Grace and Works
Because of grace, all mankind will be resurrected, receive a perfect immortal body, and stand before the judgment bar of God. However, because of the conditions imposed upon the law of mercy by the law of justice, eternal life with God must be a choice; therefore, another paradox exists—works vs. grace.
The answer to the paradox lies in Paul’s immortal statement:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest man should boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Paul’s statement lies at the heart of Christianity. If that is false, then Christianity is false for, without the grace of Christ, what would Christianity have to offer but suggestions for a good life? However, that raises the question: If works cannot save us, what is the value of works?
First, we must understand the difference between the law of justice and the law of mercy. Justice, is necessary or the world could not endure. Justice is the absolute law upon which all other laws are governed. The law of justice governs both temporal laws and spiritual laws. All laws satisfy the demands of the law of justice.
The two great opposites are order and chaos. Chaos is a natural state. Without law, chaos would reign. That is why the law of justice is necessary. Chaos is absolute; therefore, the law of justice must be absolute. Without law, everything would turn to chaos.
If there were no God, there would be no justice. If there were no law of justice, there would be no order. Therefore, if there were no God, there would be no order. We owe all creation to the justice of God.
On the other hand, if there were no mercy, then no one could be saved.
We think of God as creator for obvious reasons. However, because matter and energy cannot be created or destroyed, it would be more accurate to think of God as organizer. From self-existing matter and energy, God organized laws and from laws God organized matter and energy. It is called the law of creation. Everything is governed by law. That is the supreme law of the universe. Without law there can be no order or creation.
Above all else the law of justice must be satisfied or there could be no God, no creation, and no universe. It is because of the law of Justice that the atonement of Christ was necessary. When Adam fell, the law of justice was transgressed which brought temporal and spiritual death into the world The law of justice deals with immortality. Mortality is the result of a broken law. Had Jesus Christ not satisfied the law of justice, we would be in a permanent state of mortality which would eventual lead to the giant heat death so touted by science.
It is Christ alone who brought about the resurrection. It is Christ alone who will reverse the effects of the broken law. Without Christ everything would eventually revert to chaos and there would be no way back.
The law of justice had to be satisfied or the fall of man would have been permanent. An essential element of grace, however, is freewill. That presented a conundrum. How do you apply grace and preserve freewill
The purpose of Christ, from the beginning, was to protect our freewill. He offered himself as a sacrifice to satisfy the law of justice, but we had to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior. We will not be forced to heaven. Christ will never violate freewill. How, then, can he provide free grace and preserve freewill? The answer explains the strange relationship between grace and works.
There must be grace, or justice would condemn us all to hell; however, there must be standards or judgment is arbitrary. Those standards were established by Christ. We call them commandments. Our works prove to Christ that we are willing to accept him as our Savior, thus preserving freewill.
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