Façade of Grace

For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
~ John 1:17 (NKJV)

To live under the moral law is to live under an intolerable burden of fear and guilt, inequity and judgment, condemnation of self and neighbor. One who lives by this law sees unrighteousness everywhere and is miserable at the sight.

"Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill."
~ Matthew 5:17 (NKJV)

To make an exchange of my life for the life of Jesus Christ is to live under moral law fulfilled, in the freedom under the law of the Spirit of life …

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
~ Romans 8:2 (NKJV)

… in the freedom of being an eternal debtor to grace.

Living as a debtor to the moral law—the law of sin and death—is torment. Living as a debtor to the law of grace is to comprehend the price paid for freedom from the former law, to revel in new-found worth and gratitude, to indulge in lavishing grace and love upon others.

"Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold."
~ Matthew 24:11-12 (NKJV)

The lawless person refuses to acknowledge a debt to any law. If knowledgeable enough to hear that forgiveness of sins is available through Jesus, but unwilling to conduct the transaction of life for life with God, such a person is compelled to build for himself a façade of grace. He will assert—indeed, he may demand—an entitlement to grace from God and fellow man alike.

Such a one is unacquainted with grace and has rejected truth. He would be better off as a slave to the moral law, that he might hunger for freedom.

"Then Jesus said to those who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
~ John 8:31-32 (NKJV)

Father, thank You for sending Truth to us. Lord Jesus, thank You for paying the price of freedom. Holy Spirit, thank You for unfathomable grace.

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Copyright 2012, Anne Lang Bundy, all rights reserved.