The Law Compared To Grace (Old Covenant Law vs New Covenant Grace)

 

The greatest need among believers today is understanding of the Gospel of Grace in Christ. God has established a New Covenant of grace through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. It is a finished work, and it needs no improvement from us. Jesus Christ does not need us to supplement what He accomplished on the cross. However, because of a lack of understanding, many (if not most) Christians are not enjoying the tremendous benefits of the "abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness" (Romans 5:17) which has been freely bestowed by God upon all of mankind. Many believers today are living as Old Covenant saints under this New Covenant. The New Covenant is a covenant of grace, and it stands in contrast to the Old Covenant of law. "The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

 

To gain an understanding of what the grace of God is, we must see it in the contrast and difference with the Old Testament Law that was given to the children of Israel by Moses. We must gain the understanding of what the Law is, what is was for, and to see if it still applies to us in this new agreement of grace by Jesus Christ.

Much, if not most, of "Christianity" today is mixing Old Testament Law with New Covenant Grace and this is a mixture that will never produce power. Only the Gospel is the POWER of God (Romans 1:16) and the gospel of Christ is the gospel of Grace (Galatians 1:6-7, Acts 20:24) . Today, the church is saying, "Now, if you pray, fast every so often, go to church regularly, read your Bible, tithe, and then if you believe in Jesus, and you will be accepted in God's sight, then you can start to see answers to your prayers." Friends, I am here to tell you that is a perversion of the Gospel. If observance of these things were encouraged but not required, it would be good and well pleasing to God and as a matter of fact we should do those things. However, when these things become mandatory to receive righteousness and to make us believe we have pleased God, it perverts the whole truth of what the Gospel is really about and makes Christ's death in vain and of no power. (Galatians 2:21).

What is The Law? The Law is the do’s and don'ts of moral behavior.  God gave the Law so that people would have a guide to live by and a standard by which they might recognize God’s purity and their sinfulness.  The Law was more than just the Ten Commandments. There are 613 commandments in the Old Testament.  They oversee moral, judicial, and religious behavior. The Law is a reflection of the character of God, because the Law comes forth from the very heart of God.  The Bible says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matthew 12:34). When God gave the Law, He was speaking out of the abundance of His heart.  He was speaking from what was in Him.

Therefore, the Law is good, pure, right, and holy.  It is wrong to lie, because it is against God’s nature to lie.  It is wrong to steal because it is against God’s nature to steal.
This Law, then, by its very nature of coming out of the heart of God, and being spoken to men, is a standard for human conduct, a perfect standard. Because it was perfect, and we are not, it is impossible for sinful people to keep this perfect holy standard.  It was for this reason that the Law became an obstacle to Man because it is an unattainable perfect standard.

The Law, then, brings about the opposite of what it requires.  The Law says to be perfect, but shows you where you are not.  It says to be holy, but condemns you when you are not.  Since it is not possible for us to keep the Law and therefore earn our position with God, we then need the holiness of God given to us -- because there simply isn’t any way for us to attain to the standard of God. Therefore, "...the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith," (Galatians 3:24).  That is, the Law shows us that we can’t be justified to God by our self-effort.  What is the solution? We need the grace of God in Christ Jesus manifested in His sacrifice.
In a general sense, the law was given to provide a standard of righteousness (Deuteronomy 4:8; Psalm 19:7-9). In the process, the Mosaic Law revealed the righteousness, holiness, and goodness of God (Deuteronomy 4:8; Leviticus 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7; Romans 7:12-14). The Law at Sinai was given to Israel to reveal who God is and to shed light on the reality of an infinite gulf that separates God from man, the gulf between God’s perfect holiness and man’s sinfulness. And this is exactly what the Law is doing today.

The Law was not given to correct people and make them live holy lives, rather it was given to identify sin and reveal man’s sin and their spiritual bankrupt condition as guilty before God (Romans 3:19-23; 7:7-8; 5:20 (NLT) ; Galatians 3:19). God’s Holy Law reveals to man just who and what man is—sinful and separated from God by an infinite gulf that man is unable to bridge in his own human strength. Works of the law has always been man’s attempt to be accepted and blessed by God. The means of salvation and being acceptable and blessed by God is through faith in Jesus, not through our own moral goodness. The law in and of itself NEVER justified anyone. The works of the law could never and will never make anyone righteous in God’s sight. No works of self-effort we can do will make us acceptable to God. (Romans 3:20; Galatians 2:16; Galatians 3:21) We have been ONLY been made right with God by our faith in Jesus, independent and altogether apart from any works that we could perform. (Romans 3:28)

The law didn’t exist to make us better and make us perfect but to show us how helpless we are so that we will run to Jesus. (Galatians 3:24; Acts 13:38-39; Hebrews 7:19) The Law was given to shut man up to faith, to exclude the works of the Law (or any system of works) as a system of merit for either salvation or sanctification and thereby would lead him to Christ as the only means of righteousness (Galatians 3:19-24; 1 Timothy 1:8-9; Romans 3:21-24). The ceremonial portion of the Law did this by pointing to the coming of a suffering Savior, “for without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness” (Hebrews 9:22).

