Relationship between law and grace

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LAW AND GRACE Success in the spiritual journey is not determined by how much we do for God but by how much we understand His dealings. King Solomon gives us this wise counsel in connection with understanding; Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee: Proverbs 2:11. It is understanding of God’s principles and dealings that will keep us going and successful in the Christian arena. The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. Proverbs 15:14. The purpose of this article is to aid your understanding on the connection between Law and Grace the great elements of Salvation. We need to be very circumspect in this subject because Satan capitalises on our grey areas. The subject of Law and Grace is very hazy to many of us as Christians today. May the good Lord bless us with intelligence as we go through this significant, crucial and salvific matter. Many are claiming that we need not to keep the law because we are under grace. Some say we are going to be saved by grace outside the law. The other extreme class claim that God will save them regardless of how sinful they are due to grace. All these are perceptions and opinions actuated by lack of understanding of the association between law and grace. Before we dive into the pertinent issues around this subject lets dwell a bit on the misconception which many Christians have. The mistaken belief is of thinking that because we are saved we will enter heaven!! Being saved and salvation are two distinct and different things. It sounds confusing at face value I know. Let us consider the following texts for the assertion to make sense; Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: Ephesians 2:5,8. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8. With the texts above it is pretty clear that Jesus saved everyone because He died for us when we were still His enemies. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. Luke 23:34. Jesus prayed that God may forgive those who were torturing and beating Him because He was dying for them. Oh what a wonderful Saviour, glory to God the Most High. Those who will be lost are saved or have been saved. For us to be saved there was nothing we did, it is only the mercies of God that enhanced the process. Only Satan and his demons the fallen angels are the ones that were not saved because they knew what they were doing in fighting against God. Also from the time before we were created the door of mercy was open for them until the death of Jesus but they chose not repentance. What else could have been done for them? No one has got a place in Hell as of now including you, regardless of all that you did, you only need to receive Jesus and start living a life of a saved person because you were saved. Now, having said that, we need then to analyse Salvation. Paul in one of his epistles has this to say; Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Philippians 2:12. A simple mind can say what is it now, was Paul mad, was he not confused? Indeed Paul was in his senses and was right. Salvation is and must be worked for! According to the verse in Philippians, the man of God is very clear to say Salvation is individual. No one can work someone’s salvation. Off course, we help each other by encouragements and exhortations but the fighting is individual. When Jesus died, He opened the way to Salvation. We are then supposed to run and pick it for ourselves. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; Ephesians 6:17. For sure, one must do something to get Salvation. However, the secret is, all that is to be done should have Jesus inside or you work for nothing. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, 1Thessalonians 5:9. So the appointment was done to all thus being saved but salvation should be obtained individually. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 2Peter 3:9. Jesus died not because we had repented but because He loved us. However, it calls for repentance to obtain salvation. Therefore, being saved is just a condition where provision for salvation has been given to all but the object of the provision is salvation itself. Let us then get back to the track and see how Law and Grace relate in this race for salvation. These two, Law and Grace constitutes the mystery of Salvation. In the absence of the other there is no Salvation. They (law and grace) works hand in glove. If you talk of Grace and how it works, Law must be there for your grace story to be relevant and to make sense, I mean spiritual sense. The challenge with many of us is we want to worship God blindly. We actually boast with ignorance thinking we are pleasing God. Let’s take a closer look at the following text; Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: Isaiah 1:18-19. It’s very unfortunate that whilst God is encouraging us to reason we want to just do whatever we do without reasoning claiming such to be faith. What a God who loves worship out of reason, this is a wonderful Saviour. Jesus died in order to take away sin according to John; The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. John 1:29. We then come to the roles law and grace play in the whole story of salvation. The Role of Law The law points or identifies Sin. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin. Romans 3:20. What shall we say then? [is] the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. Romans 7:7. Paul in these texts is putting forward an argument to say it is law that helps us identify sin. This is very important when it comes to salvation because God wants righteous, perfect and holy people in Heaven and in the new Earth. Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:48. The Role of Grace Grace gives us the power to overcome Sin. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Titus 2:11-12. How does grace gives the power to overcome sin? Because it teaches us to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and enables us to live righteously in this present world. Another critical thing to take note of is that the verse is saying this grace has been given to all men. No one can say I am not a partaker of the power to overcome sin or grace. Rather one should say I don’t know how to get this power or I don’t need it. In light of the roles of Law and Grace shed above, we can safely analyse the controversial text ever when it comes to grace. Failure to attach and give proper interpretation to that verse and text has caused much havoc, mayhem and commotion in the Christian arena. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace; What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Romans 6:1415. Paul knowing the likelihood of people or fellow Christians to side-line the law because of misinterpretation of verse 14 then poses a question in verse 15. Shall we sin? He then says no we must not sin. So it means verse 14 is not saying we no longer keep the law! This is because sin is breaking or transgressing the law; Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1John 3:4. What does it mean then to be under grace not under the law? Now you need to recall the roles of each i.e. grace and law. Law is to point sin not to remove it or to enable one to overcome it whist grace is to give you power to overcome sin. The first part of the verse said sin shall not have dominion over us anymore. It therefore means we now have dominion over sin due to grace. Praise be to God for grace. Grace is present with us to supply power to overcome sin so we are indeed no longer subjects of sin. The coming of grace gives spiritual sense to the salvation equation. We keep the law not that we overcome sin, No! We rather keep the law so that we can identify sin. That’s why Paul throughout his epistles kept on saying that we cannot have salvation through keeping the law, because its use is to detect sin and it stops there. When we see sin through the lance of law we then need grace to kill or overcome it (sin). The argument is very simple, if you go to war usually two things are very important, binocular-telescope and gun. You don’t use a gun to observe an enemy afar but a telescope and you don’t use a telescope to shoot but a gun rather. The war allegory may not perfectly fit because in close range one does not need binoculars but it helps us to catch a glimpse of the matter. Now we need to discuss the phrase under the law or grace. Being ‘under’ is a condition whereby someone is a subject or subordinate of a certain power. We all agree that during colonial rule we were ‘under’ the white regime. Paul therefore is saying before grace came we were under the law or under sin because law would identifies sin for us but we had no power to overcome it. The greatest question then is to say is law sin or vice-versa? The answer is No. What shall we say then? [is] the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. Romans 7:7. Paul knew that the argument of being under law or sin will cause people to mistaken the two, each for the other, then wrote what is in verse 7. He sought to help us understand that law is not sin and sin is not law. In verse 12 of the same chapter he says the law is actually holy. The presence of the law without grace entails a scenario whereby we are subjects of sin because we have no power to overcome it (sin). That is being under the dominion or rulership of sin. God in His love provided the antidote or remedy for this sin condition hence grace. However, we need to guard against Satan’s insinuations and deceptive influences to say the law is no longer relevant when under grace. The process of keeping and observing the law is now effective because of the presence of grace. Keeping the law without doing them is the condition in the absence of grace and that condition is dangerous because we cannot find salvation. Doing of the law is a state which can lead us to salvation. Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city; Revelation 22:14. So the first step is for one to appreciate and accept that the law must be kept then God through Jesus will then grant grace in abundance so that the law can be done. To them who argue that we need not to keep the law because of grace they must ask themselves this question; why was grace given? The answer is that grace was given to accomplish Jesus ‘objective of removing sin. That’s the reason why it (grace) gives us power to overcome sin. Who had told us of sin or of our sinful state? The law had told us. As such we cannot talk of grace in the absence of law it’s not necessary. Also in the absence of grace the law is useless. Therefore, here is my conclusion to this great salvific article. If you want to render salvation useless remove or don’t keep the law. If you want to render salvation unnecessary remove grace or don’t believe in grace. During the times of ignorance God winked at. Now we know the importance of both Grace and Law in the process of salvation. Let’s pray for power from above to imbue us so that we can keep God’s law for the sake of grace and believe in grace for the sake of the law. May the good Lord bless you for finding time to go through this article. Written and Compiled by Chipunza Godwin~0775390551/0775125751