Under Grace, Not Law

Under Grace, Not Law

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for you are not under law but under grace.  (Rom_6:14)
Sin dominates every one's life, unless they are learning of God's remedy. Grace is our only hope that sin will no longer dominate our lives. Furthermore, grace is a sufficient hope that sin need not exercise a dominating influence over us. 
Before we came to faith in Jesus Christ, we were fully under the dominion of sin. We were condemned before God because of our sin. Others may not have been aware of our truly sinful condition. Still, we were so controlled by sin that God called us "slaves of sin" (Rom_6:6). 
The law brought us no hope of escape. In fact, the law condemned us (Rom_3:19). We could never have found freedom from sin's condemnation by attempting to perform better under the law of God, for "by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified" (Gal_2:16). 
On the other hand, the grace of God is our fully effective hope. There is forgiveness of sins by His grace (Eph_1:7). There is justification through faith by the grace of God (Gal_2:16). There is growth in spiritual life by the grace of God (2Pe_3:18). None of these heavenly blessings become ours from attempting by our ability to live up to the law standards of Almighty God. 
Our relationship with the Lord is based upon grace, not upon law. We began a walk with the Lord by His grace at work for us. We continue to walk with Him by His grace at work in our lives. 

O Lord, my God, I rejoice greatly that I am under Your grace and not under Your law. Your holy law rightly condemned me for my trespasses against You. I thank You for forgiving my sins by Your glorious grace. I praise You for justifying me, declaring me not guilty in Your sight, by Your rich grace. I extol You for continuing to touch and shape my life by Your inexhaustible grace, in the name of Christ Jesus, my Lord. Amen

God's Grace Teaching Us

God's Grace Teaching Us

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ. (Tit_2:11-13) Time and again, we have considered the connection between grace and justification. "Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus...In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Rom_3:24 andEph_1:7). Now, we have an opportunity to ponder once more the relationship between grace and sanctification. "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men." It is God's grace that brings salvation to mankind. For nearly 2,000 years, that saving grace of the Lord has been offered to humanity through the preaching of the gospel. This particular verse now adds another function to the work of grace. "For the grace of God [is] teaching us." The grace of God not only saves the souls of all who believe; it also works in believers' lives to teach and instruct them. God's grace, working through His word ("The word of His grace" — Act_20:32), instructs and shapes our thinking and living: "Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age." It is the will of our Heavenly Father that His children turn away from that which is worldly and spiritually compromising. He wants us to walk in godliness, in Christlikeness. God works this into our hearts by His grace. God's grace also develops expectant lives, eager to have the Lord Jesus return for His people: "Looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ." The grace of God impacting our hearts through His word by His Spirit is His divine means to bring about such transformation in us. To view sanctification as something we can produce through our own performance (that is, by law) is akin to overlooking God's grace and underestimating the provisions of the cross of Christ. "I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain" (Gal_2:21).

Dear Jesus, my great God and Savior, I want to live in eager anticipation of Your return. Meanwhile, I desire to please You by growing in godliness and in applied righteousness. Thank You for Your longsuffering love, patiently teaching me by Your grace—the grace that I sometimes neglect, attempting to produce all of these realities by the striving of my flesh. From such vanity I turn to hope in You, Lord Jesus, Amen.

The New and Living Way

The New and Living Way

Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us.  (Heb_10:19-20)
Here, life under the new covenant of grace is described as the "new and living way." This could be contrasted with the "old and dying way" of attempting to live under the old covenant of law. The "newness" of grace is not really a matter of time sequence, because the grace of God actually precedes the law in man's history with God. The "tree of life" in the garden of Eden was God's provision of grace for Adam and Eve. The promises of God to Abraham, given hundreds of years before the law, depended upon the faithful grace of God, not the legal performance of Abraham.
The "newness" of grace is its every day freshness and vitality. Day by day, by the grace of God, fresh measures of life are abundantly available to those who look to the Lord as their supply. This makes life with God fresh and new every day.
Under the old covenant, only one person, the High Priest, could enter into the intimate presence of God, the Holy of Holies. Furthermore, this was only allowed one day a year. Such limited access would certainly "get old" in the hearts of all who hungered after the living God.
Now, under the new covenant of grace, every believer in Jesus, our great High Priest, can confidently approach the Lord personally any moment of every day. "Having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus." Through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, which forgives all of our sins, we can speak to the Lord and enjoy His presence in our lives continually.
Jeremiah gave some early insight into this kind of fresh and vital relationship with God. "Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 'The LORD is my portion,' says my soul, 'Therefore I hope in Him! '" (Lam_3:22-24).
The Apostle Paul wrote profoundly concerning such "newness."  "But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter" (Rom_7:6). This the "new and living way."  This will never "get old."

O Lord of Life, my heart yearns for this new and living way. O, how I long to dwell in Your presence day by day! Lord, I must confess that every attempt to base intimacy with You on my best performance has always become so old and dying, so stale and lifeless. My soul is stirred with hope in You that You have provided this better way. O Lord, teach me to walk by this new and living way, in the name of Jesus, my great High Priest, Amen.

The Inability of the Law

The Inability of the Law

For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.  (Heb_7:18-19)
God reveals through His word that His law has a strategic inability. There is an arena in which the the law has a "weakness and unprofitableness." The law demands perfection, but it offers no perfecting resources. This incapacity is not due to any oversight on God's part. Rather, this inadequacy is related to that which God never intended for His law to accomplish.
God's law was not given to man as a means of being perfected, that is, of being spiritually changed. The law tells us what God wants to see in lives, but the law provides no resource to effect the necessary changes. Thus, attempting to begin or to develop a relationship with God by dependence upon our best performance will always be a hopeless venture.
Anyone who desires to approach a holy and perfect God must have a more effective expectation than one's best personal performance, measured by God's holy law. Anyone who wants to get to know God, to walk with Him, to live with Him through time and eternity, must find a better hope than the law of God.
The law of God cannot give us an initial standing before God, that is, it cannot justify us. The law is also unable to develop an ongoing walk of godliness before the Lord, that is, it cannot sanctify us. For either of these precious blessings of God, a "better hope" is needed. God's grace is the "better hope" that allows us to "draw near to God," initially in new birth and continually in a maturing intimacy.

Holy Father, You are perfect in character. Your law is perfect in standard. Your law rightly demands perfection of me. Father, I ask that You remind me often that I cannot live up to that divine requirement on my own resources. Bring to my remembrance this inability of Your law. Stir my heart to trust in that better hope. Lord, I desire to walk closely with You. Thus, I trust in Your grace as the only sufficient hope that will allow me to draw near to You, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.