Psalm 23 Romans 8v1-2
The Law is exacting and precise. It is a nitpicking, unrelenting judge. Satan uses it against us because he loves to accuse the saints. The Law is enforced with rigour as Deuteronomy chapter 28 makes clear. Trying to please God and gain goodwill, blessing and favour by the precepts of the Law is an exasperating and exhausting business, and it does not please God. The reason is that God has sent Jesus in order that righteousness may be imparted to us without striving to fulfil the Law. The Law in context is the Law of Moses set forth in the Pentateuch. However I believe it can be extended to mean any rigorous code of external conduct. Such codes are often part of church life, though they will likely vary from church to church. we may also derive our own 'Law' which we feel determines the righteousness of ourselves and others. We then judge the worthiness of ourselves and others by measuring their outer conduct.
Living under law is like tottering on a tightrope, nervous and anxious, waiting for inevitable failure.
This sort of nitpicking scrutiny leaves no room for us to delight in the Lord. We are more likely to be secretly irritated. Jesus came to free us from this sort of yoke and give us a light yoke.
Does this mean God has no behavioural requirements of us at all? A balanced view of New Testament writing answers that question with a clear 'no'. We are in a broad pasture of grace. Psalm 23 offers a good poetic description of the pastures of grace. We are not under a written code of outward conduct. Neither are we in a 'zero tolerance' program of enforcement.
Love overlooks a multitude of sins. We are in relationship with a God who desires fellowship, friendship, love and even the intimacy of our souls. He is a nurturing Father who knows our frames individually. He knows the weaknesses and limitations of our individual make-up. Law is a 'one size fits all' set of rules and commandments. But we are known, accommodated and loved individually by our Father. He knows there are areas where one child is easily succeeding where another may struggle. Harsh, unsupportive judgement and criticism do not help. God encourages, reminding us of what Christ has done for us and of our true identity.
David had a prophetic revelation and appreciation of the Messiah and he lived in the good of it. When we read of David, we think 'relationship'. When we read of Moses, certainly after Sinai, we think 'proceedure'. This is a good working definition of the difference between Law and Grace. Law is the preference for proceedure over relationship. The God who ordained the ordered wonder of the universe with it's physical laws is still a God who wants relationship with us, and for us to enjoy relationship with each other. Beyond formality of relationship, He wants fellowship and ultimately intimacy. The analogy of the wedding feast, with the church as the bride of Christ, speaks of the consummation of a process of encounters of increasing intimacy. This process is not encouraged through Law. It happens through grace and willing yieldedness to His love.
This is the pasture. This is the rest of God. This is the place of abiding in His love. This is the intended normal Christian life. This is enjoying the family of God. This is the Law of Life in the Spirit. There is one gate into the pasture, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The pasture is much broader than the tightrope of law. We can relax and feel safe. We can explore and move around. However, we can still invoke God's anger, grief and judgement beyond certain points. While the God of Love will overlook many sins under grace, He will not overlook everything.
Certain behaviours will violate our fellowship with God. (Though not necessarily our relationship. We may be related to someone without having fellowship with them). Grace is not Lw but neither is it license to do anything that comes to mind. In particular, we need to know that we are to be constrained by the Law of Love. If we move seriously out of love in our conduct, we will move into a place where our fellowship with God is violated and we will move into darkness. Now this is a thing of the Spirit. There are few absolute rules because we differ as individuals and in our maturity. There is a liberty.
However when the man mentioned in 1 Corinthians 5 had sexual relations with his father's wife, it was indicative of the person being completely out of fellowship with the Lord. Such a person had violated the boundaries of grace for church fellowship. Since we can assume warning was not working, Paul instructed the church to exclude him pending repentence.
There is a difference between attempting to put a person under Law and surmising from their behaviour that they are not walking in the light of the Lord and therefore in the felllowship of believers.
Since we are in relational fellowship with the Lord, we must extend grace to the body, and ourselves, but there are still limits. They are flexible, reasonable and broad, but they are still there. One found in sin should be restored gently, if possible.
The pastures of grace mean God will not force us beyond a certain level of maturity. Maturity in part relates to self-sacrificial living and the deferring of reward. We will not experience the full measure of knowing Him unless we press on to maturity though.
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