Grounded in Grace

Introduction

Did God save sinners differently in the Old Testament than He does in the New? Did God’s covenant through Moses offer eternal salvation by works? Is GRACE the main difference between the Old and New Testaments?

Friends, it might surprise you to learn that many Christians don’t have the first clue about how to answer questions like these from the Bible... It might also surprise you to learn that much confusion on this subject comes right from some of the most trusted sources in American Evangelicalism.

Prominent Bible teachers... and popular Christian books (even study Bibles!)... can sometimes influence us in unhelpful ways.

For example, C. I. Scofield (1843-1921) authored the famous Scofield Reference Bible, which was first published in 1909... And about 10 years earlier, he also published a wildly popular booklet titled Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth.

His booklet is still in print today, and the Scofield Reference Bible was THE Bible for many Evangelicals throughout the 20th century... AND lots of our Christian parents and grandparents simply forgot that study Bible notes are not Scripture... they’re just notes... sometimes very useful and sometimes not.

It is hard to overstate the impact that Scofield and his system of theology has had on American Evangelicalism... His influence ranges from churches to seminaries, from movies to politics, and even into the realm of American foreign policy.

Scofield and others argued that the Bible can be divided into several “dispensations” or periods in which God relates to humanity in different ways.

Scofield and the Classic Dispensationalists divide the Bible into 7 dispensations... and... over the last 50 years or so... newer Dispensationalists (Revised and Progressive) have sometimes argued for more dispensations.

It’s not important for you to know or to remember the details... but I do want to present Scofield as an example of the way some very popular Christians have (at least occasionally) spoken or written... so as to give the impression that Old Testament saints were saved BY works and NOT by grace.

In his study Bible notes, Scofield wrote, “As a dispensation, grace begins with the death and resurrection of Christ. The point of testing is no longer legal obedience as the condition of salvation, but acceptance or rejection of Christ...”1

It sounds to me like he’s saying that before the “death and resurrection of Christ,” “legal obedience” WAS INDEED “THE condition of salvation.”

Lewis Sperry Chafer (1871-1952) is another Dispensationalist who made confusing statements like this.

In his Systematic Theology, Chafer wrote, “A distinction must be observed... between just men of the Old Testament and those justified according to the New Testament. According to the Old Testament men were just because they were true and faithful in keeping the Mosaic Law... Men were therefore just because of their own works for God, whereas New Testament justification is God’s work for man...”2

Frankly, I can’t think of a clearer or stronger way to say that Old Testament saints were justified BY works and NOT by grace.

But is this what the Bible teaches? Is this what we find when we look at the book of Exodus... where God gave His promises and His laws to the people of Israel?

Is God schizophrenic... offering one way of salvation during one segment of human history and then another during another time?

Is God cruel... offering salvation to sinners on the basis of their obedience to a law that they cannot keep?

Simply put, No... God does not offer a different way of salvation in the Mosaic covenant... or in the

10 Commandments, specifically... than He does anywhere else. What we DO find... when we look at the Mosaic covenant and the 10

Commandments is what we always find in the Bible – in both Testaments... (1) that God’s love and blessing are always gracious... and (2) that God always requires repentance and obedience from His people. Let’s turn now to Exodus 20... and read of God’s love and of God’s commands.

Scripture Reading

Exodus 20:1–20 (ESV)

1 And God spoke all these words, saying,

2 “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

3 “You shall have no other gods before me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.

7 “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates.

11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

13 “You shall not murder.

14 “You shall not commit adultery.

15 “You shall not steal.

16 “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.”

18 Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off 19 and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.”

20 Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.”

Main Point

God’s beloved people are ALWAYS in right relationship with Him by grace through faith, which is ALWAYS accompanied by repentance and obedience.

