GRACE AND TRUTH (Part 2)
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ”. (John 1:17).
In the context of the verse the word truth has a specific meaning which simply put is the final revelation. The words of Jesus are the final revelation to man on all things moral and spiritual; it’s His words that should settle doctrine.
The words of angels were steadfast and true but were set in a dispensation; the words of men have been used to establish society: government, law and the many institutions that enables us to function in an orderly manner.
The prophet Moses spoke concerning the Messiah that would come: “The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken”. (Deuteronomy 18:15). Notice the Messiah would also be a prophet. Jesus Christ occupied every ministerial office from Deacon (servant) to apostle (sent one). And prophet (messenger), priest (mediator) and King (sovereign).
As a prophet Jesus not only spoke for God but indeed spoke as God. As a priest he was the mediator between man and God, yet God is one. In the book of Job, the man Job pled for a daysman (umpire or referee) that could referee the game of life he was involved in but little did he know Christ came to do exactly that and more. (Job 9:33). Later on in chapter 16, Job declared: “O that one might plead for a man with God, as a man pleadeth for his neighbour!” (Job 16:21).
His plea was for someone to hear him in his sorrows and grief; for someone to help him and for someone to hold him in one hand and God in the other. Apostle Paul in his first letter to Timothy wrote: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time”. (1 Timothy 2: 5-6).
As king his word is final, is law and is truth. In the beatitudes Jesus gave new commandments as well as settling the true intent of the 10 commandments. He summed up the Ten Commandments by saying we must love God and love our neighbours as ourselves. That to commit murder is to have hatred in the heart and to commit adultery is to look with lustful eyes.
Grace without truth is sentimentalism. It’s lovely to show favour to the lazy, the recalcitrant teenager and the transgressor but without truth the recipient may fail to appreciate the extent of their wrong because the heart of man is prone to do evil. I know of parents who reported their wayward son and daughter to the police to save his and her life. Unfettered grace can also be interpreted as weakness. The woman caught in the very act of adultery was not stoned to death because Christ came to give life not to have it taken away nevertheless he told her “go and sin no more” (John 8:11). On a previous occasion as recorded in John chapter 5, Jesus said to a crippled man after he healed him: “sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee”.
However, truth without grace is legalism and self-righteousness. Let’s give thanks unto God for grace and truth for these two principles are the reasons the message of salvation is so very potent.
Let us therefore preach the gospel of salvation for there has never been a better time to be saved.
In closing, I want to refer to a very short story involving a rich young man who came to Jesus asking what he must do to receive eternal life. Jesus told him to keep the commandments of God. “I have kept them all from my youth” the young man replied. “What lack I yet”? “Go sell all that you have and give to the poor and thou shall have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful for he had great possessions. Then Jesus said to his disciples, verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the Kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, who then can be saved? But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, with men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible”. (Matthew 19).
The above extract shows that despite keeping the law the young man still was devoid of eternal life and he knew it. It also showed that to obtain eternal life is to choose correctly.
Finally, the text also lets us know that God specialises in saving people. Look what He did to save Saul of Tarsus; he would not give up on him. Look how he orchestrated the salvation of the first Gentile convert, Cornelius by using an angel to direct him to Peter and showing Peter that the time for the Gentiles had come. A jailor and his family were saved because Paul and Silas were thrown into prison.
Our platform is the world and our congregation the people.
The Lord’s servant
Lloyd Denny