Grace And The Law 1
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Grace and the Law
✍From the Word ♢
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♢
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♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
A Word of Explanation: In Paleo (Ancient) Hebrew the characters of the Alefbeth (Alphabet) are completely different to the modern Hebrew characters which stem from the time of the Babylonian Exile of Judah. (Israel). In this document I use the Paleo Hebrew characters to depict the Names of the Almighty and that of His Son, our Mashiach (Messiah). Why? Because it is literally in this form that the Creator wrote with His finger, His own Autograph on the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. It is also in this form that the original Tanak (Old Testament) scrolls were written. Therefore He made sure that His Name was preserved perfectly for all generations. Fatherʼs Name: right to left.)
(Pronounced YaHUaH - Hebrew is read from
Sonʼs Name: (Pronounced YaHUShA). Note that the first three characters of both Names are the same and therefore sound the same when vocalized - YaHU (Yahoo). When writing the Names in English, I prefer to capitalize the English letters that are used to represent the Hebrew characters of the Tetragrammaton (Four Characters of the Name). The Names are therefore not translated - carrying over the meaning into English, rather they are transliterated - carrying over the vocal sound to as far as possible reflect the original pronunciation.
1
Grace and the Law
GRACE AND THE LAW
The relationship between grace and the law: Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously. (Psalm 119:29) For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Messiah. (John 1:17 KJV with the true Name replaced) A general teaching of the Church separates GRACE from LAW. “Grace”, some teachers affirm, “has done away with the accursed law.” The truth, however, is that Scripture binds these two concepts together. The verses above, one from the Old Covenant and one from the New Covenant, makes this very clear. Without the Creatorʼs grace (undeserved merit) it is impossible to keep His law. It is in fact His grace that enables every believer to observe or be obedient to His law.1 The law does not belong to Moses. simply used him as an instrument to put His eternal law in writing. Messiah then came and through His grace fulfilled His law within believers. He did not do away with it, but actually established it. He said: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17 KJV) He also said: If you love Me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15)
1
The word “law” is the general translation of the Hebrew word ToRaH. This word literally means the Almightyʼs loving instructions unto righteousness. Although the idea of a set of rules is included in its meaning, ToRaH is much more than just a set of rules as implied by the translated word used. All of Scripture are His instructions to believers showing them how to live lives pleasing to Him. All of Scripture is thus His ToRaH or law. They are the eternal principles governing His kingdom, and observing them is not “legalism”, rather it is to cultivate and maintain a loving relationship with him.
2
Grace and the Law
He is the Sovereign and it is His desire that we be obedient to His law. He wants us to keep His law because we love Him, not because we have to. For the believer, obedience to the Word is what Scripture is all about. A believer (born again person) is someone who, by grace, has been set free from his sin. In other words, he has been set free from lawlessness - for sin is to live a lawless life. Whoever commits sin transgresses the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4) To be saved means to live a life of loving obedience to His Word or law. We are not saved by our obedience. It is in other words not the observance of the law that saves us. But after experiencing salvation “by grace, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), then, by His grace we live our lives in loving obedience to Him. Continuously, in his letters to the different assemblies, in which he exhorts those who are believers (already saved) to live their lives in obedience to the principles of Scripture, the apostle Paul writes: Brethren, the grace of our Master be with your spirit. (Gal.6:18) Grace be with all them that love our Master in sincerity. Amein. (Eph.6:24)
Messiah
Messiah
This law-abiding life is not a heavy burden. On the contrary, it is a life of joyous freedom “in Messiah”. He promised: Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 KJV) For this is the love of the Almighty, that we keep His commandments: AND HIS COMMANDMENTS ARE NOT DIFFICULT. (1 John 5:3)
3
Grace and the Law
The lie then, that needs to be exposed and removed from us (Psalm 119:29) is that the law is a curse and that we are not under the law any longer, but under grace. This untrue or false attitude toward our Creatorʼs eternal law is in actual fact the real burden that believers are carrying. They truly have a desire to please Him, but are taught that His law is a curse from which they have been set free. Deep down in the heart of every believer this just does not make sense. The wonderful liberating truth is that His grace has made His law as light as a feather! His grace gave us the power to abide by and keep His law. His grace has made us law-abiding citizens of His kingdom! Now that is something about which we can shout: “HalleluYah!” By His grace He dwells within every believer. Through His indwelling power we are able to live in obedience. Through our obedience to His Word, law, commandments, instructions, precepts, principles, judgments and testimonies - ToRaH, we liberate Him to pour out His blessings upon us. He bound Himself by His Word to bless us according to our obedience and not according to our faith. (Deut.28) Obviously faith is what saved us and placed us on this path of righteousness (righteous obedience), but the life of obedience graciously lets loose His manifold blessings over our lives. Again it is appropriate to shout “HalleluYah!” The Attitude of the Heart in the Observance of His Law: Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of . Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity, they walk in His ways. (Psalm 119:1-3 KJV with the Name replaced) For the Almighty, the believerʼs2 striving to live righteously (law-abiding), is all about the attitude of the heart. “Undefiled in the way” is how the
2
I use the word “believer” to describe a person who is born-again. The word Christian refers to numerous different groups and belief systems. Not every person who regards himself as Christian is born-again, although there are many born-again Christians.
