It’s law or grace.
| The word gospel literally means good news. When we are talking about the gospel we’re talking about the good news of God’s grace (Acts 20:24) – what Jesus has done for us and is freely offering us. I have found that there are usually two common responses to the true gospel being preached: firstly, people say something like, “So, are you saying that I can just go live in sin?” (I dealt with this in previous posts), and then, people also ask, “What about the law?” Many Christians consider the law to be our moral code or instructions on how to live a life that’s pleasing to God – that couldn’t be farther from the truth! (We’ll be looking at this in depth over the next couple of days.) “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works; grace would no longer be grace.” Romans 11:6 ESV One of the biggest problems in the church is that Christians are trying to live New Covenant faith under Old Covenant principles when you cannot mix law and grace and have a successful Christian life – it’s either grace (what Jesus did for you) or works (law – what you do for God). There is no grace in law and no law in grace – the two do not mix! “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” John 1:17 KJV This scripture is speaking of two different covenants (or ways of relating to God): Moses (the Old Covenant) and Jesus (the New Covenant). The word “but” divides the verse in two, showing us that “the law given by Moses” and “grace and truth coming by Jesus Christ” are not the same thing. The Old Covenant was based on the law, which came through Moses to the Jews. The New Covenant is based on grace and truth, which came for all people through Jesus. This also shows us that the law is not truth, but grace is. We are not under law but under grace (Romans 6:14)! We need to ask ourselves if we’re disciples of Moses or disciples of Jesus? Living under law puts the focus on our actions and what we do – it’s really just self-centred because all the attention is on self. But grace puts the focus on Jesus and what He has done for us – there is no place for self. Law glorifies self while grace glorifies Jesus! |
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