Introduction:
I am not under law; I’m under grace! It was grace that rescued me; it was grace that set me free!
I have sought- I have found- a hiding place; I am not under law; I am under grace!
WBTU:
There are two ways to be right with God, two choices and only two.
Two kinds of righteousness: personal OR God’s (Philippians 3:9: (I want to ) be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. ). Remember that this “Righteousness” means “satisfying the requirements of the law.”
Our own personal righteousness is how well we satisfy (or obey) God’s law.
To be right with God by personal righteousness, we must live perfect lives.
What kind of personal righteousness do we have? Isa. 64:6: our righteous acts are like filthy rags.
God’s righteousness is his decision to satisfy (pay) the penalty of his own law in our place.
He did this through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. God offers to give to sinners this righteousness, and let them count it as their own and be saved. 2 Corinthians 5:21: God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Two gates into heaven: law OR grace
1. To be “under law” means that you are now in the law line, waiting to get into heaven through the law gate, according to the rules of law.
2. To be “under grace” means that you are now in the grace line, waiting to get into heaven through the grace gate, according to the rules of grace.
Two means of entering the gates: works OR faith
1. One enters the law gate on the basis of his own personal righteousness or works. If your life is good enough, you can go through the law gate into heaven. How good does your life have to be to enter the law gate? It has to be perfect.
2. One goes through the grace gate by faith, by believing and trusting in the righteousness earned by Jesus on the cross.
Thesis: This morning let’s talk about the law way of salvation.
A. The word “law” is used in two different ways.
1. Law CODE = the set of commandments one is obligated to obey.
2. Law SYSTEM = the way one may enter heaven by obedience to his law code.
a) You are under the law system if you are trying to use your law code as a way into Heaven. This means you are trying to get into heaven by how well you obey God’s commandments.
Is it possible to enter heaven under the law system? Theoretically, yes.
Everyone is under a law code, and always will be by virtue of creation.
1. In the Garden of Eden, God had a law code for mankind- Genesis 2:16-17: And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.”
2. Pagans are subject to the heart code: Rom. 2:14-15. As created in the image of God they have an awareness of the moral law of God. Their inner being at least bears the remnants of God’s moral law as it was imprinted upon human nature even though it is corrupted. The world agrees that honoring one’s father and mother, do not murder, do not steal, do not bear false witness in court, are all correct when it comes to the law. Did they get this through the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God. No, but this was imprinted upon them by being humans. They demonstrate this by having guilt when they disobey God’s law. Might get away with adultery as far as man’s law, but still have guilt.
3. Jews prior to Christ were subject to the Mosaic code. Joshua 1:8: Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.
4. Everyone since Pentecost is subject to the New Covenant code. It is called the New Testament or the New Covenant. Hebrews 8:8: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. Hebrews 8:13: By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Under the New Covenant the Ten Commandments still apply because they are in the NT in some form or another. Under the NT, some of these commandments are more strict like adultery. Adultery is not just the physical act but if we lust after someone in our hearts, we have committed adultery. Murder is not just the taking of someone’s life but also includes hatred.
B. Being under a law code is good and necessary.
It is based on the fact that God is our Creator and we are his creatures. Psalm 24:1: The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.
This never changes, and we should not want it to change. We see in Romans 1 that the Gentiles did not like having God as their Creator, so they changed God to gods. They made God in their own image. We see the terrible results in Romans 1:28.
In this kind of environment, the only thing that restrains sin, depravity and corruption, is the fear of government punishing the evil doer. In some ways, this is all we have today to restrain sin and how well is that working. The United States has less than 5 percent of the world's population, but it has almost a quarter of the world's prisoners. The United States has 2.3 million criminals behind bars. We have an incarceration rate of 743 per 100,000 people, the highest in the world. Romans 3:18- No fear of God leads to a lessening of the fear of man as well.
What about these passages that say: “You are not under law, but under grace.” Paul is not saying, “You Christians are no longer under a law code.” I once had a Sunday school teacher who said that since we are under grace, we no longer have to go by the Ten Commandments. I thought that she meant that we no longer have any rules as Christians. However, my parents set me straight on that. Paul’s point is this: “You Christians are no longer under the law system.”
