Biblical ‘grace’ (Hebrew: Chen חֵן / Greek: Charis χάρις) is far more than unmerited favor. It is God’s divine kindness, beauty, and empowering presence extended toward the undeserving. Grace is not just forgiveness — it is the power to walk in newness of life, the ability to obey, and the divine enablement to do what we cannot do in our own strength. ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith…’ (Ephesians 2:8)”
Grace is the gift of God’s love and favor through Jesus Christ, bringing forgiveness, salvation, and the power to walk in newness of life. This study explores the biblical meaning of grace through Hebrew and Greek word studies, connecting grace with God’s kindness, His Word, and the gift of Messiah. Drawing from the Exodus, the Passover, and the New Covenant, the study emphasizes that God’s grace has always preceded obedience: He first delivers His people, then calls them to walk in His commandments. Through faith in Messiah, believers are brought out of bondage to sin and into a covenant relationship with God, where His Spirit writes His Word upon their hearts and enables them to walk in righteousness. The study also explores the imagery of grace as God dwelling among His people, from Israel’s wilderness camp to the restored Kingdom and the New Jerusalem. Ultimately, grace is presented not as freedom to continue in sin, but as God’s gift of redemption and transformation—bringing His people into His presence, His rest, and the fullness of life in Messiah.
The Grace of God is the Gospel
Act_20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.
The Grace of God is the Word
Act_20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.
The Grace of God is His Gift
Rom_5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Eph_2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Jesus is the Gift of God.
Joh 3:16 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.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
The Grace of God comes through Jesus
1Co_1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ;
2Co_13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. The second epistle to the Corinthians was written from Philippi, a city of Macedonia, by Titus and Lucas.
Jesus is the Grace of God that brings salvation to the world
Tit_2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,
Is there an antithesis between Law (Torah) and Grace in the Holy Scriptures?
The Scriptures speak of the Torah as grace
Psa 119:29 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.
Septuagint (LXX)
Psa 119:29 (118:29) ὁδὸν ἀδικίας ἀπόστησον ἀπ᾿ ἐμοῦ καὶ τῷ νόμῳσου ἐλέησόν με.
Psa 119:29 Remove from me the way of iniquity; and be merciful to me by Your law.
Paul speaks of the TaNaKH as the Word of His grace
Act 20:32 And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance {Deuteronomy 33:2} among all them which are sanctified {Deuteronomy 28:9; John 17:17}.
Deu 33:2 And he said: Jehovah came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir for them; He shone forth from Mount Paran, and He came from the myriads of holy ones. At his right hand a law of fire went forth to them.
Deu 33:3 Yes, He loves the peoples; all His holy ones are in Your hand; and they sit down at Your feet; He lifts up each at Your Words.
Deu 33:4 Moses has commanded a Law to us, an inheritance for the congregation of Jacob.
Those sanctified
Deu 28:9 Jehovah shall establish you a holy (sanctified) people to Himself, as He has sworn to you, if you shall keep the commands of Jehovah your God and welcome His ways.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them in Your Truth; Your Word is Truth.
Pro 1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Pro 1:8 My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
Pro 1:9 For they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
Pro 3:1 My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
Pro 3:2 For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Pro 3:3 Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
Pro 3:4 So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Pro 4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
Pro 4:2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.
Pro 4:3 For I was my father’s son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.
Pro 4:4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.
Pro 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
Pro 4:6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.
Pro 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Pro 4:8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.
Pro 4:9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.
Saved by Grace through Faith
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Eph 2:7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
Exo 11:3 And the LORD gave the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people.
In Exodus 12 blood of lamb applied to doorposts (faith)
Exo 12:3 Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, On the tenth of this month, they shall each take for themselves an animal of the flock for a father’s house, a flock animal for a house.
Exo 12:4 And if the house is too small for a flock animal, he and his neighbor next to his house shall take according to the number of souls, each one according to the mouth of his eating, you shall count concerning the flock animal.
Exo 12:5 A flock animal, a male without blemish, a yearling, shall be to you. You shall take from the sheep or from the goats.
Exo 12:6 And it shall be for you to keep until the fourteenth day of this month. And all the assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it between the evenings.
Exo 12:7 And they shall take from the blood, and put it on the two side doorposts and on the upper doorpost, on the houses in which they eat it.
Exo 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in this night, roasted with fire, and they shall eat it with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.
Exo 12:9 Do not eat it raw, or at all boiled in water, but roasted with fire; its head with its legs and with its inward parts.
Exo 12:10 And you shall not leave any of it until morning. And you shall burn with fire that left from it until morning.
Exo 12:11 And you shall eat it this way: with your loins girded, your sandals on your feet, and your staff in your hand. And you shall eat it in haste. It is the Passover to Jehovah.
Exo 12:12 And I will pass through in the land of Egypt in this night. And I will strike every first-born in the land of Egypt, from man even to livestock. And I will execute judgments on all the gods of Egypt. I am Jehovah!
Exo 12:13 And the blood shall be a sign to you, on the houses where you are. And I will see the blood, and I will pass over you. And the plague shall not be on you to destroy, when I strike in the land of Egypt.
Heb 11:28 Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them.
Exo 14:31 And Israel saw that great work which the LORD did upon the Egyptians: and the people feared the LORD, and believed the LORD, and his servant Moses.
