How does grace make the law void ?
Grace does not make the Law void, and Paul goes out of his way to say exactly that. The key is understanding how grace and Law relate, because people often assume they are opposites when Paul argues they are different categories.
Good point... they are not opposites.
Grace doesn’t cancel the Law; it
changes our relationship to it. Paul insists in
Romans 3:31 that we “uphold the Law,” not by using it as the pathway to God’s approval, but by recognizing its true purpose. The Law still defines God’s moral vision for humanity, still exposes sin, still reveals what righteousness looks like. What grace does is remove the Law from the role of
achieving righteousness and places it in the role of
describing righteousness. In Christ, we obey not to earn God’s favor but because we already have it. Grace doesn’t make the Law void — it makes obedience possible, joyful, and properly ordered.
I mostly agree
I agree that grace does not cancel the law.
& that Paul insists we uphold the law.
& the law still defines God's moral vision for humanity, still exposes sin, still reveals what righteousness looks like.
& I agree that In Christ, we obey not to earn God’s favor but because we already have it. Grace doesn’t make the Law void — it makes obedience possible, joyful, and properly ordered.
But I disagree with how you describe the way Grace changes the law.
"What grace does is remove the Law from the role of achieving righteousness and places it in the role of describing righteousness."
Jesus died on the cross because the law could not be removed or changed.
If the laws condemnation was able to be removed then Christ would not have died. But because of His death He is able to apply grace to us. He forgives us by paying our debts for us. Heb 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
So grace comes by Jesus and that does not mean the law changes. Jesus perfectly obeyed the law and was perfectly righteous. Jesus gives us this perfect righteousness by grace through faith. Imputed righteousness..
The law still defines righteousness..
Sin is the transgression of the law. It is still a sin to murder and covet today.
Yes it describes righteousness and obeying it achieves righteousness.
The keeping of the law always achieved righteousness. It did for Jesus.
BUT since the fall we all fall short of achieving righteousness because we all fall short. We can not achieve righteousness in our own power. Self righteousness is a trap of the devil.
One sin is all it takes and we are lost.
The law and what or how it achieves things has not changed. God has not changed.. there is no variableness or shadow of turning in His character or His perfect law.. We have changed, not the law
The solution is grace.
By grace we achieve righteousness by imputed and imparted righteousness.
Should we obey the 10 commandments because you have faith and love for Jesus?
The question is loaded because it assumes that the
reason Christians obey the Ten Commandments determines
which commandments apply. But those are two different issues. The Ten Commandments express God’s
universal moral vision for humanity, and therefore every human being is accountable to them — whether they love Jesus or not. Love for Jesus is the
right motive for Christian obedience, but it does not change the scope of what is universally moral. The fourth commandment is not moral in that universal sense; it is Israel’s covenant sign (
Exod. 31:13–17). So yes, Christians obey God’s moral commands out of love for Jesus, but that motive does not transform a covenant‑specific command into a universal one. Love for Christ does not smuggle the Sabbath into the moral category.
The question was ...should we obey for the might motives. ...
And the right motives being faith and love.
You agree that we should it is the right motive.
And I agree that the moral law should be obeyed simply because God said so.
Some keep the laws for the wrong motives... so keeping them for the wrong motives is useless.
1Co 13:1-3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
How is the 4th commandment different to the 3 before it.
It is about remembering the Creator and the saviour. That is moral.
Please don't use Israel as the main reason it does not apply because we are the Israel of today by being grafted into the vine.
