Bible Questions with Andrew Farley

Many have tried to create a friction between the concepts of grace and obedience. However, grace and obedience are related and beautifully compatible. Romans 6:17 states that we believers have become “obedient from the heart.” By grace, we have been gifted with a new, righteous heart that is obedient to God. This is why we can afford to live under grace and watch as God grows us up as obedient children in His family.

While many promote the importance of the so-called “spiritual disciplines”, the phrase is not found in the Bible. Instead, Scripture teaches the importance of a relationship with God that flows naturally out of grace (Titus 2:11-14). So, we can choose to pray, read the Bible, etc. because we desire to, not because we have to do them.

The New Covenant began at the death of Christ (Luke 22:20; Hebrews 9:16). This means Jesus lived and ministered under the Old Covenant (Galatians 4:4). This is why some of Jesus’ teachings expose the true spirit of the Old Testament law.

The Bible teaches the new covenant is a promise that God made to Himself to save completely all who believe in Jesus (Hebrews 6:13-18). It is the promise of total forgiveness for all sins (Hebrews 8:12); a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26-27; Hebrews 8:10); freedom from the Old Covenant law (Hebrews 10:10; Galatians 5:1); and adoption as God’s children (1 John 3:1; Hebrews 8:11; Galatians 4:6). It is the gospel of grace inaugurated in the blood of Jesus Christ (Luke 22:20, Hebrews 9:16-17).

We’ve all heard we need to love God more and prove our love for Him. Some of us have even heard that we are to love God more than our own families! But this concept is actually absent from the New Testament. Scripture never encourages a new-hearted believer to love God more, because we already love Him to the utmost (1 John 3:23; Romans 6:17; Ephesians 6:24). Instead, the Bible encourages believers to grow in God’s love for them (Ephesians 3:19).

Are we to give a set percentage of our income, like a tithe, or is it something different? New Testament grace giving is founded upon our freedom in Christ. We are not under the Law or any spiritual regulation requiring that we give a certain amount. Instead, we can decide from the heart how much we want to give to support the Gospel message (2 Corinthians 9:7).

At salvation, believers are crucified with Christ. As a result, we die to the Law, and consequently we die to sin. Once we’re taken out from under the dominion of the Law, sin no longer has power over us. As the Scripture states: “apart from the Law, sin is dead” (Romans 7:8). Under God’s grace, we end up living a godly life motivated by God’s Spirit within us, not by moral regulations from the Old Testament (Titus 2:11-12).

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is often presented as a beautiful passage to inspire spiritual growth in the believer. However, the reality is that in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells His audience to cut off their hands, to pluck out their eyes, and to be perfect like God. In addition, He tells them that looking with lust equals adultery and that anger is the same as murder. Finally, Jesus tells His audience to get right with others before offering their animal sacrifices and that they’ll be answerable to the Sanhedrin – a Jewish council from two thousand years ago. Clearly, there’s a context of Judaism that must be factored into understanding the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus is purposely introducing a perfect and impossible standard (the true spirit of the Law) in order to expose the spiritual slavery and hypocrisy of His Jewish audience. With this in mind, the Sermon on the Mount is not a sweet passage for Christian growth, but instead it serves as “nails in the coffin” of anyone who thinks they can keep the true standard of the Jewish law.

The Apostle Paul states that Christians are not under the Law (Galatians 3:19-20). The Ten Commandments (the moral law) are not an exception to this freedom. We trust Jesus as our sacrifice and as our daily source of morality and ethics. Christ within us, apart from the Law, is enough to produce the godly life we desire (Galatians 5:22-23).

Some teach that Christians need to keep the Old Testament Sabbath which forbids physical work from Friday at sundown to Saturday evening. But Scripture teaches that the Sabbath was merely a shadow of the spiritual rest we enjoy in Christ (Hebrews 10:1). All who believe in Jesus enter a spiritual rest because of His finished work (Hebrews 4:3).