Since God is perfectly righteous, he hates sin.   Thousands of years ago God spoke to Abraham –  (Gen 7:1-2) And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect.  And I will make my covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.   If you do not like or agree that God requires you to be perfect, and that this perfection is the condition he made with Abraham to establish his covenant or agreement of peace with him, then you have a major problem.  This truth is simple and straightforward as it can be, God requires perfection of his children, because God is perfect and God will not give his glory to another, he will not EVER allow sin to enter into, and much less reign in his Kingdom.

What I intend to accomplish by my writing today is to prove to you that you are lost unless you hear me.  This subject of law vs grace is NOT a matter of interpretation, what I am telling you today are the facts that the Lord has given to me.  This is what is confirmed in the scriptures, by the testimony of the Holy Spirit, if you teach or believe anything else, you are teaching a lie, you are not my brother or sister, you are lost!  What I am speaking today, whether you like it or not, is a sure Word, it is like 1John 2:27, the truth and no lie.  So if you are a person who does not believe in a SURE Word, and that scripture is just a matter of interpretation or opinion, then you probably won’t want to read past the following “read more tag”.

But before we begin, let’s lay a few ground rules.  I think that is important because I don’t play by your rules, I didn’t go to your culturally developed sensitivity law class, I didn’t go to your seminary, I didn’t even attend much junior college classes, so I am going to write this piece based on what I think is right.  However, I don’t care who you are, or how educated you may be, if you don’t hear me, you are LOST!

Rule number one:  We will not be heard for our much speaking, this writing will be short and to the point.  If you don’t believe the few sure Words I am going to speak, then why would you believe me if I spent the time to write thousands of words?

Rule number two:  When I speak or write, I assume that you know the contents of the written scriptures.  Jesus spoke to the scribes and pharisees, they had memorized much of the scriptures from their youth, Jesus didn’t need to pull the scrolls from underneath his cloak and prove to them what the scriptures said.  Too many people are so proud of their bible knowledge, they pride themselves in pointing out the many locations of scriptures of which they have memorized.  However the scripture says, “I hide thy Word in my heart that I might not sin against God”.  The question remains, “do you know the scriptures?” –  so did the scribes and pharisees, yet they were so blind that they crucified our Lord and their Messiah, thinking they were doing the will of God!  Rule number two states simply that you know the scriptures and I don’t need to prove to you the locations or state multiple locations or volume of writ to prove my point.  If you don’t know the scriptures, READ THE BIBLE!

Rule number three:  I refuse to be heard because you may mistakenly think that I am smart or even well studied.  I study, but I am NOT an expert on Greek and Hebrew (Aramaic) and if you are, good for you!  But the problem remains, those who are the so called “experts” of the canonical original languages, crucify our Lord all the time. (Heb 6:4-6) For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost,  And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come,  If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.

The Apostle Paul did not want to be heard for the excellency of his speech or writings.  (1Co 2:1-5) And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.  And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.   Rule number three is simply stated, I am not going to prove to you because of my excellent evidence of studying, or my excellent speech and writings, or my expounding of Greek and Hebrew.  But the power of God will be evident in this – that the Lord has given me this sure Word, which is truth and NO LIE, and the wisdom that can come from God alone on the subject, so that you might have confidence in the power of God to make his Words live and be sure in us and not have confidence in the flesh.

The rules that I play by should be noted when reading all of what I write on this blog.  Clearly I do not think like many others who pride themselves in knowledge, deep study and self discipline, but I glory in the power, the grace of God in everything I set my hand to do!

WHAT IS THE LAW?

Since we know that God hates sin, and sin is the breaking of the law, and NO sinner will inherit the Kingdom of God, we should now consider, who’s law should we obey?   Should we obey the laws of Adam and Eve, being careful not to eat of the wrong tree?  Should we obey the laws of Noah and start to build an ark?  Should we obey the laws of Abraham and leave our relatives to a land where the Lord will lead us?  Should we obey the laws of Moses and stone a person to death for picking up sticks on Saturday, the Sabbath?   Should we obey the law of David before he was king and pick up five smooth stones to slay a large man who blasphemes God?

Since God is perfect and perfectly holy, and since God requires the same thing of us, that is if we want peace from him and not death, WE SHOULD OBEY THE LAW OF GOD!    The problem is wicked men do NOT believe in the power of God to individually lead us in a straight path.  So wicked men will rely on their flesh, the power of their own reasoning and intellect, to make up a list of laws for the rest of us to obey.  They claim “Oh, we now understand, look at our impeccable reasons and scripture verses that we have found and look at our self discipline and self sacrifice that we have given, and look at our hard study and notice how many people love what we say!”  They claim  “We know what the Law of God is for you, you must hear us and obey us and by obeying us, you are obeying God!”  They so arrogantly speak, so certain that their laws are correct, while all along they are a morally bankrupt, crooked bunch of thorns, they don’t know God, nor his ways which are past finding out!   (Mic 7:4) The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity.

