Not much time to write, but I wanted to throw this into the discussion we’re having this week. Years ago, I heard Dan Coker say, “Many of the church’s problems arise because men try to take a system of grace and turn it into a system of law.”
How fair is that? How do we avoid turning grace into law while still seeking to have an obedient faith? Are statements like Dan’s no more than an attempt to avoid law altogether?
I don’t think the two need to be at odds. Both can be lumped, so to speak within a system of love (if we like that word “system”), as love includes both an outpouring of mercy and the setting of boundaries for the good of those who stay within them. There are not conflicting aspects of law and grace in the nature of God. There is a single character of love which is expressed lovingly in both. If I were to modify Coker’s statement, it would be to say that many of the church’s problems arise because men buy into the fallacy that systems of grace and law must be antagonistic.
Grace without law is libertineism.
Law without grace is legalism.
Grace with Law is love.
Law with Grace is “τὴν λογικὴν λατρείαν ὑμῶν.” (ten logiken latreian humon) – literally, the spiritual (logical, reasonable) service (worship) of you. See Romans 12:1.
If we were to chart the presence of law and grace so that we could picture it, where the two were both zero, we would have anarchy. If each received a perfect ten, we would have heaven. Until then, we live in varying mixtures of grace and law in combinations that range from bizarre to less than ideal – but extremely good.
I remember Jim Woodroof once illustrating balance between love for God and love for man with a chart like that. He put the unjust judge who cared for neither God nor Man in the bottom left corner at zero. He put Jesus at the upper right corner at the tens. The rest of us, he said, are somewhere on the chart – some stressing love for God (and His law) more than concern for people. Others just love people so much they cannot see how God would condemn any of them – so they accept everyone without questions and without demands. Most of us go to neither extreme – but are imperfect in our regard for God as well as in our love for man.
So, let’s strive to keep God’s law (there is the kingdom of God aspect) while we are grateful for His love and mercy (there is the grace aspect).
Paul spoke of both of these in his speech to the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:17-35. In v. 20 he said he “did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable.” In v. 27 he indicated that what he had proclaimed was “the whole council of God.” He further described his message in v. 21 as “repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus.” Then in vv. 24-25 he spoke of his ministry this way: “to testify to the gospel of the grace of God…” and to go “…about proclaiming the kingdom.”
The gospel of the grace of God is received through faith in our Lord Jesus. Repentance toward God implies recognition of how we have sinned against God and that we turn “to renounce the Devil and his ways” to serve God in His kingdom – by grace through faith. Certainly there is law in the kingdom. Yet the greatest of all laws is to love God Himself and to love others as we love ourselves.
But like you, Tim, I do not find the gnat-picking and straining regulations in the Gospel similar to those the Pharisees found in the Old Covenant. The New Testament is a different genre.
I neglected to request follow-up comments by email.
I agree with those who have answered so far, this is not an either/or scenario, but an “and” situation. Grace and law both exist. There are some who are “grace only” extremists just as there are “law only” extremists. My mind also goes to the writings of Paul, who said in Gal. 2:21 – I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.
However, Paul also said that grace does not nullify a moral code (Rom. 6:1-2). Paul also sets forth instructions to on how to organize the church, found throughout his writings (qualifications of elders and deacons – 1 Tim. 3; orderly worship and congregational harmony – 1 Cor. 11-14; limits on women speaking in the assembly – 1 Cor. 14, 1 Tim. 2; and church discipline – 1 Cor. 5). I point those out knowing that those are hot button issues with many. My intent is not to argue or endorse any view on those points, but to point out that Paul is a Grace advocate who also set forth rules or laws to be followed, whatever the circumstances, as directed by the Holy Spirit. Just as faith without works is dead, so is grace and love without obedience to Christ (1 John 2), whether it is within the confines of the church congregation or any area of our lives. Grace, love, faith, mercy, obedience (which, by necessity, indicates that there are rules or laws put in place by God) are inseperable. Like everyone else here, I’m just trying to figure it all out, with a heavy reliance on grace to both guide me to the truth and also cover my sins when I fail. No one is saved without grace.
