Ch. 15 Law And Grace

Law and Grace also known as the Old Covenant and the New Covenant

Old Covenant and New Covenant

The old covenant is not the Old Testament. The new covenant is not the New Testament. The Old Testament refers to the 39 books in the Bible from Genesis to Malachi. The New Testament refers to the 27 books in the Bible from Matthew to Revelation.

The old covenant refers to the Law as given to Moses. That is the moral, civil and ceremonial laws; all of which are found in the Old Testament.

The new covenant refers to the sacrificial death of Christ.

1 Corinthians 11:25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”

Hebrews 8:6–13 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; 9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. 10 “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 11 “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.” 13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

Hebrews 9:15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

2 Corinthians 3:14–16 14 But their minds were hardened; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

What is the Law?

The Moral Law (The Ten Commandments)

Exodus 20:1 – 26 1 Then God spoke all these words, saying, 2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. 3 “You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. 5 “You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. 7 “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain. 8 “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. 11 “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy. 12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you. 13 “You shall not murder. 14 “You shall not commit adultery. 15 “You shall not steal. 16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 18 All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” 20 Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” 21 So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. 22 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘You yourselves have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven. 23 ‘You shall not make other gods besides Me; gods of silver or gods of gold, you shall not make for yourselves. 24 ‘You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. 25 ‘If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. 26 ‘And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it.’

The Civil Law Exodus 21:1 – 24:18

The Ceremonial Law Exodus 25:1 – 40:38

The Law is also referred to as the old covenant. Even though there are several other covenants mentioned in the Bible when the old covenant is mentioned it is understood to be referring to the Law. The old covenant is also referred to as the first covenant in Hebrews 8:7, 8:13, 9:1, 9:15, 9:18

Hebrews 8:7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.

Hebrews 8:13 When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.

Hebrews 9:1 Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary.

Hebrews 9:15–18 15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. 18 Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood.

Purpose of the Law

To lead us to Christ:

Galatians 3:24 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.

Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

The Law is like a mirror: It shows you that your face is dirty but it cannot clean your face.

What is Grace?

Christians are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.

Grace = God's Riches At Christ's Expense

Grace = God’s gift of salvation through Christ’s death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead

Ephesians 2:8–9 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Salvation is by grace and not by obedience to the Law

Galatians 3:10–14 10 For as many as are of the works of the Law are under a curse; for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT ABIDE BY ALL THINGS WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO PERFORM THEM.” 11 Now that no one is justified by the Law before God is evident; for, “THE RIGHTEOUS MAN SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.” 12 However, the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, “HE WHO PRACTICES THEM SHALL LIVE BY THEM.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO HANGS ON A TREE”— 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we would receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Romans 1:16–17 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.”

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

James 2:10 For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.

Salvation is not through attempts to be obedient to your own laws

Colossians 2:20–23 20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)—in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

When I attempted to explain to a pastor, Pastor Dan, that salvation is not through attempts to be obedient to your own laws he tried to contradict the verse; he did not realize what he was doing. He told me the story of how a guy held his hand over a burning candle and didn’t flinch, even when it burned his flesh. Pastor Dan mistakenly thought he was giving an example of tremendous self-control even to the point of burning your own flesh. Since Pastor Dan was in a position of authority, I did not feel comfortable pointing out what I am about to explain. That man holding his hand over a burning candle to the point of burning his flesh was NOT demonstrating self-control; it was quite the opposite. That man was full of pride; he wanted to show how tough he was; he was certainly not being led by the Spirit. He was full of pride and the pride controlled him; that is the exact opposite of being filled by the Spirit which causes you to be controlled by the Spirit. So, sorry, Pastor Dan, but your story does not contradict the Bible verse, in fact, it proves the verse and what I was saying about the verse. He did not realize that I knew about that story and who the guy was; he was G. Gordon Liddy, one of the Watergate co-conspirators. There is a similar scene in the movie Lawrence of Arabia.

Here is a quote from Jodi Rubin’s blog: https://jodirubin.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/the-trick-is-not-not-minding/

G. Gordon Liddy famously performed this feat, as was captured in the book All The President's Men , when Deep Throat says to Bob Woodward: I was at a party once, and, uh, Liddy put his hand over a candle, and he kept it there. He kept it right in the flame until his flesh was burned. Somebody said, "What’s the trick?" And Liddy said, "The trick is not minding."

Some people think God accepts them only if they keep certain laws and that is just NOT true; God only accepts people because of what He has done through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. But, some people select some of God’s laws or make up their own “laws”, so they can tell themselves God is pleased with me because I “follow” my own set of rules. A funny way to refer to these foolish sets of “laws” are the “Filthy Five” or “Sinful Seven” or “Nasty Nine” or the “Dirty Dozen”.

There are many different foolish sets of “laws” or principles that people attempt to follow. Here are just a few examples:

Filthy Five:
1. Don’t smoke; 2. Don’t dance; 3. Don’t lust; 4. Don’t eat pork; and 5. Don’t listen to rock music.

Sinful Seven:
1. Don’t steal; 2. Don’t get divorced; 3. Don’t work on Sunday; 4. Don’t eat beef; 5. Don’t watch non-Christian television shows; 6. Don’t tell dirty jokes; and 7. Don’t forget to pay tithes on Sunday.

Nasty Nine:
1. Don’t steal; 2. Don’t lie; 3. Don’t work on Sunday; 4. Don’t eat bananas; 5. Don’t watch non-Christian movies; 6. Don’t speak to unmarried men; 7. Don’t touch sick people, 8. Don’t smoke; and 9. Don’t lust.

Dirty Dozen:
1. Don’t steal; 2. Don’t lie; 3. Don’t work on Sunday; 4. Don’t eat meat; 5. Don’t watch non-Christian movies; 6. Don’t speak to unmarried men; 7. Don’t touch sick people, 8. Don’t smoke; 9. Don’t lust; 10. Don’t dance; 11. Don’t ride bicycles if you are a woman; and 12. Don’t have sex outside of marriage.

Always remember it is foolishness to think such sets of “laws” please God. They do not please God. You are made acceptable to God only if you accept and trust in what Jesus Christ has done for you and not what you have done for Jesus Christ.

Ask yourself if there are any laws you think you need to keep to be acceptable to God. If you answer “yes” then you are not depending on the work of Jesus Christ alone to be made acceptable to God.

Remember this: God makes you acceptable to Himself through His works and not your works. That is precisely what God is telling you in Hebrews 4:9-10. The true Sabbath rest is when you give up trying to do your own works or keeping a set of laws to be acceptable to God. Sabbath rest does NOT mean making sure you do not do labor on Sunday. True Sabbath rest means you are resting from your own works to be saved.

Memorize this: I am saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

Rest from your works

Hebrews 4:9–10 9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.

Law in terms of New Testament use has a variety of meanings. It is used to mean everything from the entire Old Testament to just certain portions of the Old Testament. For the purposes of discussing Law and Grace the Law means “the Mosaic administration dispensed at Sinai” -- which is part of the New Bible Dictionary’s entry for Law.