Promises and Secrets

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A website for those not afraid to examine their beliefs, compare them to the real world, and make sure they fit.



Grace or Law?

VIEWPOINT



We are affected by both. We are bound by the law, which keeps us in the will of God, but we are under grace. Without law, there is no sin, and without sin there is no need for grace. We need God's law to identify sin so that we know what to avoid. When we are obedient, we have access to His grace.

FACT



People are at odds as to whether we are under God's Grace or God's Law.


BLUE VIEWPOINT



Many use the concept of Grace to live a life of sin without feeling guilt.

Well, that is probably an extreme statement, but it is evident in today's society that people everywhere are yelling at each other, swearing, piercing, tattooing, and using drugs while they speak of what they heard in church last Sunday. Discussions with them produce statements like "Well, I can go to confession and make it OK." or "Sure, I'm gay, but I love Jesus, so His grace lets Him accept me the way I am."

Don't get me wrong, I have some wonderful friends that were once gay and some that still are gay. I have nothing against the people themselves. The problem is that discussions with them, when it comes around to God, must address what God says about their future - and ours, for that matter. After all the discussions about grace, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and Revelation 21:8 make clear statements about who can and who cannot enter the New Jerusalem after the world is made new:

26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:26-27)

9Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

- and -

8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars--they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. (Revelation 21:8)

We must choose, not straddle the fence

Again, don't get me wrong - we know that God and His Son love us. Jesus works with us as we are and helps us through this life. That is how grace works. However, He and His Father are also just. Few think anyone will try to say that we can do anything we want and Jesus will save us anyway - but some come pretty close to that. What is the determining factor? Obedience.

Now I've done it. To say we must obey means that salvation is not just something we just ask for and get without cost. There are some rules. Dang, just did it again. When David wrote that God's Word was a lamp unto his feet and a light to his path, what Word was he talking about? Well, God's Word is what He passed to us in the Bible to guide us in life. This is called Law.

Ten suggestions

I know, some would rather hear it called suggestions, loving nudges, and things we can consider doing if we want - but that is not what God says. He said "Thou shalt" and "Thou shalt not". We get to be saved when we demonstrate that we listen to Him and really love Him. How far do you think we will get if we say "Jesus, save me while I murder, steal, and run off with my neighbor's wife!" Yet this is how we act when we live our lives and ignore the rules, then claim salvation because we show up at the church.

Grace, for that?

There are many churches now that have openly gay ministers. How does a gay minister preach God's word? This requires an interpretation of the message God gave us that "rewrites" passages like 1 Cor 6:9
Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men

and Romans 1:26-27
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

in order to preach a different gospel to their congregations than that written in Scripture. Or, they preach against Paul to say that the grace of God will overlook their blatant disregard for His Word. Remember, we don't have to judge our worldly neighbor, God does that. And for those who claim to be Christians, we just warn them about what God says, the rest is up to them. However, those who claim to believe and yet practice against God, we are to judge. Remember 2 Tim 4:2:

Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.

and 1 Corinthians 5:12:

What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?

How about grace for that?

To go to a less sensitive, but more complex, subject, what about a pastor who encourages celebrating Easter - complete with eggs and bunnies and other pagan fertility symbols? Even the name of the "holiday" is of their pagan fertility Goddess. According to most pastors, this is supposedly just a way to worship God and celebrate the Resurrection. They even say they are trying to "Christianize" the holiday. But Deuteronomy 12:4 says very pointedly:

Do not worship the LORD your God in the way these pagan peoples worship their gods.

Sure, this is from the Old Testament, and if you think this doesn't apply to us any longer, then go right ahead. However, we should find out whether grace applies when we do what God specifically said not to do.

If not that, then what?

So, does grace give us license to sin? Of course not (Hebrews 10:26-27
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

). So, how do we determine what sin is? Some say if it feels wrong, it is sin. How do you feel about that definition? How about, if it feels right, it can't be sin? If truth is relative, one man's sin is another man's righteousness. So what is that single statement that defines sin so that all people can recognize it when it happens?

