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As I concluded in part two, the Apostle Paul informs us that the Mosaic Law was our schoolmaster to show us not only what sin is, but also to show us that we are guilty as charged. Its purpose, Paul tells us, was to bring us unto faith in Christ, so that we are no longer under a schoolmaster. Paul then explains that Jesus is the revealed -- or manifested -- "righteousness of God" which was witnessed by the Law and the Prophets of the Old Testament era. Finally, because we have now come to Christ, the Apostle tells us that we are now dead -- or freed, liberated -- from the harsh bondage of trying to keep the Laws of Moses in order to obtain our Salvation. Let me share those verses with you one more time to refresh your memory:

"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster."


"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I HAD NOT KNOWN SIN, BUT BY THE LAW: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet."


"Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and ALL THE WORLD MAY BECOME GUILTY BEFORE GOD. Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets;"


"Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God."


In part one of this series, I briefly explained to you the parallels between Moses' ministry and Jesus' ministry. In fact, we even saw how Moses prophesied regarding how in the far future, God would raise up another Prophet similar to himself; that, of course, being Jesus. Moses and Jesus both spoke of how they each played a vital role in the Salvation of humankind. Moses brought the Law of Commandments -- that is, the Torah -- to carry the Old Testament Jews up to the time of Christ. Then Jesus, through His predestinated death on the Cross, and the shedding of His own innocent blood, introduced the New Covenant and the Law of the Spirit. As we have already seen, the Apostle Paul confirmed these truths, and preached regarding this same issue many times during the course of his ministry to the flesh Jews. Peter and Stephen were likewise familiar with this vital connection to their distant past, and also pointed back to Moses in two of their dissertations, as we see by the following verses:

"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people."


"This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear."


Regarding Jesus' death on the Cross being predetermined, or predestinated, you may recall that in chapter thirteen of the Book of Revelation, where he describes the reign of the Beast and the False Prophet, the Apostle John employs the phrase "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world". In this way, John demonstrates that the Lord's death on the Cross was foreordained since the beginning of the world. In fact, there are a few other verses in the Scriptures where we are not only told that Jesus was predetermined to die on the Cross for the sins of the world, but that we too were predestinated from the foundation of the world to become God's adopted sons and daughters. Consider the following verses and be encouraged:

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:"


"And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed."


"For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren."


"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved . . . In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:"


"But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth:"


"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,"


"And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world."


Once Jesus had died on the Cross, once His precious Blood had been shed for the sins of the world, He could then literally say, "The demands and requirements of the Mosaic Law have now been met. To obtain Salvation and Eternal Life, all one must do now is believe in my Sacrifice on the Cross. I have paid the price for you. I have paid the ransom." Thus, as I noted in part two, we were liberated from the harsh mandates of the Law, and Jesus brought us under the umbrella of God's Grace, where we so remain to this very day. This truth is made so evident by verses such as the following:

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ."


"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast."


"Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;"


"Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"


"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement."


Many years ago, I learned an easy way to remember exactly what the word "grace" means. Perhaps it will help you as well to remember Who alone is the Author of our Salvation:

G = Gift
R = Received
A = At
C = Christ's
E = Expense

Exactly what does the word "grace" mean? Derived from the Koine Greek word "charis", it basically means that due to God's own lovingkindness and pleasure, we have become the recipients of his unmerited favor. More correctly stated, while God's favor may be unmerited by our own account, it has been merited through the Sacrifice of the Lamb of God who was slain from the foundation of the world. In short, we have received the righteousness which is in Christ, and this is what makes us worthy. Nothing else. We cannot claim any righteousness of our own. After all, the Law plainly declares that we are all sinners. We are unclean, and unworthy to stand before the Lord by our own accord. Consider the following verses:

"But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."


"They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one."


"If thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?"


"But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:"


"As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one . . . For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"


Sadly, as I pointed out in part two, in our modern day, the vast majority of flesh Jews continue to reject this eternal truth regarding the necessity of Christ's Atonement. Some modern Jews are even secular atheists. Even the ones who do adhere to some form of Judaism, particularly in Israel, tend to be self-righteous legalists who continue to insist that one must observe the Mosaic Law in order to merit Salvation. This same infectious disease is widespread on the Internet and can be found in some of the social networks. I encounter their posts quite often, but I choose to ignore them, being as I learned long ago that doctrinal debates are usually an exercise in futility.

As I have already explained, because they reject Jesus Christ as their Messiah, they still rely upon their "good works" to save them, in total contradiction to all of the Scriptures I have presented in this series. For those Jews who fall under this delusion, the Grace of God is not good enough for them. They want to be able to take part of the credit for their Salvation. As the Apostle Paul wrote, they want to establish their own righteousness without Christ. However, it just is not possible, no matter how hard they try. As we discussed before, this is why the Orthodox Jews have been striving for literally decades to rebuild the Temple of Solomon on Mount Moriah in East Jerusalem. They have fallen under the foolish delusion that it is imperative that they re-institute animal sacrifices in order to please God. They are as deaf and blind as they were in Jesus' day and have learned nothing. What a tragedy.

