For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourself to someone to obey them as slaves, you are slaves to the one to whom you obey- whether you are slaves to sin which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness. Romans 6: 15-18, NIV.
Dear LORD, our hearts rejoice when we think of how Your grace covers us throughout our lives. Please help us to appreciate this even more, as we study Your Word today. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
As we go into our study today, I invite you to notice the order of the words in the title of our devotional, Grace and Law. That is the way it has always been in God’s dealings with us. Grace has always preceded sin (which is made manifest by the law). God did not wait for humankind to sin, to provide grace. Grace was provided, and was in waiting, just in case it was needed. Because of His great love, grace was there for us, before we needed it. Praise God! Revelation 13: 8, speaks of, the Lamb that was slain from the creation of the world,” (NIV) or, “from the beginning.” The merits of Jesus’ blood were made available, for “whosoever” needed it, and was willing to receive it! Today let us begin to unpack some of the “lines,” and “precepts” that we gathered from “here” and “there,” in the Word of God.
1) “For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Galatians 5: 13, emphasis provided).
What is true freedom? Another question to ask might be: Can true freedom be equated to law-lessness? Does not having laws that protect our lives, our rights, our property, provide freedom? And if it does, for whom does it provide freedom? Certainly not for us! We would have to watch over everything we have, to make sure no one came and arbitrarily took them from us. Certainly not for the thief; he or she would have to be careful not to lose his or her life. Because the same law-lessness that leaves our being ,and our property, unprotected, is the same law-lessness that leaves his or her life unprotected, since people would have to take matters into their own hands to protect themselves, if there were no laws to protect them. That thought brings us to another question: What is the purpose of the law?
5) “You do well if you really fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you show partiality, you commit sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. For the one who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ Now if you do not commit adultery but if you murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty” (James 2: 8-12, emphasis provided).
What is the purpose of the law? To protect us. To show us when we sin; so that we may seek the Savior! Here is another text that makes that thought even clearer: “What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “Do not covet” (Romans 7: 7, NIV). So, when, by the law, we become aware that we have sinned, and, that unless we confess, and forsake, our sin, that law will judge us; we now seek the Savior, who was already seeking us, to offer us His matchless grace, provided, from the foundation of the world! Hallelujah!
It is not Grace or the Law; but Grace and the Law. They work together! We will continue this conversation.