“For the law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth Came by Jesus Christ.”

Are you seeking with all your heart to inherit eternal life? Do you know the Truth for the salvation of your soul? From the beginning of time, God has offered eternal life to all who will love the LORD with all their heart, soul, and mind. He created the first man perfect and placed him in a garden that contained no sin, pain, sorrow, or death. If man would only love the LORD by obeying God’s command, he would live eternally with God.

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”                                                       Genesis 2:17

Adam and Eve walked with God in fellowship each day and daily showed God their love for Him by being obedient to Him. Their faith in God’s promise of eternal life kept them from eating of the cursed tree. As long as Adam obeyed God, he would live forever with God. God tests man to see his love for Him as Jeremiah 17:10 teaches us,

“I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”

God is seeking to reward those with eternal life who by faith obey His commandments. Faith is the short form of “faithful” or someone who has belief so strong that it causes you to be faithful to God and to His commandments that man might inherit eternal life. Every man is saved by faith.

“O love the LORD, all ye His saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer.” 
Psalm 31:23

Satan desired to “tempt” the faith of Adam and Eve by questioning God’s command, “Yea, hath God said…?” Faith does not question God’s commands…faith remains faithful to God and continues to obey Him. Once he had man questioning God, satan contradicted God’s word, “Ye shall not surely die…” But this was a lie for sin brings death; for the wages of sin is death. Next, satan elevated man above God’s commandments promising,“…your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Adam and Eve lost faith in the command of God and saw, coveted, and took of the fruit believing the words of satan over the command of God. They were no longer faithful to God or His commandments!
 

They showed their lack of faith by their disobedient actions and rejected eternal life. Their perfect bodies immediately began to die. Their children were not born with perfect eternal bodies, but God promised to have grace upon them by sending a         Redeemer to provide the Way to be made perfect. Every man would be given a choice as Adam to show God by their faithfulness that they loved the LORD with all their heart, soul, and mind.

                But man continued to reject God by listening to satan. God demonstrated to man His hatred of man’s sin when He destroyed the earth by the flood. We read of the condition of man’s faithfulness in Genesis 6:5,7

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually… And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created… for it repenteth Me that I have made them.”

We see God’s “grace” necessary for salvation as God extends His grace to Noah in Genesis 6:8,

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.”

Why did Noah find grace in the eyes of the LORD? How was he any different from anyone else? God explains in Genesis 6:9,

“Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God.”

Noah was faithful to God “just” and “perfect” walking by faith with God. God saw that faithfulness and was gracious to Noah as we read in Hebrews 11:7,

“By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.”

By his faithful obedience to God he received the grace of God that made him inherit the righteousness which is by faith. God had tried or tested his heart and found him faithful when the entire world was unfaithful; therefore, God had grace upon him and spared him of the coming judgment upon the entire world!

“For the Law was given by Moses…”

God also showed the world His grace when He gave to Moses His law which is His thinking about right and wrong. It outlines how to live holy as He is holy as man through faith strives to walk with God.

 “O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!” Deuteronomy 5:29

Here is the thinking of God in the form of His Ten Commandments to man that God might bestow His grace upon man and bring eternal life as is  recorded for us in Exodus 20:1-17 & Deuteronomy 5:1-21.

“ And God spake all these words, saying”  

[1] “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

                God commands man not to put anything in this world before Him. Anything that causes us to disobey Him or keeps us from walking in holiness with Him becomes a “god” including people, money, careers, and fleshly desires.

[2]“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.”

God created man that He might fellowship with man giving man a choice to willingly obey and love Him or receive the consequence of worshipping the temporal things of this earth. God here describes His grace that He gives to “thousands of them that love Me, and keep My commandments.” If you desire the grace of God, this is what God requires from you in order to receive that grace.

[3] “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.”

We would express this as using the name of the LORD as a “swear word” or an idle expletive or “curse word.” God will punish all who take His name worthlessly with no fear or reverence for His holiness. Using God’s name “in vain” or idly shows a heart problem for without the fear of the Lord men will not depart from evil.

