Law and Grace
Moshe came from atop Sinai with the Decalog / Ten Commandments. This Law indicts all men as sinners, for there is none that does good, no not one.
Moshe came down from Sinai again with the plans for the Tabernacle of Meeting, the place where Yahuah would meet man -- on His terms, by His requirements, ie. Law. This second trip down from Sinai brought to man a plan of redemption / atonement / grace.
Let us reason together.
It is the grace of Yahuah that brings to man the Law and its curse. Yahuah's holiness would seem to demand that He purge the earth of sinful man. Man has turned his back on Yahuah from the time of Eden and deserves to be snuffed out and without so much as an explanation. However, Yahuah showed favor (grace) to man and gave to him His holy Law so that man would understand wherein he has offended his Creator. Galatians 3:24 states, "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto The Messiah, that we might be justified by faith." Therefore it is blatantly obvious that it was the grace of Yahuah that delivered to man His Law with its curse to bring man to his knees in search of mercy. No wonder David said, "Let thy tender mercies come unto me, that I may live: for thy law is my delight." Psalms 119:77.
So the "first" trip down from Sinai brought to us from the grace of Yahuah the indictment of our sin and the demand of death for the infraction of Yahuah's perfect design for behavior. Oh that men would understand this vital point and turn his heart to Yahuah for the forgiveness he so desperately needs!
Moshe's "second" trip down from Sinai (I know Moshe broke the Tables and had to return for a second copy. But for practical purposes, we will call both these trips the first one, for the later was to accomplish the intent of the former.) brought to man the perfect layout for the investment of grace in man. It was in the second trip that we learn how Yahuah requires a blood sacrifice to atone for sin. It was in this trip we learn of the Sanctuary in Heaven where our Cohen Gadol (High Priest) was to place His precious Blood on the Mercy Seat. It was from this trip that we learn that the sacrificial lamb is to be brought on the 10th day and viewed for four days prior to Passover to make sure it is spotless. So it was with Yahusha's trip into Yerushalayim from Simon's house four days prior to His Passion on Passover.
Everything we know and have in Yahusha, every facet of the grace we enjoy is according to what was delivered on Moshe's second trip from atop Sinai. As a matter of fact, grace is according to Law. Everything we realize in grace is according to the Law given from Mt. Sinai. Therefore we see that from the grace of Yahuah the Law condemns sinful man. And grace, without a hitch, is carefully delineated in the Torah given from Sinai.
Man can no more have a relationship with Yahuah, separating Law from Grace than he can have water, separating oxygen from hydrogen!
Now, "sin is the transgression of the law," 1 John 3:4. Man breaks Yahuah's Law; he is found a sinner and condemned to death. Romans 6:23. The same verse in Romans 6 goes on to say that the "gift of Yahuah is eternal life through Yahusha the Messiah our Lord." Herein we find grace. Observance of the Law justifies no man. "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin" Romans 3:20.
Suppose I am cited by a policeman for doing 10 miles per hour over the posted limit. I can tell the judge that I have been driving for 30 years and have never broken the speed limit -- but this one time. He may have mercy on me, but that's all it can be. All my obedience to the posted speed limits does not absolve me from the guilt of the one violation. It would be the right and legal thing to find me guilty and fine me according to the Law. No amount of "good behavior" absolves me from the guilt of the offense.
So it is with Yahuah's Law. No amount of Torah observance will erase from the Record any infractions committed. Therefore, we stand hopeless except for the promise of mercy and grace. That is why grace and mercy have to be given and not earned. How would a man earn mercy and grace? Buying candles in some cathedral? Hardly! Grace is the free gift of Yahuah. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of Yahuah: Not of works, lest any man should boast" Ephesians 2:8, 9.