Message Outline

GOD HATES SINNERS, BUT HE LOVES HIS PEOPLE

GOD’S LOVE GRACIOUSLY INITIATES

BELOVED SINNERS RESPOND WITH FAITH/BELIEF

BELIEVING PEOPLE REPENT AND OBEY

Message

Today’s sermon is topical and not expositional... I believe I am sticking with the theme and substance of Exodus 20 with my topic today, but I am not seeking to walk through the full text of the passage... as I normally would.

This is the first of 11 topical messages which I plan to preach on the 10 Commandments... And we’re beginning today with what’s been called the “preface” to the 10 Commandments... God’s opening statement in verses 1 and 2.

We’ll address these verses in just a bit, but first let me explain something to you. As a pastor, one of my chief responsibilities is to instruct you from God’s word... I am responsible to teach you sound doctrine... and to refute error.

The Apostle Paul once told his young pastor-friend, that he would “save” both himself and his hearers if he would “keep a close watch” on himself and on “the teaching” (1 Timothy 4:16).

This means that my soul and yours are at stake each time I preach... and each time you listen... so we should both take this time seriously.

In my role as pastor and preacher, it’s my job to explain Scripture by making an argument for what you should believe and how you should live... It’s my job to tell you, “You should believe this, not that” ... “You should do this, and not that.”

But my instructions are only authoritative if I demonstrate that they are coming right from the Bible itself... I have to show you from the Bible WHY you should believe this or do that... And you should demand the same from any preacher.

My main point today is the conclusion of an argument... And I’ll try to build my case with all the points of my sermon... I’m arguing that something is true... and I’m arguing that you should believe and live accordingly.

Friends, I’m arguing today that you should depend completely on God’s grace... because that’s the only dependable ground for any sinner, from any time in human history... And I’m also arguing that you should diligently strive to repent from your sin and live in obedience to God’s commands... because that’s what God has always required of His beloved people.

Any good explanation of the gospel should start with the bad news... So, I’ll begin by arguing from the Bible that God hates sinners; He doesn’t naturally love them.

1. God hates sinners, but He loves People

Friends, I know it’s not popular to say so, but the Bible is clear that God’s natural posture towards fallen and sinful humans is hatred and not love.

The psalmist says, in chapter 5 verses 4–6, “For you [speaking to God] are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you. The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.”

Later in chapter 11 verses 4–5, the psalmist says, “The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven; his eyes see... The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.”

Consider what the wise, fatherly teacher says in Proverbs 6:16–19, “There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”

In summary, these verses expressly tell us that God hates “all evildoers,” He abhors “violent and deceitful” people, He hates “the wicked,” and God “hates” those who “sow discord” or “spread strife” (NASB) or “stir up dissention” (NIV84).

Friends, God doesn’t just hate sin... He hates sinners... He is opposed to them... He is not pleased with them... He speaks a condemning word over them.

This is why the Scripture tells us that sinners are “storing up wrath” for themselves that will be poured out “on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed” (Romans 2:5).

This is why Jesus said that “whoever does not believe [or trust]” in Him is “condemned already” (John 3:18)... God’s condemning word is already spoken.

Listen... it is crucial that we understand this reality... so that we will not presume upon God’s love... either for ourselves or for others around us.

God hates the sinner... He hates your neighbor who values recreation over righteousness... He hates your co-worker who serves the gods of money and self- indulgence... He hates your family member who knows what God commands... and yet defies God’s authority by living in rebellion against those commands.

God hates sinners... Our sinning neighbors, our co-workers, and our family members are not OK... They are under God’s judgment at this very moment... and they will experience the full weight of God’s wrath in the future.

And... if our lives are marked by sin... rather than love for God and obedience to Christ... then we too ought to expect God’s judgment... And, the Bible warns us, “it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31).

Brothers and sisters, this should motivate us to plead with our sinning neighbors and co-workers and family members... We should make efforts to appeal to them... to repent... to turn from their sin... and to cling tightly to the only savior....

Because God has shown His love for some of those same sinners!

I am so thankful for the buts in the Bible, and one of my favorites is in Ephesians 2.