4
Grace and the Law
psalmist describes this lifestyle. For the Almighty as well as for the true believer it is about the spirit and not the letter of the law. To be apparently law-abiding outwardly while the heart is actually rebelling against the law is an abomination to . This is to abide by the letter of the law - to be legalistic, while the heart is actually far from Him. (Mat.15:7-9) That is hypocrisy and not true righteousness. A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be a believer. Such a person is self-righteous and through his unbelieving abidance to the law is attempting to earn the favour of the Creator. He has not yet “found grace” in the eyes of . (Gen.6:8) It is possible for a man to never physically commit adultery while at the same time to do it every day in his heart. Such a person “keeps” this seventh commandment (Ex.20:14) outwardly, but in his heart he is disobedient. He is legalistic and is actually deceiving himself. The Creator testifies of the heart of the unbeliever: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV with the Name replaced) Just as it is possible to be law-abiding outwardly while lawless inwardly, so it is impossible to be inwardly pure and law-abiding while at the same time being lawless outwardly. That is why the self-justification of: “He knows my heart...” meaning, “Even if I am sinning outwardly by actually committing the deed, He knows that I am sincere and do not really want to do it”, is in actual fact just a feeble excuse and part of the heartʼs deceit. The outward committing of sin is the fruit of what has already germinated and taken root in the heart. It is the heart that needs to be re-created and born-again. Then alone can a person wholeheartedly keep the law. Yakob (James), the brother of the Messiah wrote: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin: (lawlessness - 1 Joh.3:4)
5
Grace and the Law
and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren... (Jas.1:14-16 KJV) The good news is that through His deed of reconciliation (death on our behalf) Messiah set us free from our sin - lawlessness. He did not save us because of our obedience, but our salvation resulted in obedience to His law. But the Almighty commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us. (Romans 5:8) The moment that a person wholeheartedly believes in this gracious death of the Messiah on his behalf, then his heart is re-created. Then that person is born-again and a true believer. Then he becomes righteous in the eyes of the Father, and, The righteous shall live by faith. (Hab.2:4 & Rom.1:17) Then, because the believer is born-again, and through the Creatorʼs indwelling Spirit, this new creature (2 Cor. 5:17) is enabled to live an obedient, law-abiding life - without sin both inwardly and outwardly. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins: and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abides in Him does not sin: whosoever commits sin has not seen Him, neither known Him. (1 John 3:5-6) True freedom, then, is not to be set free from His law, it is to be set free from lawlessness - sin. True freedom, then, is to have an attitude or conviction (new heart) that finds it easy to be obedient to and abide by His law both inwardly AND outwardly. The law is not a burden for the heart that has been set free - it is a joy and a delight. The heart that has experienced true freedom in this way will joyfully confess: O how I love Your law, it is my meditation the whole day! (Psalm 119:97) The question is, why is this obedient lifestyle with the right attitude of heart possible? Havenʼt we been taught all the years that the law is a
6
Grace and the Law
curse from which the Messiah liberated us through His death? The answer is so simple that most of us have missed it. A new heart also I WILL give you, and a new spirit (attitude) I WILL put within you. And I WILL take away the stoney heart out of your flesh, and I WILL give you a heart of flesh. And I WILL put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments, and do them. (Esekiel 36:26-27) “I WILL” is in truth the Good News of the New Covenant. “I WILL” is pure grace. He does it all. The initiative is all His. We simply have to believe and then walk in what He has done. His grace supplied everything - even the new attitude of the heart so that the believer is also able to say, and mean it: I WILL RUN the way of Your commandments, when YOU SHALL enlarge my heart! (Psalm 119:32)
© 2009 Johann Daniel Möller Telephone: +2733 3459205
e-mail: [email protected] Cell phone: +2784 0396213
Speaking the truth in love
7
✍From the Word ♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
♢
A Word of Explanation: In Paleo (Ancient) Hebrew the characters of the Alefbeth (Alphabet) are completely different to the modern Hebrew characters which stem from the time of the Babylonian Exile of Judah. (Israel). In this document I use the Paleo Hebrew characters to depict the Names of the Almighty and that of His Son, our Mashiach (Messiah). Why? Because it is literally in this form that the Creator wrote with His finger, His own Autograph on the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments. It is also in this form that the original Tanak (Old Testament) scrolls were written. Therefore He made sure that His Name was preserved perfectly for all generations. Fatherʼs Name: right to left.)
