Gospel of Grace

Salvation is and always was about God's grace, including OT. By grace were the heroes of faith of OT saved.

John Halsell said:

Are you a Hebrew? If not, you should be focused on the Gospel of Grace and a legalist will never teach you that. So, you need to focus on Paul’s writings and leave the Hebrew Christian writings alone until you are well established in the Gospel of God’s Grace given to Paul for you exclusively. It is like this; many people start off on the wrong foot. People read and study the Old Testament first then then read the pre Gospel of Grace chapters of the New Testament then finally get to the writings of Paul and the Gospel of Grace which is the way you must be saved as a Gentile, which is just the opposite of what they should have done, but by then it is too late and they are totally confused and still under the Law and the teachings of the Law and have never heard the Gospel of Grace at that point so in their mind legalism makes since but can’t save them only Grace can. (((This is a short version of the Gospel of Grace; every Christian should study it and learn it by heart.)))

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Paul was a Hebrew Christian and in order to correctly understand what he wrote, we should first understand what he read in the OT, especially when around 1/3 of the verses in the NT quote or allude to what he read, and moreover whenever the NT does that, it is good to read the whole chapter that it quotes or alludes to in order to have the proper context.

What do you define as legalism? If God were a legalist for giving His law, if Jesus was a legalist for spending his ministry teaching his followers how to obey God's law by word and by example, and we are legalists for thinking that followers of God should follow God's commands in accordance with the example that Christ set for us to follow, then we should all be legalists, but I do not think that that is not what legalism refers to, but rather legalism is a perversion of God's law that undermines both the intent of what it commands and why God commanded, which therefore leads to death just as assuredly as refusing to submit to it. The Bible speak against lawlessness at least as much as it speaks against the legalistic perversion of the law, so both are errors that should be avoided.

In Psalms 119:29-30, David wanted to put false ways far from him, for God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His law, and he chose the way of faithfulness, so this has always been the one and only way of salvation by grace through faith in accordance with the Gospel of Grace. In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him His way that he might know Him, and in John 17:3, eternal life is knowing God and Jesus, which is again salvation by grace through faith. In Genesis 6:8-9, Noah found grace in the eyes of God, he was a righteous man, and he walked with God, so he was declared righteous by grace through faith by the same means as Abraham (Genesis 15:6) and every else. In Ephesians 2:8-10, we are new creations in Christ to do good works, so while it denies that we can earn our salvation by our works lest anyone should boast, doing good works is nevertheless an integral part of our salvation from not doing good works. In Romans 1:5, we have received grace in order to bring about the obedience of faith, and in Titus 2:11-14, our salvation is described as being trained by grace to do what is godly, righteous, and good, and to renounce doing what is ungodly, so God graciously teaching us to obey His law is itself the content of His gift of salvation. Our salvation is from sin (Matthew 1:21) and sin is the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4), so while we do not earn our salvation by obeying God's law, living in obedience to it is inherently the content of the gift of Jesus saving us from not living in obedience to it.

Here are some verses that speak against requiring us to obey God's law in order to earn our salvation as a wage: Romans 3:28, Romans 4:1-8, Romans 11:6, Ephesians 2:8-9, Titus 3:5, Galatians 2:21, and Galatians 3:21.

Here are some verses that speak in favor of our salvation requiring us to choose to obey God's law: Romans 2:6-7, Romans 2:13, Romans 6:19-23, Ephesians 2:10, Titus 2:11-14, Galatians 3:26-29, Matthew 7:21-23, Matthew 19:17, Luke 10:25-28, Hebrews 5:9, and Revelation 22:14.

So there must be a reason why our salvation requires us to choose to obey God's law other than in order to earn it as wage, such as faith insofar as Romans 3:31 says that our faith upholds God's law.

In Matthew 4:17-23, Jesus began his ministry with the Gospel message to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand, and God's law is how his audience knew what sin is (Romans 3:20), so repenting from our disobedience to it is an integral part of the Gospel message.

Colossians 2:13-23 NLT

13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. 15 In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.

16 So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17 For these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. 18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, 19 and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For he holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it.

20 You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, 21 “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? 22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. 23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires.

