Grace is our Teacher, not the Ten Commandments

Are you trying to get someone, even a believer in Christ, to stop sinning and live right? Is that person you? No amount of vows made to stop sinning, recital of punishments that are attached to breaking the Ten Commandments or threatening, nagging, hellfire and demon attack stories from the pulpit etc can transform a person. Only Jesus can. Without Him, we can do nothing.

The bible says that the strength of sin is the law (1 Cor 15:56). Law-keeping makes people become slaves to sin.

Telling people that they have to (by their own efforts) obey the law in order to be righteous will only produce more sin and cut them off from Christ.

What trying to keep the Ten Commandments in order to be righteous does is arouse sinful passions in us and cause us to sin more, according to Romans 7:5 –

“When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.” 

The old nature here refers to the sin nature that we inherited from Adam, before we became a new creation in Christ. Those who boast in their ability to keep the law end up sinning more. This is why Peter denied Jesus three times after he boasted that he would not. 

Trying to get right with God by keeping the law makes Christ of no effect in the lives of believers according to Galatians 5:4.

"For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace."

So how can one live right? How can one be transformed? 2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us how - "But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord."

Believers, we are transformed by beholding Jesus, not by our obedience to the law! In Christ, the law gets fulfilled in us, but not by us.

But how do we behold our Lord's glory? Let’s keep John 1:17 in mind for this - “For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.”

The “Law” and “Grace and Truth” are entirely separate. They cannot be mixed. One was given by a servant (Moses). The other came through the Son of God (our Saviour Jesus) – John 1:17.

One (the letter) kills while the other (the Spirit) gives life - 2 Corinthians 3:6.

One (the law) demands righteousness from sinful and morally bankrupt man who has none ("there is none righteous, no, not one" - Romans 3:10) while under the other (Grace) God's righteousness is given to us in Christ as a free gift - Romans 5:17- "For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)"

So how do we behold the glory of the Lord?

In Exodus 34, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments written and engraved on stones (Paul calls this the ministry of death), the children of Israel could not look steadily at (behold) Moses face because of the glory of his countenance, which was from the law. He had to wear a veil after reading the law to them because the law condemned them all, as it condemns all those without God's gift of righteousness today. In verse 14-15 of 2 Corinthians 3, Paul says of those under the law: 

"But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart."

Reading/preaching of the law, which was given through Moses is akin to beholding the glory of Moses’ countenance, which was from the law. No one can live by its standards, which is why the children of Israel could not look at Moses. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” 

The law pointed out their shortcomings, as it does today to all who depend on it for their righteousness. It cannot save. Preaching it cannot make one live right. It only brings condemnation and judgment. Reading/preaching the law ensures that the veil remains on the hearts of believers. Believers remain blind. More laws arouse sinful desires in us and result in a harvest of sin which leads to death according to Romans 7:5 - "When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death."

Beholding the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is reading/preaching and listening to the word of Christ - messages that reveal “Grace and Truth,” - God’s undeserved, unmerited favour, which came through Jesus. It is seeing His beauty and love for us in both the Old and New Testaments. 

By His grace, when we look into the mirror of our lives, we see in ourselves not our flaws and shortcomings but what God has made us to be in Christ – His Righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21 “for He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of god in Him.”) The same principle applied with Abraham who was childless. Isaac came after He began to refer to himself as Abraham, not before. When we confess our righteousness in Christ, we will bear fruit (live right)

When the heart is transformed by the Spirit, people won't need anyone to give them rules and regulations before they live right. People won't need to be told to dress, talk and act in a manner that glorifies God before they do so. It will be their passion! They will not want to sin. They will comply with the Ten Commandments without even trying to obey it. They will love to talk about our wonderful Saviour Jesus. 

They will give more, pray more, do more, love more yet not them but Christ in them, so they might not even notice that they have changed inwardly and outwardly...but others will. The transformation by the Holy Spirit leads to right living but many in the church have it backwards and tell believers that they need to stop sinning in order to be transformed! Nobody gets transformed this way. It's an endless cycle of sin, condemnation and judgment of the law

In Christ, the law is fulfilled in us (but not by us) so we can approach our Lord boldly and look upon Him without a veil on our hearts. He gave us His righteousness as a gift. He does not judge or condemn us, like the law does. His Spirit gives us life. Meditating on these things is how to behold the glory of the Lord!

We love because He first loved us. The more the love of Christ is unveiled from the pulpit, the more His people will love Him and others, and also not want to sin. When His love, reflected in the abundance of His grace and His gift of righteousness, is the core message of preaching, as it was with Paul, believers will reign in life – reign over sin, selfishness, bad temper, sickness, poverty, etc. When the message being preached from the pulpit focuses on His words to the woman caught in adultery “Neither do I condemn you,” the people will go and sin no more! This is pure undeserved, unmerited favour, people! His gift of no condemnation makes us go and sin no more.

When believers are taught that that the way to get right with God or “maintain their salvation” is obeying the law (which no one can do fully, plus if you slip up in one, you’re guilty of all – James 2:10), it leads to more sins and death. If your pastor tells you “yes, Jesus died for you BUT you still need to keep the Ten Commandments or give to get from God,” and you obey this form of doctrine, you tie yourself up to the yoke of bondage (the law) again. And the letter kills. Remember Galatians 5:1 and  – 

 "So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law." 

4 "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”

When the law (obeying the Ten Commandments/”do good, get good; do bad, get bad” doctrine) is read/preached to the people, people are being taught to “behold the glory of Moses’ countenance” which is of the law; and no one can. This is why many people, especially young people don't like going to church. Like the Israelites that ran away from Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai with the Law, they run away, because the law condemns us all.

By beholding the glory of the Lord - looking at Jesus and receiving His gift of righteousness and no condemnation - we are being transformed to the same image, from glory to glory by the Holy Spirit. We don’t get transformed by keeping the Ten Commandments or “not sinning.”

When you mix law and grace (preaching/professing Jesus yet rejecting His gift of righteousness by teaching that people still need to obey the law in order to get right with God) you are pouring new wine into old wineskins. You will lose both the wine and the wineskins.

Pastors and leaders, it is the Holy Spirit that does the transformation, not the preaching of threats from the pulpit or telling people to make vows and determine to quit sinning! This is the preaching of the letter, which kills. If we could stop sinning and do right all by ourselves, Jesus would not need to come and save us. Just look at what happened to Peter when he boasted in what he could do. He denied Jesus three times! Thank God for our Lord’s restoration.

Unveil the love of Christ and the people will love Him and love others. Preach our Lord’s grace and let grace do the teaching; we are trained in the way of righteousness by Grace, not the law, or you:) according to Titus 2: 11-14 -

11 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”

Grace is our teacher. Many people like to point to this passage as their excuse for preaching obedience to works of the Law (trying to earn one's salvation) but neither you nor I are Grace. Grace (Christ) is our teacher, teaching us, purifying us and making us zealous for good works. Preach Grace and Grace will teach the flock to live right.

Sarah (Grace) was more than capable of raising Isaac. You don’t need Hagar (the law) to help! We are not children of the bondwoman but of the free! (Galatians 4:21-31)

By His grace, preach His unconditional love, His gift of righteousness and His gift of no condemnation to all. Preach His undeserved, unmerited favour. Grace will do the transformation.

Believe Right and you will Live Right.