is eliminated on the basis of faith. We conclude that a person has God's approval by faith, not by his own efforts. Is God only the God of the Jews? Isn't he also the God of people who are not Jewish? Certainly, he is, since it is the same God who approves circumcised people [Jews] by faith and uncircumcised people [others] through this same faith. Are we abolishing Moses' Teachings by this faith? That's unthinkable! Rather, we are supporting Moses' Teachings. 

  Ephesians [MKJV] 2:8-10 For by grace you are saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to good works, which God has before ordained that we should walk in them. 

  Titus [MKJV] 2:11-12 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that having denied ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live discreetly, righteously and godly, in this present world, 

   Believers are, in trusting Jesus, saved by grace, kept by grace, and by grace grow in godliness!

  The law could not, can not be kept unto salvation obtained or sustained. Salvation initially and thereafter is by God’s unearned and undeserved favor alone. His salvation cannot be improved by our attempting to keep the law.

  As God’s faithful penman Paul explained to his protégé Timothy that “the law is not made for a righteous one, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners,” (1Tim.1:9) (Please note that though Christians may sin, God never in His Word refers to them as sinners; a classification describing those identified in John 1:18 as “condemned already”) 

  God’s John 1:12 children are saved by His grace, sustained by His grace, and matured by His grace. And should be at peace in His grace.

EBB4