LORD, grant me Thy Law graciously - Psalm 119:29
 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Grace is the path of deliverance from disobedience. "For you are not under law but under grace." Sin is transgression of the law of God. The law can call us to the holy standards of God, but the law cannot help us to obey those perfect standards. "For the law made nothing perfect" (Hebrews 7:19). What purpose then does the law serve? Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law. Galatians 3:21
But before faith (Jesus) came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith, which would afterward be revealed. (Galatians 3:23) Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all (Romans 4:16) Grace is God's resource for us to find forgiveness of sin (thus rescuing us from the dominating penalty of sin): "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace" (Ephesians 1:7). Grace is also the strength for living daily in victory over sin (thereby rescuing us from dominating influence of sin): "Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 2:1).
Romans 8:4 is another passage that indicates the connection between obedience and grace. The opening words address a primary reason why Christ died on the cross: "that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us." It is God's desire that the holy demands of the law be increasingly lived out in our lives. This would amount to a life of obedience. The law itself could never produce this. "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh" (Romans 8:3). What God's law could not do (because of man's inability to live up to it), God did through His Son. Now, by means of all that Christ has provided for us, obedience is available to us. Who is it that experiences this available obedience? Those who "do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit."
The lesson here for all of us is: Christians who face each day by the flesh only access the carnal resources of natural man. On the other hand, those who address the daily issues of life in dependence upon the Spirit draw upon the grace resources of a supernatural God. Let us pray!LORD, remove from me the way of lying: and grant me Thy law graciously in Jesus name. Amen!
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Rev. Telema W. Okobi, President
