Definition of The Law

Theologically speaking, the word Law can be defined in three ways:

1. The Ten Commandments.
2. The Ten Commandments and the 613 mitzvot or commands (613 includes the ten commandments).
3. The first five books of the Old Testament, otherwise known as the Torah in Hebrew.

In any case, the three mentioned examples of the Law were given by God to the people of Israel through Moses. All of these are referred to as “The Law” or the “Law of Moses.” The Lord made a covenant with Moses, who represented the people of Israel. 

Mosaic Law

The significant point about the Law is that it was part of the Covenant with Israel. The Lord made promises to the people of Israel if they would observe His conditions outlined by the Law or the Torah. Keep the Law and prosper, break the Law and suffer the consequences. This covenant was a conditional one in that you had to keep the Law, and then you would be blessed. The key is that you had to keep the Law through your own human efforts or works. If the Old Testament or Covenant shows us anything, it was that no one could keep the Law perfectly through human effort. That is why the Lord instituted a sacrificial system for the Israelites to cleanse them from sin, but they had to do it over and over again!

Definition of Grace

Grace means to receive a gift that is unearned and undeserved (unmerited). The New Testament or Covenant is a covenant of Grace. Just as Moses received the Law from the Father for the people of Israel, Jesus received Grace from the Father for the people who would believe in Him. As the Lord and Moses were the Covenant Heads of the Law for Israel, the Lord and Jesus were the Covenant Heads for the people who would believe in Jesus Christ.

Justice, Mercy, and Grace

Justice, mercy, and Grace are sometimes confused with each other. Let me take a moment to define each of these terms.

1. Justice – is when you get the punishment you deserve.
2. Mercy – is when you don’t get the punishment you deserve.
3. Grace – is when someone else takes the punishment you deserve.

For example, let’s say that you commit a crime and are brought to trial. 

1. Justice would say that judge finds you guilty, and you go to jail. 
2. Mercy says that the judge gives you a warning, and you are released. 
3. Grace says that someone else comes up and speaks to the judge, “I will take his punishment,” and he goes to jail. The judge then declares justice has been done, and you are set free!

This is what Jesus has done for you. He has extended Grace to you, not based on what you have done, but what He has done for you. Jesus took all of your sins by going to the Cross for you. You deserved justice or even mercy, but instead, the Lord has granted you Grace because you have put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Because of God’s Grace, God, who is judge, declares you innocent. He has justified you, and you are now righteous in the Lord’s eyes. Righteousness is what we seek, not our own righteousness but the righteousness of Christ imputed on us. 

Conditional Law and Unconditional Grace.

To fully understand the difference between Law and Grace, we need to define sin. Sin is what makes one unrighteous in the Lord’s eyes. The very first sin was in the Garden of Eden when God walked with Adam and Eve before they were tempted and committed  original sin.

When we think of sin, we often think in terms of the Ten Commandments. Break one of the commandments, and you commit sin! Well. That is true, but we need to recognize that breaking the Ten Commandments is actually a symptom of a sinful nature. When one breaks the commandment, what one is doing, by their action, is not believing what God said! This will become clearer if we go back to the beginning in Genesis, and look at the sinless nature of Adam and Eve before the Fall and then their state after the Fall.

Living in a State of Innocence.

Before the Fall, Adam and Eve “walked” with God in a sinless state. This time before the Fall was a state of innocence. They had no idea what sin was. They never thought that God would withhold anything from them. They had everything they wanted, food, shelter, purpose, and a personal relationship with the Father. Everything was theirs, and every need was met by the Lord. They had only one prohibition; they were not to eat of the ‘Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil”. Notice, and this is important, that it was not known as the tree of good and evil, but the tree of the “knowledge” of good and evil. The key here is knowledge. Up to this point, they only knew what was good. 

Genesis 2:16, “And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Note, the words “you shall surely die” at the end of verse 17, it meant physical death for sure, but it also meant separation from God! Adam and Eve were immortal before the Fall and were destined to be in a relationship with God forever.

A close examination of Genesis 3:1-7 will help us to see what sin really is. Yes, sin is disobedience of the Father, but deeper, it is a doubt or disbelief about what God has said. Let’s look at the scriptures:

Genesis 3:1, “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” See the doubt the serpent inserts into the conversation, “Has God indeed said?” By the way, we should never engage in conversation with the Devil!

