21.What is true of the Law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments,

It no longer is possible for a person to find favour in the sight of God by obeying all the requirements of the Law.

Sometimes teachers of the Gospel present the idea that no person ever found favour in the sight of God by obeying the Lord’s commandments under the old covenant.

First, let us understand that people indeed were forgiven their sins and trespasses under the program of animal sacrifices. Christian teachers, in their zeal to emphasize the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice (which is superior!), have taught that no forgiveness was obtained through the animal sacrifices. The blood of bulls and goats, they state, merely pointed to the sacrifice of Christ.

This is not true.

And he shall burn all his fat upon the altar, as the fat of the sacrifice of peace offerings: and the priest shall make an atonement for him as concerning his sin, and it shall be forgiven him (Leviticus 4:26). According to the Scriptures, was this person’s sin forgiven?

And the priest shall make an atonement for him before the Lord: and it shall be forgiven him for any thing of all that he hath done in trespassing therein (Leviticus 6:7).

In your opinion, does the Scripture teach that trespasses were forgiven under the Levitical program of animal sacrifices?

Teachers who place an extreme emphasis on grace have held to the concept that the only purpose of God’s commandments under the old covenant was to cause people to see their need of a Saviour. Some have gone so far as to claim that when the Israelites responded to God by declaring that they would keep His laws (as they responded on several occasions), the Lord was offended by this response and much preferred that they would say that they were unable to do what He said and needed salvation through grace.

Devout teachers, men of God whose life and testimony are above reproach, actually have given this view of the Old Testament.!

They are incorrect in their viewpoint. The whole history of Israel contradicts this idea.

The history of the Jews reveals that when they did what God commanded they prospered. When they did not do what God commanded they brought judgment and destruction on themselves.

If this is true (and every student of the Scriptures knows several examples of the ups and downs of Israel according to their behavior), then God was not displeased, as some have taught, when the Jews spoke of their desire to do God’s will. God blessed them when they made the effort to behave righteously.

It is difficult to believe that such a perverted teaching of grace has found the audience that it has. Yet the adherents of extreme grace are many and their doctrine has influenced Christian teaching to a great extent (and has destroyed the moral strength of the churches).

The prevailing concept is (and no doubt it receives enthusiastic support from Satan!) that all persons under the old covenant, and the new covenant as well, were and are required to sin continually while they are in the world. The only purpose of the commandments of the old covenant and of the new covenant is to keep reminding us that we must believe in Christ if we are to be saved and go to Heaven.

The myth of a salvation that is apart from repentance and godly behaviour may be music in the ears of Christians, but it is disastrously incorrect.

The extreme doctrine of grace (to which some super-extremists add the crowning error that once we verbalize an assent to the doctrine of Christian redemption we can never again be lost) is "another gospel." One teacher of today claims that any pastor or teacher who stresses godliness and cross-carrying obedience is advocating "works," and his followers are Pharisees because they are attempting to do what Jesus taught. This teacher and his disciples are heading toward destruction.

The false doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture is closely associated with the distorted doctrine of unconditional grace.

What is your opinion of the heroes of faith of the Old Testament?

Were they expected to walk in a righteous manner before the Lord or did God reprove them for attempting to live righteously?

What about Abraham, Noah, Moses, Joshua, Job, Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Elijah, Nehemiah, Ezra, King Josiah. Were they not blessed of the Lord because of their righteous works?

According to the extreme teaching of grace, their life and character meant nothing. In fact, their conduct was a reproach because it implied that they did not need a Saviour.

But, one may claim, the Scriptures record that both Moses and David committed a sin. True. But it is one thing to say that a human being has a sinful nature and will fall as a result. It is quite another matter to teach, as has been maintained, that we should forget about attempting to do what God has commanded concerning righteous behaviour and should look only to the forgiveness that comes through Christ as the means of pleasing God.

It is time now for the preachers and teachers of the Christian Church to understand that the forgiveness of Christ is not God’s means of bypassing the laws of righteousness. If such were the case, most of the writings of the Apostles would be nonsense. There would be no such thing as a new creature in Christ. There would be only the old creature who is trusting that his salvation consists of a ticket he holds so he will be allowed on the airplane when the "rapture" comes.

What a perversion of the Gospel of the Kingdom! What a wretched, threadbare, misunderstanding of the grace of God under the new covenant!

Not only is righteous, holy, and obedient behaviour expected and required under the new covenant, but such behaviour was expected and required under the old covenant when there was no indwelling Holy Spirit, and no born-again experience, to assist the saint in righteous, holy, and obedient behaviour. Consider carefully the following:

And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect (Genesis 17:1).

According to the teachers of grace, Abraham should have said, "I cannot do that. I need to be saved by Your grace." Is this or is this not nonsense?

What God meant was, do the things you know to do. Make your way as perfect as you can before God. Listen to your conscience. No doubt the teachers of grace will howl in anguish at such an interpretation. But if they will turn again to the New Testament they will discover that the followers of Christ do not have to lie, do not have to commit adultery or fornication, do not have to fly into a rage when they are provoked, do not have to steal.

Under the old covenant we were to refrain from such behaviour to the extent we were able, and when we did sin we were to repent and offer our sacrifice. Under the new covenant we are to choose not to sin, and to pray and seek the Lord until He comes and delivers us; meanwhile confessing the sins we do commit and asking the Lord to forgive us and cleanse us.

It is possible, by the grace of God in Christ, to act like a Christian. It was possible under previous covenants to please God in those terms, just as Abraham pleased God by his righteousness, holiness, and strict obedience to God. James, referring to Abraham, stated that he was justified (declared to be righteous) by his obedience to God. Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only (James 2:24).

Thus saith the Lord!

James was not stating that Abraham was justified by the works of the Law, which is Paul’s whole point in Galatians. If James had stated that any person was justified by the works of the Law of Moses there would be a breach in the holy Scriptures. It would not be possible to include the Book of James in the canon of Scripture.

Elder James was balancing Paul’s emphasis on faith by declaring, as Paul did also, that faith and works go together. If righteous, holy, and obedient works do not accompany faith, faith is dead. Works are the life of faith. No human being will be saved by a dead faith.

At this point the serious student may remind us of the seventh chapter of Romans. Isn’t it true that the righteous deeds we would do, we do not perform, and the wickedness we choose to not do, we are compelled to do?

Isn’t it true also that the Law of Moses, particularly the Ten Commandments, killed us by revealing the wickedness we practice continually?

This is what the Spirit of God directed Paul to write.

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