Bryan Hupperts bryanh@igateway.net

October 22, 1998 Law and Grace

Ex 32: 27 And he (Moses) said to them, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'Put every man his sword on his side, and slay every man his brother, his companion, and his neighbor.'" 28 And the sons of Levi did according to the word of Moses; and there fell that day about three thousand men.

Acts 2: 41 So those who received his (the Apostle Peter's ) word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Hi, Sheep Trax!

Have you ever considered what the primary difference between the Law and Grace is? The basic difference is that one produces death in the hearer while the other yields life!

In Exodus 32, Moses had just come down from the mountain after meeting with God and getting the 10 commandments. In his absence, the people built a golden idol and began to worship it, singing and dancing wildly about having what appeared to be a drunken party probably based on some idolatrous Egyptian theme.

Moses anger "burned hot" when he saw the "great sin" of the people. He called for the Levites to arm themselves and they went through the camp and executed about 3000 men who had committed this sin in the camp of the Lord. The first thing that happened immediately after the Law was revealed was that these people died because of their sin. The Law produced death.

In Acts 2, right after the Holy Spirit had been poured out, Peter stood up and began to preach to the crowds about what they were seeing. Conviction swept through the crowd and the church was birthed with in a bang with the salvation of about 3000 people. Right after the preaching of Grace, these people who were dead in their sin, were brought to eternal life by the preaching of the Cross. Grace produced Life!

When the Law was first preached, its immediate fruit was the death of 3000 people. When Grace was finally revealed in conjunction with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, 3000 others came to eternal life. The Law produced death and Grace produced life!

Law = death. Grace = life.

As the rap singers say; Do the math.

Which "Gospel" do you believe in? Does sharing your faith produce life or death in the hearts of others?

When I was a new Christian, I got involved with a college group that over emphasized certain aspects of the Christian life that gravitated towards extreme submission to authority to the point of not even questing anything that was taught or preached by the pastor. To even question his authority, or any word he spoke, was to sin against God… or so he taught.

He preached about Grace - provided you never left his organization. He talked about love - except when he was blasting other Christians in town whom he slammed as "religious devils." He loved waxing eloquent about the mercy of God - yet he would publicly humiliate people in his church after private counseling sessions with them and would make their dirty laundry known indirectly using this knowledge as "sermon illustrations."

Years later I finally realized what went wrong. He was using terms from Grace but he was still preaching the Law. His messages produced death in people, not life. It took me years to unlearn things I saw. The hardest realization for me to come to was the fact that there is godly authority in the church given to men by God for the good and protection of the people.

There was a pastor who visited Israel and he saw a man driving a herd of sheep. He was aghast and told his tour guide that he was a minister and that he had always taught his congregation that sheep are led, not driven. Now he would have to go home and change his teaching.

The guide laughed and told him to relax. He assured this pastor that his teaching was correct. The man who was driving the sheep was not their shepherd - he was the local butcher herding them to the slaughterhouse!

It took me years to see the difference between a butcher and a shepherd.

If you are in a church or under the influence of a ministry that always seems to be producing death no matter what they do or say, ask yourself: Is this the Law or Grace? Do I see the fruit of death being produced or is life springing forth?

There are butchers and shepherds in the "church" and the only was to really know the difference between them is by the fruit of their ministry. A good shepherd will have to use his staff of authority on occasion. Staffs are weapons to kill wolves and other wild animals and are also used to keep gullible sheep from wounding or killing themselves. Shepherds wield great God-given authority but it is the authority and power to serve, not to be served.

If you could preach to a crowd of 3000 right now, what would happen? If you had a heart full of Grace, backed with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, many would come to eternal life. If you have the Law as your heart standard, many would die. Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Therefore, Law and Grace are really matters of the heart.

Grasping this, you finally come to the place under the Law where King David prayed, Psalms 139:23 "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts!" Only this kind of heart knowledge will drive you to prayer, which takes you to the mercy seat of Christ - which is the throne of Grace!

The knowledge of the Law will drive you to seek for mercy and that's where you finally come to Grace. Psalms 85: 10. "Loving kindness an Truth have met together. Righteousness and peace will kiss each other." And the final fruition of Grace is that it produces in you the Life of the Lord Jesus!

Bryan Hupperts © 1998