A COMPARISON OF THE LAW AND GRACE

The Law

1. Added in alongside (Rom. 5:20).
2. In the position of a concubine.
3. Causes man to be a slave.
4. Involves work (Gal. 3:10, 12).
5. Makes demands of man.
6. Condemns man (Rom. 3:19).
7. Causes man to die (2 Cor. 3:6).
8. Causes man to be cursed.
9. Shuts man’s mouth.
10. Causes man to be far from God.
11. Makes man afraid of God.
12. Makes man hate his enemies (Matt. 5:43).
13. Kills disobedient sons (Deut. 21:18-21).
14. Kills adulteresses (John 8:5).

Grace

1. Existed from the beginning (2 Tim. 1:9).
2. In the position of a wife (Gal. 4:24-27).
3. Enables man to be a son (Gal. 4:4-7).
4. Involves faith (Rom. 4:5; Eph. 2:8).
5. Gives to man.
6. Justifies man (Rom. 3:24).
7. Causes man to live (Eph 2:4-5).
8. Redeems man out of the curse (Gal. 3:13).
9. Causes man to open his mouth in praise.
10. Causes man to come near to God.
11. Causes man to love God.
12. Makes man love his enemies (Matt. 5:44).
13. Forgives disobedient sons (Luke 15:20-24).
14. Does not condemn adulteresses (John 8:11).

BELIEVERS NOT BEING UNDER LAW
BUT UNDER GRACE

1. “You are not under the law but under grace” (Rom. 6:14).

New Testament believers are not under law but under grace. Therefore, we should not return to the law to live under the law and to keep the letter of the ordinances of the law. We should live under grace, following God and His life within us to live and act.

2. “We have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held, so that we serve in newness of spirit and not in oldness of letter” (Rom. 7:6, see also v. 4; Gal. 2:19).

We have died through Christ to the law, so we have been discharged from the law to serve the Lord in newness of spirit, not in oldness of letter. If we serve the Lord in oldness of letter, we are living under the law. We must serve the Lord according to the Spirit and the life in our spirit to live under grace. Thus, we should not care for the letter of the law but only for the Spirit and life in the Spirit. We live to God in spirit because we have died to the law.

3. “We are no longer under a child-conductor” (Gal. 3:25).

The law is a child-conductor to lead us to Christ so that we may live under grace. Since we have entered into Christ and are under grace, we are no longer under the child-conductor, so we should not live under the law. Therefore, any thought or action of returning to live under the law is a great mistake. In the New Testament age any teaching that tells people to live under the law is a confusion of the truth and is heresy. Believers should not receive such teachings.

4. “We have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (Rom. 5:2).

We have entered into grace by faith, so we should not return to the law. We should stand in grace and continuously live in grace.

THE LAW OF THE BELIEVERS

1. “I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them” (Heb. 8:10; see also 10:16).

Although believers are not under the law, this does not mean that they are not under any restrictions and can be completely lawless. Although God’s salvation frees believers from an outward observation of the law of letters, He puts the law of life into the believers and inscribes it on their hearts. The outward law of letters is composed of ordinances apart from God and separate from God. Thus, it is dead, weak, and impotent. The inward law of life is spiritual; it is in God and cannot be separated from God. Therefore, it is living, strong, and powerful. The outward law of letters depends on the strength of man’s natural self. The inward law of life is fulfilled by living in God, and it relies on the power of His life. God does not want us to live under the law of letters; He wants us to live according to the law of life. The law of life in us regulates us in every matter, giving us an inward knowledge of what God wants to do and what He does not want to do. While we do not have any responsibility to follow the outward law of letters, we must be responsive to the inward law of life.

2. “The law of the Spirit of life” (Rom. 8:2).

The law that God puts into the believers is His life. This life is in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit enters into us and brings God’s life into us as an inward law. Since this life is in the Holy Spirit, the law of this life is also in the Holy Spirit. Therefore, the law of life is the law of the Spirit of life. This inward law is active and keen; it has the capacity to regulate us in everything. It causes us to know God’s will and enables us to live out God’s will in a living and strong way. This is the law that we should follow and pursue today.

3. “According to the spirit...The mind set on the spirit” (Rom. 8:4, 6; see also Gal. 5:16).

The Holy Spirit in us is a living law. We need to follow Him and set our mind on Him and live.

4. “Follow in His steps” (1 Pet. 2:21; see also 1 John 2:6; John 13:15).

Today we not only have the Holy Spirit inwardly as our law, but we also have the Lord’s steps as our model. We should follow the Holy Spirit and the Lord’s steps in our actions. We should do things according to the Lord’s pattern.

5. “Be therefore imitators of God”; “Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Eph. 5:1; Matt. 5:48).

Our highest law and principle is God Himself. He wants us to be perfect as He is perfect. We are His children with His life. Based on His life, our living can match Him.

6. “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31).

Whatever we do must be to the glory of God. This is a law and a principle in our living. Whatever we do must glorify God.

7. “I am not without law to God but within law to Christ” (1 Cor. 9:21).

Although we have left the law of letters, we are not without law before God. In Christ, we have a greater, higher law, which is the life of God, the Holy Spirit of God, God Himself, and the glory of God as our law. Anything that causes us to touch the presence of God and to fellowship with God is permissible according to the law of life. Anything that does not bring us to God is not permissible according to the law of life.