(Pronounced YaHUaH - Hebrew is read from
Sonʼs Name: (Pronounced YaHUShA). Note that the first three characters of both Names are the same and therefore sound the same when vocalized - YaHU (Yahoo). When writing the Names in English, I prefer to capitalize the English letters that are used to represent the Hebrew characters of the Tetragrammaton (Four Characters of the Name). The Names are therefore not translated - carrying over the meaning into English, rather they are transliterated - carrying over the vocal sound to as far as possible reflect the original pronunciation.
1
Grace and the Law
GRACE AND THE LAW
The relationship between grace and the law: Remove from me the way of lying, and grant me Your law graciously. (Psalm 119:29) For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Messiah. (John 1:17 KJV with the true Name replaced) A general teaching of the Church separates GRACE from LAW. “Grace”, some teachers affirm, “has done away with the accursed law.” The truth, however, is that Scripture binds these two concepts together. The verses above, one from the Old Covenant and one from the New Covenant, makes this very clear. Without the Creatorʼs grace (undeserved merit) it is impossible to keep His law. It is in fact His grace that enables every believer to observe or be obedient to His law.1 The law does not belong to Moses. simply used him as an instrument to put His eternal law in writing. Messiah then came and through His grace fulfilled His law within believers. He did not do away with it, but actually established it. He said: Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. (Matthew 5:17 KJV) He also said: If you love Me, keep My commandments. (John 14:15)
1
The word “law” is the general translation of the Hebrew word ToRaH. This word literally means the Almightyʼs loving instructions unto righteousness. Although the idea of a set of rules is included in its meaning, ToRaH is much more than just a set of rules as implied by the translated word used. All of Scripture are His instructions to believers showing them how to live lives pleasing to Him. All of Scripture is thus His ToRaH or law. They are the eternal principles governing His kingdom, and observing them is not “legalism”, rather it is to cultivate and maintain a loving relationship with him.
2
Grace and the Law
He is the Sovereign and it is His desire that we be obedient to His law. He wants us to keep His law because we love Him, not because we have to. For the believer, obedience to the Word is what Scripture is all about. A believer (born again person) is someone who, by grace, has been set free from his sin. In other words, he has been set free from lawlessness - for sin is to live a lawless life. Whoever commits sin transgresses the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. (1 John 3:4) To be saved means to live a life of loving obedience to His Word or law. We are not saved by our obedience. It is in other words not the observance of the law that saves us. But after experiencing salvation “by grace, through faith” (Ephesians 2:8), then, by His grace we live our lives in loving obedience to Him. Continuously, in his letters to the different assemblies, in which he exhorts those who are believers (already saved) to live their lives in obedience to the principles of Scripture, the apostle Paul writes: Brethren, the grace of our Master be with your spirit. (Gal.6:18) Grace be with all them that love our Master in sincerity. Amein. (Eph.6:24)
Messiah
Messiah
This law-abiding life is not a heavy burden. On the contrary, it is a life of joyous freedom “in Messiah”. He promised: Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30 KJV) For this is the love of the Almighty, that we keep His commandments: AND HIS COMMANDMENTS ARE NOT DIFFICULT. (1 John 5:3)
3
Grace and the Law
The lie then, that needs to be exposed and removed from us (Psalm 119:29) is that the law is a curse and that we are not under the law any longer, but under grace. This untrue or false attitude toward our Creatorʼs eternal law is in actual fact the real burden that believers are carrying. They truly have a desire to please Him, but are taught that His law is a curse from which they have been set free. Deep down in the heart of every believer this just does not make sense. The wonderful liberating truth is that His grace has made His law as light as a feather! His grace gave us the power to abide by and keep His law. His grace has made us law-abiding citizens of His kingdom! Now that is something about which we can shout: “HalleluYah!” By His grace He dwells within every believer. Through His indwelling power we are able to live in obedience. Through our obedience to His Word, law, commandments, instructions, precepts, principles, judgments and testimonies - ToRaH, we liberate Him to pour out His blessings upon us. He bound Himself by His Word to bless us according to our obedience and not according to our faith. (Deut.28) Obviously faith is what saved us and placed us on this path of righteousness (righteous obedience), but the life of obedience graciously lets loose His manifold blessings over our lives. Again it is appropriate to shout “HalleluYah!” The Attitude of the Heart in the Observance of His Law: Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of . Blessed are they that keep His testimonies, and that seek Him with the whole heart. They also do no iniquity, they walk in His ways. (Psalm 119:1-3 KJV with the Name replaced) For the Almighty, the believerʼs2 striving to live righteously (law-abiding), is all about the attitude of the heart. “Undefiled in the way” is how the
2
I use the word “believer” to describe a person who is born-again. The word Christian refers to numerous different groups and belief systems. Not every person who regards himself as Christian is born-again, although there are many born-again Christians.
