(Gospel of John Series, part 4) Jesus and Grace > Moses and Law Recap Jesus is both God

and Man, Jesus rejected by all humanity and the Jews, Jesus sa ves any who receive Him. Main Text John 1, "16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[d] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God,[e] who is at the Father's side,[f] h e has made him known." I, The Fullness Let's define some terms. Whose fullness? Christ's. Who is we? His elect. Grace u pon grace refers to abounding and overflowing grace. Grace that multiplies itsel f. So all of us who belong to the elect recieve and have recieved the fullness, or the complete Christ, the total package. What did we recieve? We recieved grace u pon grace, overwhelming and abounding grace. Romans 5:20 "Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increas ed, grace abounded all the more." II, Law vs Grace The Greek used here emphasizes a contrast between the Law which came through Mos es and the grace and truth which came through Jesus Christ. The Law and Grace ar e in fact opposed to each other.

2 Cor 3:5-6 "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who has made us sufficient to be mi nisters of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter k ills, but the Spirit gives life." The Law can only kill us because it pronounces death over all who break it, whic h is every one of us. Gal 2:15-16 "15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 16 yet w e know that a person is not justified[b] by works of the law but through faith i n Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justif ied by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified." No one can be saved or justified by obeying the Law of Moses. The history of Isr ael, or the entire Old Testament should be sufficent proof of this. Gal 2: 21 "21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness[c] were th rough the law, then Christ died for no purpose." Christs sacrifice has no meaning if you could be justified by following the Law. Read Galatians 3:7-14 Here Paul reinforces that all the Law can do is condemn sinners to Hell. Paul go es further to show that since only faith can please God (Hebrews 11) and the ri

ghteous must live by faith, the Law is powerless to save because living by the L aw is not a faithful dependence on God but a faithless dependence on one's self.

In the following verses, which you can all read for yourselves, Paul explains th at the promise made to Abraham, which he believed in faith, was made before the giving of the Law through Moses. Therefore, the Promise is greater than the Law and overrides it. In fact, the whole of this let ter is focused on Grace overcoming the Law. Paul makes his case several times us ing a handful of different analogies. If you struggle with this, read Galatians . Gal 3:19 "Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the of fspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place t hrough angels by an intermediary." (Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. God gave his law through angels to Moses, who was the mediato r between God and the people.) NLT III, Jesus is the definition of God Throughout His ministry, the scribes and pharisees challenged Jesus on His knowl edge of Scripture and of who God is and what God wants from humanity. What is ab surd about that is that Jesus wrote the Bible and is God. John 3, 11Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you[f] do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you he avenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. Jesus tells Nicodemus, who doubts His claim that we must be born again to enter Heaven, that he basically has no idea what hes talking about. Jesus is saying, I a m telling you the truth! Ive lived in Heaven, Ive seen these things! Im the only on e who has! How will you believe anything if you cant believe this? Read John 5:30-47 Jesus has just preached in brief the Gospel to some Jews, who from the context p robably doubted him at least, opposed him at worst. Jesus does not defend Himsel f by testifying directly to who He is. Jesus says His words and deeds alone shou ld reveal who He is, but they dont to these people because they are faithless and unbelieving. Why? They are relying on the Law, which according to Paul, has not hing to do with faith. This is why Jesus consistently finds so little faith in I srael when He comes, they are all trying to justify themselves by the Law, and n ot by faith which comes from God. Conclusions Gal 3, "2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the l aw or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, a re you now being perfected by[a] the flesh?" Paul calls the Galatians foolish for trying to finish their race in the power of the flesh by trying to fufill the Law. It begins with grace by faith, it contin ues in grace by faith, and is finished in grace by faith. From first to last as th e Scriptures teach. SDG