Grace versus law

1. There are 2 ways in which we know God’s standard. The Law and Conscience. Conscience is made up of 2 Latin words. con=with  science=knowledge. In other words every human has the Law written in their hearts. We do not learn this, we are born with this knowledge. The written Law explains what is already in our hearts, unless we have seared our conscience through excessive sin. On the other-hand, the Gospel is the power of Salvation unto all who believe.
2. In addition to the law, the Holy Spirit convicts all men of sin, righteousness and judgement.
3. The written Law was specifically given to Israel/Jewish people. The Law is God’s standard for righteousness and God used his people as a witness of himself. They were set apart from the Gentiles.
4. No man can keep the whole Law, (letter of the law).
5. Men should try and keep the spirit of the law. i.e., Love God with all our heart, soul and mind. And love our fellow man as we love ourselves. So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. Romans
   13:8-10
6. Jesus said that the Pharasees held Moses seat, but he said to do as they say, not as they do. In other words they followed the letter of the law, but neglected the spirit of the law. Jesus said that our righteousness has to exceed that of the Pharisees if we want to enter the Kingdom of God. What they were missing was the spirit of the Law which encompasses justice, mercy and love.
7. Jesus fulfilled the letter of the Law for us. The law required death for sin and Jesus took our sin and consequently our death too. We are expected to live by the spirit of the law. i.e., to love God and Man. That is our only obligation or debt. So the Spirit of the Law is about grace and mercy.
8. Grace is greater than the Law. It supersedes it like aerodynamics overcomes the effect of gravity.
9. The Law still stands until this world passes away, because the Law is made for the sinner, not the righteous. Similarly, gravity still exists even though a plane can fly using the law of aerodynamics. Aerodynamics supersedes gravity, it doesn’t nullify it.
10. Unlike the Law, Satan doesn’t understand Grace. Satan is  legalistic and points out to God all our transgressions.
11. If Satan and those of him knew about Grace, they wouldn’t have crucified The Lord Jesus Christ.
12. Angels are not the recipients of grace. They can only understand grace by observing God’s work in our lives. God’s wisdom is playing out in the lives of the redeemed, and Angels long to inquire into such things.
13. The law condemns man, but the Devil is being defeated (in the battle for the souls of man) by grace and not the Law. Grace is part of a wisdom that was hidden. It is older than creation itself. Therefore Angels didn’t know of it, but observe it through us.
14. John the Baptist was the greatest man born of a woman, yet those in the Kingdom are greater than him. John was under the Law, we are under Grace. We live in a superior covenant. The Old covenant was but a shadow of the new covenant. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
15. Certain Pharisees who had become believers insisted that believers became circumcised in order to obey the Law of Moses to gain salvation. The Apostles had a meeting and concluded by judgement and what they thought was good in the Spirit and offered the following good ADVICE:  “We should not make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God. Instead we should write to them, telling them to abstain from food polluted by idols, from sexual immorality, from the meat of strangled animals and from blood.”
16. Certain believers eat meat and others do not. Some consider one day holy and others consider all days holy. But all do it to please God and this is good in the eyes of God. We shouldn’t look down on believers that are different to us and have different convictions.
17. Gentiles are children of Abraham by faith. God’s natural sons, the Jews were/are under the written Law. However we should not let Grace be an excuse for sin. The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.
18. We should not use grace as an excuse to sin. If we do, then sin becomes our master and if so, we are then under the Law and it’s consequences come back into effect, until we repent and grace supersedes the Law. The Law makes sin our master, but Christ frees us from that curse.
19. We shouldn’t set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”
20. If we are trying to be justified by law, then we alienate ourselves from Christ and grace. In other words if we try to live by the Letter of the Law, we are not recognising the death of Christ that redeemed us from the curse of the law. We are required to live by the Spirit of the Law which is love. Love is our only true debt.

Discussion