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If someone tries to
live by keeping the Law of God, can that
person be assured he will enter heaven
through his own efforts? Is it really
possible for us to meet God’s perfect
standard of obeying all of the Ten
Commandments, all of the time?
Jesus and
His teaching on the Law.
Matthew 5:21-22
says, “You have heard that it was said to
those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and
whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’
But I say to you that everyone who is angry
with his brother will be liable to judgment;
whoever insults his brother will be liable
to the council; and whoever says, ‘You
fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”
Matthew 5:27-28, “You have heard that it
was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
But I say to you that everyone who looks at
a woman with lustful intent has already
committed adultery with her in his heart.”
Matthew 5:43-45, “You have heard that it
was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and
hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love
your enemies and pray for those who
persecute you, so that you may be sons of
your Father who is in heaven. For he makes
his sun rise on the evil and on the good,
and sends rain on the just and on the
unjust.”
Matthew 5:48, “You therefore
must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is
perfect.”
The Law is
an impossible standard to live up to.
Romans 3:20-23,
“Therefore no one will be declared righteous
in his sight by observing the law; rather,
through the law we become conscious of sin.
But now the righteousness of God has been
manifested apart from the law, although the
Law and the Prophets bear witness to it —
the righteousness of God through faith in
Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there
is no distinction: for all have sinned and
fall short of the glory of God,”
Romans 3:10-12, “as it is written: “None is
righteous, no, not one; no one understands;
no one seeks for God. All have turned aside;
together they have become worthless; no one
does good, not even one.”’
Failure to
keep God’s Law perfectly brings the curse of
death.
Romans 6:23, “For
the wages of sin is death,…”
Galatians 3:10-13, “For all who rely on
works of the law are under a curse; for it
is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not
abide by all things written in the Book of
the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident
that no one is justified before God by the
law, for “The righteous shall live by
faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather
“The one who does them shall live by them.”
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law
by becoming a curse for us — for it is
written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged
on a tree”’
If we try to live by the
Old Covenant law we will stumble and fall
every time. The Law demands perfection and a
curse was attached to failure to keep any
part of it. The breaking of only one
command, even once, brings a person under
God’s curse. Everyone fails to keep the Law
perfectly so everyone came under the curse.
The belief that a person can gain God’s
acceptance by human effort is completely
foreign to the scriptures.
What Is the
purpose of the Law?
Galatians 3:11,
“Clearly no one is justified before God by
the law, because, “The righteous will live
by faith.”
Galatians 3:19-25, “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. Now an intermediary implies
more than one, but God is one. Is the Law
then contrary to the promises of God? May it
never be! For if a law had been given which
was able to impart life, then righteousness
would indeed have been based on law. But the
Scripture has shut up everyone under sin, so
that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ
might be given to those who believe. But
before faith came, we were kept in custody
under the law, being shut up to the faith
which was later to be revealed. Therefore
the Law has become our tutor to lead us to
Christ, so that we may be justified by
faith. But now that faith has come, we are
no longer under a tutor.”
When Jesus
told His followers to "be perfect, as your
heavenly Father is perfect" in Matthew 5:48,
He was expressing the holy nature of God and
His law, and He was also burying the human
race under their sins. He was not telling
His listeners to try harder in their own
strength. He was not giving them a blue
print on how to receive eternal life. His
disciples needed to understand that no
matter how good they become they will still
fall short of God's holy standards revealed
in the Law. They needed to see their need
for God's grace to save them. They needed to
know the only way to be saved was through
faith in Jesus Christ alone.
The Law is
perfect but powerless to save. It can only
show us our need for a Savior.
The Law and the
promise of faith are not in opposition to one
another, God gave them both. The Law and the
promise work together to reveal man's
sinfulness and our need for God’s salvation
freely offered in the promise. If the Law
could have provided righteousness and
eternal life, then there would be no need
for the promise of faith.
We are saved
by grace through faith in Jesus Christ
alone!
John 1:17, “For the
law was given through Moses; grace and truth
came through Jesus Christ.”
Galatians 2:21, “I do not nullify the grace of God,
for if righteousness were through the law,
then Christ died for no purpose.”
Galatians 4:4-5, “But when the fullness of
time had come, God sent forth his Son, born
of woman, born under the law, to redeem
those who were under the law, so that we
might receive adoption as sons.”
Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own
love for us in this: While we were still
sinners, Christ died for us”
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He
gave His only Son, that whoever believes in
Him should not perish but have eternal
life.”
John 14:6-7, “Jesus said to
him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the
life. No one comes to the Father except
through me. If you had known me, you would
have known my Father also. From now on you
do know him and have seen him.’”
Ephesians 2:8-9, “For
by grace you have been saved through faith.
And this is not your own doing; it is the
gift of God, not a result of works, so that
no one may boast.”
John 1:12-13, “But to all who did
receive Him, who believed in His name, He
gave the right to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood nor of the will
of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of
God.”
2 Corinthians 5:18-21, “All
this is from God, who through Christ
reconciled us to himself and gave us the
ministry of reconciliation; that is, in
Christ God was reconciling the world to
himself, not counting their trespasses
against them, and entrusting to us the
message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are
ambassadors for Christ, God making his
appeal through us. We implore you on behalf
of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our
sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin,
so that in him we might become the
righteousness of God.”
Jesus Christ
fulfilled the Law’s requirement to be
perfect so that we could have eternal life.
Romans 8:1-4, "There
is therefore now no condemnation for those
who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the
Spirit of life has set you free in Christ
Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God
has done what the law, weakened by the
flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,
he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that
the righteous requirement of the law might
be fulfilled in us, who walk not according
to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
Salvation is not achieved by human efforts but comes through God's mercy
alone when we are born again through the
power of God living inside us (Eph. 2:8-9; Rom. 8:9; 1 Cor. 6:19).
