“Get To” not “Got To”

Jesus says “…do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.” (John 5:45 NIV)

Many of us are confused about the relationship between the law of God and the grace of Jesus Christ. Very often we treat the grace of Christ as if it supplanted the law of God, yet Jesus himself said, “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.” (Matthew 5:17)[1] While many of us know this academically, practically we overemphasize the law, or grace, which leaves us an unsatisfying life with God and an inaccurate witness.

The New Testament teaches us that the law has at least two purposes; to lead us to Christ (Galatians 3:24) and to teach us how to live in love (Matthew 22:37-40 ). In many respects, the law actually foreshadows the kind of life God wants us to have, but the law, by itself, was incapable of producing that life. It was only capable of exposing our need for a savior while giving us a hint of what life could be.

Unfortunately, we are still left with a dilemma. How do we reconcile the law of God with the grace of God? I think Kevin Myers, a pastor in the Atlanta area frames it best. He basically says we “get to” rather than we “got to.” We “get to” live the life of God. Earning a life with God is no longer a “got to” proposition. Through the grace of Christ we “get to” live the life of God with God.

The work of Christ not only provides an avenue of forgiveness for our sin, but a conduit of power propelling us toward sin-free living. That conduit is the Holy Spirit, God, living within us. When we are living a truly spiritual life, that is to say living by the Spirit, then we fulfill the law of God. (Galatians 5:16-18 ) The Law becomes a guide, a measuring stick, to which we compare our lives. The degree to which our lives measure up indicates to us how well we are nurturing our relationship with Christ and experiencing the joy of living in his grace.

We are still expected to fulfill the law of God, but the difference is found in how we fulfill it. Do we fulfill that law as a goal through our own efforts? Or rather do we fulfill the law almost as a by-product of nurturing the life of Christ within? The former is from the outside in while the latter is from the inside out. I believe the latter is God’s plan, and it is even found throughout the Old Testament books of the Law. To cite one example, in Deuteronomy we read, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live.”[2]

© 2007, Ed Wandling

[1] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[2] The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.