In verse 2, “And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” Eve then states a truth, God did say, “you shall not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil or else you shall surely die.” However, notice how Satan contradicts the Word of the Lord in verse 4, Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The Devil said, “you will not surely die!” John 8:44 states that Satan is the Father of lies. The Devil will use lies and half-truths to tempt one to disbelieve what God has said. However, in this case, part of his statement is true Satan does say, “your eyes will be opened, and you will know the difference between good and evil.” Satan often mixes lies, truths, and half-truths, but it is all an attempt to deceive.

Now, look at verse 6, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” Satan knows how to appeal to the senses or the flesh, notice that Eve is tempted to eat of the forbidden fruit because:

1. It appealed to her taste or hunger. (Lust of the flesh)
2. It was attractive or pretty to the eyes. (Lust of the eyes)
3. It would make her wise or like God. (Pride of life)

1 John 2:16, “For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.”

Finally, we see the tragic end to the foolishness of Adam and Eve. Verse 7, “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.” Their “eyes” were open, and they were no longer innocent, but now we’re aware of evil; they now had their conscience awakened and could discern good and evil. Because of this Original Sin, all of humanity has a conscience and can clearly see good and evil in their actions and in the world.

When we think of sin, we think of the act of sin like adultery, lying, coveting, stealing, and murder, but these are the symptoms of something far greater, and that is not believing in what God has said. Adam and Eve sinned because they did not believe God. They did not believe that there would be a consequence for eating the forbidden fruit.

Living in a State of Conscience.

Because we have a conscience, we can discern good and evil. God has given us free-will, and therefore we can choose to do good or evil. No one can make us do evil, not even the Devil. The only thing the Devil can do is to tempt us. To make that which is forbidden, for our own good, look so attractive that we convince ourselves that God did not really mean what He said. Isn’t that what happened to Adam and Eve? This state of being able to make a choice to do evil is the “sin nature” that the Apostle Paul talks about in Romans 5, which we will look into the next time. 

In conclusion: As human beings, we focus on the act of sin, which is the breaking of the Ten Commandments, but the breaking of the individual commandments reveal a deeper issue… disbelieving God and what He has said! Living under the Law means that you are a Jew and that your righteousness before God is based upon your own effort to observe all of the commandments. Living under Grace means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and you believe that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, lives in you to “help” you become the man or woman that He has created you to be. Your righteousness is not a result of your own efforts but the fact that the righteousness of Jesus has been imparted to you. The effort you must depend upon is learning how to hear the “voice” of the Spirit, through the Word of God and through the Spirit of God who dwells in you. Once having heard from the Lord the next thing is to obey! You are a New Creation in Christ. You are not bound or tied to the past all things are new. 2 Corinthians 5:17, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

The Holy Spirit 

As a Born-again Believer Jesus speaks to us, teaches us and guides us through the Holy Spirit. Remember you are the temple of the Holy Spirit and He actually lives in you (1 Corinthians 6:19). The Holy Spirit is not a thing or an it, He is the third person of the Triune God. The Holy Spirit is a person! Your spirit has been made alive and therefore is able to communicate with the Holy Spirit of God. This is the key to relationship – communication. Communication is defined as “an exchange of information”. This means it is a dialogue not a monologue; two-way interaction.

God was and is intentional and proactive…

The Lord always makes the first move:

• Proof 1: sending Jesus. John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
• Proof 2: Drawing us to Himself. John 6:44, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.
• Proof 3: Putting His Holy Spirit in us. 2 Corinthians 1:22, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.

If the Lord is being proactive then, we who are made in His image, need to be proactive too. Throughout the Old and New Testaments, the Lord is beseeching us to seek Him. For example, Jeremiah 19:11, For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

The Lord has a plan and purpose for you, and it is clear from verse 11 that it is a good one. Verse 12 tells us that if we seek Him, He will hear us. That’s a promise! Finally, in verse 13 is the promise that we will find Him if we seek Him with all of our hearts. Seeking means being intentional or proactive!

Seeking Him…

Matthew chapter 7 gives clear a picture of what the Lord expects from us as evidence that we are seeking Him. Keep in mind the following; The Jews in Jesus’ day thought by virtue of the promise to Abraham and the fact that they were descendants of Abraham that they would inherit the promise. However, the Lord made it clear to the people of Israel that their relationship was based upon the spirit of the Law, not by association alone. In other words, the Lord is looking at motivation when fulfilling the Law. 

How wonderful it is that, as Christians, we are not under the Law, but under grace; Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Matthew 7

Verses 1-5 Judging others. These verses tell us that we are not to judge another. Jesus uses the illustration of having a plank or board of wood in your eye while trying to remove a speck of sawdust from another’s eye. The point being, remove your own faults and sins before pointing out or condemning another’s behavior. When you judge condemnation upon another you take the place of God, and that is a dangerous position to take!

