“Every word of God proves true; He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.”
(Proverbs 30:5)
Though evidences of God’s perfect law and His intervening grace are intertwined throughout the whole of Scripture, God’s Word to man is generally represented by two essential covenants: the covenant of law and the covenant of grace.
God initially prescribed the terms of His Law to Adam and Even in the Garden. His command to not eat the fruit of the forbidden tree was a simple test of their obedience. And when Adam and Eve failed the test, they transgressed God’s law and its subsequent covenant. God later expanded His law on tablets of stone for Moses, thus recording the terms of the covenant. “The LORD gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant,” (Exodus 31:18).
As God’s law is perfect and enduring, our duty to obedience that was in place before the fall remains our duty after the fall, though now we have no moral integrity with which to obey it, being fallen and sinful.
To answer man’s inability to keep His Law post Fall, God provided a new testament in Christ Jesus in His Covenant of Grace in Christ. This new covenant was given initially in Genesis 3:15 when God pronounced the ultimate overthrow of evil through Jesus Christ, the One who would come and crush the head of the serpent, rescuing and preserving man from despair and eternal destruction.
And when God was ready, He sent Christ into the world. Through His sacrificial death, God finalized His New Covenant with man. “This cup is the new covenant in My blood,” (Luke 22:20).
God’s law is eternal and unchangeable. It’s purpose is to show us our need for a Savior. We have broken God’s law and desperately need reconciliation to God, the great Lawgiver. But without the mirror of the law to show us just how far we have fallen, just how estranged we are from our Creator, there is no realization of our need for reconciliation. And without the New Covenant of Grace in Christ Jesus, we are utterly without opportunity for redemption.
In short, both are necessary. The law of God is His standard for us in character and conduct. The grace of God is His solution for us in Christ. His law reveals our sin. His grace forgives our sin. His law uncovers our guilt before God. His grace covers our guilt in the righteousness of Christ. God’s law demands perfect performance. God’s grace offers eternal provision.
We naturally praise and adore God for His wonderful gift of salvation. But do we equally thank and praise Him for His perfect Law? Never forget that both are equally essential.
“Accept, Lord, the willing praise of my mouth, and teach me your laws.” (Psalm 119:108)
- Solomon tells me in Proverbs that every word of God is pure and spotless. There is no sin in it to infect it because it is a reflection of Your character. And if I apply its truth to my life in the power of Christ’s Spirit, it will make me pure and spotless in my walk with You.
- Your word, Lord, is infinite wisdom itself. You see all that is past and present, as well as all that is to come. How can You be wrong in Your counsel? I must heed Your word in its entirety, and hold it dear, allowing it to guide me from here to eternal glory.
- All the doctrines of men are errant if they are not settled on the Word of God rightly applied. People say we don’t need the law anymore because we are under grace. What madness is that? Because they do not understand the uses of the law, they want to throw away a good portion of Your Word. I will not add to Your Word, and I will not take away from it, lest I be found a liar (Proverbs 30:5-6). And You, Lord, said that until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot, or one tittle shall pass from the law (Matt. 5:18). I commit to believe what You have said and not what man says.
Further References for Proverbs 30:5
Ps. 12:6, 18:30, 119:140, Gen. 15:1; Ps. 3:3, 84:11.