Today, the law serves as a “schoolmaster” for unbelievers; it is NOT for those who have received Jesus. The law’s purpose today is a tool for the unbelievers to see their need of a savior, to see that there is NO WAY they will be able to be right with God by their own doings. The Law is still tutoring unsaved people to get them to a point of understanding, through their guilt and shame, that they need a Savior. (Galatians 3:24-26; 1 Timothy 1:8-11)

For those who think they can keep part of the law and ignore the parts they don't like, no chance. The law is an all or nothing proposition. If anyone invests in the old ways of the law and trying to live by your self-efforts to be pleasing to God, they are obligated to obey the WHOLE law, which will be humanly impossible. When you decide to keep living by the law’s demands, and each time you fall short, you bring yourself under the curse and you are doomed to disappointment and failure (Galatians 3:10,12, 5:3; James 2:8-11)

Many in the past and there are many even so today, have looked to the law for the hopes of salvation, but in the end, it brought then and today it still brings condemnation and death. Even though the Old Covenant of the law was glorious, it was nothing compared to the glory of this new covenant of grace. (2 Corinthians 3:5-18). But, the law was a shadow, or a picture of the Jesus that was to come. The law was designed to lead up to Jesus Christ. (Colossians 2:16, Galatians 3:19 (Living Bible); Hebrews 10:1)

The Mosaic Law is holy, good, and spiritual (Romans 7:12, 14). But, the Mosaic Law is weak because it is dependent on man’s ability to keep it perfectly. It is especially weak when adopted as a system of merit before God (Romans 8:3). It was, however, only temporary as the book of Hebrews so clearly teaches. As such, the Mosaic Law was designed to maintain a proper relationship between God and His people Israel (blessing versus cursing), but only until the coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ, and the establishment of a New Covenant. God never intended for The Law to be a way of life. The Law was never designed to be a permanent rule of life. It was merely a tutor or guardian to guide Israel in all areas of her life until Christ came. (2 Corinthians 3:7, 11; Galatians 3:23-24; Romans 10:4).

The book of Hebrews demonstrates that the old covenant of the Mosaic Law was only temporary and has been replaced by the coming of Christ whose ministry is based on (1) A better priesthood, one after the order of Melchizedek which is superior to Aaron’s, priesthood and (2) a better covenant with better promises (Hebrews 8:6, Hebrews 7-10). The old covenant was only a shadow of heavenly things, and if it had been able to make men perfect before God there would have been no occasion for a second or new covenant (see Hebrews 7:11-12; 8:1-13). This change in the priesthood also necessitates a change in the Law. Such a change shows the Law has been terminated or done away (Hebrews 8:13).

Although the Law was holy, righteous and good, it had some very severe limitations. When approached as a system of merit, to gain salvation, right standing and the blessings of God, the Law CANNOT justify ANYONE (Galatians 2:16), the Law CANNOT give life (Galatians 3:21), the Law CANNOT give the Holy Spirit (Galatians 3:2, 14), the Law CANNOT sanctify ANYONE (Galatians 3:21; 5:5; Romans 8:3), the Law CANNOT make ANYONE at ANYTIME perfect, nor can the Law permanently deal with sin (Hebrews 7:19). It was designed to be a temporary guardian until the coming of Christ, the Suffering Messiah, the Savior.

People often try to use the Law as a means of establishing their own right standing before God. But Scripture emphatically teaches us that the Law brings a curse (Galatians 3:10-12), brings death, it is a killer (2 Corinthians 3:6-7; Romans 7:9-10), brings condemnation (2 Corinthians 3:9), makes offenses abound (Romans 5:10; 7:7-13), declares all men guilty (Romans 3:19), and holds men in bondage to sin and death (Galatians 4:3-5, 9, 24; Romans 7:10-14). This is because man in his sinful state can never fulfill the righteousness of the Law, especially in the spirit of the Law. He always falls short as Romans 3:23 tells us, and becomes condemned or guilty before a Holy God  (Romans 3:19)
One of the most profound emphases of the New Testament, especially the epistles of Paul, is that Christians are no longer under the rule of the Old Covenant and the Mosaic Law, but we are now under the New Covenant of grace. (Romans 6:14; 7:1-14; Galatians. 3:10-13, Galatians 24-25; 4:21; 5:1, 5:13; 2 Corinthians 3:7-18). The reason is because Christ perfectly fulfilled the whole Law.
Christ fulfilled the Ten Commandments by living a perfect and sinless life. Thus, when man trusts in Christ, Christ’s righteousness is imputed to that individual so that we have justification. We have Christ’s righteousness so the Law can’t condemn us (Romans 5:12-21 (NLT); Romans 8:1; 7:1-6; Romans 5:1; 4:4-8).