However, what is also tragic is the fact that even some of our own Christian brethren have likewise fallen under strong delusion. Some churches preach a doctrine of Salvation which is an odd combination of Grace and works. They say, "Yes, we are saved by the Blood of Jesus Christ, but we still have to keep the Sabbath; or we have to do this; or we have to do that." In other words, what they are basically saying is that the Blood of Jesus Christ is not enough. They are indirectly saying that we have to help God save us. We have to add our works to God's Grace. I do not believe this for a minute. I believe that while our Christian works will demonstrate that we are truly saved, they are not what save us to begin with.

We simply cannot add to the righteousness which is gained through faith in Christ alone. Neither can we establish our own righteousness, as the Jews try to do. As I have pointed out so many times before, the Apostle Paul fought tooth and nail against this heresy. Over and over again he stressed the fact that righteousness cannot be gained by observing the Law. Righteousness only comes through faith in Christ. Consider the following sample verses:

"And by him [Jesus] all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."


"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin."


"For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."


"Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."


"I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain."


"But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith . . . Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:"


"Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace."


"And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;"


So as you can plainly see, the bottom line is that we either believe that we are saved by our faith alone in the precious Blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on the Cross; or else we believe that we are saved by our own supposed good works. In the case of the Orthodox Jews, that means observing the Laws of Moses. We either believe that it was indeed finished, and that nothing needed to be added to it when Jesus said "It is finished" on the Cross, or else we don't. There are simply no two ways about it. The Apostle Paul again clarified this point when he wrote the following:

"And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work."


Just as we cannot permanently mix gasoline and water, or oil and vinegar, neither can we mix Grace and works. While we can try to forcefully mix such liquids, given enough time, as we all know, they'll eventually separate back into two distinct liquids. So it is with Grace and works. Our faith is either in one, or in the other. Where is your faith? Do you honestly believe that you are good enough to merit your own Salvation by keeping the Law? Do you really believe that you can prove yourself righteous before God without Jesus Christ? If you do, then you deceive yourself, and you call God's Word a lie. Please do not be like the unbelieving Jews of whom Stephen said the following just before they stoned him to death:

"Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye."


If you haven't yet accepted Christ's Atonement for your sins, please do not resist and fight against God's Spirit until it is too late for you. Rather, embrace the Scriptural truth which I have shared with you in this series. Please know that as you read this series, you are being given a fair chance to accept Christ's Sacrifice as the one and only valid Atonement for your sins. Whether you realize it or not, at this very moment, God is speaking to your heart. He is reaching out to you. He wants to lift the legalistic load from your shoulders and give you His rest and His peace. It is not His desire for you -- or anyone -- to perish. He wants you to repent of your unbelief, to accept Christ, and to be saved. Consider these verses:

"The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."


"Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?"


"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."


"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,"


"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."


"And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."


"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."


I truly pray that if you have resisted and denied the great Sacrifice which Jesus made on the Cross for your sins, that this message will prick your conscience and finally wake you up before it is too late. As you can see by the previous set of verses, God is very merciful. He lovingly and patiently waits for us to repent of our hard-heartedness and unbelief. However, He does not wait forever. Someday He will stand up and shake Himself off. When He does, the whole Universe is going to know about it. On that day, unless you have already repented of your unbelief, you are going to have to explain to Him why you fought against Him, and why you resisted the truth He tried to show you. You will have to give an account for your life. Consider the following verses:

"So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God."


"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad."


"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works."


"For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil."


"But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."


"When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world . . . Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:"


"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."


"Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead . . . For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?"


With these thoughts, I will bring this article to a close. It is my hope that you have found it informative, enlightening, and I pray that it has been a blessing in your life as well. If you have an account with Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr or with any other social network, I would really appreciate if you'd take the time to click or tap on the corresponding link that is found on this page. Thanks so much, and may God bless you abundantly!

For additional information and further study, you may want to refer to the list of reading resources below which were either mentioned in this article, or which contain topics which are related to this article. All of these articles are likewise located on the Bill's Bible Basics web server. To read these articles, simply click or tap on any link you see below.

A Temple Veil, an Earthquake and a Centurion
All Are Given a Chance, But . . .
Backsliding, Divine Chastisement and the Divine Agreement
Dead to the Law: God's Laws Written on Our Hearts
Free From the Fear of Death: Law and Works vs Grace
Is Jesus the Only Begotten Son of God?
Is the Message of Salvation Meant for All Men?
Many Are Called, But Few Are Chosen
The Marriage of the Lamb
Message to the World
Not Everyone is a Child of God
OSAS: Are We Once Saved, Always Saved?
OSAS: The Hebrews 10:26-27 Controversy
The Urantia Book: An Attack on the Blood Atonement!

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