Recall how Adam sinned. After God prepared the garden of Eden, He created Adam and Eve and charged them to guard the garden. The garden of Eden was committed entirely to them. Eden means happiness, and they lived in this happy garden. But both of them sinned. After they sinned, God gave them a promise that a Savior, the seed of the woman, would come. Though there was the promise of redemption, Adam and Eve were cast out of the garden of Eden. Here we see the grace of the Lord manifested through the promise of redemption. Yet this does not annul God’s governmental action of casting them out.
God not only cast them out of the garden of Eden; He also guarded the garden with cherubim so that Adam and Eve could not go back. This was God’s government. God’s government and grace are two different things. Grace gave man the promise of a Savior, whereas government drove man out of the garden of Eden. From that day forward, man could no longer return to the garden of Eden. This is quite clear.
When the Israelites reached Kadesh-barnea, they refused to enter Canaan. As a result, God barred them from entering the good land. The Israelites regretted this and wanted to go in by themselves. Many of them were killed by the Canaanites in one day. They wept and cried, but God would not let them enter the land (Num. 13—14). Once they refused to enter, they could no longer enter in. God’s government would not allow them to do as they pleased. God has His government.
Moses struck the rock with his rod two times and did not sanctify Jehovah. As a result, he could not enter into Canaan (Num. 20:7-12). Although God was merciful to him and brought him to the mount of Pisgah, he could not join the people of God in entering Canaan. Although he could see the land of Canaan with God on the mount of Pisgah, he could not enter it (Deut. 34). God’s grace allowed him to see the boundary of the land, but God’s government forbade him from entering the land.
When David sinned, God was gracious and merciful to him and forgave him of his sins. God was so gracious that He even granted David a special fellowship after that incident. But the sword never departed from his household (2 Sam. 12:7-14). This was God’s government.
Barnabas separated from Paul because of Mark (Acts 15:37-39). Mark was a relative of Barnabas (Col. 4:10). He disagreed and disobeyed along the way, but Barnabas still wanted to bring him along. Obviously, this decision was motivated by his kinship relationship. Barnabas then departed from Paul and took Mark to Cyprus (Cyprus being their home). Here we see the influence of a fleshly relationship at work. I admit that Barnabas still might have been used by God in some way after this; he still might have done a good job later. But from that point forward, the Holy Spirit erased his name from the Bible. His name was still in the book of life, but it was no longer in the book of Acts. This is God’s government. God’s government does not allow anyone to take his own way!
The system of grace is one thing. The system of government is another. The more humble a person is, the more experienced he will be in the system of God’s government. Never think that you can annul God’s system of government just because you are under the system of His grace.
Grace never annuls government. In fact, grace makes a person yield to government. I say this solemnly: Grace gives us the ability to subject ourselves to government. Grace does not make us rebels; it does not help us overturn government. These two systems of God mutually perfect one another. Grace cannot annul government. Only foolish ones will say, “Since I have received grace, I can behave loosely and do things carelessly.” This is the work of a foolish man!
The more a person’s eyes are opened to grace, the more he will behave as a proper servant (if he is a servant) or a proper master (if he is a master). Similarly, the more a person’s eyes are opened to grace, the more he will know how to be a husband, a parent, a son, and a citizen, and the more he will find himself in subjection to authority. The more a person receives grace from God, the more he will know how to maintain God’s government. I have never seen a person who truly knows the grace of God destroy His government.