Verse 3 says, “we... were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But,” says verse 4 (!), “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ...”

Out of sheer grace, God decided to love some of those sinners who deserve nothing but His hatred and wrath!

And this is what we’ve been seeing on display in the story of Exodus.

When Moses stood on the banks of the Red Sea and watched God destroy the armies of Egypt right before his eyes... When Moses saw God redeem and preserve the Israelites by the power of His strong hand... Moses sang out, “Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods? Who is like you, majestic in holiness, awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders? ...You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode” (Exodus 15:11–13).

The story of God’s saving work... in the Old Testament and in the New... begins in the heart of God’s love!

Love is not merely a feeling or an emotion... Love – the kind of love God shows – is a deliberate and steadfast commitment to grant favor to His beloved... without any notion that His love is deserved.

In fact, God told the people of Israel, “It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you... [it was] not because of your righteousness or the uprightness of your heart... it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery...” (Deuteronomy 7:7-8; cf. 9:5).

Do you see the sequence of actions here? ...God’s love is the starting point... All of God’s favor... all of His blessings... all of His redeeming work... springs from the fountainhead of His love!

God loves His people! And this is fantastic news...

First, because He is not obligated to love them in the least... and yet He does in fact love them...

And second, because God’s love graciously initiates... which brings us to point number 2.

2. God’s love graciously initiates

Because God loves His people... He graciously initiates a favorable relationship with them... And this is the emphatic point I want to make from Exodus 20 today.

You might remember that we talked last Sunday about the way that God’s demand for obedience FOLLOWED His pronouncement that He had already graciously redeemed His people.

In Exodus 19:4, God said He “bore [His people] on eagles’ wings and brought [them] to [Himself].” ...And in Exodus 20:2, God said He is the “LORD... who brought [His people] ... out of the house of slavery.”

All through the Exodus story, we see God showing His love for His people by initiating a favorable relationship with them.

Before the people of Israel ever heard God’s 10 Commandments, what did they hear? ...They heard a reminder that God had already loved and redeemed them!

Before Israel ever had the chance to obey, God had already lavished His love upon them by protecting them from His judgments in Egypt... by redeeming them from bondage... and by bringing them to Himself.

Before Israel had done anything good in God’s sight, God had already decided to love them and to make them His people.

While Israel was still in Egypt... ignorant of God’s law... not even knowing God’s name... God had already set His mind to love them... and to save them... and to make them know Him... like no one else had ever known Him.

Friends, this is a picture of the way God’s love always initiates... God’s love is ALWAYS and entirely of grace... It is never deserved... and it is never earned.

To those who believe and follow Christ, the Bible says, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8)!

God sent His Son to die in the place of “weak” and “ungodly” sinners... not for good and lovable people!

Brothers and sisters, this is the very ground upon which our hope of eternal glory is built! ...How can you know that God will never stop loving you? ...How can you know that God’s love for you will never diminish?

It is because His love was never based on you to begin with!

Friend, if God loves you right now, it is because He has decided to love you from long ago... He has been working in real human history from the very beginning to show His love for you... and He has demonstrated that love most fully in the person and work of Jesus Christ!

The Bible says, “In love [God] predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace... In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us... according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time... In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will... [and God’s gospel promises have been] sealed with the... Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of [God’s] glory” (Ephesians 1:5–14).

This passage... and the whole scope and story of Scripture makes it clear... God’s beloved people are ALWAYS in right relationship with Him BY HIS GRACE, which is motivated by His unmerited love for those He calls His own.

But, how should we respond to God’s love? Is there anything we must do in order to realize God’s love in our own lives?

3. Beloved sinners respond with faith/belief

Once sinners like us become aware of the story of the gospel – how God showed His love for guilty sinners like us by sending Jesus Christ to live and to die and to conquer death for us – we must decide what we will do with that information.

