GRACE:
“Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in His blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;”
(Romans 3:24-25).“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast”
The above scriptures (and many more) tell us how a man can be saved from his sins. There is no question about it. Man is saved through faith in the blood of Christ—by grace, not because of any works of man.
(Ephesians 2:8-9).The Scriptures are very clear; we are not asked to perform any special work (other than repent and be baptized) in order to be saved from our sins. Salvation is a free gift given to us because of the grace of God.
Let us consult various dictionaries to understand the meaning of “grace.” Webster's Dictionary: “Grace: favor; kindness; mercy; exemption as from penalty; a reprieve for a time.” Winston's:“Grace: something granted as a favor rather than as a right; an unmerited bestowal of something desirable; God's unmerited mercy toward mankind; the condition of one who is accepted by God for salvation.”
Grace then is exactly what God intended it to mean—the unmerited favor and love of God. If man could only understand this, he would see how great God's love is toward him and how wonderful God's nature is. Man's nature says, “You prove yourself to me, then I will accept you.” But God extends His saving grace to us while we are yet unworthy. Grace has always been the dominant factor in the believer's relationship to God. Sacred history proves that point:
Noah was saved by the grace of God (Genesis 6:8). Noah still built the ark and entered its safety.
Abraham was saved by his faith (Romans 4:13). Yet Abraham kept God's commandments (James 2:21,26 and Gen. 26:4,5).
Israel was saved from Egypt by God's grace and mercy. God then reminded Israel of their responsibility to obey Him by speaking and writing with His own finger the holy and just Ten Commandments
(Ex. 31:18).
1. Christians are saved by grace, but they are still responsible to God's holy, just and good law (Romans 6:1 and 3:31).1. Because we have received the grace of God, are we no longer responsible to the First commandment? May we turn and serve another god rather than the living Creator God? The answer is“NO!”
- Now, does grace do away with the moral law (Ten Commandments) of God?
- Which of God's commandments does grace
release us from?2. Because we have received the grace of God, are we no longer responsible to the SECOND commandment? May we turn to idols and worship Him with idolatry? The answer is “NO!”
3. Because we have received the grace of God, are we no longer responsible to the THIRD commandment? May we take His name in vain? The answer is “NO!”
4. Because we have received the grace of God, are we no longer responsible to the FOURTH commandment? May we forget God's Sabbath and substitute another day? The answer is “NO!”
5. Because of grace, may we dishonor our parents? May we commit murder? May we commit adultery? May we steal? May we bear false witness? May we be a covetous people? The answer is a resounding“NO!”
The whole Christian (?) world professes belief in the grace of God. No Christian church would deny the working of the grace of God in the lives of people. But a vast difference of opinion exists concerning the relationship of grace to the law of God.
Many feel that grace takes the place of the law—that we need not consider the law for we have been saved by grace. Others claim law and grace work together. Let's consider the two carefully, and we may be surprised at what grace does.
The prophet Jeremiah, in praying to God, referred to a profound truth that has existed from the very beginning of time. Why Was The Law Given?
“O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps”(Jeremiah 10:23).
Every man should realize, when he comes to God in repentance and surrender, he cannot help himself. It is plain to see that, if God did not give man some directives, man would not know how to live, how to serve God or how to relate to his fellowman.
Within the Ten Commandments, we find both directives. The first four commandments tell us how to serve God. The last six tell us how to relate to our fellowman. Without these rules for living, man would have no knowledge of either of these important matters. Grace does not explain them to him. Jesus summarized man's behavioral responsibilities when He stated clearly:
“...Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind...Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself”(Matthew 22:37,39).
Joseph gives a very clear picture of this in his encounter with his master's wife when she wanted him to lie with her. He realized his earthly master trusted him and he could not betray that trust. More importantly, he also recognized: “...how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”(Gen. 39:7-9).
Joseph could not have known how to properly react in this situation without the LAW OF GOD. Grace could not explain it. So it is today. Only by knowing the laws of God can man know how to serve God and relate to his fellowman. They tell us who to worship and how to live.
The Ten Commandments were also given so that man may know what sin is. God calls for men to shun all evil.
“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not...”
(1 John 2:1).If God calls for men to stop sinning, then men need to know what sin is. God does not fail to define sin. The key verses which make this really clear are found in Romans and 1 John: “...by the law is the knowledge of sin.”(Romans 3:20) “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law”
(1 John 3:4).John understood all about grace, what it is and how it works. Yet he turned to the law of God to define sin. If man need not worry about sin, why would John (through the direction of God's Spirit) be concerned about the law and sin? He knew he had been saved by the grace of God. He also understood that grace does not replace the law of God, thereby voiding the law.
