CRUMB 0030 – LAW AND GRACE DON’T MIX

Law and Grace don’t mix, cannot mix and must not mix.

That’s exactly what has been happening for centuries and it is still going on today more than ever.

It has thrown open doors for deception, manipulative control and legalism.

Scriptures are taken out of context from various dispensations [time zones] of the Bible, all put together into one blender, thoroughly mixed up and then served out.

Sometimes we’re under the Law, and sometimes under Grace.
The proportions will depend on the quantum of feelings and deeds, which are either self-righteous or sinful.

It’s like a mathematical graph.

The vertical line is the Law, the horizontal is Grace.

And the line in between fluctuates up and down like a yoyo in the hands of the devil.

One day we are free, the next day we are condemned.

Today I’m going to heaven, tomorrow I’m going to hell.

One day we are saved, the next day we lose our salvation and need to be saved again.

This becomes our spiritual cycle.

Final result? “CONFUSION”.

Sometimes, we don’t even know why we believe what we believe any more.

Is this not true?

This is the spiritual life of many of us believers, resulting in manifold manifested defeats.

The Sword Of Legalism

We don’t know what a victorious life in Christ even means any more.

For we have this sword of ‘legalism’ hanging over our heads.

Will that not make it difficult for us to follow Christ with liberty, through the prompting of His indwelling Holy Spirit?

Many of us have been long indoctrinated to keep one foot on “Grace ground” and the other on “Law ground”.

Or, to step into Grace, but still keep an eye on the Law.

Having put our hands on the “plough of Grace”, we have been indoctrinated to keep “looking back” at the Law [Luke 9:62].

There are many of us who have never been taught that it’s the Law that points us to Grace, and not the other way round.

No wonder the dying world out there struggles to accept our Gospel.

It’s all in our attitude.

We ourselves are struggling to come to that place of “Grace Alone”.

We have rarely been taught that JESUS CHRIST, Who was the “epitome” of the Law, sacrificed Himself FULLY, in order to become the “epitome of Grace”.

Talk about a “metamorphic change”, if there’s ever really been one!

It started with Christ Jesus Himself.

The Pressure Of The Cross

The “ROCK OF LAW”, through the heat and pressure of the Cross, became our “ROCK OF GRACE”.

We understand the metamorphic change  from caterpillars to butterflies, but how about understanding this aspect of the Cross?

The Law has no choice but to say, “you can’t stay with me, you’ll die if you do, for I cannot save you, neither can I keep you.”

“You better get to Christ Jesus, and get there as fast as you can if you want to live.”

“For HE is Grace and He alone can save you and keep you”.

So go NOW!

But the devil loves mixing little doses of the Law with Grace, to try and keep us in confused subjection.

Now what does a little leaven do? [Galatians 5:9].

Oh they will never admit it, but that is exactly what has been happening.

The Admonishment Of Paul

When Paul the Apostle was just about getting ready to leave Ephesus for Jerusalem, he called all the elders of the Church together.

This is what he told them, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God” [Acts 20:27].

And let’s not forget that everything Paul the apostle declared was by direct revelation from the “Ascended LORD JESUS CHRIST in Glory” [Galatians 1:11-12].

Then after exhorting them to watch over the flock, Paul said to them in [Acts 20:29-31].

“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.”

“Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.”

“Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears”.

Is this happening today? Does this concern us?

Absolutely it does, for our eternal destiny is at stake here.

The end result is “CONFUSION”. And who is the author of it?

Yes, it is Satan indeed, and he has pious Christian legalists, operating within the framework of Christendom doing just that.

Religious Legalism Is A Dark Ugly Demon

Religious legalism blinds us to the “Grace Truths” of God’s Word.

We fail to realize or even know, that God is dealing with the entire human race individually, under what is called the “dispensation of Grace”, and that HE will NOT deal with anybody outside of it.

We fail to understand this aspect of the Cross.
That God sent His Son to the Cross in order to bring about this dispensation of Grace.

Paul categorically states, “I do not frustrate the Grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain” [Galatians 2:21].

In the Gospels, Jesus Christ was on earth. He’s not on earth any more.

In the epistles of Paul, the same Jesus Christ is speaking to us, not just from a Resurrected position, but also an Ascended one.

“Wherefore” Paul says:

“Henceforth know we no man after the flesh:

“….yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more” [2 Corinthians 5:16].

We also know Christ Jesus in His earthly ministry through the four gospels.

They are beautiful and are there for our learning indeed, as is the rest of Scripture.

But today we follow His ‘Heavenly Ministry’.

It was from His place of Ascension, that we received our Gospel of Grace.

It is also from His very same place of Ascension, that we the “Body of Christ” get our all our incredible heavenly promises, doctrine and instructions.

Paul said that he was the “pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him(Jesus Christ) to life everlasting” [1 Timothy 1:16].

The Ascended Jesus Christ Raised Paul

JESUS CHRIST from His place of Ascension, raised the apostle Paul just for us.

“For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:” [Romans 11:13].

And we need to truly settle that in our hearts in order to be effective and infectious carriers of Paul’s great Gospel message of True Hope.

This is the virus that needs to take preeminence over the current one that’s going around stealthily claiming lives.

So having put our hands on the “plough of Grace”, let us keep pressing forward in Grace.

JESUS CHRIST WILL GET US THERE [Philippians 1:6]

This continues in [Crumb 0031]