Aaaargh! I'm so tired of hearing that, because it’s such a huge misconception! Humanity has ALWAYS been “under grace,” and NEVER “under the law” – and nowhere does the Bible state that “the law” was supposed to “save” anyone.
For those who didn’t realize this, “Torah” commands (erroneously referred to as “Law”) are found in the first five Books of the Bible which contain all of ADONAI’s Divine Instructions for Righteousness – without which we would have no blueprint for moral, holy living.
Yeshua (whom Christians call Jesus) never said he came to abolish those instructions. (Why would he?) He came to martyr himself on our behalf; he sacrificed his own life and shed his divine blood to remove our past sins, which become obliterated once we repent and turn from them.
THAT is what allows us to have eternal life – NOT the Torah commands!
HOWEVER, in order for us to BE holy, it is imperative to OBEY and DO God’s Divine Instructions. Doesn’t that make sense? Is there another way to “be holy?”
For some reason, many today believe that obedience is somehow a BAD thing (some even go so far as to call YHWH’s Torah a CURSE, due to their misunderstanding of Paul’s writings!), and insist all that’s required to “get to heaven” is to “believe in Jesus.”
My goodness – how much clearer could ADONAI have been? Throughout the entire Torah with its awesome stories of our forefathers, we see God saying, “Obey Me so that all will go well with you!” I don't care what language you use, those words cannot be misunderstood!
He had even destroyed the whole world by flood very early on, because NOBODY except Noah bothered to be righteous or willing enough to DO God’s Will by living a holy life. That was "grace" provided for his obedience! He had even showed “grace” to Adam and Eve by allowing them to continue living AFTER they purposely disobeyed Him.
Grace has always been around. Truth is, however, that "grace" never replaced our need to "obey" the rules for holy living...
Yet, somehow, today, “obedience” seems to be irrelevant - even a BAD thing to do, and people will fight you to the death to shove that silly notion down our collective throat because “God is all about grace!” (Well, I challenge you to read and actually study the Torah and Yeshua’s [and Paul’s] comments about what happens to those who refuse to obey…)
Folks, the bottom line is, Grace and Obedience go hand-in-hand. We have never been told that Torah was some kind of a “magic spell” designed to remove our sins. Our past sins are removed via the belief in, and acceptance of the shed blood of Yeshua haMashiach (Jesus the Messiah). That's why YHWH sent him.
HOWEVER, the blood of Messiah does not, and has never, negated the need to OBEY ADONAI’s Divine Instructions to His people live holy, set apart lives - but following them brings obedience, which leads to salvation and blessings.
It’s really that simple.
