Today I want to talk to you about the difference between the Law, and Grace. The Law came to us through Moses, but grace came to us through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
The Law is a scary thing. Many people are afraid of breaking the laws in their country, because if they get caught they will get a fine, or they might go to jail. So the Law is something that can make us afraid.
Many religious people think that if they follow God’s Laws they will go to heaven, and they are very scared to break God’s Laws, because if they break God’s laws then they are not going to heaven. But how many of God’s Laws can you break and still go to heaven? If you are trying to follow the Law to go to heaven then you have to admit that you don’t know how many Laws you are allowed to break.
The truth is that you cannot go to heaven by following God’s laws, because no one is able to follow God’s laws 100%. Only Jesus followed God’s Laws 100%. Only Jesus never sinned. Only Jesus is unique in this way. Only Jesus is the Word of God. Only Jesus is pure and holy and perfect. The rest of us, all us, have sinned. We have all sinned, every one of us. Even all the prophets sinned, that’s why the prophets had to ask God to forgive them.
The Law condemns us. The Law make us guilty. The Law is good and pure, but no one can follow it completely. So we are all guilty of breaking God’s laws. And the penalty for breaking God’s Laws is that we have to go to hell forever after we die. We will not go to heaven if we are not forgiven by God. And we can only be forgiven if we accept that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.
When God gave the law to Moses here is what God said:
Exodus – Mark off a boundary all around the mountain. Warn the people, ‘Be careful! Do not go up on the mountain or even touch its boundaries. Anyone who touches the mountain will certainly be put to death.
When God gave the Law it was a scary thing. Anyone who touched the mountain from where God gave the Law would die. Don’t touch the mountain, God said. If you do you are going to die. It is the same with the Law. If you break even one of God’s laws you are going to die and go to hell.
The 10 commandments were put in a box and that box was on a cart and getting moved from one place to another, but the oxen that was carrying the box with the laws stumbled, and a man reached out his hand and steadied the Box. 7 Then the LORD’s anger was aroused against the man, and God struck him dead because of this.
It is no joke if we break one of God’s laws. If we steal, or lie, or cheat, or commit adultery, it doesn’t matter what sin we do, if we sin we break God’s law and we are guilty and we are going to hell, unless we accept Jesus Christ who died on the cross for our sins.
Now look what happens if you touch Jesus. We just learned that if you try to touch the Law to be saved, and you break the law, you die. But if you reach out to Jesus, and touch Him, He will forgive you.
Listen to what happened to one woman who touched Jesus: ““If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
Jesus realized at once that healing power had gone out from him, so he turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my robe?”
But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the frightened woman, trembling at the realization of what had happened to her, came and fell to her knees in front of him and told him what she had done. 34 And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well. Go in peace. Your suffering is over.”
You see? You do not have to be afraid to call out to Jesus. Jesus is full of peace, and healing. He is full of love and forgiveness. It does not matter what sin you have committed, Jesus will forgive you. It doesn’t matter who have have hurt, Jesus will heal you and them. Trust in Jesus, reach out to Him. Reach out your hand right now into the air and ask Jesus to touch you. Glory to God. He will. Glory to God. He will.
Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”