Christ fulfilled the ceremonial ordinances of the Law, the shadows and types of His person and work, by dying on the cross for us and in our place. This showed that God was also perfect justice and sin must be judged, but God provided His Son, the precious Lamb of God. The penalty which the Law exercised was paid. Again there is no condemnation because the believer is “in Christ” and to them there is no law (Colossians 2:13-14; Romans 3:24-25).

Christ also fulfilled the Social Law, but now He replaces it with a new way of life fitting to our new salvation. He gives provision for the inner man by the indwelling Holy Spirit who enables us to experience true sanctification so that we may experience also the righteousness of the Law (Romans 8:2-4).

Christ is the end of the Law and believers are not under the Mosaic Law. New Testament believers are not under Law but under grace (Romans 7:6; Romans 6:14). Christ is THE END of the law to all them that believes in Him. (Romans 10:4) In Christ you are now dead to the law. We have been discharged from the Law to obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit.

Since the Lord Jesus Christ fulfills the Law by His person and work, believers are under a new law; the obligation to walk by the Spirit of Life, the Holy Spirit, through faith (Romans 8:2-4). If we are led by the Spirit, then we are not under the Law (Galatians 5:18). Against such, i.e., the fruit of the Spirit, there is no law because the believer is then operating under the highest law, the standards are met as we walk by the Holy Spirit and grow in the Word (Galatians 5:22).

Paul specifically states that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes” (Romans 10:4). This instituted a new law or principle of life, i.e., the law of the Spirit, the one of liberty and grace (Romans 8:2, 13). This fact was also clearly settled by the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15.

A council was convened in the church at Jerusalem to look into the issue of the Law and its place in the life of believers because some were saying “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved,” and because even certain of the Pharisees who had believed were also saying “It is necessary to circumcise the Gentiles and to order them to observe the law of Moses.” The conclusion of the council, consisting of apostles and elders, was to reject the concept of placing New Testament believers under the yoke of the Law (Acts 15:6-11). The only thing the Jerusalem Council asked was that Gentile believers control their liberty in matters that might be offensive to Jewish believers, but they did not seek to place the believers under the yoke of the Law for they realized the Law had come to an end.

Allow me to make this point perfectly clear. This does not mean to say that we should necessarily behave in a manner just opposite to what the Mosaic law commands—that we should kill, steal, bear false witness, and so on. No, God forbid, long before the law was given through Moses, it was utterly wrong to do such evil things. The age and dispensation in which we live, the church age, has often and rightly been called the age of grace or the dispensation of grace. This is not because God’s grace has not been manifested in other ages, but because in the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ we have the ultimate manifestation of God’s grace.

So now, grace becomes an absolutely inseparable part of the believer’s life in Christ. In the coming of Christ and His death on the cross, the Mosaic Law as a rule of life for believers was terminated. The believer is now to live in the liberty and power of God’s grace by the Spirit, not by the written code, the rule of law. This new liberty in Christ and in His grace must never be used as an occasion to indulge the flesh or sinful appetites (Galatians 5:13) nor does it mean the Christian has no moral law or imperatives on his life, but simply that he or she is to live righteously by a new source of life, a life being led and directed by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:2-4). This glorious manifestation of God’s grace in Christ Jesus instructs, teaches and trains believers in how to live. This grace provides the incentive, the motive, and the means to live the way God desires for us to live. (Titus 2:11-14).
In conclusion, for the believers in Jesus, the Law has been done away with, abolished, disannulled, and we are now discharged from the Law, we are now dead to the Law and delivered and redeemed from the Law and all of its curses and failures. Since the Law has been terminated to the believer in Jesus, sin is now dead and where there is no transgression of the Law, sin cannot be imputed where there is NO LAW. We are FREE INDEED (2 Corinthians 3:7-14; Ephesians 2:14-16; Colossians 2:13-14; Romans 7:6; Romans 10:4; Hebrews 7:18; Galatians 3:13; Romans 4:15; Romans 5:13; Romans 7:8; John 8:36)