My wife gets mad at me when I say this, but the single standard we have is God's will. The way we know His will is through the Ten Commandments and the Law. He has not expressed a new will to us in the New Testment. If you look at 1 John 3:4
Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.

, you cannot believe in sin without the law because one identifies the other. If you ask anyone what acts are clearly sinful, what do they say? Sure there are many answers, but there are some that are so common, anyone can recognize a few of them - murder, adultery, theft, and idolatry. We can skip the long list so that we don't step on so many toes.

So, when does grace apply?

Now, if these four are clearly sins, and they come from the Ten Commandments, what about the other six commandments? Can we skip those because no one is really sure what they are without looking them up? Well, that brings us to the second part of the grace discussion. People say we don't have to keep the Commandments because they are the Old Testament laws and, through the grace of Jesus Christ dying for us and forgiving our sins, they have been nailed to the cross. Hold it right there.

Mixing truth and lies

Did you see it? The truth was mixed with something that is not true, but there it was. Jesus Christ died for us and forgave our past sins when we repented and accepted His gift. Our debt due to our sins was what was nailed to the "cross", not the law. Some people try to avoid that by saying "we don't have to keep the ten commandments anymore" for some obscure reason that they cannot justify. False. Jesus forgives sins, but remember the followup to that. "Go your way and sin no more." That means that only past sins are covered. Paul makes it clear in Romans 6:1-2
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?

and Hebrews 10:26-27
26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.

.

How do you know if you are sinning? You disobey God, break His word, do what He said not to, don't do what He said to do. Sure, we all slip, but deliberate sinning in the name of "freedom in Christ" was never part of the deal. Grace is there in His outstretched hand. You just don't slap that hand away and expect the offer to stand.

What do we teach our kids?

Further, these people say those laws are "written in our hearts" so we "just know when something is a sin". So, if we don't have a "prompting" to follow them, how do we know what sin is? If we teach our children that they do not have to keep the Ten Commandments but can just trust their feelings to tell them when something is wrong, how will they grow up? If we say they should keep some of them, which ones do we teach them it's OK to break? More importantly, will grace still apply to them (and us) if we don't teach them right?

Can't lose it?

This is the silliness of the grace vs. law argument. Many say if we accept grace, we need not follow the law. Others say that we have the laws written in our hearts and will know if we stray toward sin. That law in our hearts says the same thing it did in stone. This supports the idea that if we accept the grace of Christ, we will no longer want to sin - if we know what defines sin. Indeed, if we were perfect beings, we would never sin again and no longer need the grace of Christ. But we are not perfect, so we must be careful not to lose our salvation by denying our continuing need for grace. If we cannot lose our salvation, why would the Word tell us:

Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. (2 John 1:8)

---and---

Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. (Matt 6:1)

The will of God is still important

A one-time wave of Jesus' magic wand will not "free" us so we can live as we wish without worrying whether we are in the will of God. Sure, the Holy Spirit will prompt us when we stray, but we must know what He is prompting us about to understand what is actually wrong. However, if you ignore the prompting because you just know in your heart that this action is really OK (Easter, Christmas, ignoring the Sabbath, gay pastors) because everyone is doing it, you will grow numb to the prompting. Worse yet, He will just stop prompting if He is no longer in you. That means we need to know what sin is. John clearly says we will not get into the New Jerusalem if we act in certain ways (Rev 22:15):

Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

And just how do you identify falsehood? Know the Word of God. Make no mistake, believing in a god that says sin is all right is idolatry, because our God does not. Grace is not a one-way ticket to Heaven that cannot be revoked. You can't earn it, but you have to show your acceptance of it on His terms, not yours.

So which is it, law or grace? I say both.


Disagree? Find an error? Contact us at glenjjr@gmail.com and give us your view.

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YELLOW VIEWPOINT



Grace - Opposing View