Law or Grace

Nothing has caused more argument in Christianity and Judaism than the continuous debate over law (what is required of us) and grace (Liberty in Christ). Even today we find in many churches this idea that we must keep some moral obligation if we are going to be in "right standing" with God and man. But have you ever wondered why we have the law? What is it's purpose in our life?

Many generations of Christians and Jews have memorized the decalogue. Even the Westminster Shorter Catechism dedicates 40 questions to the ten commandments alone (q. 42-81).

If you turn to the world you will also see it has an innate sense of morality: They know certain things are wrong even if they don't believe in God or his Son Jesus. Ask anyone on the street what they believe people should never do and they might list these: Murder, stealing, lying, cheating, and so on.

Like it or not, we are inherently moral people. We have an innate sense that we should always do what is right, or at least, never get caught doing what is wrong. And this is really the problem with our moralism: We know what we should do, but we don't. We ignore that voice in our head and do what we want rather than what we should do.

So Paul addresses the point of the law in Galatians. He says:

"Wherefore then serveth the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator." (Galatians 3:19)

He tells us that the law was given to us because of sin and that it should remain with us until the promise is fulfilled in the seed who is to come. Paul makes a big deal out of the promise, which was made to Abraham and Jesus Christ. He makes it abundantly clear that the promise came first and then the law... 430 years later to be exact. It's kind of like that old philosophical question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" Paul says, the promise came first and can never be annulled by moral law. But why should the law come because of sin? He tells us that too:

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." (Galatians 3:24-25)

The law was given to us to drive us toward perfection. But the problem is, the more I try to be perfect, the more I fail at being perfect. This is the essence of the law. It reveals our weakness, our inability, to be perfect as God is perfect. It proves to us that we are incapable of doing what is right. Just retrieve your keys from your purse or pocket for a moment. Why do you have all those keys? I would suggest it's because you don't trust people to not steal your things.

The Bible teaches us that we must be perfect, without any sin at all. This is the only way to be in relationship with God. But who can really do this? It is impossible. This is why we need Jesus. In Jesus we can be made perfect because he is perfect. He is the only one to fulfill all the requirements of perfection in the Bible. He became one of us (human flesh) so that he could live a perfect life and we could inherit his reward.

God is not saving people because they are perfect. He is saving them because Jesus is perfect, and those who believe in his perfection will be saved.

So the life which we now live, we live by faith in Christ, not our selves. We do not follow after the lusts of the flesh nor do we seek to be made perfect by our good works or our excellent moralism. If we have any hint of goodness in us it can only be because God is radically transforming us into the image of his dear Son, and that transformation spills out of us into our hands, our feet, our good works, and into our neighbors.

Here is the encouragement: Stop trying to please God and simply trust Jesus. Then your life will be full of genuine spiritual fruit cultivated by God himself.

In Christ,

Jay Silvas