Occasionally people ask my opinion on various personal or church issues. I recently received the following question which I have reprinted below, followed by my response.
QUESTION
Bob, I have written to you over the years on several occasions and appreciate your perspective & biblical response. This has been my biggest stumbling block in my walk with Christ. I have been through the Discipleship Curriculum and have co-led a class as well and continue in several Bible studies today.
My hunger for the word has increased over the years more than I could have ever imagined. However, the Old and New Testament continually keep me in a state of confusion. Under the new covenant and Paul’s epistles, we’re now under grace — the law is dead. If that’s true, why do so many ministers continually condemn their church body with the Ten Commandments? I cannot understand how we can mix the Law & Grace. I subscribe to several ministries daily message and invariably somewhere in their newsletter they often intermingle the Old and New. Please help me understand this.
I do know the law is there for our learning but find it very unraveling trying to explain to a person seeking to understand God’s word when the law and grace are intermingled. When I read the Old Testament, I have to consider who they are talking to. Most of the books of the Bible are written to the Jews under the law, so when we read we think this doesn’t apply to me, I’m under Grace. And so on!
God has opened my eyes to many mysteries, but this is a “HUGE” obstacle for me as I constantly struggle with this each and every day. Thanking you I advance. May God continue to bless you and your ministry.
MY ANSWER
It’s good to hear of your love for God’s Word and your diligent study. Since you’ve been through the D.C. program, there’s probably very little additional light I can shed on the tug-of-war between law and grace that you’re not already well aware of. This issue has been a source of contention since the First Century.
It’s been said that heresy is often just taking truth to the extreme. I think the key is balance — avoid the extremes. One extreme is legalism which insists we are still bound by the Old Testament law and we earn our salvation by performing good works. The Judaizers the Apostle Paul encountered were legalists — they wanted Christians to obey Jewish laws. Today when a popular radio preacher insists on observing Sabbath laws and tithing he is applying Old Testament principles to people who are no longer under the law.
At the other extreme are Christian libertarians who seek to maximize freedom in Christ to the point they contend there are no commands to be obeyed. The Apostle Paul confronted that erroneous thinking in Romans 6 when he wrote, “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
Obviously living under grace is not a license to self-indulgence and total permissiveness. When a popular television preacher says he’s no longer going to preach from the Old Testament at all, I think he’s making a mistake. The Old Testament teaches us what sin is and why we need grace. The Apostle Paul said he wouldn’t have known that covetousness was a sin if he had no understanding of the law (Romans 7:7). The Old Testament helps us understand the nature of God and the reason for the cross.
However, we are not bound by the Old Testament law and its consequences. We are free from it. It was nailed to the cross. We are not saved by obeying Old Testament commands. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). But we are saved to do good works (Ephesians 2:10) and to let our light shine (Matthew 5:16) as witnesses for Christ. Jesus did say, “If you love me keep my commandments.” So there are New Testament commandments we are to obey as evidence we are followers of Christ.
Jesus said He didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it. He fulfilled every commandment in Himself so that we don’t have to. But He didn’t say, “It’s now okay for you to commit adultery.” He said, “Don’t divorce your mate and marry another or you commit adultery. In fact, don’t look at another woman lustfully or you commit adultery in the heart.” Jesus didn’t say, “Since I’ve fulfilled the law it is now okay to bear false witness.” His Word commands, “Speak truthfully to your neighbor.” Jesus didn’t say, “Now it’s permissible to commit murder.” He said, “Don’t even hate your brother in your heart.” So we are not without commands to obey in the New Testament.
The big difference is motive. We obey His commands not so we can be saved. We obey because we are saved by God’s grace and we want to please Him, and we want to be a positive witness for Christ to the world. That’s the concept that is difficult for us to grasp and teach because grace isn’t reasonable; it’s amazing! There are a lot of great books on grace. One I’d recommend is a little booklet by Dr. Jack Cottrell titled, “Set Free! What the Bible says about Grace”.
– Bob
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