“…by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” Proverbs 16:6

[4] “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates…”

God created the world in seven days and made holy the seventh day as a day of rest for His people. Look at all the stress in the lives of those who do not obey His commandment that He gave as a benefit for man. Jesus also taught us to obey the Sabbath rest for He said in Mark 2:27,

“And He said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath.”

[5] “Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.”

                  Not only does God command children to obey their parents, but He also commands them to “honour” or respect them all their lives. If a child does not understand the importance of honouring his father and mother, he will never understand his relationship to God.

[6] “Thou shalt not kill.”

                Murder is the result of intense hatred within; therefore, one must never hate others in any way for this is the same as murder as is taught in I John 3:15,

“Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

[7] “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Unfaithfulness to one’s spouse [husband or wife] is adultery. Jesus taught us how to avoid adultery in Matthew 5:28,

“But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

[8] “Thou shalt not steal.”

Taking things that are not yours is stealing, and God has said that no thief will be in heaven.

“Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?…Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.” I Corinthians 6:9-10

[9]“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

Lying is to bear false witness against someone. God hates lying because it is the exact opposite of His holy nature which is the Truth. No liars will inherit eternal life as Revelation 22:15 teaches,

“For without…whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.”

[10]“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maid servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.”

Coveting is strongly desiring something that is not yours. It is a lack of contentment or being happy with what you have. This coveting will cause you to practice the other sins that God condemns such as murder, adultery, stealing, and lying. Very few obeyed God’s commandments even though God sent His holy prophets to warn them to turn from their sins. He allowed other countries to reign over them and punish them for turning away from Him. He remembered His promise to Redeem those who seek His grace by keeping His commandments.

“…but GRACE AND TRUTH CAME by JESUS CHRIST…”
  The law of God is the Truth of how God thinks about sin, but all men from the beginning of time needed the grace of God to make them perfect so that they could return to the same choice of Adam and Eve to walk with God for ever. Just as Adam showed his love for God   everyday that he did not eat of the fruit, so we daily show our love for God by keeping His commandments as Jesus said in John 14:15,

“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

                Those who keep God’s commandments as Jesus taught them in His saving gospel of grace inherit eternal life as Jesus preached in John 14:21,

“He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.”

Those who commit or practice sin, which is the breaking of God’s law, cannot walk with God and inherit eternal life as I John 3:4 teaches us,

“Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.”

Jesus did not come to destroy the law, but He came to “fulfil” God’s law and all the prophesies of His coming in the lives of all who seek God’s grace through obedience to it as Jesus said in Matthew 5:17,

“Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.”

Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil so that man might be holy as He is holy through the gospel that He lived and taught as He led by example in keeping God’s commandments. Read I John 3:8,

“He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was  manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.”

God’s desire is that we serve Him with all our hearts, soul, and mind which shows our saving faith and causes us to be faithful each day. He does not want us to be servants of sin for He said in John 8:34,

“Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.”

Jesus came that man might know the Truth of how to inherit eternal life and be set “free from sin”, not free to continue in sin as Jesus taught us in John 8:36,

“If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

Practiced sin brings death, but Jesus came to free man from sin and the eternal penalty of death if they by His grace will turn to Him with all their heart, soul, and mind. Jesus quoted the law of God for salvation in Matthew 22:37,

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

                Jesus took our sins that keep us from dwelling with God eternally upon Himself that we might be declared righteous by God, though not able to perfectly keep God’s commandments. He shows His grace to man to obey His gospel as is explained by Paul in II Corinthians 5:21,

“For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.”

Jesus plainly explains to man how man can strive to keep the commandments of God in His gospel that man might know how to inherit eternal life. He explains this in Luke 9:23,

“And He said to them all, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”

This teaches man how to live by faith for daily denying yourself of the sinful pleasures that break God’s law, crucifying your flesh by keeping yourself from such disobedience, doing this daily as you walk in the Spirit and do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh, and following Jesus produces a faithful life or a life of saving faith that receives God’s grace as Paul explained in Titus 2:11-12,

“For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world.”

Accept God’s grace by faith and turn to Him from your sins. Obey Him as you faithfully strive to keep His commandments to inherit eternal life. Salvation is a complete change of life as Paul taught us in II Corinthians 5:17 ,

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are new.”