30. Law and Grace – II
E. Abundance of grace
Rom. 6:14 (NIV): We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
Gal. 5: 4 (NIV): You, who are trying to be justified by law, have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
Rom.10: 4 (NIV): Christ is the end of the law, so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.
It is important to understand our relationship to law and grace. We, as Christians, are not under law, but under grace (our positional truth). To understand this, let’s look at:
Rom. 7:1-6 – systematically – (NIV): Do you not know, brothers – for I am speaking to men who know the law - that the law has authority over a man only as long as he lives? For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of marriage. So then, if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law, and is not an adulteress, even though she marries another man.
So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to Another, to Him Who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God. For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death. But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
The analogy of marriage is what Paul uses as an example in our relationship with the law. We are wives of the law (naturally) - we have no choice, we were born with the husband.
We are married to the law, he rules over us. But he is a most awful husband. He is always telling us where we are wrong, and never lifts a finger to help. A dreadful plight to be in! Moreover, he is never wrong. Not only that, it is a binding relationship. We cannot get out of it.
You might hear Jesus say: Come to Me…..and…..rest, but you can’t, because you can’t be married to two husbands - law and Jesus. That would be spiritual adultery. What is worse, is that Jesus says the law can never pass away.
Then Paul gives us a glorious answer to our dilemma: Rom. 7: 4 - But you…..died to the law through the body of Christ. This is the wonder, that Christians are united to Christ, therefore dead to the law/letter. We have been released - discharged - chain gone. Not an adulteress. This is the good news: released, delivered from captivity. Free from bondage - what joy!
Rom. 7: 4 - …..died to the law…..that you might belong to Another (Christ), to Him Who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God.
We are released from the old husband, “the law”, and now married to our new husband, Jesus. In order that you might “obey His laws”? No, but to bear fruit. How does a wife bear fruit? By expressing love to her husband. And he places within her womb his living seed.
Jhn.15: 5 - …..he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit…..
If law could impart life, then righteousness would have been based on law.
F. What is the law for?
To reveal:
God’s standard - to expose us to the magnitude of our shortfall to God’s holiness; the great chasm that lies between us.
Sin -
- Rom. 7: 7 - we would not know about coveting without law (or any other sin); you see, we can’t recognise sin, because we are born in it, but the law exposes sin to us.
- Rom. 3: 20 - every man has a conscience, and the law heightens our awareness of our own sin; but society numbs our conscience as the fallen world drags down to lower norms; our moral edges become fuzzy, and we don’t know when we are going over the line.
To provoke:
Rom. 7: 8 - “provoked sin”, e.g. when we see a sign saying “Keep off the grass”, we are tempted to go and stand on the grass; if you tell a child “don’t touch”, it instinctively replies: “Why not?”
To condemn:
The law condemns; why? It condemns sin; shows us how sinful sin is - Rom. 7:13.
To lead:
Gal. 3: 23, 24.
Why Paul wrote the epistle to the Galatians: Christianity something new, apart from Judaism, highlighting that God forgives, and that the Gospel was one of grace and love; man trying to pervert Gospel and set up another Jewish sect.
Comments:
when you don’t come by faith, you have to rely on something else than a relationship;
the more laws you have, the less love you have;
if you want to kill (stifle) a Christian, give him a religion with its “ritual” trimmings;
law brings self-righteousness (Pharisee’s prayer, as opposed to the sinner’s prayer).
|
Results of |
Law |
and |
Grace |
|
1 |
harsh |
|
compassionate |
|
2 |
judgemental |
|
forgiving |
|
3 |
death |
|
life |
|
4 |
self-righteous |
|
humble |
|
5 |
unloving |
|
loving |
|
6 |
immature |
|
maturity |
|
7 |
bondage |
|
liberty |
|
8 |
ten commandments / ordinances |
|
love |
Our hearts have been won by Christ; therefore, love God because of His unconditional love.
Eph. 2: 8 - …..by grace you have been saved…..not of yourselves; it is the gift of God…..
Witnessing, prayer, good works, attending church, tithes and offerings are all part of the Christian’s life, but do not “give you favour with God”. We take these aspects and make laws and rituals and procedures for them when we fall short and feel condemned; but when we keep the laws we have made, then we feel we have pleased God.
Jhn.13: 34 - …..new commandment…..love one another.