The Supremacy of Grace

 

In Genesis 46, God called Jacob and his family, a total of seventy people, to migrate from Canaan to Egypt, where Israel would become a great nation. He said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you a great nation there. “I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely bring you up again; and Joseph will close your eyes” (Genesis 46:3-4). At the beginning of their time in Egypt, Joseph was still alive and second-in-command to Pharaoh, so the Egyptians accepted the Jews. After Joseph's death, the succeeding Pharaohs grew fearful as Israel's population grew dramatically, as the Lord was blessing them. This began a period of 115 years of Egyptian bondage until Moses would deliver his people from that Egyptian slavery.

The Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have given heed to their cry because of their taskmasters, for I am aware of their sufferings. “So, I have come down to deliver them from the power of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and spacious land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanite and the Hittite and the Amorite and the Perizzite and the Hivite and the Jebusite. “Now, behold, the cry of the sons of Israel has come to Me; furthermore, I have seen the oppression with which the Egyptians are oppressing them.” Exodus 3:7-9

God’s plan for His people was to use Moses to lead them out of Egypt, to deliver them to the promised land, the land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob, a land flowing with milk and honey. They were finally ready to be delivered from Egyptian oppression, and thus began the miracle that became the parting of the Red Sea and their pathway into the wilderness.

In the third month after the sons of Israel had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. When they set out from Rephidim, they came to the wilderness of Sinai and camped there; and there Israel camped in front of the mountain. Moses went up to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain, saying, "Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the sons of Israel: 'You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings, and brought you to Myself. 'Now then, if you will indeed obey [sama – hear with the intent to follow] My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.” So, Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the Lord had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the Lord.                  Exodus 19:1-9

God’s plan was to make His people a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. It would require the people to obey My voice and keep My covenant, a conditional covenant given to the people as a means of teaching them that they could not keep it, since it represented God's perfect justice. It was intended to be the daily reminder of how they should live as God's people in the presence of heathen nations. They would become a kingdom of priests; each member of the nation, with God as his King, would know Him and have access to Him, and meditate on behalf of one another as did priests, thereby manifesting His truth and sharing His blessings with the world. They would be a holy nation, a showcase to the Gentiles, proving that there is only one true God, and serving Him as the way to fullness of blessing. The Lord spoke to Moses in a thick cloud to confirm that Moses was the mediator of this covenant and that the people should follow him.

Why then the Law?

Why the Law then? It was added because of transgressions, having been ordained through angels [Acts 7:53] by the agency of a mediator [Moses], until the seed [Christ] would come to whom the promise had been made. Now a mediator is not for one party only; whereas God is only one. Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. But the Scripture has shut up [sugkleio – enclosed together] everyone under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith [in Jesus Christ] came, we were kept in custody [phroureo – kept under guard] under the law, being shut up to the faith which was later to be revealed. Therefore, the Law has become our tutor [paidagogos – an instructor or teacher of children] to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified [declared righteous] by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ, have clothed yourselves with Christ.                 Galatians 3:19-27

The Law of Moses came to Israel third-hand, from God to angels to Moses. When God made His covenant with Abraham, He did it without a mediator. God was revealing directly to Abraham all that He would do for him and his descendants, an unconditional covenant. A mediator stands between two parties and helps them to agree, but there was no need for a mediator in Abraham's case since God was entering into a covenant with Abraham, not Abraham with God. Paul was making the point that the Law was not given to impart life or righteousness.

Law and grace contrast each other in bringing the lost sinner to Jesus Christ. The Law shows the sinner his guilt, and grace shows him forgiveness in Christ. The Law is "holy, and just, and good" (Romans 7:12), but mankind is not. The Law does not make us sinners; it reveals to us that we already are sinners. The Law is a mirror that helps each one to see his dirty face clearly, as James 1:23-25 declares:  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

The law of liberty is the gospel; it imposes obligations on God – liberty from the sinful nature, and prescribes a rule of life. It is a law that gives liberty from the guilt, power, dominion, and influence of sin; and it is perfect, providing a fullness of salvation and the life of God for the soul. The law of liberty is also the Word of truth, as John 8:31-32 testifies: So, Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free." True discipleship, defined by the believer’s relationship to the Word of truth, makes him totally free.

