Law and Grace

When criticising the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law, Jesus said these words.

You have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faith (Matt 23:23).

We all understand that the law dealt with justice. But Jesus is clear that mercy and faith are also important aspects of the law. The Pharisees and Teachers of the Law had missed this truth.

If we read God’s law in Exodus and Deuteronomy and see only justice, and miss the faith and mercy that Jesus saw, we are reading it like the Pharisees. We need to read the law like Jesus, so that we see the mercy and faith, as well as the justice.

More at Law and Grace.

Covenant (15) Purpose 5: Living in Grace

All that was needed to get the Mosaic covenant blessings was to choose God and reject all other gods (most were represented by idols). The first two commandments covered this. The Israelites did not have to be good, to get the blessings of the old covenant, because the sacrifices dealt with their sins. (The priest offered the sacrifices, but they did not need to work, so it was receive/do for them too). The Israelites needed faith because the sin was out of proportion to the sacrifice. This is the same means as under the new covenant. We have to choose Jesus and have faith in what he has done for us. Therefore, both covenants are receive/ choose/trust.

The do/receive approach to the Old Covenant makes God seem illogical. If his ultimate purpose is receive/do through Jesus, it would be stupid to make his people operate under do/receive for 1000 years. If they continued under do/receive after Jesus, it would be his fault because he had made them practice do/receive for so long.

The truth is that the old covenant is receive/do. It was sinful people like the Pharisees (and Joshua), who turned it into do/receive. That is why Jesus was so hostile to them. Of course, humans slip naturally into do/receive, so the OT people often did, just as Christians do today. That is the fault of the old man, not the old covenant. The old covenant was actually given to train the people to walk in receive/do, ready for when the big receive came with Jesus.

God would never set up a situation where people get blessings by works, rather than grace, because it would be guaranteed to bring out the worst in human nature. Sin came into the world because Adam and Eve wanted to decide and do for themselves. That is the motive of the old man. God would never set up a system that reinforced this kind of behaviour. He is a God of grace, so all his covenants are covenants of grace. He has no place for a covenant of works, because works always strengthen the old man and sin.

Covenant (4) Symbols

Every covenant has symbols. The covenant with Moses had the ark of the covenant. The new covenant has the cross. The covenant with Adam had two trees in the centre of the garden as permanent reminders of the covenant.

In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:9).

The two trees represented a choice between two options. God had made humans free. Because he is gracious and loving, it makes sense to follow him, but they always have the choice to reject him.

The best option was to stick with God. This option was represented by the tree of life. Adam and Eve were free to eat from the tree of life, but the fruit itself did not make any difference, because God had already given them life. They had received life when God had breathed on them when they were created.

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being (Gen 2:7).

Adam and Eve did not have to do anything to earn life. They did not need to eat from the tree of life to get it. God had already them life as a gift. The tree was a reminder of what God had already given them, just as the cross is a reminder of the salvation we have received through Jesus.

Covenant (3) Spiritual Protection

The covenant with Adam contains just one condition. It was needed because humans were given authority over their own lives, which left them free to make choices. Some of the angels had rebelled against God, so powers of evil were at work in the spiritual world, making it a dangerous place. Adam and Eve would have to be careful about their choices, or they could end up in trouble. God have given them the world, but they would have to be loyal to him to remain those blessings.

Every covenant contains a risk. The new covenant promised full salvation. We receive that as a free gift, because we cannot earn it. However, to receive the blessings of his salvation, we have to choose to follow Jesus, because it is only available in him. However, if we choose to reject him, we can lose our salvation.

The covenant with Adam carried a similar risk. God gave the earth to humans as a free gift. They could do nothing to earn it, but the only way they could enjoy this blessing was to follow God. They must avoid all contact with Satan and his powers of evil. This is the reason for the warning to avoid all contact with evil (Gen 2:17). This requirement was there for their protection.

