Are you under the Law or under Grace?

It Depends.

If you have repented and trusted Christ as your Savior you are under Grace. 

If you have not, you are under God's Law and you will be judged by Jesus Christ on Judgment Day

The recent supreme court ruling has awakened an age-old debate and a method by which non-believers can argue with Christians about sins that they want to justify. In the flowchart I have inserted below, an age old red-herring straw man has been pictured. Ostensibly, it destroys 'religion's' arguments against same sex marriage. To the typical layman, this is an effective tool that could convince them that perhaps same-sex marriage is a-ok because we do not observe certain Old Testament commands, and hold tightly on to other ones. 

In the Old Testament, particularly in the first five books, God sets out his law in written form. This law was for a specific chosen people that lived at a specific time. The Mosaic law, as written in Exodus, Deuteronomy, and in Leviticus were for God's chosen people, Israel. These are the people through which God's Savior- Jesus- would come. It was through Him that the blessing of Salvation would come.

1Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Genesis 12:1-3

Israel was a chosen people for the purpose of displaying the grace of God to the world. Being part of Israel did not secure your salvation, however, if you believe, looking to God as your Savior, He would save you. God knew who these people were. He was national Israel's king and Sovereign, saving them out of Egypt and promising them a land and a national identity. When you lived in Israel, you lived according a set of laws that were to show you as a people that were set apart. These laws were civil, moral, ceremonial, and dietary. These include the infamous commands about eating shellfish, wearing mixed fabrics, eating pork, dealing with women's monthly period, and, of course, homosexuality (not to mention incest, bestiality, and other perversions). These are the laws of the Old Covenant, for the Jewish people, to separate them as a people from out of the other nations. These are not laws that are for us today, especially not for gentiles (those who are not Jewish). The penalties for breaking these laws are also not applicable today- that is fortunate for the penalty for blaspheming God which happens almost constantly in our world was a death penalty offense. 

God does not change, but the way that he deals with people does change. God dealt with Adam and Eve differently than Noah, Abraham, and Even Moses. God deals with Christians today through the eyes of the New Covenant. We are not under the law, but under grace. We keep his commands- not to be saved but because we are saved. The keeping of the law does not save us, but because Christ has kept the law we can receive the benefit of him keeping the law. We are seen as holy and righteous, not because we have kept the law, but because we have trusted in Christ's payment for sin- his death, burial, and resurrection. 

Now what that does not mean is that we can continue in sin. When Christ saves us, we are given a new identity, and a new character. It is called being born again (John 3:3) where our very nature is changed (2 Corinthians 5:17). We are now filled with the Holy Spirit who empowers us to keep the commandments (Matthew 22:37-39, Romans 13:8-10). As a Christian, it is not impossible to sin, but it is impossible to live in sin. Even the promise that if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9) is based on confession, which means agreeing with God on what sin is (1 John 1:7-8). Indeed, if we say we have no sin, we are calling God a liar. This promise is not so we can continue to live in sin, rather, that we will not sin (1 John 2:1) but if we do sin, we have an Advocate- Jesus Christ. The process is called sanctification (Romans 6) where as we walk with Christ in obedience we become more like Him. 

Under Law or Under Grace? 

If you are a Christian, you have been set free from the law (Romans 7:4-6). In terms of the law, you have been justified or declared 'not guilty'. This is because Christ's righteousness in terms of the law has been imputed to you, so that it is just as though you have not sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21) Does that mean we are free to sin with abandon? (Romans 6:1-2) As Paul argues "May it never be!" It also means that we do not get to point to the law as the one that has saved us or that our obedience to the law makes us righteous (Romans 3:19-20, Galatians 2:16). We are warned continually in the New Testament not to put ourselves back under the law, for we have been set free from it. Instead, we ought to walk by the Spirit in response to His leading (Romans 6). This is a lifetime struggle; but the promise is that one day for the Christian we will become like Him (1 John 3:2) and we continue in that hope as we purify ourselves (1 John 3:3). The ability to do this all comes by the grace of God, for without conversion and regeneration, we would have neither the ability or desire to obey. 

For the non-Christian- the Atheist, the Muslim, the Jew- they are all still under the law, and will be judged by it. God is the only righteous judge. It is not the Christian's job to hold these folks to the law, or to judge them accordingly while we are here on this earth. The Holy Spirit is working in the unbelieving world about sin, righteousness and judgment (John 16:7-11) It is our job to cooperate with the Holy Spirit in warning them, however, by proclaiming the law so that they might know that they are lawbreakers. Further, we need to warn them of the coming judgment, as well as proclaim that there is One Savior, Jesus Christ. There is great hope for lawbreakers like you and me- the cleansing grace of God in our Lord Jesus Christ: 

9Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

If you have not repented and trusted Christ alone as Savior, you are still under the law, and God will judge you. You will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven.  However, no matter what you have done, if you by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) will confess (agree with God regarding your sin) repent (turn from your sin and self-righteousness to Christ) and trust/believe in Christ alone, you will be washed, sanctified, and justified. The judgment will be taken on by Christ, and His righteousness will be imputed to you. You will be set free from death- the penalty for sin.