Some people hear the gospel, and they think little of it. Maybe they don’t realize their desperate need for a savior... They don’t appreciate

just how offensive their sin is or just how deep their depravity goes.

One young man asked Jesus about how he might inherit eternal life, and Jesus said, “You know the commandments...” Obey them (Luke 18:20)... And the young man proudly answered, “All these I’ve kept...” (Luke 18:21).

This encounter shows how some people just don’t see their sin for what it is.

Maybe other people think little of the gospel because they love their sin... They know that following Jesus means giving up their sin... and they love their sin more than they love Jesus.

If we’re honest, every one of us in this room are aware of the pull of sin on our hearts... When some of us sing that old song... “Prone to wonder, Lord I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love...” those words aren’t just empty phrases for us.

When sin looks so good... Jesus will seem unappealing... He’ll be undesirable.

Some people presume on God’s love... Some deny God’s love... Some reject God’s love... There are many bad and detrimental ways to respond to the gospel, but the way beloved sinners respond is with faith or belief.

Some sinners hear the gospel... maybe for the first time or maybe for the 439th time... and they really believe that God has shown His love for them in Jesus Christ... They really believe that Jesus came to save them from sin and from God’s wrath... They really believe that they’ve been reconciled to God through the work of this marvelous Savior!

This is true for saints today, and it’s true for saints in the past...

As a matter of fact, the Bible holds up Abraham – a guy who lived nearly 2,000 years before Jesus – as the example of Christian faith!

Romans 4 says, “[God’s] promise to Abraham and his offspring... did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith... That is why [the promise] depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace... to the one who shares the faith of Abraham... That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness.’ But [these] words... were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification” (Romans 4:13-25).

Did you catch that? God’s promise of the gospel came to Abraham... and Abraham believed God’s promise... and God counted Abraham righteous... though the Savior who provided that righteousness was still yet to come.

And this same sequence is what sinners experience today when they believe God!

Abraham’s faith/belief and God’s pronouncement of righteousness was not “written for his sake alone” (v23)! ...Abraham was meant to serve as an example for sinners 2,000 years later... and 2,000 years later than that!

Jesus Christ was crucified for sinners... past, present, and future... and He was raised to life again in order to show that God has indeed accepted Christ’s sacrifice... And any sinner... from any period of human history... who is in right relationship with God... is there by His grace and on account of faith in Christ.

Friends, this is the heart of the gospel – salvation... right relationship with God... the justification of sinners before God’s bar of justice – This is the stuff Christians fight for... This is the stuff Christians have died for... This is the brilliant light of God’s gospel which pierces the darkness of our world and makes dead things live!

If you’re wondering what Christianity is all about... then you can know for sure this morning that Christianity is about the gospel... and the gospel is the message of God’s love for sinners... displayed in the person and work of Jesus Christ!

And you can know for sure this morning that the way you experience God’s love in your own life... the way you enter into Christianity... the way you enjoy all the benefits of the gospel of God... is by simple faith or belief in Jesus... You can add nothing to what God has already done in Christ, and you can’t take anything away.

You can have right relationship with God by embracing His steadfast love... which is offered to you on the basis of His gracious grace... and received by mere faith.

But faith itself is invisible... So, what does faith/belief look like on the outside? Well, faith always looks on the outside like repentance and obedience.

4. Believing people repent and obey

Some of you might be thinking at this point... “Marc, I appreciate the history lesson up front... and I really like the emphasis on God’s love and grace today... but how did we go from Exodus 20 to all of this?”

Well, I’m glad you asked... Exodus 20 is a record of the 10 Commandments... It’s one clear place in the Bible where God calls His people to obey... and we want to understand the relationship between obedience and faith and God’s love.

To revisit the questions I presented at the beginning... Did God’s covenant through Moses offer eternal salvation by WORKS? And, is GRACE the main difference between the Old and New Testaments?

As I’ve been arguing... No... God’s covenant through Moses – including the demands of the 10 Commandments – did not offer eternal salvation by works... And grace is the basis of God’s favorable relationship with His people in both Testaments of Scripture.

