Law vs Grace
The law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 1:17
The ongoing Law vs Grace debate has put a lot of Christians in a state of constant conflict. Some say we need to keep the laws of God to attain salvation while others say salvation is by grace and grace alone. And then there’s a confused in-between category of Christians, who keep juggling between law and grace.
To all the ardent upholders of the law, let me first begin by making it clear that true grace acknowledges that the Ten Commandments are holy, just, and glorious. God’s perfect law has never been an issue. The issue has always been imperfect man’s ability to keep God’s perfect laws.
Let Me Ask You a Simple Question
Have you ever been able to keep all the Ten Commandments? Even though many of us say we try to live by them, few of us can actually name them all.Let’s say you somehow manage to even keep the Ten Commandments, the total number of laws in the old testament exceed 611.Try beating that!
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.James 2:10
Now that you see how impossible it is for us to keep all the laws, congratulations! This is exactly what God’s been waiting for you to see. If we being human know how incapable we are of keeping God’s laws, how much more will the God who created us be aware of our incapabilities?
Why Then Did God Give Us Laws, Knowing We Are Too Weak to Keep Them?
God gave us the law to show right from wrong, our inability to keep His perfect laws, and our need for a saviour. God didn’t do this to mock us but to teach us true humility and how to rest in Him. For as long as man has pride, he always relies on his own works and never truly learns to humbly surrender for God to take over and make things right.
Under the Old Covenant, the law demanded perfection and we had to do all the heavy lifting. In the New Covenant, Jesus did all the work for us and we are rewarded with righteousness. He fulfilled the law on the cross by taking all our past, present, and future sins on Himself, thus suffering God’s wrath in our place.
Not only did He fulfill the law for us, freeing us from the curses of sin and enabling us to live an abundant life, He also provided us with the Holy Spirit as our comforter and guide.
God doesn’t want us hiding behind a facade of holiness, thinking that He loves us because we manage to keep His laws and are therefore made holy by our efforts. God wants us to acknowledge our weaknesses and sinful state so we know, that despite us being imperfect, He still loves us. This is true unconditional love.
Why Do Some People Refuse to Accept Grace?
Often the people who pretend to be extremely religious are the ones with the most pride. Their “Holier Than Thou ” attitude, makes them judge and look down on others who don’t appear to be as religious as them. Jesus had the most number of fights with the religious men of His time because their pride made them blind to their own weaknesses while using the law to oppress and condemn others in need of God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
Ephesians 2:8-9
The bible clearly states we are saved not as a result of anything we do, lest we boast in ourselves, but as a result of what Christ did for us. People often refuse to accept salvation comes from grace alone because subconsciously it strikes at their human pride to think that there’s nothing they can do to impress or earn God’s gift of grace.
But isn’t that the whole point? Love is not love if you have to struggle to earn it. Grace is a gift of love. And gifts cannot be earned. Gifts can only be given generously.
If something is earned, then it’s not a gift. It’s called a wage.
Once we receive the revelation and humility that there’s nothing we can do to save ourselves, it becomes easy for us to truly surrender to God and rest in His love.
The bible clearly states that “You are not under law but under grace”
Romans 6:14
What more clarity do you need than the Word of God Himself?
Satan knows the laws better than most of us do. He’s found quoting the scripture several times in the bible. The name Satan means “accuser”. He uses the law to accuse us, thus making us feel guilty and unworthy to come to God. He wants us to think of God as a tyrant who constantly demands perfection of us and goes about punishing those who can’t meet His high standards.
Remember not anger, but mercy is the true nature of God. If God wanted us to keep the laws by ourselves, there’d be no point to His Son dying such a horrific death on the cross.
Today, the only ‘work’ we need to do is accept Christ as our saviour and spend time in His word. When we accept Him as our saviour, we immediately receive a new spirit. And as we spend time in His Word, the Holy Spirit transforms our mind and gradually our entire being.
Yes, God made it that simple. Don’t go around looking for complexities, that’s the nature of the fallen mind.
Jesus summarised the entire Law into these Two Commandments: Love God and love your neighbour.
Matt. 22:37-40
The Only Command We Need to Keep
Under the New Covenant, Love is the only commandment we are called to keep. We cannot extend love to others when we are struggling to keep the perfect laws all the time and feeling miserable from failure. We cannot give something freely without first having it ourselves. Only when we experience the overflowing joy of God’s abundant love can we draw from it and share it with others.
We need to place God in the midst of everything we do. He wants to be in the center of our business and family life so even when we fail, instead of feeling condemned, we can go back to Him obtain strength from His infinite power and wisdom.
Friends, the law cannot fix what it has broken—that’s what Jesus does. Allow him to fix you.
Under grace, we are not greatly judged but deeply loved. Amen.