4
Grace and the Law
psalmist describes this lifestyle. For the Almighty as well as for the true believer it is about the spirit and not the letter of the law. To be apparently law-abiding outwardly while the heart is actually rebelling against the law is an abomination to . This is to abide by the letter of the law - to be legalistic, while the heart is actually far from Him. (Mat.15:7-9) That is hypocrisy and not true righteousness. A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be a believer. Such a person is self-righteous and through his unbelieving abidance to the law is attempting to earn the favour of the Creator. He has not yet “found grace” in the eyes of . (Gen.6:8) It is possible for a man to never physically commit adultery while at the same time to do it every day in his heart. Such a person “keeps” this seventh commandment (Ex.20:14) outwardly, but in his heart he is disobedient. He is legalistic and is actually deceiving himself. The Creator testifies of the heart of the unbeliever: The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV with the Name replaced) Just as it is possible to be law-abiding outwardly while lawless inwardly, so it is impossible to be inwardly pure and law-abiding while at the same time being lawless outwardly. That is why the self-justification of: “He knows my heart...” meaning, “Even if I am sinning outwardly by actually committing the deed, He knows that I am sincere and do not really want to do it”, is in actual fact just a feeble excuse and part of the heartʼs deceit. The outward committing of sin is the fruit of what has already germinated and taken root in the heart. It is the heart that needs to be re-created and born-again. Then alone can a person wholeheartedly keep the law. Yakob (James), the brother of the Messiah wrote: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin: (lawlessness - 1 Joh.3:4)
5
Grace and the Law
and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death. Do not err, my beloved brethren... (Jas.1:14-16 KJV) The good news is that through His deed of reconciliation (death on our behalf) Messiah set us free from our sin - lawlessness. He did not save us because of our obedience, but our salvation resulted in obedience to His law. But the Almighty commends His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Messiah died for us. (Romans 5:8) The moment that a person wholeheartedly believes in this gracious death of the Messiah on his behalf, then his heart is re-created. Then that person is born-again and a true believer. Then he becomes righteous in the eyes of the Father, and, The righteous shall live by faith. (Hab.2:4 & Rom.1:17) Then, because the believer is born-again, and through the Creatorʼs indwelling Spirit, this new creature (2 Cor. 5:17) is enabled to live an obedient, law-abiding life - without sin both inwardly and outwardly. And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins: and in Him is no sin. Whosoever abides in Him does not sin: whosoever commits sin has not seen Him, neither known Him. (1 John 3:5-6) True freedom, then, is not to be set free from His law, it is to be set free from lawlessness - sin. True freedom, then, is to have an attitude or conviction (new heart) that finds it easy to be obedient to and abide by His law both inwardly AND outwardly. The law is not a burden for the heart that has been set free - it is a joy and a delight. The heart that has experienced true freedom in this way will joyfully confess: O how I love Your law, it is my meditation the whole day! (Psalm 119:97) The question is, why is this obedient lifestyle with the right attitude of heart possible? Havenʼt we been taught all the years that the law is a
6
Grace and the Law
curse from which the Messiah liberated us through His death? The answer is so simple that most of us have missed it. A new heart also I WILL give you, and a new spirit (attitude) I WILL put within you. And I WILL take away the stoney heart out of your flesh, and I WILL give you a heart of flesh. And I WILL put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments, and do them. (Esekiel 36:26-27) “I WILL” is in truth the Good News of the New Covenant. “I WILL” is pure grace. He does it all. The initiative is all His. We simply have to believe and then walk in what He has done. His grace supplied everything - even the new attitude of the heart so that the believer is also able to say, and mean it: I WILL RUN the way of Your commandments, when YOU SHALL enlarge my heart! (Psalm 119:32)
© 2009 Johann Daniel Möller Telephone: +2733 3459205
e-mail: [email protected] Cell phone: +2784 0396213
Speaking the truth in love
7
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