C. Who IS under the law system? Can it work?
1. Anyone trying to get to heaven by obeying his law code is under the law system.
2. Is it possible to get to heaven by obeying one’s law code? Theoretically, yes – if you use your law code exactly right, you can be right with God through the law system.
3. HOW does the law system work? How is it possible to get to heaven by obeying one’s law code? Here are the rules of the law system: KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS; ESCAPE THE PENALTY; BREAK THE COMMANDMENTS; SUFFER THE PENALTY. (Here, “commandments” = your law code, and “penalty” = hell.)
4. So how does one get to heaven by the law system? Keeping the commandments of law code.
a. One qualification: you must keep all of the commandments, perfectly, all of your life.
b. One sin disqualifies a person under the law system. James 2:10: For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
D. BAD NEWS for those under the law system: Romans 3:23 – “all have sinned.”
NOTE: This is the main point of Romans 1:18 - 3:20, i.e., no one will actually get to heaven by means of the law system (works, wages, personal righteousness), since all have sinned. No one is righteous (Romans 3:10) and no one is good (Romans 3:12). Once you sin, never be perfect again; and being perfect is the only way you can get into heaven through the law gate.
According to a George Barna poll about 63 percent of Americans contend that if a person is good enough, he will earn his way into Heaven.
Romans 3:19-20: Read them again. Verses read at the beginning of service.
E. The GOOD NEWS is that God has provided another way to get to heaven, one that will actually work for sinners.
This other way of getting to heaven is the system of grace. Grace as a way of salvation is God’s alternative to law. He prefers law, but he provides grace.
Conclusion and invitation:
An active, dedicated, hard-working church member dreamed that he passed away after a long and satisfying life. As he approached the heavenly gate, he noticed a sign posted which read, “ENTRANCE REQUIREMENT: 1,000 POINTS.”
The man looked a bit worried. He walked up to the angel guarding the gate and said, “That requirement seems pretty high. Do you think I could possibly have accumulated that many points?” The angel kindly replied, “Well, why don’t you tell me what you have done, and I will tell you how many points you have earned.”
“OK, then,” the man said enthusiastically. “I was an immersed believer in Christ for 32 years; I taught a Sunday school class for over 12 years; I was a youth chaperone whenever they needed me; and I was a regular member of the church choir!” “That’s wonderful!” said the angel. “Now let me see. That’s worth – ONE POINT.”
The man suddenly became very pale and began to perspire, but he went on. “Well, I tithed all my income, and sometimes gave even more. Also I served as an elder in the church, and I served on the finance committee and the building committee. I attended every work day at the church; I mowed the grass and did repairs and painting. At every fellowship supper I helped set up the chairs and tables and then stayed late and helped take them down.”
He looked expectantly at the angel, who smiled sympathetically and answered politely, “That sounds great! That’s worth – ANOTHER POINT. Now you have a total of TWO.”
The man looked as if he were about to go into shock. He spoke rapidly with a sense of desperation: “I invited a lot of people to church, and often went calling with the preacher. I won quite a few people to Christ. I supported the camp program, and for a while was a forwarding agent for a missionary family. And I never cheated on my income tax!”
The angel tried to speak encouragingly as he said, “That’s quite a record of good works! That’s worth still another point. Now you have – THREE.”
The poor man’s face sagged with futility, and his shoulders drooped as he seemed resigned to his fate. “I may as well give up,” he mourned. “I don’t think I can ever be good enough to get into Heaven. In fact, it seems impossible for me or anybody else to get in there without the GRACE OF GOD.”
“Ah, now, did you say GRACE? You know what? YOU’RE STANDING AT THE WRONG GATE! This is the LAW gate; that’s where you need the 1,000 points. Look over there. Do you see that other gate, with another line of people leading up to it? That’s the GRACE gate. You don’t need any points to get in there. Under grace, heaven is free!”
