RD 101 - Law and Grace

By Jack Eberle

In no way will this topic be covered in this short column. We will try to open the door from the dispensational side. “And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before The Lord our God, as He has commanded us” (Deuteronomy 6:25).This is a typical legal passage found in the Hebrew Scriptures. Notice, Moses tells the reader that he can establish his “own” righteousness.

Moving over into the Scriptures of the mystery, note Titus 3:5. “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of holy spirit.” Notice the direct contradiction, “our righteousness” versus “not by works of righteousness which we have done.”

I Timothy 1:5 speaks clearly of law in the mystery dispensation. “But the end of the charge is love out of pure heart and good conscience and un-pretended faith.” God does not look for us to parade our beliefs externally through ritualistic pomp and feigned external love. The love and faith of a body member grow together as ivy twines a tree. Pretense takes a back seat. (I John 3:23, John 13:34-35) Let us look forward to I Tim. 1:8. “But we know the law (is) good if anyone uses it lawfully” (WI). Understanding of the Mosaic law will help the body member to “rightly divide” accurately. Following verses 8-15, sins are listed to which “law” applies. Verse 19 ends with the words “…to the sound teaching opposed” (WI). Certainly it is in our purview to rigorously teach against sin and lawlessness as faithfully as we have opportunity. Our stands should not be equivocal. Grace does not pat lawlessness benignly on the head. Remember The Word is the “two-edged sword” which is the only offensive weapon of the panoply of faith. God does not love, applaud, or condone sin. He cleanses it and forgives it. The greatest event in history was occasioned as God’s answer to sin. (I Peter 2:24; 3:18; Isaiah 53; Romans 3and 6; Jeremiah 17:9; Isaiah 64:6; Romans 5:8) God did not condone sin, but condemned it. But God loved the sinner, provided for his forgiveness, and washed the sinner in His precious blood. (Ephesians 1:7)

The Scriptures make it clear that every sin of every dispensation to be forgiven must be under the blood of Calvary’s cross. The prophecy of Genesis 3:15, the proto-evangelicum, was the beginning of the promise of redemption. This overarching faith in the one atonement to be reconciliation for every sin of every dispensation could well earn the title of Ultra-dispensationalism or Pleni-dispensationalism. Thank the great God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit for His redemption of His saints.