GRACE AND THE LAW An Introduction QUESTION: What does God want from me? IT CAN BE VERY CONFUSING Judism lists 613 mitzvot (commandments) - based primarily on the list compiled by Maimonides (RaMBaM = Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon) in the Mishneh Torah. NOTE: Maimonides is the Greek form of the son of Maimon. He was a 12 th century Jewish philosopher and physician. He was one of the towering figures in the history of the Jewish people. NOTE: Briefly, the Mishneh Torah is a commentary on the Torah (the books of Moses) in 14 volumes, written by Maimonides. LET S LOOK AT A FEW OF THOSE COMMANDMENTS Leviticus 7:22 And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23 "Speak to the children of Israel, saying:`you shall not eat any fat, of ox or sheep or goat. 24 `And the fat of an animal that dies naturally, and the fat of what is torn by wild beasts, may be used in any other way; but you shall by no means eat it. 25 `For whoever eats the fat of the animal of which men offer an offering made by fire to the LORD, the person who eats it shall be cut off from his people. 26 `Moreover you shall not eat any blood in any of your dwellings, whether of bird or beast. 27 `Whoever eats any blood, that person shall be cut off from his people.'" NKJ Deuteronomy 8:10 Recite grace AFTER meals. Leviticus 15:19 If a woman has a discharge, and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days; and whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening. 20 `Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean; also everything that she sits on shall be unclean. 21 `Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 22 `And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 23 `If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening. 24 `And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days; and every bed on which he lies shall be unclean. That requirement would definitely put a crimp in any career aspirations for a woman!
Leviticus 19:13 The wages of him who is hired shall not remain with you all night until morning. You must pay your workers at the end of each day of work. Leviticus 19:19 Nor shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you. Deutronomy 20:16 Not to keep alive any individual of the seven Canaanite nations. Leviticus 19:27 You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard. Leviticus 24:19-20 If a man causes disfigurement of his neighbor, as he has done, so shall it be done to him-- 20 `fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; as he has caused disfigurement of a man, so shall it be done to him. Deuteronomy 25:5 The brother of a man who dies childless, is to marry his brother s widow and produce an heir for his brother. Leviticus 22:24 Not to castrate the male of ANY species; neither a man, nor a domestic or wild beast, nor a fowl. Anyone have male pets? NOTE: The animal could not be offered as a sacrifice. It would have been cruelty without anesthesia. Deuteronomy 22:28-29 The violator (of an unbetrothed virgin) shall marry her, and may not divorce her. NOTE: The man who violates a betrothed virgin will be stoned to death, along with the woman (unless they live in the country - in which case the woman will not be stoned). If they live in the city then the woman will be stoned along with the man if she did not cry out for help. Ladies - How would you feel about marrying your rapist?? These are not man-made laws. These laws were spoken to Moses by Yahweh Himself. Do they apply to us? You can see why things get fuzzy. This will sound like a mantra with me - but - We must always look back to the model, to Israel and to the Laws commanded by God. Can we sort it out?? First you must decide if you believe that God is. That will require you study science, history and Bible prophecy. If you don t know where to start - try the books and videos by Lee Stroble: The Case for A Creator, The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith.
Once you have decided that GOD is - then do a comparative religions course. You will find there are 100s of denominations of Christianity. HOW can the individual find what is truth amidst so many opinions. My own decision was to search for that truth - in the Word of God - Old Testament and Apostolic Writings. Yes - I read the opinions of others (many others) - but I always come back to the Word with prayer and I claim the promises: Psalm 51:6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. John 14:17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. John 8:32 "And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." A SHORT SUMMARY The LORD revealed three things to the world thru Israel. 1. The Covenant - As Ten Commandments I know someone is thinking, Well, in the Kingdom we don t have to worry about that adultery commandment, because there will be no marriage. Wrong! Israel will be married to Yeshua. Adultery would then be to worship or serve one other than Yeshua Messiah. Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. Leviticus 19:18 `You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. Matthew 22:35 Then one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, 36 "Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?" 37 Jesus said to him, "`You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind1.' 38 "This is the first and great commandment. 39 "And the second is like it:`you shall love your neighbor as yourself1.' 40 "On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." Galatians 5:14 [Paul wrote] For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Micah 6:8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? NOTE: If we could sit down with Yeshua, I am sure that He could explain every one of those commands that He gave thru Moses. Every one of them would be something that was fair, or was beneficial, was healthful or identified Israel as the Special People of God (something that set them apart from idol worshiping nations). 2. The Plan - In Seven Feasts of the LORD These will be celebrated in the Kingdom of Messiah. 