Part 1: Getting from Law to Love
Last month I had the privilege of leading a couple of Bible studies on a Saturday at the home of some friends. I thought I had two studies. Instead, I had two more studies come out of the first one and this is an expansion on one of them.
The Law of Moses contained in the Old Covenant fits into the realm of what a Jew could earn through performance – obey the Law and be blessed, or disobey the Law and be cursed. Grace belongs in the realm of receiving a free gift – eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ. Consequently, law and grace produce different attitudes. Law produces pride and says, “I’m a self-made man. I followed all the rules!” Grace produces humility and says: “Thank You. I never could have done what you did for me.”
You see, the Pharisees, the scribes and the Judaizers only looked at one component of what made the Law – THE LAW. They were obsessed with the commandments, the behavior demanded by the Law. Yet, they had neglected the consequences of breaking the Law, death (Romans 6:23). It’s important to realize that the command itself is not a law.
So give directly to the poor, as your heart leads you, for in serving God shall no man profit by monetary means, but shall profit only by that which the Lord God gives. And the profit God gives is true, and in no wise is it of men or mammon. For the Lord delights in that which one gives to another, in My name, and by the works of their own hands and feet in all righteousness...this is the tithe in which the Lord delights most. If one comes to you, saying, ‘Give me a cup of water...give them a drink in My name. If one comes, saying, ‘I need a shirt, for I am naked and cold...give them your shirt and your coat also. And if this same one asks, ‘Will you walk with me this far?...go with them double. So tithe not just of your money, but of your possessions, of your body, of your strength, of your time, of your very life, and you shall receive ten-fold in Heaven and in the Kingdom to come. Do this, and you shall really know Me and the Father also, for I am of the Father. [Jesus speaking] (Receive the Lords Blessing - Letters from God and His Christ - Volume 6)
