Monday, 24 January 2022

Law and Grace - part 11

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We continue our deep dive into the issue of Law and Grace. It's so easy to make a distinction between the age of Law (Mosaic dispensation) and the age of Grace (Yeshua dispensation). But it's never that simple, is it? Paul lived at a time when things were changing from Law to Grace, and he (more than most) struggled with the tension between Law and Grace.

Would you agree with me that Paul spent most of his life in the age of Grace? Apparently, to Paul there was a difference between the legitimate use of the Law in the of Grace and its illegitimate use. 1 Timothy 1:8 But we know that the Torah is good if one uses it legitimately. This leads us to the conclusion +that there is value in the legitimate use of the Law.

Where do we find the scriptural definition of legitimate use of the Law? 2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is inspired by God and useful for teaching, for reproof, for restoration, and for training in righteousness, so that the person belonging to God may be capable, fully equipped for every good deed. We come to the Lord (regardless of our natural age) as babes in Messiah.

We need maturity but can only handle the "milk" of the Word and not the "meat." We need God's word to wash us from the filth of this world. This is the reason Yeshua went to the Cross. Ephesians 5:25-26 Husbands, love your wives just as Messiah also loved His community and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, having cleansed her by immersion in the word. Some teach we no longer need the Law in the age of Grace. But the words we just read say exactly the opposite.

The age of Grace is having the power of the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. The truth is still the truth, but instead of "sweating" of the minutia of every detail, we can grow in the spirit of the Law and not in the "letter." Let me be clear, as I bring this lesson today to a close. The rabbis (even before Yeshua) have always known that God's Word (the Torah) only gives us a bare bones outline. They went on to believe that the Talmud gives us the details of necessary observance. Until Yeshua, the only option was to become a law unto yourself.

Since Yeshua, we have the Holy Spirit. John 16:12-14 "I still have much more to tell you, but you cannot handle it just now. But when the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; but whatever He hears, He will tell you. And He will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you. The Holy Spirit gives us our full understanding. It is by the Holy Spirit that we enjoy (and benefit from) the legitimate use of the Torah.