Let’s look and see how the Bible shows us... (1) that God’s love and blessing are always gracious... and (2) that God always requires repentance and obedience from His people.

First, we’ll look at Exodus 20; and then we’ll look at the New Testament.

First, the 10 Commandments demand repentance and obedience from God’s people, but only AFTER God has already been gracious to them, showing them His love and blessing.

In Exodus 20, the 10 Commandments begin in verse 3... God demands that His people have “no other gods” before or besides Him... But this demand follows all that God has already done in the Exodus story... And God even reminds His people of His love and grace in verse 2... “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

Therefore, we should recognize here that God’s love for His people in Exodus is a gracious gift... and we should also recognize that God requires those same people He has graciously loved to respond with repentance and obedience.

Friends, repentance and obedience is what true faith always looks like in real life.

In the New Testament... just like the Old... we find that God’s covenantal promises always come with stipulations... The New Testament is full of requirements for those who believe the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We’ve already talked about the first New Covenant requirement... Faith!

In order to participate in God’s gospel promises, a sinner must respond with faith.

But repentance and obedience are the outworking of true faith in our lives... and these are also New Covenant stipulations.

When the first gospel message was preached in the New Testament (i.e. under the New Covenant), some of the people responded by asking, “What shall we do [to be saved]?” ...And Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins...” (Acts 2:37-38).

Later, when Paul preached the gospel to a city full of Gentiles, he finished his message with a call for repentance... He said, “[God] commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world...” (Acts 17:30-31).

And when Paul wrote of his missionary efforts, he said that he’d traveled far and wide... telling people “that they should repent and turn to God, [and] perform deeds in keeping with their repentance” (Acts 26:20).

These are just a few of the many passages that speak of repentance as a condition of participating in the New Covenant... Let me cite a few that refer to obedience.

Hebrews 5:9 says that Jesus Christ is the “source of eternal salvation to all who obey him...”

1 John 2:3-5 says, “By this we know that we have come to know [God], if we keep his commandments. Whoever says, ‘I know him’ but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him...”

And Jesus said, in John 14, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments... Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father... Whoever does not love me does not keep my words...” (John 14:15-24).

Friends, the message is clear... The New Covenant... The gospel of Jesus Christ... makes demands on us... We must believe... We must repent... And we must obey.

We find, then, in Exodus 20, what we find all over the Bible... that God’s beloved people are ALWAYS in right relationship with Him by grace through faith... and that true faith is ALWAYS accompanied by repentance and obedience.

These two realities are both important for us to remember every day... in our own relationship with God... and as we have conversations with others about their relationship with God.

Bibliography

Alexander, T. Desmond. Exodus. Baker Books, 2016. Alter, Robert. The Five Books of Moses: A Translation with Commentary. W.W. Norton,

2004. Blackburn, W. Ross. The God Who Makes Himself Known: The Missionary Heart of the

Book of Exodus. IVP Academic, 2012.

Dever, Mark. The Message of the Old Testament: Promises Made. Crossway, 2006.

DeYoung, Kevin. The 10 Commandments: What They Mean, Why They Matter, and Why We Should Obey Them. Crossway, 2018.

Hamilton, James M. God's Glory in Salvation through Judgment: A Biblical Theology. Crossway, 2010.

Henry, Matthew. Commentary: Volume 1: Genesis to Deuteronomy. Hendrickson Publishers, 2006.

Ryken, Philip. Exodus: Saved for God's Glory. Crossway Books, 2015. Sailhamer, John. The Pentateuch As Narrative: A Biblical-Theological Commentary.

Zondervan Publishing House, 1992.

Endnotes

1 Scofield Study Bible, second note on John 1:17, page 1115.

2 From Benjamin Merkle’s Discontinuity to Continuity: A Survey of Dispensational & Covenantal Theologies, page 41.