The true Gospel message of the kingdom of God lies in understanding the harmony that exists between the law and grace. Without the law we would not need grace for without the law we could not be sinners (lawbreakers). It is because we have broken the law that we require the grace of God which He has provided through the offering of His own Son to die on our behalf to meet the claims of His broken law.
The Bible only gives us one definition of sin,
“Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.” 1 John 3:4
Sin is when we break God’s law. There are 613 laws in the Old Testament covering many areas such as health and hygiene, the ceremonial and sacrificial systems, and the moral law of the Ten Commandments. Of these laws, sin is defined by the moral Ten Commandment law.
“What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.” Romans 7:7
The commandment not to covet is the tenth commandment, so we can see that Paul is here establishing that sin is defined by the Ten Commandment Law. Any disobedience to God as outlined in any of the other laws in the Bible is also sin, however, you will always be able to bring this sin back to breaking one of the Ten Commandments. For example, breaking the health laws is a form of self-murder (sixth commandment), and any time we choose to follow our own way rather than do as God has directed, we are setting up idols or false gods (first and second commandments) in the form of those things which we preference before God.
James tells us that it is the Ten Commandments that God is using as His standard of judgement, this again establishes that this is the law that defines sin.
“For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. For He who said, “Do not commit adultery,” also said, “Do not murder.” Now if you do not commit adultery, but you do murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.” James 2:10-12
Notice here that James explains that to break one of the Ten Commandments makes us guilty of breaking the entire law. God holds every one of His commandments in high regard and calls us to obedience to all of them.
The Bible says that the penalty for breaking God’s law is death (Romans 6:23); this is where we have a problem. Every person is guilty of breaking God’s law. By the law’s requirement, we must suffer the death penalty. Although the law points out sin to us, it has no power to save us from its condemnation. We cannot cancel out our bad deeds by doing more good deeds. Our sin remains regardless of our actions.
“Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.” Galatians 3:21
“I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.” Galatians 2:21
When we break the law and become sinners no amount of good works or law-keeping can save us from the death penalty. A single wrong act is all it takes to incur this punishment. It is for this reason that we rely on God’s grace alone for salvation.
“For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,” Romans 8:3
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin…For there is no difference; 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, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:20,23-26
If God were to destroy His law He could no longer be just, for justice requires the offender to be held accountable for their sin. For God to maintain His justice and yet show mercy to us, who have broken His law, He had to create another solution. For this reason, the Father gave up His only begotten Son to suffer the penalty for sin in our place. Jesus alone had the power to lay down His life on our behalf. The Bible clearly states that no person can die for the sins of another (Psalms 49:7 and Deuteronomy 24:16). It required a sacrifice much greater than this for sinful man to be restored to harmony with God without incurring the punishment for sin. Jesus is One who is equal with the Father, He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things, including God’s eternal law. Jesus alone had the power to meet the requirement of the law on our behalf. As the originator of life, Jesus alone could say,
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” John 10:17-18
Only one who is of infinite value, who is equal to the demands of the divine law, could make such a sacrifice. To Christ we owe everything. That the Majesty of Heaven, One who is equal with God, should come to this world and live a life of hardship and rejection, to ultimately be cruelly slain by those He came to save, should give us a sense of the boundless love of God towards us. To us, God's love is but a mystery that we will be forever contemplating but never fully understand. This infinite sacrifice shows the true value of a human life. Our life is worth the life of the Son of God.
That Jesus had to die to meet the claims of a broken law is evidence that God’s law is eternal. If there had been another way to reconcile man to God then Jesus need not have died. By Jesus perfect life and unblemished death, God’s law is forever established in heaven.
“Forever, O Lord, Your word is settled in heaven.” Psalms 119:89
Of God’s law, the apostle Paul writes,
“Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.” Romans 3:31
Today many believe that Jesus has given us a new law of love (John 13:34) that does away with the Ten Commandments. However, Jesus did not in actuality bring anything new that had not already been given. The command to love God with all the heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbour as ourselves was given in the Old Testament.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5
“You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” Leviticus 19:18
The reason Jesus expressed these commandments as being new was that this great principle of love had been long forgotten by those He was ministering to. Jesus further explained that it is on these two commandments that all the Law and the Prophets hang (Matthew 22:40). This means that when we fulfil the commandment to love we will naturally be obeying all of the commandments within the Law. Love toward God will lead us to keep the first four commandments and love toward our neighbour will cause us to keep the last six.
“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.” 1 John 5:3
Jesus also said,
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” John 14:15
If we say that we know God and do not keep His commandments the Bible calls us a liar and says that the truth is not in us (1 John 2:4). It is Satan, the father of lies, who would have us believe that God’s law has been abolished; that grace does away with justice. Jesus said,
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17-18
In saying that He came to fulfil the law, this does not mean that the law has now been completed and put aside, this would be a contradiction of Scripture. Jesus fulfilled the requirements of the law by keeping it perfectly and we are now covered by His righteous life and have this as the example of how we should live.
By breaking God’s law we have become sinners. Grace alone can save us from the divine punishment for sin, which is death. However, grace does not abolish the law. Our ongoing need for grace is proof of the enduring nature of God’s perfect law. If the law were put aside, grace would no longer be needed for all would stand righteously before God without a law to condemn them. Grace establishes the law, it does not abrogate it. God will redeem us from sin and recreate His perfect image in us so that we will once again live righteously, in harmony with His holy Law. Here lies the true Gospel.
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