Law or Grace?
Recently our Executive Director, Levi, met Duane Chapman. Duane is also known as “Dog the Bounty Hunter” on his long-running reality TV show.
It’s always fun to meet someone famous and snap a picture to capture the encounter. As I looked at the picture, I thought Levi and Duane represented two aspects of biblical truth: law and grace. Duane apprehends people by the power of the law. Levi, on the other hand, makes disciples by the proclamation of the gospel which tells of God’s grace and mercy.
Our salvation is by God’s grace through faith (Eph. 2:8) – faith in Jesus as Messiah and His atoning work and sacrifice. The Apostle John tells us the Law came through Moses; grace and truth came through Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah (John 1:17). These truths are proclaimed in Scripture as are discussions about the role of the Law in an era of grace. Both law and grace are gifts given by God to man.
Next to the Bible, the greatest book I've ever read is Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. The protagonist John Valjean has spent years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread for his sister’s starving children. He also attempted to escape from prison. Police inspector Javert pursues John Valjean to return him to prison. One-night Valjean is allowed to stay in a bishop’s home. In the morning he takes silver pieces belonging to the parish and makes off with them. He is caught but something unexpected happens. As Javert readies to arrest him, the bishop says that he gave John Valjean the silver. Javert is forced to release him. The mercy Valjean receives from the bishop transforms his life. From then on, he changes his name, dedicates himself to good and becomes mayor of a town.
Javert is a figure of contrast. He believes in the importance of the law. It is to be upheld scrupulously, applied without mercy, and that in any and every situation. There is no place for softness or weakness when it comes to the law. And these beliefs make him superior in his own estimation. If no one else reveres the law, he does! Nothing can deter him or change his resolve that John Valjean must be caught and returned to prison.
Psalm 19:7a reads: “The law of the Lord is perfect.” The verses following continue to extol its benefits. Numerous Scriptures recount the beauty of God’s law and its benefits. However, though it is holy and good, the Law is not able to save us. The Law can tell us what right living before God looks like but cannot grant the power to act accordingly. So, is the Law obsolete and therefore to be ignored?
Theologians talk of three uses of the Law in an era of grace. The Law shines a light on our lawlessness; it’s our measuring stick and shows us we fall short of God’s standard (see Romans 7:7-12, e.g.). The Law gives us rules for holy living which God’s Spirit alone accomplishes as we live as new creations in Messiah. And the Law, when applied by the Spirit, can be useful as a curb to societal sin. How I wish the Ten Commandments were still posted in schools and office buildings as they were when I was young. “You shall not murder” would diminish the wanton taking of life that is so prevalent today.
As the story of Les Misérables unfolds it becomes evident that John Valjean is the better man. He actually has an opportunity to save Javert’s life. The power of grace has transformed him beyond simple right and wrong.
In contrast, Javert has spent his life pursuing Valjean. Now the lawman considers the paradox of hunting a man who has spared his life. Javert is in crisis and as an act of self-punishment, drowns himself in the Seine.
“Mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:13). Our God has given a Law that is perfect. Better still, He's given us His Son. He alone could keep the Law without breaking even one precept or commandment. Only He, the guiltless, could die for us, the guilty. That’s the message Levi and the staff of Life in Messiah proclaim. It’s a better message; it’s the message Yeshua has empowered us to proclaim.
The Law is good but we need grace and mercy.
Written by Marc, Life in Messiah Field Ministry Director
How do you view God? As a law-enforcer or grace-giver?
How do you reconcile these two aspects of God’s law? On one hand, it is “perfect, restoring the soul” (Psalm 19:7); on the other, the law is “powerless to save” (Romans 8:3-4).
How can you apply in daily life Jesus’ summation of the law, “love God and love people”?