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The Colossians were continuing to keep God's holy days in obedience to His commands in accordance with the example that Christ se for us to follow and they were being judged by pagans who were promoting human traditions and precepts, self-made religion, asceticism, and severity to the body, and Paul was encouraging them not to let anyone judge them and keep them from obeying God, so it is ironic when people try to use this chapter to justify their refusal to obey God.

Galatians 3 NKJV

Justification by Faith

3 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you [a]that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? 4 Have you suffered so [c]many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?

5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, “In you all the nations shall be blessed.” 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

The Law Brings a Curse

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is [d]justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

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Paul spoke about multiple different categories of law other than the Law of God, such as the law of sin and works of the law. For example, in Romans 7:25-82, Paul contrasted the Law of God with the law of sin and contrasted the Law of the Spirit with the law of sin and death. In Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law of works with a law of faith, so works of the law are of works, while he said in Romans 3:31 that our faith upholds God's law, so it is of faith, and a law that our faith upholds can't be referring to the works of the law that are not of faith in Galatians 3:10-11. Likewise, in Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that faith is one of the weightier matters of the Law of God. God is trustworthy, therefore His law is also trustworthy (Psalms 19:7), so to rely on the law that God has instructed for salvation is to rely on God for salvation while to deny that His law is of faith rather than works of the law is to deny the faithfulness of God.

In Galatians 3:10-12, Paul connected a quote from Habakkuk 2:4 with a quote from Leviticus 18:5, so the righteous who are living by faith as the same as those who are living in obedience to the Law of God while no one is justified before God by relying on works of the law. In Isaiah 51:7, the righteous are those on whose heart is the Law of God, so the righteous living by faith does not refer to a manner of living that is not in obedience to it. God should be trusted to teach us right from wrong through His law.

In Acts 5:32, the Spirit has been given to those who obey God, so obedience to God is part of the way to receive the Spirit, however, Galatians 3:1-2 denies that obedience to works of the law are part of the way to receive the Spirit, therefore the phrase "works of the law" does not refer to anything that God has commanded. Christ spent his ministry teaching his followers how to obey God's law by word and by example and Paul's problem in Galatians was not with those who were teaching Gentiles how to follow Christ, but with those who were wanting to require Gentiles to obey their works of the law in order to earn their justification.

2 Corinthians 3:7-18 NKJV

Glory of the New Covenant

7 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? 9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. 10 For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. 11 For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

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In Deuteronomy 30:15-20, it says that obedience to God's law brings life and a blessing while disobedience brings death and a curse, so choose life! So it is a ministry of life for those who obey it and the fact that it is a ministry of death for those who refuse to obey it is not a very good reason to refuse to obey it.

“The ministry of death is also known as the Curse of the Law Only the Ten Commandments were written in stone”. Romans 10 3-4 3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.

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In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him His way that he might know Him and Israel too, and in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them, so knowing God and Jesus is the goal of the law, which is eternal life (John 17:3), which is also why Jesus said in Matthew 19:17 that the way to enter eternal life is by obeying God's commandments.

In Romans 9:30-10:4, the Israelites had a zeal for God, but it was not based on knowing Him, so they failed to attain righteousness because they pursued the law as though righteousness were by works in an effort to establish their own instead of obeying the law as through righteousness were by faith in Christ, for knowing Christ is the goal of the law for righteousness for everyone who has faith. In Romans 10:5-10, this faith references Deuteronomy 30:11-16 in regard to saying that God's law is not too difficult for us to obey, that the one who obeys it will attain life by it, in regard to what we are agreeing to obey when we confess that Jesus is Lord, and in regard to the way to believe that God raised him from the dead.

Gal. 5 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

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In Galatians 5:19-23, everything listed as works of the flesh that are against the Spirit are also against God's law, while all of the fruits of the Spirit are aspects of God's nature that are in accordance with it.

Galatians 2:21 KJV I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

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We do not earn our righteousness as a wage by obeying God's law because it was never given as a means of doing that, but that does not mean that we do not need to obey it for the purposes for which it was given. It is not as though the fact that we don't earn our righteousness by obeying God means that we don't need to obey God. The bottom line is that we should not interpret God's word should not be interpreted as speaking against obeying God. If you interpret Paul as speaking against obeying God, then you should be quicker to think that your interpretation makes no sense, that you must have misunderstood him, and that it must be wrong than to think that it makes perfect sense to interpret as servant of God as speaking against obeying Him.