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Intro:
Why study this topic of Grace?
One of the most important aspects of the Christian life is assurance of salvation, one that God has promised and that every Christian should possess, seems to be missing in the lives of many.
People in general, including many Christians, assume that we will go to heaven if we are good enough.
If we live a good life, do all of the right things, and avoid sinning, we have a good chance of being allowed into heaven.
The problem is that one can never be sure that he or she is “good enough” to make the cut.
63 percent of the U.S. population thinks that if a person is good enough, he can earn his way to heaven.
Even a third of those identifying themselves as born-again Christians said the same thing!
It seems clear that these folks are measuring their chances of going to heaven in terms of how good they perceive themselves to be.
You can almost see them picturing God holding up a balance scale, with their sins on one side and their good deeds on the other.
This is evidence that many people including Christians have no clue how they are saved.
Hence, today we begin a series on the Biblical Doctrine of Grace.
It is essentially a systematic theology of grace.
Generally, systematic theology is about looking at a certain teaching or topic from the perspective of the whole Bible.
Here in this course, we’re going to see theology as basically the art of making distinctions.
And we want to see 10 Important Distinctions for Understanding Grace.
Today’s lesson is a brief introduction to the most important distinctions necessary for a proper understanding of grace.
I. Creator vs Redeemer
A. God as Creator is the Lawgiver.
We can relate to God in 2 ways: Creator and Redeemer.
@@ As Creator, God functions as our lawgiver.
Since God’s human creatures, made in His image, are supposed to imitate His holiness, He as our Creator has given us laws to live by.
@@ The commandments of the law are God’s own holy character and will verbalized.
God’s law is more than commandments, however.
It also includes penalties, especially the penalty of eternal death in the lake of fire.
Because God is holy and hates sin, He not only forbids it in the law’s commandments but also shows how much He hates it in the law’s penalties.
According to , the Lord is our lawgiver and judge.
B. God as Redeemer is the Healer
@@ As Redeemer, God seeks to save and heal us.
After man broke God’s laws, he is doomed to face the penalties of God’s commandments.
If we only relate to God as Creator, we’re all doomed for hell.
So man also need to relate to God as Redeemer in order to escape the penalty of hell.
And God as Redeemer is essentially God acting in grace.
Hence for man to correctly relate to God, he must relate to God both as Creator and Redeemer.
Without God as Redeemer, man can’t be healed of all of sin’s consequences.
II.
Law Codes vs Law System
There is a big difference between Law Codes and Law System.
@@ A Law Code is simply the list of commands given by the Creator which we must obey.
The Law System is the way in which a person may get into heaven by obedience to God’s Law Code.
Understanding this distinction will help us to interpret Romans and Galatians because the word “law” is used frequently in these 2 books.
For e.g ;
Understanding this distinction will help us to interpret Romans and Galatians between as the word “law” is used frequently in these 2 books.
For e.g ;
There 2 verses, merely one chapter apart, seem to contradict each other unless you know what Paul means by the word “law.”
In , the word “law” means law codes.
But in , the word “law” refers to the law system.
In the latter, Paul is saying under the law system, one is justified by doing the law codes.
He is not saying that one can be justified by doing the law codes.
III.
Law System vs Grace System
This distinction concerns the way we can be saved.
This is perhaps the most important distinction in understanding Grace.
It helps us to understand .
I said that the law refers to the OT and grace refers to the NT.
This is also true as says.
In our study of Deut., we saw that God has always dealt with fallen men through grace.
And this is true too as Deut.
emphasizes God’s grace towards Israel by His election of Israel as a nation and the provision of the Promised Land.
Therefore, is more accurately defined by the Law System vs Grace System rather than OT vs NT.
@@ The law system means how you can get into heaven in relation to God as your Creator and your lawgiver.
The grace system is how you get into heaven in relation to God as your redeemer.
IV.
Law Commands vs Grace Commands
Based on the Law vs Grace system above, the law commands are the instructions God gives us as our Creator.
These will be like the law codes given in the Law of Moses.
The Grace commands are then the instructions God gives as our Redeemer.
It is very different from the Law commands.
A good illustration would be commands given by the government (law commands) vs commands given by the doctor (grace commands).
The government takes care of the country and the doctor takes care of your body.
V. Obedience to Law Commands and to Grace Commands
Obedience to God’s commands includes obedience to both the law commands and the grace commands.
Obeying Law commands will be like obeying the law codes of Moses’ Law.
Obeying Grace commands will be like obeying the Gospel (not the Gospel books, but the message of the Gospel.)
We’ll elaborate more on this latter on.
VI.
Generic Works vs Works of the Law
VI.
Generic Works vs Works of the Law
VI.
Generic Works vs Works of the Law
VI.
Generic Works vs Works of the Law
VI.
Generic Works vs Works of the Law
This distinction has to do with how the NT speaks of the concept of works.
Generic things we do just refers to anything that we do, including obedience to the Law and Grace commands.
But Paul uses the term “works” in a more specific sense.
He calls them “works of law.”
So there’s a general use of the term “works” and a specific use of the term “works.”
Again we’ll elaborate more later on when we see the big contrast between Law system and Grace system (not today).
VII.
Law Commandments vs Law Penalties
VII.
Law Commandments vs Law Penalties
We distinguish between the law’s commandments as such and the law’s penalties.
Any law in the sense of the law code contains both commandments and penalties.
@@ The Creator is both the lawgiver—He gives the commands—and He is the judge who hands out the penalties.
For God to be true to Himself, He must see that both of these—His commands and His penalties—are strictly honored and followed.
VIII.
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