The Law, Grace and Truth - Obedience Doesn't Save Us. It's How We Show Christ Love

Sometimes people think the New Testament teaches faith and the Old Testament Law-keeping. Not true. 

“Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Genesis 15:6

But law-keeping was emphasized in the Old Testament because the law was our “guardian” leading us to Christ. The Greek word translated guardian in Galatians 3:24 is pedagogue – a slave who cared for children, correcting, protecting, and disciplining them until they went to school. 

The Law was our pedagogue, making us conscious of sin (Romans 3:20), foreshadowing Christ (Hebrews 10:1) and preparing us for the full message of grace and truth in Christ (John 1:17). 

Christ didn’t destroy the law. He fulfilled it (Matthew 5:17), and showed us that righteous living flows out of our love for God not legalistic duty or fear of punishment (1 John 4:18). 

Christ came in grace and truth, forgiving sin and giving us the desire and strength to live godly lives (Ephesians 3:16-19; Titus 2:11-13). 

Wow!
for more insights on law and grace: Got Questions  

 Bible Study

1. Read these fuller passages for more insights into the purpose of the law. 

Galatians 3:24-27: So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Galatians 2:16: Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law." 

2. Unfortunately, many people think that since we are no longer under the law it doesn’t matter if we obey Christ’s commands. That completely misses the point. Being under the law means trying to be good by law-keeping. Being in Christ means choosing to obey His commands because we love Him and trust that whatever He tells us to do is for our best good. 

We can’t love Christ and be unfaithful to Him through adultery to other gods and selfish desires any more than we can love our spouse but be unfaithful to him/her through adultery.

Genuine love involves commitment and faithfulness. 

John 14:21: “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them."

John 15:10: “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love.”
copyright 2017, Gail Burton Purath, BiteSizeBibleStudy.com