Some have suggested that before The Messiah's Death and Resurrection, men were "under the Law" and since the Death, Burial and Resurrection of The Messiah, we are "under grace." This product of Dispensationalism obscures the real meaning of "under the Law" and "under grace." All men are "under the Law" until they repent of their sins, believe in faith and obtain grace. Once they are born again, they are "under grace." To be under the Law is to be judged by the Law. To be under grace is to be judged by grace. When a driver does 30 m.p.h. on Main Street, he is "subject to" the law. When he does 50 m.p.h. on Main Street he comes "under" the law. It is when the Law is broken that man comes under the Law and is found guilty. As long as he is compliant with the Law, he is being "subject to" the Law. Men are under the Law before they find mercy and grace. Once they obtain grace then they no longer are under, judged by the Law, but under, judged by Grace.{ added note. Being in compliance to the Law is fulfilling the Law. This is a notation from the Messianic Hebrews editor and not the author of this article it may or may not be his views. }
Romans 8:7, "Because the carnal mind is enmity against Yahuah: for it is not subject to the law of Yahuah, neither indeed can be." The previous verse (6) reads, "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." The carnal mind cannot be --subject to-- the Law of Yahuah. The carnal mind is the opposite of the spiritual mind. So then the obvious conclusion is that the spiritual mind IS --subject to-- the Law of Yahuah.
In The Messiah, the guilt of sin is removed and the believer is no longer "under," judged by the Law. In The Messiah he has grace and is judged by Grace. Amein. That being settled, he then makes himself subject to the Law of Yahuah. Before he was born again (the carnal mind), he could not subject himself to the Law of Yahuah. But with the indwelling Ruach HaKodesh and the new birth, he finds that for the first time in his life he can be subject to Yahuah's holy Law.
Some have suggested that the Old Covenant and all it's teachings (Torah) including the Ten Commandments ended with The Messiah. For this, they turn to Romans 10:4, "For The Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." The conclusion being that The Messiah ended, brought to an end, the Law. The underlying word for "end" in the Greek is "telos." It is from the word "telos" that we get our word "telescope." When we read, "The Messiah is the end" what we are to understand is that The Messiah is the focus, the point, the conclusion "of the Law." When the Law / Torah is studied to its natural end, what is found? The Messiah. So then, to every one that believeth, The Messiah is the point of, the focus, the end of the study of Torah. Is this not true? Is it not preached that The Messiah is found on "every page of the Old Testament?" The Messiah did not come to bring the Law to an end, as if to make if of none effect. He is the Point of the whole thing. He is the Telos, the Focus, the End of any study of the Law for the believer.
Matthew 5:17, Yahusha said, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." It has been suggested that that The Messiah's coming has closed the "contract." They imply that the Old Covenant was to last only until The Messiah came and met the terms and thus the Covenant is no longer needed because it has been served and all obligations met.
Here's the BIG question: What is the Covenant? Throughout the Torah we find many aspects of covenant making between Yahuah and man and the debate rages on to this date as to what the Covenant consists of and with whom it was made. Let's take a simple approach. The Ark of the Covenant. It is interesting that people are fascinated with the Ark of the Covenant and where it currently is located -- like some Indiana Jones kind of thing. But too few are concerned with the covenant of the Ark! What is in that Ark? That Tables of Stone. The Decalogue. The Ten Commandments. What is on top of that Ark? The Mercy Seat. What is on top of the Mercy Seat? The Blood of the Covenant. What separates between Yahuah, positioned directly above the Mercy Seat and His Holy Law? The Mercy Seat and the Blood of the Covenant. What then is it that the Blood separates between Yahuah and the contents of the Ark? The Ten Commandments.
{Editors note: Ark is the Hebrew word for box, the first five books of the Bible "The Torah" is also found inside the Ark old the Covenant. }Now folks, let's think and reason together. Is the Blood still there? Is The Messiah's Blood still on the Mercy Seat? Do we as humans need the Blood of the Covenant to cover our sins and absolve us from the guilt of the Decalogue? Today? Absolutely! That Covenant, the Ten Commandments, is still the binding agent that demands we need the Grace provided in mercy through Yahusha HaMoshiach.