All that the first humans had to do to keep the blessing of the covenant was to remain close to the Holy Spirit. This was essential for their protection. They were living in a dangerous world, where the spiritual powers of evil were at work to deceive and destroy. The only safe place was close to the Spirit of God. If the moved towards Satan or his representatives, the Holy Spirit would have to move away from them, because he is holy and cannot be close to evil. The humans would be left on their own in a contest with a powerful and deceitful enemy, so they would always lose.

Adam and Eve were not expected to be perfectly obedient. They could make many mistakes without any harm. If they picked all the fruit before it was ripe, or pruned a tree to hard, that would not matter, because God had given them abundance. The covenant was not one strike and you are out as many Christians suggest. It was not even three strikes and you are out. It was a warning not to wander out of bounds into danger, because it would be almost impossible to get back in.

Covenant (2) Adam

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. When he had created humans, he established a covenant that gave them authority over everything that lived on the earth. The first part of this covenant was recorded in Genesis 1.

I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds in the sky and all the creatures that move along the ground—everything that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food (Gen 1:29-30).

God gave humans authority over everything living on the earth. This gift of the earth was unconditional and without recourse. The covenant was pure grace. No conditions were included. Adam and Eve did not have to earn authority on earth.

The covenant with Adam was a covenant of grace not a covenant of works. Adam and Eve were given the blessing of the earth, before God made the covenant. They had done nothing to earn it, and they could do nothing in the future to earn it. The covenant did not contain any guidelines about the nature of righteousness. God did not give a set of rules that humans must comply with. The only requirement he placed on humans was that they keep close to him. That was essential, because he was the source of the blessing of the covenant, but it did not earn them anything.

The covenant did not specify a standard of righteousness that humans should be tested against. Instead, he gave a relationship with the Holy Spirit. They did not have to keep a set of rules to maintain that relationship. As with any relationship, all they had to do was avoid grieving the other person. This was a covenant of mutual love, not a covenant of works.

Grace to Works

The incarnation of Jesus is a wonderful gift from God to man.

I do not know the history of Christmas gift giving, but I am willing to concede that it began as a way of celebrating God gracious gift.

Unfortunately, celebrating the things that God has done, by doing what he has done can become a slippery slope, where we end up trying to be god. The best way to celebrate God’s grace is to graciously receive it.

Humans have an amazing ability to turn God’s grace in human works.

That seems to have happened with Christmas gift giving. Peer pressure and television advertising has turned Christmas giving into a massive obligation. Poor people feel obliged to buy lavish gifts that they cannot afford for their children, family and friends. Christmas adds to the burden of poverty.

For those who have plenty, Christmas giving becomes a time consuming chore that removes peace and robs us of the time to think about what Jesus has done.

This world does not need more giving as a twisted response to grace. It needs more receiving of what God has given.

It also needs more Zacchaeus giving that transfers unrighteous wealth from the rich to the poor.

Grace v Law

I get frequent emails from Christians stating the importance of grace and pointing out the dangers of legalism. Most are good stuff, but what worries me is that some slip over into an attack on law itself. Some mildly mock God’s law, but the worst scoff at it.

I can understand why advocates of grace attack religion and legalism, but I am puzzled about why they switch to attacking God’s law. The approach contrasts with Psalm 119, which extols the virtues of God’s law. Likewise, Paul says that the law is holy, righteous and good (Rom 7:12) and spiritual (Rom 7:14).

Law is important for the functioning of society. If someone burgles their house or steals their car, most people expect the perpetrator to be brought to justice. If a baby is murdered, most people expect action to be taken.

The irony is that when it comes to the functioning of society, most Christians prefer man-made law to God’s law. I find this odd. We seem to have arrived at a situation where most Christians hate God’s law. Part of the reason is that advocates of grace tend to attack it, to make a point about legalism.

My response is this. Go for it against legalism and religion, but be careful about attacking God’s law to defend God's grace.

Grace or Works

Celebrating Christmas has become hard work
Presents to buy
Meals to prepare
Then after Christmas
More work to pay for it all.
Christmas is about grace.
Why is celebrating God’s grace
such hard work?