Riff's Christian Journal

Pro 3:5 – 6 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and He will direct your paths.

These verses, taken from the Old Testament, can easily show the difference between the Jews living under the Law and the Christians living under Grace.

The Law was a works based system of willing obedience to the Law and all of the promises, blessings and curses that it entailed. Needless to say it was a failure.

In the above scripture, having God direct your life, stated in the last clause, was based on all that was commanded to do by the Hebrews in the beginning. It was a work based command of obedience. In other words, if man did what was commanded of him then God would direct his life. Here man works and God responds with blessings or curses. Because of sin in man, he could not always do what God commanded of him. He failed.”’

What if these scriptures were written in the New Testament to the Christians under Grace. Now living under Grace is a faith based system dependent on God’s will, the person and works of Jesus in His perfect obedience to the Father and the application by the Holy Spirit the results of what Jesus accomplished to the saved; everything Israel could not do on their own.

This might be one way it could be written.

“I trust in the Lord with all my heart and I do not look to my own understanding and in all my ways I acknowledge God, for He directs all my ways as He wills and has blessed me greatly.”

Here God works His will in man and man responds accordingly. Just the opposite of man under Law.

Under the Law, based on the will of man to be obedient, man always fails. Under Grace, based on the will of God, God never fails. In the “faith based” system of being under Grace God works in man both to will and to do of His good pleasure. So what God has willed for man to do man obeys willingly.

How about you. Is your life a works based system trusting in your will of obedience (grudgingly or not) to the Law or a faith based system of being under Grace trusting in the will of God in what He is doing in your life?

One scripture with a view of it under the Law and one view of the same scripture under Grace. Which one describes you?

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