LAW & GRACE Why was man given the Law 430 years after Abraham? - (Gal 3:17).The law makes man realize his sins, but can never save mankind (Rom 3:20).The law required sin offering for men to be forgiven their sins (Lev 4:1-5). This unblemished guilt offering had to be goat, sheep or heifer. Each person was to lay his hands on the goat/ sheep to pass his/ her sins on to the live animal. (Lev 1:4; 4:4). There was also the role of the priests. They had to perform this sacrificial system of sin offering yearly on every 10th day of the seventh month (Lev 16: 29-34). Aaron the high priest had to lay his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites- all their sins- and put them on the Goat’s head.( Lev 16:20-22).Despite all these, the Israelites still went on to repeat the same sins over and over again for ‘’it was impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins’’.( Heb 10:4).All that was done in the Old Testament were just but a shadow of the good things that are coming (grace)- not the realities themselves (HEB 10:1). Just as Isaiah says that ‘’not one will lack her mate’’ (Isaiah 34:16). In this case, the live goat refers to Jesus Christ who is the Lamb who takes away all the sins of the world- past, present & future! (John 1:29). John the Baptist is the one who took the role of Aaron the high priest by baptizing Jesus in River Jordan thereby passing all mankind’s sins onto Jesus (lamb). Jesus Christ then carried all our sins thereby blotting them out on the cross. Just as the sin offering was being left into the wilderness to disappear with the sins of the Israelites, so Christ also took away all our sins! Heb 10:18 ‘’ and where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin’’. Once a person is redeemed, there is no more sacrifice (Heb 6:1-4). Can sins be forgiven by still following the law? Those who try to follow the Law are under a curse! Gal 3:10.Jesus Christ died once and for all. He was not and can never be crucified more and more with works of daily repentance. What is SIN? It is the seed that all men are born with right from Adam, which then bears fruits of sin that defile a man’s heart (Mark 7:20-23). That’s why we must be re-born in Christ for us to enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5. / Psalm 51:5). This seed was planted by Satan in Eden; it must be uprooted; so that the clean seed of Christ (Holy Spirit) can be planted. (Mat 15:13).Jesus Christ used the parable of the Pharisee (Law abiders) and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-14, to show us that we cannot be saved by doing good things as required by the Law of Moses; but by accepting that we are just but a pile of vipers who deserve to be thrown to hell! Yet, we are saved by Grace. When Jesus washed the legs of His disciples (John 13), he showed us that man can never help but to sin daily, but he has washed all our sins- past, present & future! Peter even refused to be washed but Jesus told him that he has no place in his kingdom unless his feet were washed! Unless one’s sins are forgiven, he can never enter eternity! Jesus knew that the journey is long, that the disciples would still encounter faults and failures in their ministry. Believe that Christ has set you free indeed! He now prays for all (1 John 2:1-2) Are you free or still under the Law? (John 1:17; Eph 2:8; Gal 3:10). The law is a two way traffic- Blessings & Curses (Deut 28) but grace is perfection (Mat 5:48). This Grace now covers man’s faults just like the Israelites were covered by the cloud! As such there is no more divination against those who believe! (Numb 23:23; Gal 3:1). We have no any other gospel apart from this TRUTH! (John 1:17)
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 11:54:55 +0000