Being under
grace does not mean we are free to sin;
Christ has called us to an obedient faith.
Some people seem
to think because we are under grace we have
freedom to sin, but under the New Covenant,
sin is still sin. According to the
scriptures, if we continue to live in sin because
we are under grace, the result is death
(Romans 6:16).
Romans 6:16, “What then?
Are we to sin because we are not under law
but under grace? By no means! Do you not
know that if you present yourselves to
anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of
the one whom you obey, either of sin, which
leads to death, or of obedience, which leads
to righteousness?”
Titus 2:11-12, “For
the grace of God has appeared, bringing
salvation for all people, training us to
renounce ungodliness and worldly passions,
and to live self-controlled, upright, and
godly lives in the present age,”
Galatians 5:16-18, “But I say, walk by the
Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires
of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh
are against the Spirit, and the desires of
the Spirit are against the flesh, for these
are opposed to each other, to keep you from
doing the things you want to do. But if you
are led by the Spirit, you are not under the
law.”
1 Peter 1:13-15,
“Therefore, preparing your minds for action,
and being sober-minded, set your hope fully
on the grace that will be brought to you at
the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient
children, do not be conformed to the
passions of your former ignorance, but as he
who called you is holy, you also be holy in
all your conduct,”
2 Peter 3:17-18,
“You therefore, beloved, knowing this
beforehand, take care that you are not
carried away with the error of lawless
people and lose your own stability. But grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory
both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”
Christ's
righteousness is imputed to us.
The word impute means “to
credit something to the account of another”.
The moment a person is born again, the
righteousness of Christ is imputed, or given
in place of their righteousness and the
sinner’s sin is imputed to Christ’s account.
We need the righteousness of Christ imputed
to us because we have no righteousness of
our own. We are all born sinners! It is our
nature to sin and there is nothing we can do
to make ourselves right with God (Rom. 7-8). Because Christ lived a perfect life,
God can impute, or give us His
righteousness in place of our own. All we
have to do is believe in Him as Lord and Savior. Galatians 3:6
says, “just as Abraham “believed God, and it
was counted to him as righteousness.” (cf.
Rom. 4:3, 22). Without Christ’s
righteousness given in place of our own we
are still dead in our sins.
When God
looks at us, He doesn't see our failures to
keep His law, He sees Jesus Christ the
crucified one, and the perfect life He lived
for us.
Once we are
born again God begins the process of
transforming us, from the inside out.
Romans 12:1-2 says,
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of
God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this
is your spiritual act of worship. Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this
world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and
approve what God's will is—his good,
pleasing and perfect will.” (NIV).
And
Ephesians 4:24 says, “and to put on the new
self, created after the likeness of God in
true righteousness and holiness.”
Transformation of this
kind can only occur when the Holy Spirit
changes our thinking through the power of
prayer and the study of the scriptures
(Phil. 4:8). But He won’t come to live
inside of us without our invitation. As we
grow in our Christian life we should
gradually notice that our thoughts are being
changed, moment by moment into
Christlikeness as we yield our will and
desires to Him. Transformation does not
happen overnight. It is a growth process.
When we are born again our regeneration is
instantaneous, but our transformation, or
sanctification, is continuous. It is a
lifelong process were we are gradually conformed
into Christ's image as we spend time in
fellowship with Him, and pray to be
transformed by Him (2 Cor. 3:18).
Our mind is transformed through prayer
and the study of God’s Word as the Holy Spirit
molds us into Christ’s image.
We
can do nothing apart from the Holy Spirit
living His life through us! Everyone who
becomes a Christ-follower receives the Holy
Spirit into their lives (Acts 2:38; Rom. 8:5-9).
The Holy Spirit regenerates us, and
makes us into Christ's image (John 3:5-6;
Rom. 8:4), and the Holy Spirit gives us the
control we need to live the Christian life
(Rom. 8:9-11). The Holy Spirit seals us for
the day of redemption (Eph. 1:13-14; 4:30;
1 Cor. 12:13; 2 Cor. 1:21-22), and the Holy
Spirit teaches us what we need to know about
God and
salvation (John 14:26; 1 Cor. 2:12-16). And
finally, the Holy Spirit helps us to pray
when we don’t know the right thing to say or
do (Rom. 8:26).
Whenever we are
focused on keeping the law, we are focused
on ourselves and the things we can do. God
doesn’t want us to focus on keeping the Law,
He wants us to walk by the Spirit and focus on the finished work of
Jesus Christ on our behalf.
Jesus came
into this world to free us from the burden
of sin and guilt and give us the assurance
of eternal life.
John 5:24, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me has eternal
life. He does not come into judgment, but
has passed from death to life.”
John 3:36,
“Whoever believes in the Son has
[present tense] eternal life; whoever
does not obey the Son shall not see life,
but the wrath of God remains on him.”
1 John 5:11-13, “And this is the
testimony, that God gave us eternal life,
and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the
Son has life; whoever does not have the Son
of God does not have life. I write these
things to you who believe in the name of the
Son of God, that you may know that you have
eternal life.”
Remember,
God wants us to be Christ-led, not law-focused.
Philippians 1:6, “And I am sure of this,
that he who began a good work in you will
bring it to completion at the day of Jesus
Christ.”
Our salvation is
assured when the Holy Spirit takes up
residence in our lives, not when we strive
to do good or keep the commandments
perfectly. To live by grace alone is to
live by the merits of Jesus Christ alone,
and what he accomplished for us through the
power of His death and resurrection, not by
the good things we try to do. God wants us to have
eternal life and that life is only found in
His son.
Are you willing to put your
trust in Jesus Christ alone for your
salvation?
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