Years ago when reading the Old Testament I would get a little discouraged with all the law requirements—how in the world could people remember all that stuff let alone obey it?! Some of you are thinking, “Are you serious, Pastor Rob? Who can’t remember 10 simple commandments?”
Firstly, there weren’t just ’10 simple commandments’ there were actually 613 laws! Secondly, recent “man on the street” surveys have been done that show that the average person living in supposedly “Christian” America cannot name more than 2 of the 10 commandments! So it would seem most of us are not quite ready to pick the Bible category on the game show, ‘Jeopardy.’
All this makes me so thankful to have been born and called as a child of God after Christ came and paid for my sins on the Cross – a time period many refer to as, “the age of grace.” The Lord’s mercy and grace toward me is the greatest gift I’ve ever received – should be for every believer.
But, sadly, grace is not always understood let alone embraced by Christ followers today. In fact, when it comes to grace, the reactions of Christians run the full gambit. Some full-on abuse it. Others take it for granted. Still others don’t see the difference between grace and Law at all. Another group will embrace it at the moment of salvation but then spend their lives trying to earn it. All these responses are unbiblical responses to God’s great gift. Let’s talk about a couple of them.
First, there are those who basically spit in the face of God’s grace. I call them “The Grace Mace Crowd”. Paul talked about the grace mace group in Romans chapter 6 verses 1-2,
“1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
Since this was said at the very beginning of chapter 6, we need to take a look at what was said about grace in the previous chapter.
“19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
What this is saying is that, because of Adam’s failure, sin continually enters the world. Like babies tragically born addicted to crack/cocaine because of the sin of their mothers, we have been condemned because of Adam’s sin and continue sinning as a result. However, the apostle Paul teaches us that the grace of God is greater than our sin! This should cause us to rejoice and to have great hope! But, sadly, it sometimes evokes a different response.
Which brings us up to speed with the beginning of chapter 6. Paul – as though anticipating the argument from the “Grace Mace” crowd – pens chapter 6 as a preemptive strike against cheap grace and easy believism.
“1 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?”
He’s saying, if all we want to do is grab the “Get out of Hell Free” card from God and then live the rest of our lives for the devil – we’ve cheapened grace and spit on God’s precious gift! No one whose heart was truly transformed would ever respond that way!
All too often, Christians try to fight sin by preaching, “No, no, no.” Paul’s method was to teach, “Know, know, know!” He said, “Know you have a new identification with Jesus Christ (vs. 3-5); know you have freedom through the cross (vs. 6-15); and know some things about Jesus’ cause (vs. 16-20).
Others respond to the “age of grace” by nullifying the Old Testament usually with dead giveaway phrases like, “We’re no longer under law, but under grace now.” While technically this is true, I find it of utmost importance to get people to clarify exactly what they mean by that. It’s vitally important because this line of reasoning can very easily lead to the same approach to God that the “Grace Macers” use.
How so, Pastor Rob?
Simple really. If we carry this idea that we are ‘no longer under law’ to extremes, what comes next?
- The law was bad?
- The law can be ignored?
- I’ll obey the ones I want to and ignore the others?
Truth is, the law wasn’t bad – it had its purpose. And its purpose was very important. Once again, the apostle Paul verifies this in Romans 7:7,
“Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”
And again writing to the Galatians in Galatians 3:19,
“ 19 Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.”
So then, if the law is good, why did Jesus come to abolish it?
Who ever said He did?
Certainly not Jesus. No, the scripture people are thinking of (and butchering, I might add) when they make this misguided statement, is Matthew 5:17-18—though they almost never know where the scripture they’re “thinking of” is located when they misquote it. It’s a lot like the following misquote of scripture,
“Money is the root of all evil.”
Ever heard that one?
Sure you have. So have I. Only problem with it is, the Bible doesn’t say this…ANYWHERE! Here is the actual verse,
“For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” 1 Timothy 6:10
Two things we should notice right away are the words, “the love, a, all kinds,” and evil(s)” So it’s not money itself. Money isn’t good or bad—it’s an inanimate object for goodness sake! It’s whether or not it is an idol to us that makes all the difference. Do you “love” money more than God? That’s a problem.
And what about the phrase, “all kinds?” Well, that certainly encompasses a lot, but it doesn’t encapsulate all evil. Another example of an attitude that covers quite a lot of sin territory is the sin of pride – it was this sin that preceded the downfall of Lucifer (Satan).
And finally, the word is not “evil,” but rather, “evil(s)” – plural. Again, pointing to many sinful outcomes but not all. Certainly the love of money is not the only trap the evil one can use to ensnare us.
So one can easily see how tiny changes in just one verse can alter the meaning quite a bit. With this in mind, let’s take a look at what Jesus actually said in Matthew 5:17-18,
“17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. 18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Matthew 5:17-18
What’s this? Not only did Jesus NOT say that He came to ‘abolish’ the law—He actually said the exact opposite—that He did “NOT come to abolish the law.” So how in the world do people get the notion that Jesus came to abolish the law from a scripture that says the exact opposite?
Simple, they view other scriptures that seem to say this and then forget to go back to Matthew 5:17-18 in order to reconcile (or not) what other seemingly contradictory texts seem to be saying. When it comes to Matthew 5, I find most are simply ‘vaguely aware of some passage in the Bible “somewhere” where Jesus supposedly said that He came to abolish the law.’
Do you see how dangerous this is?
So then, just how do we reconcile all this?
Simple, we keep reading. When Jesus said He did not come to abolish the law he immediately followed up with what He did come to do to the law, “; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” He came to “fulfill it.”
And how did He do that?
Well, that’s for tomorrow’s post. I’m about to Carpal Tunnel out here and this post is already making a strong bid to be the longest I’ve ever written so…
Cya then!