Does Grace

Replace The Law?

                                                                                                                        compiled by Rachel Cory, December 25, 2007 Last Edit: January 19, 2025

Scripture quoted from the NKJV, unless otherwise noted.

Romans 10:4 “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

      Many Christians have been taught that the Gospel of the New Testament, replaced the Law of the Old Testament. “We are now living under grace,” they say, “and it is no longer necessary to consider the Ten Commandments, or to be burdened with works of the law.”

      Were First Covenant Israelites saved in a different way, from today’s Christian believers? Will they be held to a different standard in the judgment? And if this is the case, what does this say about the character of our God? Is His justice the same for all people?

THEY WERE NOT SAVED BY WORKS.

                                                NEITHER ARE WE.

      The Jews of Christ’s day, believed there was merit in the ceremonies themselves - that they were justified before God because they performed all the “works of the law.” Christ kept pointing out their failings. They kept “the letter,” but not “the spirit,” of the Torah. And without “the spirit,” their law keeping was worthless in the sight of God.

 

And that’s not even considering the Oral Torah (of the Pharisees) which often contradicted the written Torah. Christ called it “your tradition” (Matt 15:3-6).

      Paul’s expression - “the law for righteousness,” in Romans 10:4, meant law-keeping “for” (as a means to obtain) righteousness (right standing) in the sight of God. He refutes this idea soundly.

 

Romans 3:20 “Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”

Galatians 2:16 “...for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.”

Galatians 3:11 “... that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident ...”

 

Galatians 3:21 “For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.”

      No one - not before the Cross, or since - has ever, or will ever be, “saved” by chanting a certain number of prayers, by going to church every week, by confessing to a priest, by keeping every one of the Ten Commandments, by offering sacrifices, by keeping the Ceremonial Feasts, by donating large sums of money, or by any other formula.

 

Isaiah 64:5 “All of us are like someone unclean, all our righteous deeds like menstrual rags [the most filthy thing he could think of]; we wither, all of us, like leaves; and our misdeeds blow us away like the wind.” (CJB)

      Wow! That’s what God thinks of the “righteous deeds” we do. They are all tainted by our own self interest. Yikes!

      Only if the Spirit of Christ - in us - motivates our “works,” are those actions “worthy” in the site of God. Why? Because those “works” actually came from Christ, not from us. Without Him - without the perfect love of God that flows through Him to us, our works are dead and accomplish nothing in the heavenly sense.

 

Deuteronomy 9:6 "Know therefore, that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness; for you are a stubborn people. RSV

 

Daniel 9:18 “Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.”

      God did NOT bless Abraham, Isaac, Jacob or individuals within ancient Israel because they kept the law perfectly. They received unmerited blessing (grace) because of God’s mercy! Grace was absolutely the most important part of God’s relationship with the patriarchs.

 

NOTE: We are not “saved” by good works, but we will be rewarded for them (if they were faith motivated). Just read the promised “blessings” (rewards) for obedience in Deuteronomy Chapter 28, and the “curses” that would come if Israel failed to obey the commands of Yehovah.

THE GOSPEL IS NOT CONFINED - TO THE NEW TESTAMENT.

 

Galatians 3:8-9 “And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, ‘In you all the nations shall be blessed.’ So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.”

 

Hebrews 4:2 “For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them; but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.”

 

Did you hear that? Abraham heard the gospel!

            Question: What was the gospel - before Jesus came?

      Answer: God will send a Savior.

            Every sacrifice symbolized the death of God’s Son. He was “the Lamb of God.”

 

“Gospel” means “good news.”

 

Since the death of Christ, the good news is that a Savior has come, and his death has paid the penalty for sin (for those who believe).

 

Bring a lamb. --------- Eat the Bread.

Both are symbols which represent the death of Our Savior.

One looked forward. --------------- One looks back.

            

The salvation is the same.

GRACE IS NOT CONFINED TO THE NEW TESTAMENT!

Genesis 6:8 “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.”

Exodus 22:27 God said, “I will hear; for I am gracious.”

Exodus 34:6 God is “merciful and gracious, long suffering...”

 

The word “grace” means “unmerited favor.” It is also defined as “the divine influence in the life.” Most certainly the unmerited favor of God was shown to Israel under the “first” covenant. God is the same - yesterday, today, and tomorrow (Malachi 3:6). Every believer from Adam through Abraham to this very day, has felt the divine influence. Every believer has known the grace of God.

THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB POINTED TO CHRIST

      Every lamb brought by an Israelite symbolized Christ. His death would pay the “redemption price” for every man and women who believes. Even before the Israelites, righteous Able, Noah, Job, Abraham and others offered sacrifices, seeking forgiveness of sins. These men were forgiven because they believed Yehovah God, and sincerely repented. They were forgiven in exactly the same way that we are forgiven today. Christ said, “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad” (John 8:56). How did he “see” it? Answer: By faith. (Gen. 4:4; Gen. 8:20; Job 1:5).

      The Israelite who came in true heart sorrow for sin, with his sacrificial lamb, was forgiven because of his faith - his belief that the Yehovah God would forgive. His sins were covered (Num.15:25-29; Lev.19:23). He stood justified - declared righteous before God. The word “atonement” means “covering” or “reconciliation.” The sacrificial ceremony had no worth apart from the humble faith of the one who brought the sacrifice. Without true heart repentance, the ceremony was actually repulsive to God (1 Sam. 15:22; Ps. 51:16,17; Hos. 6:6; Heb. 9:9).

THE LAW IS NOT CONFINED TO THE OLD TESTAMENT.

Romans 13:10 “Love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Galatians 5:14 “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this:

‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”

I John 5:3 “This is love for God; to obey His commandments.”

 

John 14:21 [Jesus speaking] “Who ever has my commandments and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.”

John 14:15 [Jesus speaking] “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

Matthew 19:17 [Jesus speaking] “If you would enter into life, obey the commandments.”

Question: Who spoke the Ten Commandments from the top of the mountain?

           Who wrote The Covenant on stone tablets?

      Answer: The Son of God - The “one mediator between God and man” (2Timothy 2:5).

The Ten Commandments ARE “His commandments.”

Romans 2:12-13 “For not the hearers of the law are justified,

                                   but the doers of the law shall be justified.”

      NOTE: Here we have the Apostle Paul, saying those who do not keep the Law, will not be justified.

 

I John 2:4 “The man who says ‘I know Him,’ but does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”

Romans 7:12 “The law is holy and the commandment is holy, just, and good.”

Romans 7:14 “The law is spiritual.”

Romans 7:16 “I agree with the law that it is good.”

Romans 7:22 “In my inner being I delight in God’s law.”

      Grace was there all along. And God’s Law was there all along. Long before Mount Sinai, “Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.” (Gen 26:5). Abraham obeyed “by faith.”

            For those who say there was no “Spirit of Christ” during the Old Testament period:

 

1 Peter 1:10-11 “Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow” (NIV).

 

He was there all along. He has been “the only mediator between God and man” since the Fall in the Garden. He was there for them. He is there for you. See our study: The Mediator. It is filled with examples of Christ, all through the period called the Old Testament.

 

GRACE FOR OBEDIENCE

 

Romans 1:5 [Christ] “... through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles, for His name's sake” (NAS).

      What is it that we obey, by faith? Answer: His Commands. The indwelling Spirit of Christ opens our eyes to the love of God. We respond to this love, by loving others. God the Father, and His Son, who make Their home with us, give us strength, and wisdom to obey Their commands.

 

1 John 5:3 “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.”

THE NEW COVENANT

            Do you know what the New Covenant says?

      Do you know where the New Covenant, is found in the Scriptures?

 

Hebrews 8:10 “For this is the covenant that I will establish with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and I will inscribe them on their hearts. And I will be their God and they will be my people” (NET).

 

Jeremiah 31:31-33 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, . . . 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people” (ESV).

            What “law” do you suppose, Jeremiah believed the LORD would write on their hearts?

      Answer: The Ten Commandments. Of course!

 

I’ve heard many Christians say, “That’s only for Jews.”

      Is that right? No!

 

According to Paul, non-Hebrew believers in Yeshua, are “grafted in” to the Olive Tree that is Israel (Romans Chapter 11). We become citizens of “the commonwealth of Israel,” by faith (Ephesians Chapter 2). Unrepentant, unbelieving Hebrews are “broken off” from the Tree - “cut off” from Israel. That is why Paul could write, “And thus all Israel will be saved.”

            There is no gate into the New Jerusalem, labeled “Gentiles Enter Here.”

We pray this study will prove a blessing.

Prophecy Viewpoint

Go to our Covenant Studies page.

Go to our Home Page.