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Hi to my Forum Friends,

In the discussion begun by Deep and titled "Good Without God" -- it seems our atheist Friends Deep and Frog are starting to fight  among themselves.

Deep declares, "Sez Froggie: 'God took us from under His Law and put us under His Grace.'    Sorry, but here I have to call Major BS.  Why enact the Law in the first place, then?  Did God change his mind?   Or is it more likely that sentiments like yours are rationalizations to explain an evolving morality?

And, Frog clamors to retain his/her membership in the atheist Church of Nothing, telling Deep, "Whoa!!!  I didn't say that.  Did  you mean to say that to me?  I have never said anything remotely similar to that quote by Bill, and really I'm not even sure it  makes any sense at all."

So, please allow me to set you two wayward children straight.  I suppose we will have to start when "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1) -- and on Day 6, He created man in His own image.  In those days, man, i.e., Adam and Eve, were spiritually pure and in daily communion with God.  Yes, they walked in the garden with God.

Then, that old serpent, Satan, slithered into the garden and gave Eve that old worn out pick up line, "Did God really say that?" -- and, that kind of reasoning has been man's downfall ever since.

God kicked Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden -- and now all mankind has the Adamic sin nature.  Man is lost in sin, no way to redeem himself.  But, God, being a loving Father, had His Plan Of Redemption ready -- knowing the weakness of man.  He gave man a way to atone for his sins through the blood, which represents life, of the unblemished lamb.   

But, this atonement is only temporal -- meaning that man had to keep doing it over and over again.  Why?  Because God's love is perfect -- and when man sinned, through disobedience, God's justice had to also be perfect.   What can satisfy God's perfect justice?  Only the blood of the perfect Man.

Deep asks, " Why enact the Law in the first place, then?  Did God change his mind?"

No, God never changes His mind.  Just as Abraham told Isaac in Genesis 22:8, "God will provide for Himself the Lamb. . ."    But, it  had to be in God's perfect time.  So, for the Israelites, God provided the Law, a means for man to satisfy God's justice -- and to guide man until God would send the final solution -- the Perfect Lamb of God.

Since we know that the only way for man to enter heaven is through Jesus Christ (John 14:6) -- and since Jesus had not yet become the Incarnate God, man's High Priest and Redeemer -- God created a place for the faithful believers of the Old Testament to wait for their Messiah to lead them into heaven.  Where was this interim solution?  It was Hades/Paradise -- where all Old Testament  believers awaited their Messiah.

The Jews of the Old Testament lived under the Law, a temporal atonement for their sins.  This is called the Dispensation of Law.

When Jesus Christ came, was crucified, resurrected, and ascended to the right hand of God the Father -- this began the Dispensation of Grace.  Why?  Because under the Law, no man can be justified, i.e., righteous, in the eyes of God (Romans 3:20).

But, in the new Dispensation of Grace -- man is saved "by grace, though faith in Jesus Christ -- alone" (Ephesians 2:8-9).  There is no other Way for man to be saved (John 14:6).   "And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).  This is all done by the GRACE OF GOD.

So, basically, you can say that the Law gave man a knowledge of sin (Romans 3:20) -- but, not the solution for their sin.   


The law that God gave to Moses for the people Israel was a central part of their existence. It was the perfect standard  by which they were to conduct their lives. Though the law was perfect, it revealed how imperfect each individual was.  The law gave people the knowledge of sin but not the solution.  "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). -- Don Stewart, Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa.

 

The Law made man aware of his sin -- Jesus Christ "paid in full" the pardon for every man/woman who will by GRACE, through FAITH, believe and receive His free gift of eternal life (Ephesians 2:8-9).

So, yes, Deep and Frog -- "God took us from under His Law and put us under His Grace."

And, praise God -- if you ever get your heads out of the sands of atheism -- you will find that you can attain eternal life under His GRACE!

God bless, have a wonderful, blessed day,

Bill

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