Just a quick thought…A lot of responses to “Junebug” got me thinking a bit more about grace. The whole idea of grace, seems to be encapsulated in just one sentence that Jesus spoke. I think back to the time a woman was caught it adultery and brought out in the streets before a growing mass of people and placed in front of Jesus. As the enraged crowd waited for Jesus’ strict indictment of death with rocks in their hands, Jesus began to show us what kind of grace He offers. “…let those who have never sinned throw the first stones.” As everyone leaves the scene, it is only Jesus and the woman there together as Jesus says:
“Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?” “No, Lord,” she said. And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”
Jesus exhibits the entirety of grace in this last single sentence. It is nothing short of extraordinary. It is that deep love that says “even though you did what you did, I still love you and don’t condemn you”. It is understanding that sees into the depths of our heart and loves us the same. Yet, at the same time, Jesus also tells this woman, “Go and sin no more.” It’s amazing to me that Jesus doesn’t just stop at not condemning the woman, but he goes deeper and further by telling her not to do it anymore. To me, Jesus epitomizes grace in his interactions with this woman as an all encompassing love that doesn’t look down on us and condemn us, but instead frees us from the entanglements of sin.
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I think if people really grasped the concept of Jesus’ grace towards us, they would run towards him. God’s grace and his provision of salvation for us through Christ is the epitome of God’s love for us and it boggles my mind that people would be able to see that and not want to follow a God who loves them like that! So the only thing I can figure is that people don’t really SEE or understand grace, they just see the “rules” or the “religion” and not the true essence of God manifesting through the grace of Jesus in people’s lives.
Posted by Marieke
Isn’t it the Law that ever shows us that we are sinners and stand in condemnation? The Law therefore is the means to lead us to Christ and his Cross where we find His grace? The Law always condemns us, but that is what it is supposed to do.
This issue of law & gospel came up on my blog too, I posted
here :
Doesn’t all of the Old Testament point toward Christ and his Cross? And doesn’t all of the New Testament point backward to Christ and his Cross? Perhaps that is the question.
Yes, the framework is “simplistic” because it is presented that way in Scripture. The original post might make sense in light of this following quote:
“The Lutheran Church Missouri-Synod (LCMS), along with certain other Lutheran Church Bodies, also teaches the doctrine of the distinction between God’s “Law” and God’s “Gospel.” The Missouri Synod believes that the Holy Scriptures contain only two teachings — the Law and the Gospel. The Law is all those parts of the Bible that provide commands and instructions, which the LCMS believes are impossible to completely obey. Therefore, the Law is a statement of God’s wrath, judgement, and damnation. The Gospel, on the other hand, is the portions of Scripture that promise free salvation from God, even to sinners. The law always condemns, the Gospel always promises. Both the Law and the Gospel are gifts from God. Both are necessary. The [primary] function of the law is to show a person their sinful nature and drive them to the Gospel, where the forgiveness of sin is promised for the sake of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
The LCMS insists that both the Old and the New Testament teach both Law and Gospel. The Old Testament, therefore, is valuable to Christians. Its teachings point forward in time to the Cross of Christ in the same way that the New Testament points backward in time to the Cross. This vital LCMS doctrine was most famously summarized by C. F. W. Walther in his book, The Proper Distinction Between Law and Gospel.” -Wikipedia.org
This is still a bit of a new teaching to me as a pentacostal, yet I am trying to understand it and so far cannot find a reason to doubt this “framework” as solidly Biblical. Thus, sermons (”evangelic” or not)without a clear distinction between Law and Gospel (and therefore Christ and his Cross as the centerpoint)seem to be missing the point of scripture and the message of Christianity.
I could be wrong about this…what do you think?
Posted by Barron Sawyer