God's Law and Grace Together - Part 2

Matthew 5:16-17 - ok with this verse some people think God came to fulfill the law which means he came to do away with it. This isn't what the verse says or teaches. Ok for example suppose that the word "fulfill" means to do away with. Would that make sense if you re-read the verse? No it wouldn't. It would make Jesus contradict himself. Ok no read Matthew 3:15 - Does fulfill mean to do away with all righteousness? No of course not....so why would it mean to do away with in Matthew 5:16-17. Remember the Bible never contradicts itself. Remember let the Bible interpret itself and you will be ok. Jesus came to magnify the law the whole time he was on earth. We can only obey the 10 commandments after he saves us, not before.

Here is another awesome example.....does Jesus say to the Israelites in Egypt keep my law and I will get you out of Egypt? Or was the first step to sacrifice a lamb? Then they began a long journey out, then they crossed the red sea, ect, ect. Then they were labeled FREE.....then after that Jesus gives them bread from heaven and water from a rock all just to show that he loves them. Then after that he brings them to mt. Sinai and gives them the 10 commandments as you will read in Exodus 20:1 and so forth. They keep the law AFTER THEY WERE SAVED…..this is key to understand and see. God brought them to the wilderness to teach them to obey. THEN he took them to the promise land the rest of the way. Now those who heard the Will of God and still refused to obey....did they make it to the promised land? No they did not. There bodies dropped in the wilderness before they got to the promise land. Re-read the story if you doubt.

You are not saved by keeping the law, but not going to heaven deliberately breaking it either. I hope you take the time to study this and more about God's law, his Grace, his love, and his character....and how they all go together to paint the true picture of what God is like and what he wants from his children so we can be the happiest people in this life and to also accept the free gift of eternal life.

Questions….So we are not saved by keeping the law, but not going to heaven deliberately breaking it either. Why? Well it's because we could not be trusted in heaven in this state. Remember did Satan break God's law? Yes he did? He started sin. If Satan was casted out for sinning we are not going into heaven that way. Jesus only wants us in heaven if we can be trusted and want to be in heaven of our own free will. Not just to get there because we don't want to die when Jesus comes back. There is no cutting corners with this. Thats why Jesus has to transform us to get us into a state to be ready to go to heaven. That’s what this whole life is about for us here on earth. To get ourselves and as many others ready for heaven as possible during our lives here and now. But we can only do that by accepting Jesus, understanding who he is, why he died for us, why his law protects us, and that we have each as individuals want to do good by him not only through faith but obeying because he is creator and knows all things. That’s why he gave us the Bible. It's an instruction book on how we should live. We need to become more and more like Christ in character. To understand that we are saved only through grace and faith in Jesus, but Jesus also states that we will be judged by our works and how we live and that if we truly love him we will obey his commandments as a joy, not a burden.

We can not be saved by keeping the law....if we could then Jesus didn't need to die. But that's the only way we can be saved, through his sacrifice. Ok you have heard this before "We are not under the law, but under Grace right? some people interrupt that to mean, not being under the law means we are free to disobey. No of course not. Did Jesus save us so we can sin? Or did he save us from sin? Ok here is a question....can the devil temp us to sin and get us to break God's law? Yes of course. Well God can free us from that sin right? Well some people believe that we can't keep God's commandments because the devil can temp us to sin, but God can't keep us from sin. Think about that? That means that those people are saying that there devil is bigger then there God!! I mean there are a lot of people who believe that and they will say well we are all human, and they will say well who's perfect? But what I'm saying is that the 10 Commandments/Law of God is a perfect standard. If we keep lowing the standard to what everybody else is doing then it just keeps going down and down and down. That’s what’s happening in the world and mostly in this country which is sad.  People today are being told that in order to reach more people for the church, the church has to lower the standard of the world to make it easier for the world to get into the church. God in his Bible is saying no, you’re supposed to bring the world up to where God is. As soon as we stop talking about the law of God then church just becomes pot lucks and social activities. It then doesn't talk about salvation from sin and victory and new life. That’s the danger from getting away from God’s law in church. Remember Hebrews 8:10….I will put my law in there minds and write them in there hearts or Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through Christ which strengthen me. When God’s law is in the heart….that is the new covenant  Jeremiah 31:31. The new covenant is in the old testament. The new covenant is I will write my laws in there hearts and cause them to walk in my statures.  The old covenant is the law written on stone. Jesus says I will make a new covenant and write my laws in there minds and hearts. So the question here would be…..how does God get his law in our hearts?  Well love has a transforming power. When you fall in love with somebody you want to please them right? You would do anything you could to make them happy right? The 10 commandments are summed up in, love your God and love your neighbor. The way you demonstrate love for God is through the first 4 commandments. The way you demonstrate love for your neighbor is through the last 6 commandments. Love is the fulfilling of the law. Question…..if you had kids would you kill your child? No, and why wouldn't you kill your child….well because there is a law that says you will go to jail if you do right? Is that why you don’t kill your child? I mean some people do it in spite of the law. Most people like you and I don’t even consider the law (even though there is a law that says you can’t kill) because we would love our child so much that we don’t even think about it. My point is that when you really love Jesus, then keeping all of his commandments and laws are automatic. Didn't Jesus die so that we are no longer under the law but under grace? Doesn't grace mean that we no longer obey? No.  Under grace means that you are no longer under the penalty of the law. When you come to Jesus you are under the penalty of the law, the penalty is sin. When you accept Jesus you are no longer under the death penalty. Your now standing on the law which is your foundation….your under grace. Do we then make void the law through faith, no God forbid Romans 3:31. When somebody is under grace they are more careful then anybody to obey God’s law because they are a new creature now.

Jesus died on the cross to wipe away our sins which gave us a second chance at life. He gave us a second chance to choose Jesus, become transformed in mind, heart, and character so we are ready for heaven and can be in heaven. This will always be true my friend. Like I stated before in my post, we can’t be saved by keeping the 10 commandments by itself. Not any of them, not keep no other God’s before me, not don’t kill, not even keeping the Sabbath day which I think is the most important commandment. There is a HUGE difference in keeping the commandments to be saved vs keeping the commandments BECAUSE WE ARE SAVED and WE LOVE JESUS ENOUGH THAT WE WANT TO OBEY HIM. You will never understand God’s principles, laws, or how he wants us to live unless you come to love Jesus and have a personal relationship with him all on your own. Nobody else can do it for you. It has to start with Jesus then the rest will come in time. So remember grace will always be enough to save us, but it doesn't give us a license to sin or to not obey God’s law and it sure doesn't erase God’s law from existence. You shouldn't be keeping God’s law out of fear either or just to not get God’s wrath in the final judgment. God doesn't want that at all. God’s law wasn't meant to make us miserable or to put fear in us that we have to keep it. God set up his law because he loves us, wants to protect us, and wants us to obey because we love him. His law keeps us safe from harm. Without God’s law we wouldn't need a savior, that’s why Satan is attacking it so hard, and has been since the beginning of time like I already stated. As far as intentional sin goes vs accidental sin…..the Bible is clear that there is no level of sin. If you kill somebody and I lie or steal my sin is just as great. No matter how big or how small the sin is….sin is sin. Ezekiel 18:4 says that the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Romans 6:23, for the wages of sin is death, ect, ect. There are plenty of verses on no levels of sin.