The law, grace, and God's will

We cannot see or receive the full demands of the law until we grasp the fullness of God's ¹grace. Without a clear grasp of grace, the ²law crushes us when we fully grasp what it asks of us.

In the other hand, in order to have a clear understanding of God's direction and will, we must have a clear understanding of the law i.e. God's moral standards and direction-will. The law spells out, in no uncertain terms, the conduct God desires (wills) and designs for us. That conduct and design are God's expressed, revealed, or written will - vs his secret, vocational or providential will. 

But we cannot properly benefit from the law or receive its direction the right way until we have a clear grasp of grace. 

Both the law and grace are vital in our relationship with God and must both be held in their proper place and order. 

Grace is the oil (lubricant) and fuel of our relationship with God and the law is the track (directions) we run on (not as a requirement to be accepted by God but as the means by which we reach our maximum speed - potential - and how we honor Him most). 

Loving God with everything we have and our neighbor as our self - i.e. the 1st and 2nd greatest commands - are the ultimate standard and our highest design.

We tend to focus on one side or the other i.e. legalism (law/obedience) or antinomianism (grace/faith). We are inclined to do so due to our lack of trust in God. 

But when properly understood, law and grace (as God intends it) are not in conflict. They go hand in hand. True trust (faith) filled, love-driven obedience is neither of these.

Walking with God by grace is truly freeing. Once we fully grasp God's infinite grace, we will never be the same. There is no longer any condemnation or rejection for our distrust, failure, or disobedience. Only God's complete embrace and perfect acceptance are ours in and through Christ. 

But that doesn't mean walking with God is mushy or wishy-washy. It is solid and has teeth. Because God's law clearly lays out the best way to operate - i.e. according to His design - to not live according to His clear direction (love God and neighbor) is to our harm, lose, or eventual destruction and that of others. It has real consequences, just like running a jet on gas instead of jet fuel has consequences. It's not a question of judgment but of operating as God designed us to.

Living contrary to His design-will-law matters, similar to using equipment according to the owner's manual matters. If the equipment doesn't operate as it was designed, it does not run properly and eventually breaks down -  not to mention never reaching its maximum efficiency and potential. Not operating according to the manual (the "law" on how the equipment works best) always results in negative consequences i.e. equipment failure.

If we are to know and walk with God well, we must know and walk with him exactly as he prescribes. The law isn't a list of  requirements we must complete to be acceptable and accepted by God but neither is it mere recommendations. To operate optimally, we must operate according to His direction, which is also the way He designed us to operate. Walking with God is grounded in truth/reality. There are no ambiguities within God or his direction. Any ambiguities lie only within us and our lack of understanding of God; his directions, design, and purpose.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1‭-‬4 ESV  

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17 ESV

For a discussion on legalism click here

For a discussion on walking in the spirit and not under the law click here

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¹Grace consists of God fully receiving us in all our brokenness and having his eyes set upon us in perfect love and care even when we stray...no, actually, especially when stray.

This is only because Christ fully satisfied the demands of God's law on our behalf and credited us with His perfect obedience as if it was our own. He now sees us in the same way He views Christ, with perfect affection and delight. In Christ, God now sees and receives us as perfect, without flaw. He could not set his love upon us otherwise.

²By law, I mean God's moral standard - not ceremonial rituals that were done away with by Christ fulfilling them. 

God's moral standard is summed up in the greatest commandment to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and the 2nd which is like it... loving our neighbor as ourselves. This is what we are called to live out, not in order to be received by God but in response to His relentless love, we desire to honor God for who he is - loving, merciful, patient, gracious, and kind etc. - and our fellow image bearers for who they are i.e. like God, worthy of our love.