3. The Remedy - for breaking Covenant - as the Sacrificial system thru the Aaronic Priesthood. The Plan and the Remedy overlap. The Remedy WAS the key component of the Plan. Yeshua Messiah was sacrificed at Passover (One of the Feasts). #1 The COVENANT is everlasting. #2 The PLAN will NOT change. Part of the PLAN is already completed - Jesus Christ was offered as the One true Sacrifice for all sin, for all time, AND He is now our High Priest before God in Heaven. He poured out His Spirit on the Pentecost which followed His Sacrifice AND His consecration as High Priest. He began to write the LAW on our hearts. #3 - The REMEDY bought us GRACE. What is grace? A grace period is a period during which there is no penalty or payment. Everlasting - unending grace - would mean no penalty, or payment - forever! The penalty is death - for sin. 1 John 3:4 Sin is the transgression of the law. OR Sin is lawlessness. Romans 6:23 The wages of sin is death [eternal death]. Titus 3:7 that having been justified (set right) by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
QUESTION: Does the New Testament invalidate the Torah? Does it say that The wages of sin is NOT death? - That God has somehow changed His mind. John 1:14 Jesus was full of grace and truth. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. We know what truth means, but what about grace. The opposite of truth is lies/falsehoods. What is the opposite of grace? I would say - death is the opposite of God s grace. John 1:16 And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. ESV Isaiah 26:10 Let grace be shown to the wicked, Yet he will not learn righteousness; In the land of uprightness he will deal unjustly, And will not behold the majesty of the LORD. We understand this one a little better. A wicked man will just continue to be wicked - if his life is prolonged. Here - grace seems to mean - NO punishment. But isn t grace something more than just forestalling punishment? Paul opened almost every letter with the greeting Grace to you and Peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter admonished all to grow in grace (2 Peter 3:18). Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. It seems that grace is not simply a delay of punishment. It is something given NOW, which sustains, strengthens, enlightens, or empowers. Is grace the Spirit of God? Jesus would have been full of the Spirit of His Father. And we grow as we experience this connection with the mind of Christ. 2 Corinthians 12:9 And He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.
Romans 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: Ephesians 2:7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. NIV Grace it seems is much more than simply a waiver or delay of punishment. Grace is expressed in God s kindness to us. It is everything we will experience from HIM throughout eternity. AND NOW WE COME BACK TO THE LAW What place has the Law? Galatians 5:4 You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. It is no longer understood to be a gift - if you can earn it. Romans 4:4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. (ESV) NOTE: The key here is the impossibility of perfect Law Keeping - without grace - the perfect infilling of the Spirit of God. And now you know HOW Jesus did it. He was full of grace. Romans 1:5 Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, We received grace FOR obedience. Wow! This is definitely the power of God in the life. And the result is obedience. WHAT ABOUT THE LAW? Romans 6:15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! And what was sin? - Sin is the transgression of the Law. Romans 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
ROMANS 2:12-13 For not the hearers of the LAW are justified, but the doers of the LAW shall be justified. ROMANS 7:14 The LAW is spiritual. I agree with the LAW that it is good. PAUL S STATEMENTS ABOUT THE LAW TWO LISTS 1. Law keeping as a means to salvation: Absolutely NOT! 2. Law keeping through the in-filling of the Spirit of Christ - YES! Thank You God! #1 salvation is earned - because you kept the LAW by your own power. (Doesn t happen!) The closest you could come - would be hypocrisy! Pretend obedience. Because God only recognizes true willing heart obedience - Actually loving your neighbor as much as yourself. (Something none of us can do - unless Jesus does it in us.) Most of what HE gets - is just buying fire insurance - just trying to avoid punishment, or gain the great mansion. #2 salvation is then a gift - because you kept the Law thru His power. HAVE YOU NOTICED HOW MANY FOUND GRACE DURING THE OLD TESTAMENT PERIOD? But how was that possible - Yeshua had not yet died for sin? Answer: The LORD was able to extend His spirit and His favor to faithful servants during the Old Testament period, because of what He had promised to do. The lamb sacrifice - acted out every morning and evening - said, I have promised. Genesis 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. Exodus 33:16-17 For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth. So the LORD said to Moses, "I will also do this thing that you have spoken; for you have found grace in My sight, and I know you by name. Ezra 9:8 And now for a little while grace has been shown from the LORD our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage.
Psalm 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield; The LORD will give grace and glory; No good thing will He withhold From those who walk uprightly. GRACE - The most often used definition is favor. But that word is so inadequate to describe the grace of Our Father in Heaven. His grace fills and empowers. It humbles and enlightens, and yes - forgives. But does it mean that we don t have to keep THE LAW in order to be saved? What about all of those strange requirements? Are there some parts of the LAW that are no longer required of us today? We will continue our exploration next week. Shalom Blessings Grace to you and Peace.