There's No Grace in Law-keeping

Back in the old testament, the Mosaic Law directed every aspect of life for the nation of Israel.  Everything fell under the law; diet, housekeeping, morals, child-rearing, legal issues, relationships etc., you name it, and there was a law for it.  While the dictates of the law were fine, and strict adherence to it kept the crime rate relatively low, the thing it lacked was GRACE.  All the law could do was condemn people by pointing out where sin began, there never came a time when an individual could take a breather from the constraints of the LAW, or feel that God had totally forgiven him.

Let‘s think of the OT law in the sense of a marriage. Paul relates it to us like this, “For example, when a woman marries, the law binds her to her husband as long as he is alive. But if he dies, the laws of marriage no longer apply to her.” Romans 7:2. Before Christ, the only way to please God, was to follow the law.  You didn’t have to like it or agree with it, but you were obligated to do what it said. For those who lived under the law, there was no joy, and no escape.  As we see in this passage, OT people were in much the same position as the married woman, legally bound.  When Jesus instituted the new covenant in his blood, the mandates of the old legal system passed, finally giving way to God’s grace.  Just like the woman, whose husband died, was no longer held to the law, we too were emancipated. “For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law--I stopped trying to meet all its requirements--so that I might live for God.” Galatians 2:19.

Sin still abounds in our world, and there will always be God’s law to point them out, but for those who live for Christ, grace, rather than obligation, lovingly compels us to please Him. Remember, works, and  pursuing a “checklist” religion is not what Christ died for, and it’s certainly not what we live for. “…it is through God’s kindness, then it is not by their good works. For in that case, God’s grace would not be what it really is—free and undeserved.” Romans 11:6.