These wicked men who trouble you with laws you must obey, they do so to bring you into bondage and to glorify themselves among the people.  Again I say, these wicked men do NOT believe in the power of God to save from sin and they even more importantly, do not believe in the power of God to make crooked paths for them to walk down.  (Lam 3:2) He hath led me, and brought me into darkness, but not into light.  I have spent much time and in many ways on this blog in the attempt to convince you that it is God who has made your paths crooked, it is he who has hid his truth from you, and unless you deeply understand this, unless this truth becomes a central part of your relationship and understanding of God, you will never know the fear of God, neither will you understand his law.

The law of God is not a list of rules, there is NO man who could make such a list.  Even when God, in the old covenant with the natural children of Israel, made a list of rules through his servant Moses for the Israelites to obey, even God admitted that by keeping this law would NO man be saved, but it was simply a schoolmaster to bring these children in training to Christ Jesus. (Rom 3:10-21) As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness: Their feet are swift to shed blood: Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known: There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;

The law of God is for you to be his child and therefore do everything he wants you to do, Jesus said, “I always do the things that my Father wants me to do”, the law of God is for you to be perfectly formed into his image, as his Son, a child of God.  So the “Law” of God is NOT the “Law” of Moses, it’s not even the “Law” of the man, Jesus Christ, the Law of God is the perfect will of God for YOU!  So a list of commandments will not do, no matter who writes them, keeping an outward law does not change who the person really is in their heart, spirit or mind, but God requires that you be born again.

STOP CALLING THE LAW OF GOD A LIST OF RULES THAT YOU SEE FIT TO WRITE DOWN AND REQUIRE OTHERS TO OBEY, YOU ARE NOT GOD, NOR ARE YOU THEIR SAVIOR!  

Here is the misunderstanding, this sneaky little lie that creeps into houses, leaving devastation in the wake.  People assume that “the law of God” must mean “the OT law of Moses”, it clearly does not.

The Law of God IS the Word of God – Living and not written in dead letters.  People want dead letters to read because they do not believe in the power of God to save, they deny the power of God.   Let’s compare some of the sayings of scripture where the “Law of God” is used, rather than “the Word of God”, I want you to notice that these two phrases mean the same thing.

(Job 22:22) Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up his words in thine heart.

(Psa 1:2) But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

(Psa 17:3-5) Thou hast proved mine heart; thou hast visited me in the night; thou hast tried me, and shalt find nothing; I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress. Concerning the works of men, by the word of thy lips I have kept me from the paths of the destroyer. Hold up my goings in thy paths, that my footsteps slip not.

(Psa 18:30) As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.

(Psa 19:7) The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

(Psa 37:31) The law of his God is in his heart; none of his steps shall slide.

(Psa 119:11) Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.

That was so easy, so simple, “the Word of God” is NOT the Law of Moses, but “the Law of God”.  The law of God or the Word of God converts the soul, we hide his Law or his Word in our hearts.  You cannot hide a tablet or a piece of paper in your heart, so it should be abundantly clear, the Law of God IS the Word of God.  So now when you hear those who believe that you should follow their list of rules and love to quote James saying “be a doer of the Word and not a hearer only”, you know that they are actually saying, “be a doer of my Law and not a hearer only”, that should get your attention, don’t you think?

God’s Word for you must be individual, his law for you must be revealed individually, the Lord is a individual savior, not a corporate savior, he saves individuals not corporations or institutions.  The scribes and pharisees did not understand this, Jesus plainly condemns them for keeping the “lighter” matters of the OT law and omitting the weightier matters of the OT law, like justice, love and mercy.  Jesus made it clear that the greatest commandment ever given is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself.  Believe me, these briers and thorns today that call themselves servants of righteousness are no different than the scribes and pharisees of yesterday, who lay weights and burdens on people for their own glory and not God’s.

(Php 2:12) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

So since it is clear that no one will see God without perfection and holiness, it is then also clear that we must be conformed into his image, not outwardly obeying God, but obeying God from the heart, having his Law or Words in our hearts.

(Eph 2:8-10) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

(Rom 8:1-5) There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.

My words are becoming a little long now, so I am going to wrap it up shortly.

There are those in the remnant community who do NOT live according to the Life of Christ, where they have been set free from the law of sin and death.  They deny the power of God by making list of laws for others to follow to their own glory and not Christ’s.   They do not have confidence by the power of God, as I do, but trust in their own effort, hard study to figure out God’s will, they are dangerous!  If we abide in him, Jesus Christ, then we live according to that Life, that Living Word, that living  Law in our hearts.  It is by that Life, that Power, that Grace, the Spirit of God, who testifies of Jesus Christ and leads us in straight paths, it’s by the Grace of God that we live and in him we have our being.  Brothers, dead men cannot obey laws, dead men cannot sin.  We are DEAD to ourselves and why then are there those who would attempt to have us live again according to their list of laws?  If we are crucified with Christ, then he LIVES in us and the evidence of that LIFE will appear.  It’s not this phony positional salvation that I speak of, so prominent in the Harlot Church System, but in fact real righteousness and holiness that is impossible with men and only made possible by the grace of God, not self discipline or smart thinking.

If God is not individually speaking to you, leading you, giving you the law of his mouth and giving you the grace or power to overcome the flesh, then you are lost!