I recall as a young believer being very confused about how the Law and the Gospel related. I knew that since the resurrection of Jesus Christ we are saved by grace through faith, but laboured under the misapprehension that in Old Testament times, people were saved through following the Law and the sacrifices prescribed at Sinai. I quickly moved beyond that but have been surprised at how many Christians I meet and speak with (even ones who have walked with the Lord for a long time) who think that relationships between man and God were restored by obedience to the Law in the Old Testament, and that only in the New Testament did faith enter in to this business of salvation and atonement.
But this is not so! God’s covenantal relationship with His people always was and is the main thing in the standing of men before God. This is clear for at least three reasons:
1. Genesis 15 recounts a reaffirmation of the Abrahamic Covenant. That is, the covenant God made with Abraham whereby Abraham would be blessed, and through him, all the world would be blessed. It is important to observe that the Covenant was established at God’s initiative and by His grace (Gen 12). After God has restated His covenant, we have Abraham’s reaction: "Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness". Gen 15:6 Quite so. This was in pre-Mosaic Law days, but Abraham’s belief is what makes him righteous, not adherence to external rules. His faith and trust in what God has promised to do are the things that determine his right standing before God.
Next time, we’ll continue with the Law in the Old Testament…
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