Travis,
Can it be accurate to say that the passages you mention describing church order, governance, etc. are not laws in the same sense that Leviticus and Numbers provided laws for Judaism? Rather, are these descriptions of faith filled grace in action?
Jerry, that’s a tricky question, actually, not because of the words themselves, but the implications that many people are looking for. If it’s not a law, or rules, etc., then it’s optional. I get the point, and agree, but can’t really think of a better word. Hebrews is a great compare/contrast between the old and new covenants, showing the superiority of the new. Broad themes replace minutia and specificity, for the most part. The New Testament is certainly not written like Leviticus or Deuteronomy, with specific rites and procedures spelled out in depth. However, it does contain….Rules? Laws? Requirements? Expectations? Instructions? Guidelines? “The Word which I have spoken, the same shall judge you” – John 12:48. Obviously, there’s right and wrong, and God’s word is the standard we will be judged by. If we call it “faith filled grace in action,” and fail to abide by that Word in matters of congregational form and worship practice, which I think is what we’re talking about (as opposed to individual everyday living), would that not result in a negative judgment by God (yes, this is where grace and the blood of Christ come in)? Is baptism by immersion a law? It is certainly required for the washing away of sins and being raised up new in Christ. Jesus commanded that His followers go out teaching and baptizing people. It’s not an option. However, it’s not possible to baptize the unwilling. So again, binding law or guiding principle? My goal isn’t to argue about semantics or words (2 Tim. 2:14). Just going with the flow of thoughts now. Also, my inclusion of verses is not my attempt to “throw down” on anyone or use God’s word in an ugly manner. I know some people get offended by that practice. I’m just using them to help trace my thought process. Thanks to all.
While law and grace are not mutually exclusive, a dependence on one for salvation excludes a dependence on the other for salvation.
Travis,
I’m wondering how many of Paul’s instructions were meant to be seen as rules or law. We also need to consider how many of those were meant to be stretched beyond their original context. For example, what Paul told Timothy about elders wasn’t exactly what he told Titus. If there were a set list of qualifications for elders, wouldn’t both men have received that precise list? More importantly, wouldn’t Paul have given them those lists long before, since he had been appointing elders for decades?
When we try to make 1 Corinthians 16 a “law” about church offerings, we overlook the fact that Paul wrote those instructions as something that the Corinthians were unaware of. Paul had spent a lot of time in Corinth, yet he hadn’t taught them something that we see as so basic to our assemblies. [Of course the main reason he hadn’t taught them such was the fact that 1 Corinthians 16 refers to a limited, short-time special offering]
When we treat the New Testament like a constitution, with Paul’s words being articles or amendments, we squeeze the life out of the text. Paul didn’t write legal code; he wrote practical instructions for young churches. There’s a huge difference.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
You mean like those who want to read and turn the New Testament into a second Torah.
Tim, I disagree with the “squeezing the life out of the text” perspective. God’s Word provides life. God’s Word is the basis of faith. Some instructions written to those churches were to address specific, local problems, obviously (see head coverings, woman’s). Others were meant to be shared as instructions to all congregations. Grace, love, life and rules are not mutually exclusive. I’m sure there are indisputable doctrines, patterns, etc., you and others hold to, without which salvation would not be possible, correct?
Travis,
Admittedly, it’s hard to figure out where words like “rules” fit in to the whole conversation. I’m not denying that there are doctrines that make up the Christian faith, doctrines which have to be held to. But I do deny that the New Testament was intended to be read like Leviticus.
There’s no one in the New Testament being condemned or criticized for a technical error, like using leavened bread, taking the Lord’s Supper on Monday, forgetting to say “In Jesus’ Name” when praying, etc. Isn’t that a pattern for us? Isn’t that an “approved example”? Isn’t there a necessary inference that that’s not what we’re supposed to be about?
I’m not swayed on my comment about “squeezing the life out of the text.” If I tell you to pick up some bread on the way home, then discover that you pick up bread every day from then on, I’m going to tell you that you’ve seriously misunderstood my words. What I told you wasn’t meant to be law code.
Grace and peace,
Tim Archer
First, grace isn’t a “system”. It’s God giving sinners what they don’t deserve, and could not possibly merit, as a free gift based upon the faithfulness of Jesus.