Now let me ask a question that borders on foolishness. Has the work of The Messiah "done away" with that Covenant? Has the Death of The Messiah made extinct that Law? Is it still in the Ark of the Covenant? Is there still His Blood on the Mercy Seat above that Law?
Someone cites Colossians 2:14, "Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." This verse is used to teach that the holy, immutable (unchangeable) and eternal Ten Commandments were nailed to the Cross of The Messiah and thus hold no authority.
First let me ask a simple question. Is "Honor your father and your mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Yahuah gives you" AGAINST you or FOR you? Does the mandate to not commit adultery protect your marriage from your neighbor? Is that "against" you? " You shall have no other gods before me." Is that against you? Or is that intended to keep you in favor with your Creator? "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy." It was never given by Yahuah that the Sabbath be a day of laborious exactions. It is a day in which man is to forget his earthly concerns and spend in the company and pleasure of Yahuah. Somebody says, "In The Messiah, we have His company everyday." Yes. But it is not undivided attention. He asks for a time when we are not side-tracked with other concerns. And He blesses obedience in that, by the way. These things are not against us, but for us!
So then are the Ten Commandments against us? Absolutely not. What then are the "ordinances that were against us?" Those that demand death for violation of Yahuah's Law. Example: Doing 30 m.p.h. on Main Street is FOR you. It keeps you and those around you healthy and alive. However, there is another law that states that if you do 50 m.p.h. on Main Street you are fined and may even go to jail. It is a law of consequences. Violate the law that is for you and you incur the law that is against you.
Romans 6:23 again, "For the wages of sin (transgression of the Law - 1 John 3:4) is death..." What The Messiah nailed to His cross were those ordinances that were "against us." "...But the gift of Yahuah is eternal life."
Galatians 5:1 is often quoted to mean we as believers are not subject to the Law of Yahuah. It reads, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith The Messiah hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." But we must ask, what is the yoke of bondage? Is it in fact the Law? Remember, we are NOT talking about people who are yet in their sins, lost and unrepentant. We are discussing the believer. From what do we gain freedom? Romans 6:18 states, "Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness." Ephesians 2:1-10 describes how the believer WAS dead in trespasses and sins. But now he is "made alive" and "unto good works." When he was "dead" he was in sin / transgression of the Law. But once he is made alive unto good works, he is no longer in sin. If sin is transgression of the Law, then "good works" would be obedience to the Law.
This fact nullifies the notion that the believer is made free from the Law. Is it not the epitome of foolishness to declare that The Messiah forgave us of sin / transgression of the Law and then sets us free from obligation to it? (Some readers will STILL think we are suggesting justification by works. Absolutely not. We are discussing the attitude of the believer toward the Law--after that he gains the new birth by faith.) So with the same mouth it is said, "We are free from sin" (transgression of the Law) and "We are free from the Law."
Some people suggest that there is the "Law of Moshe" and the "Law of The Messiah." Yes, in John 1:17 we read, "For the law was given by Moshe, but grace and truth came by Yahusha the Messiah." But let's examine that. Stephen, speaking of The Messiah in his final sermon before he was martyred, told the people there, "This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:" Acts 7:38. Who was it that gave the Law at Sinai? The Messiah! What is said of the Law? It is called "lively oracles."
Yahuah had come down on Mt. Sinai in fire, smoke, thunderings and quakings.
The people desired to not hear the Law directly from Yahuah. They were greatly
frighten and asked that Moshe deliver to them the Law that they die not.
Now let us consider these words from Deuteronomy 18:
15 Your El Yahuah will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of you,
of your brethren, like unto me; unto him you shall hearken;
16 According to all that you desired of your El Yahuah in Horeb in the day
of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of Yahuah, neither
let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.
17 And Elohim said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have
spoken.
18 I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee,
and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that
I shall command him.
19 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words
which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.