Lawful

But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.              1 Timothy 1:8-11

There is a lawful use of the Law, and there is an unlawful use. The lawful use is to reveal sin and cause men to see their need for a Savior. The unlawful use is to try to achieve salvation by keeping the Law. When people claim they are saved by "keeping the Ten Commandments," they are revealing their ignorance of the true meaning of the Law. The Law concludes "all [men] under sin," Jews and Gentiles alike. But since all are under sin, all may be saved by grace! God does not have two ways of salvation; He has but one - faith in Jesus Christ. This was Israel’s problem during Paul’s time, as he wrote: but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at [phthano – come suddenly and unexpectedly at] that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works [ergon – performance]. They stumbled over the stumbling stone (Romans 9:31-32). They stumbled over the gospel that Jesus accomplished salvation on behalf of everyone who believes.

For not knowing about God's righteousness and seeking to establish [histemi – set in place] their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end [telos – completion] of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.           Romans 10:3-4

The transition from the old covenant to the new covenant was a difficult process for the Jews of Jesus's day. They were preoccupied with performance, practicing their religious rites to establish their own righteousness. The problem with that approach is that the law must be kept in its entirety. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all. For He who said, "DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," also said, "DO NOT COMMIT MURDER." Now, if you do not commit adultery, but do commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the law. So, speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment (James 2:10-13). As Paul understood, the victory over the sinful nature occurs when the believer is willing to surrender to the righteousness of God, that is, Christ.

Fallen from Grace

Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law. You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace. For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.                        Galatians 5:2-6

But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace. What then? What Israel is seeking, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; just as it is written, "GOD GAVE THEM A SPIRIT OF STUPOR, EYES TO SEE NOT AND EARS TO HEAR NOT, DOWN TO THIS VERY DAY."                         Romans 11:6-8

For sin shall not be master [kurieuo – exercise rule] over you, for you are not under law but                      under grace.                       Romans 6:14

The old covenant Jew is required to obey the whole Law, meaning he cannot pick and choose which laws he must obey. The new covenant believer is under the same obligation to grace as the Jew is to the Law. As Paul testifies in Romans 11:6, grace is no longer grace when it includes any type of performance as a requirement. In that scenario, the believer in Jesus has fallen from grace. Israel is pursuing a religious relationship concentrated on religious activities as justification, but they have received a spirit of stupor (slumber, dullness). They have a veil over their hearts until they accept Jesus as Messiah (2 Corinthians 3:15-16).

For the believer who takes any glory for any of his works, he robs God of His glory and is diminished in his spiritual ability. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed: "Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will" (Mark 14:36). Earlier in the night, He had prayed, I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do. Now, Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was (John 17:4-5). Since the power of sin is the Law (1 Corinthians 15:56), believers still under the Law would not be able to keep sin from exercising rule.

King of Glory

Lift up your heads, O gates, and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is the King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. Lift up your heads, O gates, and lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in! Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, He is the King of glory.                          Psalm 24:7-10

The occasion on which this psalm of David was composed is not mentioned, but, from its contents, it is evidently on some public occasion of great solemnity, probably on the removal of the ark of the covenant into its appointed place in Jerusalem, where it was to abide permanently. David was commanding the whole city to welcome the Lord and give honor to Him. It was a solemn entrance of Yahweh, as it were, into the place of his permanent abode. In 2 Samuel 6, the ark was moved from Kiriath Jearim to Jerusalem and its intended permanent home. The ark represents the glory and presence of God. 

The King of Glory is Jesus Christ. When He entered Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the whole city didn't receive Him as King and praise Him. This psalm had been sung that morning at the temple, but it wasn't applied to Jesus of Nazareth. Instead of accepting Him and honoring Him, the leaders rejected Him and sent Him to Golgotha to be crucified. He never received His glory as King of glory from His people. The committed believer in Christ recognizes Jesus as the King of glory and refuses to take any credit for his actions. Grace represents the purity of God made available to man when Jesus is King.

Purity

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.             1 John 3:2-3

To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.                           Titus 1:15

He who has clean hands and a pure heart [bar – purity of heart], who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation.                       Psalm 24:4-5

It is clear from the Scriptures that God is pure, and He does everything with purity. When He gave His people the Law of Moses at Mt. Sinai, He gave them a pure and perfect system of justice. The conditional covenant left each a system they could understand since it defined what the righteous life looked like. But keeping the Law was not possible; instead, the grace of God, His plan of redemption, is given so that the believer would experience a purity in his life, in his relationship with God. That purity is a reflection of His purity; everyone who has this hope fixed on Him [Christ] purifies himself. It is the avenue into His righteousness.