Grace does not annul the law, it rather fills it out. The Bible says it in different ways such as a “circumcision of the heart” or “writing His law on their hearts”. Those upon whom God lavishes his grace are not left to themselves entirely. They are at the same time enabled to love and obey with a capacity they didn’t have before experiencing God’s grace.
This isn’t a “system” as I mentioned, it is a free gift and it works like this. “God is at work in you (faith-follower of Jesus) both to will, and to do His good pleasure”. My job and yours is to cooperate with him. Thus we “work out our salvation with fear and trembling”. The more you comprehend the scope of God’s grace the more in awe of Him you will be and are much more likely to see obedience as acts of love rather than rigid requirements. Obey? Absolutely! How else can a man love God? Love isn’t just an emotion, it requires action.
Thank you, Tim and Royce!
Part of our problem is that we read a text like Hebrews 9:1, “Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness” (ESV). Then, we begin to use our reason: “If even the first covenant had regulations for worship, surely there must be regulations for worship in the second covenant, which is superior!” Next we begin to comb the Scriptures to find those regulations. But what do we find? Very little that resembles the regulations in Leviticus! In fact, nothing that is any where near like Leviticus.
Instead, we find passages like Romans 12:1, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” The same word is used for “worship” here as in Hebrews 9:1 – but what a vast difference in how they are used! Hebrews 9 & 10 go on to show that Jesus fulfills the sacrificial system of the Old Covenant in His death and the offering of His blood on the mercy seat of heaven. The later part of Hebrews 10 says:
Then comes the great hall of fame of the faithful. The emphasis in chapter 11 is not that those men of faith did something, which of course they did. The emphasis is that these were men who trusted God with their very lives (which sometimes they lost), but still served Him because they trusted Him and loved Him.
That is exactly the sort of worship Paul pleads for in Romans 12:1. That is the kind of “regulations for worship” that are in the New Covenant.
1 John speaks much about “the commandments” and “his commandments.” Have you ever read the epistles of John to discover those commandments? Try 1 John 3:23-24 on for size: “And THIS is his commandment, that we BELIEVE in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and LOVE one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.”
There is nothing here about how to conduct a worship assembly – but if we really believe in Him and love one another, we will find ways to praise Him and edify each other (cf. also Hebrews 10:24-25). Read the rest of Romans 12 – 15 to see how Paul said that presenting your bodies as a living sacrifice will look. It is to live a life of sacrificial service among your brethren and the unbelievers, a life in which we sacrifice our own interests in the same way Jesus sacrificed His – by dying to self to live to God.
The regulations regarding worship that we have virtually manufactured out of thin air have stifled the hearts and souls of our people so much that many are more fearful of doing something wrong (or omitting something they must do) that worship is more a matter of rote than it is a joyous experience with God.
(End of rant. For now.)
Royce,
Don’t get hung up on the word “system.” If I remember the conversation, Dan wasn’t giving it any of the meanings you are suggesting.
You have a good point about grace “filling out” the Law. At the same time, we need to remember that there’s law and Law. We’re not talking about grace helping us to not shave the corner of our beards nor to wear tassels on our clothes.
Grace and peace,
Tim
Hard to even articulate my thoughts on this one. I think the discussion is a prime example of why we have many of the problems we do. When you question why someone turned a verse into a law you can be accused of not wanting obedience but then when a group of people throw off certain rules I have seen that they do seem to be throwing off obedience.
I don’t agree with that but I see it working both ways. I don’t think the question is whether obedience still exists with grace. I think 1 John does a pretty good job with this. Yes we have grace and this should motivate us to seek to be more obedient but we will fall short but that doesn’t keep us from trying because we understand grace.
The problem IMO came when people create laws with good intentions and bind them on others. I want people to seek obedience because of grace but obedience to what God actually has asked us to do not created rules. This for me has nothing to do with grace or law but actually adding to God’s word. Unfortunately I have seen some throw off obedience because of such created rules.
The book of Acts is a very strange part of the Bible if a new system of law regarding worship practices came with Christ. The Jewish followers of Jesus just keep on worshiping like they always had, guess they didn’t get the memo.
Good discussion.