This "Prophet" that was to come is Moshiach (Messiah). He will bring the words that Yahuah delivered at Sinai...those words that they did not want to hear from Him there. Moshiach, "that Prophet," will speak these words given here and they will be required of you. Are the words that The Messiah is to bring a different Law from the one given at Sinai? Absolutely not. The Messiah came bearing the words of Sinai! There is no such thing as "The Law of The Messiah" vs. "The Law of Moshe." They are the same Law.
In The Messiah we have liberty from the Law of sin and death. Nailed to His cross were those ordinances that were "against us," the laws of sentencing. But the Covenantal Law that He died to forgive us of breaking is still in the Ark of the Covenant. It is still written in Stone. It is still the Ten Commandments. That is the "perpetual" covenant. It still stands. Man is still guilty of violating it and still needs the covering atonement of the Blood of The Messiah on the Mercy Seat above that Covenant.
And the Believer will not seek to see how far away from Yahuah's holy Law he can get and be "OK." Rather the heart that is regenerated by the tender Ruach HaKodesh will seek to comply with Yahuah's Law in every way possible. He should never be heard saying, "Thank Yahuah we're not 'under' that Old Testament 'Jewish' bondage!" It's Hebrew/Jewish only in that it the Decalogue was delivered to the Hebrews. He was a Hebrew because he was found faithful - Abraham. (Besides, such a foolish statement sounds very anti-semitic -- demeaning to the Hebrews who walked according to Yahuah's holy mandates.)
Dispensationalism makes the claim that the Law did not precede Sinai. Since sin is "transgression of the Law," on what basis did Elohim destroy the earth in the Flood? What law was broken in Sodom and Gomorrah? Did not Noah take two of the "unclean" and seven of the "clean" aboard the ark? Was the sacrifice Abel made when he was slain by his brother a pig? In Genesis 26:5 we read these words, "Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws." Abraham was many, many years before the Children of Israel showed up at Rephadim and was given the Tables of Stone. The word in Genesis 26:5 "is the word "mitsvah" and means laws. The word, "laws" is from the Hebrew word "Torah," ("towrah" in Strong's Dictionary). Abraham kept Yahuah's Laws and His Torah. It is absurd to think that Yahuah created man and for 2500 years let him live and be judged without knowing His Law.
The Ten Commandments, the Covenant Yahuah made with man, was from "old" and is eternal. Yahuah walked in the Garden of Eden in the "cool of the day" with Adam and no doubt taught the first intelligent man His holy Law. He described to Adam how He created light on Day One, the sun, moon, and stars on Day Four, man on Day Six, and how He rested on Day Seven. It is ludicrous to claim that Yahuah would create Adam, then plant a garden "eastward in Eden" -- giving Adam his first gardening lesson -- and then disappear from him on Day Seven and not tell Him where He went and why. It is absurd to think that Yahuah would walk in the Garden with Adam and when Sabbath rolled around allow him to labor right on, tending the Garden and not tell him that it isHis holy day and that it is intended for rest. Yahusha said in Mark 2:27, "And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man."
Yahuah's Law is Eternal, immutable (unchangeable) and holy. The believer receives in Yahusha Hamashiach grace and mercy for violation of that Law and the Ruach HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) then empowers that believer to walk according to that eternal Decalog. The Covenant still stands. The Blood of the Covenant is still on the Mercy Seat, covering our sins. Our Cohen Gadol (High Priest) is still doing His work. Until man is made new, incorruptible in the new heavens and new earth, he needs that Blood to remain right there. He is made free from the law of sin (transgression of the Law) and can by the Ruach HaKodesh begin to keep the Law of Yahuah, motivated by gratitude and love.
Yahusha said when asked what is the greatest commandment, "You shall love Yahuah with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.(Editors note: these two Commandments are not all of the Commandments, they are the two which govern the rest of the commandments)" That "Law and prophets" was not something different from what is written in the Old Testament. It is the Eternal Word of Yahuah. "And the Word (Logos, Davar - Law) was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14
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