Law and Grace – By Grace We Fulfill the Law but Which Law?

 

The Letter of the Law focuses on the external, codified, formalized, literal and legislated rules that authority enforces

 

The Spirit of the Law is the original intention and purpose behind the letter of the law

 

Mark 2:27 (NLT)

     Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.

 

1. The Spirit of the Law is meant for providing and protecting the needs of people while the Letter of the Law is the external expression in formal rules

 

Old Testament Law – It demands outside-in obedience and it is through self-effort that we obey it.

 

New Testament Grace –The focus is on what God will do and if we receive His blessings, it will enable us to fulfill the spirit of the law inside-out

 

Jeremiah 31:33 (Msg)

     "This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them—write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people. They will no longer go around setting up schools to teach each other about God. They'll know me firsthand…

 

Ezekiel 11:16 (Msg)

     "Well, tell them this, 'This is your Message from God, the Master. True, I sent you to the far country and scattered you through other lands. All the same, I've provided you a temporary sanctuary in the countries where you've gone. I will gather you back from those countries and lands where you've been scattered and give you back the land of Israel. You'll come back and clean house, throw out all the rotten images and obscene idols. I'll give you a new heart. I'll put a new spirit in you. I'll cut out your stone heart and replace it with a red-blooded, firm-muscled heart. Then you'll obey my statutes and be careful to obey my commands. You'll be my people! I'll be your God!

 

Matthew 5:15 (NIV)

     "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

 

2. Because Jesus came to obey the law perfectly, our focus is now on Christ, His Grace, the Spirit of the Law and not the Letter of the Law

 

Romans 7:6 (NLT)

     But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.

 

2 Cor. 3:6 (NIV)

     He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

 

Romans 2:29 (NLT)

     And true circumcision [obedience] is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

 

3. There are two ways we fulfill the Spirit of the Law:

 

a. By receiving so much of God’s grace and love that as a result, we love…

 

Romans 13:8, 10 (NLT)

     Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law… Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.

 

1 John 4:19 (NIV)

     We love because he first loved us.

 

b. By faith – which is by continuing to depend on Jesus’ acceptance, approval and His power

 

Romans 3:27-28, 31 (NLT)

     Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. ²⁸ So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law… In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.