Grace serves one purpose and the law of God serves another. Both have their place in the Gospel. Grace and law work together, not against one another.
None of the apostles were accused of being legalistic. Yet they all supported grace and law, each in its place and purpose. They preached that message to the early church and for the church today. In fact, they recognized that one cannot respond to grace unless the law identifies sin. Where there is no law there is no sin and where there is no sin there is no need for grace.
Jesus gives us a good example of how grace and law work together in the experience of the woman being taken in the very act of adultery. After pointing out the faults of her accusers, causing them to leave, Jesus asked:“...where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more” (John 8:10,11).
Jesus extended forgiveness to her, even before she could prove herself worthy of His mercy. That is grace. Yet He said, “go and sin no more.” That is law. In other words, break the law no more. Grace did not replace the law; the two worked together.
We have established that we are saved by God's grace and not by works. Make no mistake about this. Salvation is not by works. However, does observing or not observing the laws of God have any bearing on our eternal life? How Important Is the Ten Commandment Law?
We can be sure it does. We can be sure because JESUS WAS SURE. We can be sure because the APOSTLES WERE SURE. The Bible gives the answer.
Matthew tells of a rich young man who came to Jesus asking what he needed to do to have eternal life. A clear message came across in Jesus' reply: “...but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments”(Matthew 19:17).
When asked which commandments he meant, Jesus referred to those from the Ten Commandments. If observing the Ten Commandments was no longer important, why did Jesus bother explaining to the rich young man that he would be lost unless he changed his life and conformed to them?
Bluntly stated, the commandments were that important and they still are! Jesus placed responsibility to the commandments as equal in importance to the new birth. Jesus told Nicodemus: “...Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).
Must we be concerned about even the least commandments? The Holy Spirit through James said: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all”(James 2:10).
God through His Spirit and His Son leaves no loopholes for man to slip through. Man will not have any excuse for not observing the laws of God.
“...the soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:4).
“But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons” (Colossians 3:25).We know that Christ will justly judge men in that last and great day. We will not dictate to him who will or will not be saved. However, the Scripture is abundantly clear; no text relieves man of moral responsibility. No Scripture frees man from responsibility to God's law. Does grace? We read in Romans: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid, How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?”(Romans 6:1, 2). Teaching any other way would do violence to the Scriptures.
The question always arises, “What if man does not understand how grace and law work together? Will God hold that against him?” God warns us in the following verses:
“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 16:25).“And if a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity” (Leviticus 5:17). “For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law;”(Romans 2:12).
The Holy Word tells us that God is the same yesterday, today and forever. He is the judge of all mankind and His judgment will be just.
Now, a question: After we have received the grace of God, what does it do for us? A very clear and profound answer can be found in Titus: “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). The Ten Commandments A Matter of Christian Responsibility
“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid”(Galatians 2:17). Grace Makes Us Responsible
Keeping God's commandments is a matter of Christian responsibility. Several significant texts make us responsible to the laws of God.
“If ye love me, keep my commandments”(John 14:15).
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous”(1 John 5:3).
“For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you...”
(Roman 8:6, 9).“But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed”
(James 1:22–25).“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. So speak ye, and so do, as they that shall be judged by the law of liberty”(James 2:10–12).
“What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also” (James 2: 14,17, and 26).
“This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;” (Heb. 10:16).
The Revelation of Christ, records the identifying mark of God's people: “...the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 12:17). “Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12).
Paul tells us: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?” (Romans 6:1,2). “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 6:14,15).
“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9–11).
In short, Paul says disobedience will keep one out of the kingdom of God!“We know that whosever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not”
(1 John 5:18). “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.
For the wages of sin is death;...”(Romans 6:22, 23).
The wages of sin is still DEATH!
******* Conclusion:
Notice this: grace does not grant us a license to sin. Law condemns the sinner. Grace—God's unmerited favor—enables the sincere repentant sinner to return to God in obedience. Let me emphasize again Paul's message in Romans:“What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? God forbid...” (Romans 6:1,2).
“But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also
are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid”(Galatians 2:17).
Let us teach the GOSPEL which JESUS taught.
Let us teach the GOSPEL that the APOSTLES taught.
“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. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea we establish the law” (Romans 3:20, 28, 31). They taught grace and law working together for man's benefit and blessing.
Adapted from Work of
Unknown Author
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