Overlap of Law and Grace [‘It’s About Time,’ cont.]

This is the Age we are living in now. The remnants of law still dominate our beings in our soul and body, and believers struggle to live, move and walk according to the Spirit, according to dependence on God. We often insist on using the old rules to judge by, as if the debt hadn’t been paid, as if there was still something that needed to be done in order to enter into union with God. It’s important that we understand that when Jesus said, “It is finished,” He meant it. Time was “up.” And more importantly, when the Father raised Him from the dead, we were raised with Him completely, not partway. Just as Jesus paused to dwell on earth for 40 days before ascending to His Father, so too are we simply pilgrims and ambassadors, passing through our sojourn here on this earth, on our way to fully dwell with our Father.

The law was given for a purpose and will never change until it has completed its work on this earth. So thank God He changed us! According to Paul, in Romans 6:14: “you are not under law, but under grace.” We can’t be both under law and under grace! So since the law has done its part, we shouldn’t try to bring it with us. The law is like a crossing guard, protecting us and guiding us in the right path. Once we are on the other side of the street, we continue on to our destination, motivated now out of our new inner nature, rather than outward direction or instruction. The crossing guard remains at his post, left behind to continue his job.

Jesus wasn’t sent to earth to die for our sins. He was sent to do a new thing — give us Life. But you can’t put new wine into an old wineskin. He had to start over. In order to do that, the law had to be completed, fulfilled, and date-stamped.