Under
Law or Under Grace?
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We invite you to join us as we ask the assistance of the Lord:
Our Father in heaven,
In our previous three lessons, we have studied Your law, and we are now wondering what is
the role of this law in the life of the Christian.
Since we are saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, do we still have to keep Your
law?
Please open our minds and hearts, by Your Spirit, as we seek the answer to our questions
in Your Holy Word.
In Jesus Christ we pray.
Amen.
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Psalm 19:7
The law of the Lord is perfect.
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Romans 7:12
Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and
just and good.
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Psalm 119:165
Great peace have those who love Your law, nothing causes
them to stumble.
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In our previous three lessons (which we invite you to review before going on),
we have seen that from the Creation, God gave Adam and Eve a perfect law.
If they had obeyed this perfect law, they would have been happy forever.
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Genesis 2:17
[The Lord God said,]
«But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that
you eat of it you shall surely die.»
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1 John 3:4
Sin is lawlessness.
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Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death.
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Unfortunately, man transgressed the law of God, and then became a sinner.
He lost the right to eternal life, and became mortal, subject to death.
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Romans 5:12
Through one man sin entered the world, and death through
sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.
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Romans 3:23
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
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Separated from God by his sins, the condition of man was hopeless.
Having transgressed the law, he was a sinner; and being a sinner, he was sentenced to
death.
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Romans 7:14-16
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal,
sold under sin.
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice;
but what I hate, that I do.
If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good.
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Romans 8:7
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is
not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
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Moreover, being separated from God, the sinner no longer had the power
necessary to obey God's law...
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1 Corinthians 15:56
The strength of sin is the law.
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Romans 7:10
And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to
bring death.
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Since the sinner cannot obey the law by himself, his spiritual state declines
day after day.
The Ten Commandments show him the way to happiness, but he is unable to keep them on his
own.
His constant disobedience therefore puts him under the condemnation of the law.
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Galatians 2:16
A man is not justified by the works of the law.
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Romans 3:20
By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in
[God's] sight.
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Isaiah 64:6
All our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.
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Since our sinful nature makes us unable of perfectly keeping God's law, it is
therefore completely impossible to be saved by our obedience to the law.
Then, what can we do to be saved?
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Galatians 3:24
Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ,
that we might be justified by faith.
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By looking into the law of God, we soon discover our sinful and desperate
situation.
The law reveals our spiritual misery, pointing out our many transgressions, and clearly
showing us our need of a Savior.
In this way, the law leads us to Jesus, the only One who can justify us and save us from
our sins.
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Ephesians 2:8,9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that
not of yourselves.
It is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
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Romans 3:23,24
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
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No one merits salvation: it is God's free gift to each one of us, through the
sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
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Romans 4:2,3
If Abraham was justified by works, he has something of
which to boast, but not before God.
For what does the Scripture say?
«Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.»
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What happened to those who lived before the coming of Christ? Were they saved
by obeying God's law? No.
Just like us, they had to believe that the grace of God would save them, not their own
works.
They put their confidence in the Messiah who was to come, as we put our confidence in the
Messiah who has come, Jesus Christ.
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Matthew 5:17
[Jesus said,]
«Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy
but to fulfill.»
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Luke 16:17
[Jesus said,]
«It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.»
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Some people claim that Jesus has abolished the law of God. However, Jesus' own
words clearly state that God's law has not been abolished.
The death of Jesus has abolished the ceremonial law, but not the moral law, as we have
seen in our previous lesson, «The Two Laws».
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Romans 6:14
You are not under law but under grace.
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If the Ten Commandments have not been abolished, then what does this
declaration from the apostle Paul mean?
What does he want to express by the words «not under law but under
grace»?
Does he mean that the Christian, being under grace, is not required to obey the law of
God?
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Galatians 4:4,5
God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the
law, to redeem those who were under the law.
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Galatians 3:13
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law.
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Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are
in Christ Jesus.
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First, what does it mean to be «under the law»?
According to these verses, to be under the law simply means to be under the condemnation
of the law.
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Romans 6:14,15
You are not under law but under grace.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
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We often stop reading after the words «You are not under
law but under grace.»
Yet, the next verse clearly shows that the expression «not under
law but under grace» does not allow the Christian to live as if the law was no
longer in existence!
Indeed, sin is the transgression of the law, and the apostle Paul declares that we should
not sin, even if we are under grace... and especially since we are under grace!
