Online Bible Study - Foundations of Faith

Law and Gospel

Atheists and agnostics would disagree, but the Bible says of them, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they have done abominable works" (Psalm 14:1).

To be sure, many of the things we would like to know about God are mysteries. However, from the Bible we learn of many of His attributes, that is, all those things that make up his being. For example: God is a spirit, eternal, holy, all-present, all-powerful, all-knowing, wise, good, just, unchangeable, jealous, etc. (See Romans 1:20, Genesis 17:1, Revelations 1:8, Deuteronomy 33:27, and 1 Timothy 1:17).

Sometime between the creation and the time when Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil to break God's command, sin entered the world. How? There is no clear answer. However, we know from the Bible that there were "angels that sinned" (2 Peter 2:4). One of their sinful kind became the leader. This one is now called Satan, or the devil.

Why did God let this "very good" (Genesis 1:31) creation become infected with sin? Again, I must say there is no written answer. The Bible does tell us that because of sin, grace (the undeserved love of God) becomes the wonderful message of hope and forgiveness from God to man. With sin in the world and part of our biological make-up, it is certain that our sinful acts put us in great need of contrition, repentance, and the forgiveness of sins. Simply stated, sin is breaking God's Law. The Bible teaches in 1 John 3:4, "Everyone who sins breaks the Law; in fact, sin is lawlessness."

On the other hand, grace is the overwhelming, overpowering, undeserved love of God for all of his creation that are truly sorry for their sins. This grace is for all that come to Him as the only fountain of forgiveness and life. As the Bible teaches in Romans 6:23b, ".the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Even more than that, the grace of God is available for all people. "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" (1 Timothy 2:3-4). Sin is man's hostility to God. Grace is God's unlimited love to man.

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