Why So Angry?

Why do you suppose these mockers made this graphic? The number one reason is due to their own God- given knowledge that they have sinned against God, and by pointing out others' sin, they believe that they are somehow justified. However, they do have a point. The way that the institutional church inconsistently proclaims a weakened, man-centered gospel as well as the fact that church discipline has fallen by the wayside as the Institutional Church only wants to grow larger while looking more and more like the culture rather than being a beacon of light and holiness in the midst of the culture. This because many churches have nothing to do with the Church- the spotless bride of Christ. 

As a former Pastor, and a regular church attender and observer of the US church, I have seen a consistent pattern emerging in many of the larger churches. This pattern is that somehow we believe that the church grows only through compromise labelled as 'love'. However, if we observe several mainline denominations like the ELCA and Episcopal Church, their acceptance of culture over scripture has resulted in a steep decline in attendance, giving, and membership. This gives me hope if it were not for the churches like Willow Creek and Purpose Driven Churches which use man-centered gimmicks to grow their churches a mile wide and an inch deep. They use the culture to grow their church ostensibly to give them the opportunity to proclaim the gospel. The gospel is watered down to a point where it is often simply a change of identification rather than a heart change. The promise- pray a prayer 'accepting' Christ, attend a small group, and you will change morally and God will give you a purpose in this world as you travel around the bases or go from the crowd to the core.

The watered down, man centered Gospel has produced a generation of weak in the knee christians that do not know the scripture or the power of God. They do not understand that the Church is the Bride of Christ, whom Christ died to make Holy. Part of this process necessarily happens within the church in discipleship and preaching of the Word. It also happens in the process of Church discipline where the believer as a member of the church falls short and those who are spiritual seek to restore that person in a spirit of gentleness. It is this accountability and addressing of sin in a manner that honors God which the world sees as lacking in our fellowships. They do not see us as sanctified or separate from the world.

A glaring example is the inconsistent manner that we deal with things such as divorce. In my part of the world, churches are filled with divorced people- I am one of them. Many churches and Pastors do not blink an eye at divorce and they willingly remarry people who, through their own sin, brought about divorce. We scream VERY loud about homosexuality, and find it a perversion of the intent of God  (indeed it is) but we hardly blink an eye when an adulterous cheating divorced person is in our membership or approaches the Pastor to be remarried. People who are married seek the counsel in some of these churches and are encouraged to divorce for unbiblical reasons (I have heard self-actualization as an excuse for divorce from a 'christian' counselor!)  Indeed, if the divorced person is the offended party in the divorce, or a repentant offender that caused the dissolution of marriage, Christians should seek to build up and love through Biblical Church Discipline and restoration (Galatians 6:1-2). All to often, however, it is not even addressed through fear that one or both of the parties will become offended and leave the church. 

Biblical Church Discipline is for the purpose of the building up and edification of both the one being disciplined as well as the rest of the Church. It allows the power of the Gospel to change lives for the better, bringing glory to God through these changed lives. This also separates the church from the world as an agent of real and permanent life change, and this brings the Church to a new place of honor and respect in the community. Avoiding the problem or not confronting sin in the church has the opposite effect; it brings shame to God and lives are stuck and shackled to sin. The churches then are rightly seen in the community as just another social club.

What does this mean to us? 
As believers in Christ Jesus, we are called to live lives as holiness and separation from the world and the world system. What that looks like is we personally follow Jesus through reading His Word and obeying it, as well as a life of prayer consistently communicating and communing with God. We ought to be in Churches that faithfully preach the Word and practice church discipline. And we ought to be participating in the Great Commission through verbally sharing our faith with the people we come into contact with daily. This does not mean senseless judgment that casts a broad stroke of condemnation, rather, a reasoned Biblical approach that shares the bad news that man is unrighteous and stands guilty before God (Romans 3:9-19, 23) but that God is rich in mercy sending His Son (Ephesians 2:4) and through repentance and faith in Christ, we can be saved (Ephesians 2:8-10, John 3:16-17). 

When someone asks you about Divorce, Shellfish, or mixed fabrics, use it as a launching pad to share the good news that you have fallen short under the entire law, specifically the law to love the Lord your God and your neighbor as yourself. You can then ask your friend how he or she has done in terms of keeping God's moral law or the two greatest commandments. You can then go on graciously to explain how you no longer are under the law, because the only One who has ever kept the law in thought, word, and deed died on the cross, taking the penalty for your sin, and rose again on the third day defeating death. You can share that you are now seen as righteous by God, not because you are good, or better than anyone else, but because you serve a gracious and merciful God.

Red-Herring Straw-Man Argument