V6 Witnessing

“Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces.

Not everyone is ready to receive the Gospel when you are ready to share it. Jesus says in John 6:44, No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. We are called to pick the fruit when it is ripe. In other words, to share the Good News with those who the Lord has prepared to hear the Gospel of Christ. The Holy Spirit will show you when and who to evangelize. 

V7-12 Ask, seek and knock

Verse 7-12 deal with the heart of the matter- asking, seeking and knocking are all metaphors of pursuing the Lord. 

7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! [in Luke 11 it says, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!“] 12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

You see, Jesus was talking about receiving the Holy Spirit by asking, seeking, and knocking. The Holy Spirit is the person we communicate with and through. (Romans 8:26-27)

V13-14 The Narrow gate 

13 “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

What Jesus is saying here is that the way to find the abundant life (John 10:10) is to pursue the Lord, that is to actively, intentionally find the time and make the effort of working on the relationship with Him.

V15-20 You will know them by their fruit

15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Be careful of who you follow on earth, remember Matthew 15:14 and what it says about the blind leading the blind. Always seeking confirmation in the Bible!

V21-23 I never knew you

21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

The most tragic words one can ever hear from Jesus is “I never knew you!” The Lord knows who belongs to Him (John 10:14)) As born-again believers in Christ, we never have to worry about hearing those tragic words. If we are asking, seeking, and knocking we will hear these words from Jesus instead, “Well done good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21, 23)

V24-26 Build on the rock (doers)

The following verses make it clear what asking, seeking, and knocking means.

24 “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: 25 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: 27 and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

Building on the rock means that you are a doer of the Word and not just a hearer. Doing the Word is not always easy, that is the meaning of the narrow gate in verses 13 and 14. Knowing what the Lord expects of you means having discernment and you are taking the time to confirm what you are taught by a man checking it against the Word of God. (verses 15-20) Remember it is only the Truth that will set you free!

V28-29 Conclusion

28 And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Jesus taught with authority because He taught the truth. Remember John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Seeking the kingdom and His righteousness in order to receive the blessings of the Lord is not simply about obedience, but more importantly, knowing the One whom you obey (Jesus). It is all about developing a spiritual relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit who lives in you. We need to learn to seek His Face (relationship) instead of seeking His hand (provision). If you have a relationship with the King, you will have access to all of the provisions of the King!

Let’s look at the context of Matthew 6:33, But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 

Immediately it is obvious that there are three parts to the verse:

1. Seek the kingdom of God
2. Seek His righteousness
3. All these things shall be added to you

In our last message, we focused on Seeking the Kingdom; today we will focus on Seeking His Righteousness.

Matthew chapter six covers four important areas of a Christian’s devotional life.

1. Charitable deeds, compassionate acts towards the poor, alms giving.
2. Prayer, communication (dialogue) with the Lord.
3. Fasting, giving up food, and then taking that time to draw closer to God.
4. Avoiding the seeking of wealth as a means of having confidence in life. Our confidence must be in the Lord alone. (Hebrews 10:35 Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. 36 For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise

As we will see these four areas should be central to every Christian Believer life. We all know that we should be doing these things, and I am sure that we do to some degree. However, Jesus is not just saying that these are things that we should do, but that we must do them with the proper attitude and motivation. In other words, what’s our heart attitude? Are we doing these things to please some (1) religious system, (2) to please man, or (3) to please the Lord?

Trying to please or satisfy a religious system.

This is a common occurrence to those who believe that belonging to a particular denomination or group is the means of salvation and righteousness. This kind of thinking might be true if you were a Jew living under the Old Covenant of the Law. However, it’s not true if you are a Christian living under the New Covenant. Jesus provided the New Covenant when He went to the Cross, died, was buried, and then resurrected on the third day. 

The heart of the New Testament salvation message is found in Ephesians 2:8-9, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

Reading carefully, we see that we are saved by GRACE, Grace means that it is undeserved and unearned; it is a free gift of God. This Grace is received through FAITH, that is, repenting and believing that what Christ provided through the Cross was sufficient to receive the love, forgiveness, and acceptance of God.

Verse 9 is critical to the point that I am making that it is not about trying to please or satisfy a religious system, “not of works, lest anyone should boast.” This speaks to the heart of Grace; you don’t deserve it, and you can’t work for it. All of the religious exercises, practices, and rituals cannot save you. Only by turning (repenting) to Jesus and believing in Him can one be saved. Right living or righteousness is the evidence that you truly believe in Him! Right living is not the means of salvation! This is what James meant when he said, “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” James 2:18 Your righteous deeds or works is the evidence of your salvation. 