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Galatians 5:13
For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do
not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh.
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If a policeman arrests you for speeding, warns you and lets you go without a
fine, you are then «under the grace» of this policeman.
Does this grant you the right to transgress the highway code? Of course not! If you
reoffend, the policeman will stop you again, and this time for good!
Likewise, the grace of God forgives us, but that certainly doesn't give us permission to
transgress His law.
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Romans 3:31
Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly
not!
On the contrary, we establish the law.
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Let's take again the example of the policeman: what would be the best way to
show him your gratitude, when he let you go without giving you a fine?
It would be to do your best from now on to keep the highway code, wouldn't it?
Likewise, if we are truly grateful toward God for His grace, we will seek to better keep
His commandments, day after day, through His power working within us.
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Hebrews 5:9
[Christ] became the author of eternal salvation to all
who obey Him.
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Acts 5:32
We are [God's] witnesses to these things, and so also is
the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.
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God expects us to obey Him.
Through His power in our hearts, we will be able to keep His law, not to be saved, but
rather to show the sincerity of our repentance and our conversion.
We repeat this important point: we keep God's law, not to be saved, but because we are
saved.
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God asks us to do His will, which is expressed in His law:
«I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is
within my heart.» (PSALM 40:8)
«Not everyone who says to Me, "Lord, Lord," shall enter the kingdom of heaven,
but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.» (MATTHEW 7:21)
«You have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive
the promise.» (HEBREWS 10:36)
«He who does the will of God abides forever.» (1 JOHN 2:17)
«Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for
this is the whole duty of man.» (ECCLESIASTES 12:13)
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By keeping His commandments, we prove our love for God:
«If you 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
burdensome.» (1 JOHN 5:3)
«Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I
know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in
him.» (1 JOHN 2:3,4)
«Lord God of heaven, O great and awesome God, You who keep Your covenant and mercy with
those who love You and observe Your commandments.» (NEHEMIAH 1:5)
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God disapproves of those who forget His law, but not those who keep it:
«Whoever robs his father or his mother, and says,
"It is no transgression," the same is companion to a destroyer.» (PROVERBS
28:24)
«"And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men."
For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men.» (MARK 7:7,8)
«The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting (...) to those who remember His
commandments to do them.» (PSALM 103:17,18)
«Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.»
(PSALM 112:1)
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More explicit excerpts from Psalm 119,
about God's commandments:
«Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the
law of the Lord.» (PSALM 119:1)
«Give me understanding, and I shall keep Your law; indeed, I shall observe it with my
whole heart.» (PSALM 119:34)
«I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.» (PSALM 119:47)
«Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold!» (PSALM
119:127)
«I hope for Your salvation, and I do Your commandments.» (PSALM 119:166)
«I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your
commandments.» (PSALM 119:176)
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Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who
live, but Christ lives in me.
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We cannot keep God's commandments on our own.
But by accepting Jesus as our personal Savior, we obtain not only the forgiveness of our
past sins, but also the power to do, from that time onward, the will of God, by the
presence of Christ living within us through the Holy Spirit.
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John 15:5
He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for
without Me you can do nothing.
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Galatians 5:22,23
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
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If Jesus dwells within us, we will spontaneously bear good fruit, as a tree
bears fruit without effort.
Let's note that the law is not against this fruit.
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Ezekiel 36:27
I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in
My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.
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Hebrews 8:10
I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their
hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
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God can accomplish these wonderful promises within us, if we sincerely ask Him.
Indeed, God greatly desires to give us His Holy Spirit, so that we may keep His
commandments which show us the way to happiness!
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Psalm 119:47
I will delight myself in Your commandments, which I love.
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Romans 7:22
For I delight in the law of God according to the inward
man.
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1 Corinthians 7:19
Keeping the commandments of God is what matters.
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The man who is truly converted will not try to lessen the importance of the
commandments of God.
On the contrary, he will take great delight in keeping them, knowing that God has given
him the power he needs to do it.
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Dear friends, let's pray together:
Our Lord,
What a great message You have given us today! Now we know that You expect us to do Your
will, which is clearly expressed in Your Ten Commandments.
But alone, we can do nothing: this is why we turn to You to ask, according to Your
promise, that You grant us Your Holy Spirit, in order that we may learn to better keep
Your law day after day.
We thank You, in Jesus Christ.
Amen.
The test of Lesson 31 is waiting for you!