Now I am sure that someone is thinking about Romans 4: 22, but hasn’t the righteousness of Christ been imputed to me? “22 And therefore “it was accounted to him (speaking of Abraham’s faith) for righteousness.” 23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.”

The answer is yes, the righteousness of Christ has been imputed to us because we are born-again, and the seal of the Holy Spirit is upon us, the Holy Spirit living in us. Spiritually speaking, we are righteous, but it is in the natural realm that we must learn to be led by the Spirit, to walk in righteousness so that the world would see that we are (1) Christians and (2) see that is why we receive the blessings of God.

Pleasing man is an age-old problem. 

Jesus had to deal with this during His ministry. As you know, Jesus did not hold the religious Jews, the Pharisees in particular, in high regard because they often sought to circumvent the “spirit of the Law” with the “letter of the Law.” The Pharisees were more concerned about how they appeared to people. They wanted to appear pious and holy in public. In effect, they were man-pleasers and not God-pleasers.

 Jesus said of the Pharisees, Matthew 15:14, “Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.” This is a rebuke to those who lead others astray with false teaching and a warning to those who follow a person, a leader, or authority figure blindly. I think the Apostle Paul said it best as to what our attitude should be in 1 Corinthians 1:2, “For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

Perhaps you can begin to understand the tendency to obey the letter of the Law and not the Spirit of the Law when you realize that the Old Testament had 613 laws, rules, and regulations. Six hundred and thirteen laws tended to lead people into the attitude of religious ritual or practice—thereby neglecting the motivation of love for obeying the Lord. The term “legalism” describes the literal interpretation of the Law and missing the Spirit or purpose of the Law. Whereas we are to operate with the truth in love. (Ephesians 4:15)

When you understand that the Lord desires to bless us and that we punish ourselves when we violate His commandments. For example, everyone knows John 3:16, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Now, look at verse 17, which follows, 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved 18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. Can you see it! God doesn’t need to punish; people punish themselves when they disbelieve what He has said in His Word.

Keep in mind, God cannot bless what He doesn’t approve of. That is why righteousness is so important. The purpose of the Law was to show the Jews what was right in God’s eyes. This is what righteousness is, “doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord.”

In the book of Judges, we see a series of seven military leaders called judges whose sole purpose was to deliver the Jews out of destruction by their enemies. The destruction was of their own making. They walked away from the Lord and sinned. The people continually did “what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6, 21:25). This simply means that people did what they wanted, ignoring the principles of God. They got themselves into serious problems because they were unrighteous. Sadly, many Christians do the same thing. They violate the principles of God and expect the Lord to bless the mess! 1 Samuel 15:22 says, “obedience is better than sacrifice.” In other words, it is better to be obedient from the heart than it is to be sorry afterward with tears and regret or penance.

The Lord has created a moral universe.

What I mean by a moral universe is that the Creation described in Genesis operates in the following way: obey the Ten Commandments, and you will be blessed, break the Ten Commandments, and you will suffer the consequences. Even before the giving of the Ten Commandments to Moses in the Book of Exodus, every human being then and today has a conscience to know right from wrong. When God gave Moses the Ten Commandments, God was simply codifying or putting in writing the moral principles put in place at Creation. Ever since Adam and Eve ate of the “Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil,” mankind has a built-in compass that can distinguish good and evil. Now, it is true that as human beings, we can choose to over-ride our conscience and do evil or neglect to do good. After all, the Lord has given us the ability to make free-will choices. However, make the wrong choices, and you must pay the consequences; in a sense, the moral universe “punishes you”! It is no different from breaking civil Law; if you commit a crime, you will be caught and have to pay the consequences. So, it is in the spiritual realm.

When a person does wrong or evil in God’s, it is not God who punishes you! It is the consequence of living in a moral universe. For example, gravity is a scientific law; essentially what goes up must come down. So, if you jump off the roof of your home and you are badly injured as a result, should you be surprised? Did you really expect to fly? You don’t have to learn the principle of gravity in school before gravity takes effect. Gravity is always in effect. The same is true of the principles associated with the Ten Commandments. They are always in operation.

So, what are we to do?

If you want your needs met by the Lord, follow these guiding principles from the Word, and you will do well!

Micah 6:8, “He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?”

Matthew 22: 37, “Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law (613 of them) and the Prophets.”

Romans 13:8, “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the Law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the Law.”

Col 3:23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.