Heb 11:29 By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.
Exodus 20 & Mt Sinai displays the principle that the commandments come after grace through faith. This is how it has always been. First comes the belief/faith that He is, then a commitment to follow and obey His Word.
This is what we see in the New Testament
Saved by grace through faith
Eph 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Through Messiah our Passover
1Co 5:7 Then purge out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, even as you are unleavened. For also Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us.
Acts 2 The Holy Spirit is poured out so that we can walk in His ways where His Torah is written on our hearts.
What is the role of the Spirit?
Joh 16:13 But when that One comes, the Spirit of Truth, He will guide you into all Truth, for He will not speak from Himself, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will announce the coming things to you.
What is truth?
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them in Your Truth; Your Word is Truth.
Psa 119:43 And do not take the Word of Truth completely out of my mouth; for I have hoped in Your judgments.
Psa 119:44 And I shall keep Your Law continually, forever and ever.
Psa 119:142 Your righteousness is forever, and Your Law is truth.
The Spirit is given so that we will walk in the Spirit of the Torah, whom Messiah Jesus revealed to the world.
Eze 11:19 And I shall give to them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will remove the stony heart out of their flesh, and I will give them a heart of flesh,
Eze 11:20 so that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments, and do them. And they shall be to Me for a people, and I will be to them for God.
Eze 36:26 And I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give to you a heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you shall keep My judgments and do them.
Eze 36:28 And you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers. And you shall be a people to Me, and I will be God to you.
Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
The new covenant has the Torah written upon our hearts.
Heb 10:15 And the Holy Spirit witnesses to us also. For after having said before,
Heb 10:16 “This is the covenant which I will covenant to them after those days, says the Lord: Giving My Laws on their hearts, and I will write them on their minds;”
Heb 10:17 also He adds, “I will not at all still remember their sins” and their lawlessnesses. MT-Jer. 31:33, 34
Example of the doorposts
First the blood is applied.
Exo 12:7 And they shall take from the blood, and put it on the two side doorposts and on the upper doorpost, on the houses in which they eat it.
After the blood is applied and salvation is attained through the blood of the lamb, then the Torah is written upon those doorposts.
Deu 6:9 And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house, and on your gates.
Noah found grace and then built an ark as he was commanded to do.
Gen 6:8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.
Gen 7:5 And Noah did according to all that Jehovah commanded him.
Lot received grace and then left Sodom as he was commanded to do
Gen 19:18 And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my Lord:
Gen 19:19 Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die:
The Angels commanded Lot and his family not to look back. Lot and his daughters were obedient and they were saved. Lot’s wife was disobedient and perished. Lot’s wife found grace but it was not mixed with obedience.
Moses was under grace…yet he was still told to be obedient to the commandments
Exo 33:12 And Moses said unto the LORD, See, thou sayest unto me, Bring up this people: and thou hast not let me know whom thou wilt send with me. Yet thou hast said, I know thee by name, and thou hast also found grace in my sight.
The Children of Israel were saved by grace through faith when they applied the blood of the lamb to the doorposts and crossed the Red Sea. However, their disobedience prevented them from entering the promised land.
Heb 4:6 Therefore, since it remains for some to enter into it, and those who formerly had the gospel preached did not enter in on account of disobedience,
Heb 4:7 He again marks out a certain day, saying in David, Today (after so long a time, according as He has said), “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.” MT-Psalm 95:7, 8
WE ARE SAVED BY GRACE
Act 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.
Rom 5:15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.
Rom 5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 Let it not be! We who died to sin, how shall we still live in it?
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Rom 6:15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
What is sin? Sin is the transgression of the Torah/Law. Should we stop keeping the law because we are under grace? God forbid.
1Jo 3:4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
1Jo 5:17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
Saved by grace unto good works
Eph 2:5 even we being dead in deviations, He made us alive together with Christ (by grace you are being saved),
Eph 2:6 and raised us up together and seated us together in the heavenlies in Christ Jesus,
Eph 2:7 that He might demonstrate in the ages coming on, the exceeding great riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
Eph 2:8 For by grace you are saved, through faith, and this not of yourselves; it is the gift of God;
Eph 2:9 not of works, that not anyone should boast;
Eph 2:10 for we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God before prepared that we should walk in them.
Psa 105:42 For He remembered His holy Word and His servant Abraham;
Psa 105:43 and He brought His people out with joy; His elect with gladness.
Psa 105:44 And He gave to them the lands of the nations; and they inherited the labor of the peoples;
Psa 105:45 so that they might observe His statutes and keep His laws. Praise Jehovah!
GRACE AND OBEDIENCE
1Pe 1:13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
1Pe 1:14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
1Pe 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
1Pe 1:16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
Even in the time of the Apostles there were people who crept into the congregation teaching law versus grace.
Jud 1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Jud 1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Torah, Grace, Dew
Torah and Grace are also connected via the word Dew.
Manna=Jesus according to John 6…Jesus=the Word
Exo 16:13 And it happened in the evening: the quail came up and covered the camp. And in the morning a layer of dew was around the camp.
Num 11:9 And when the dew came down on the camp by night, the manna came down on it.
Deu 32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain; my speech shall drop down as the dew, as the small rain on the tender plant, and as the showers on the grass;
Pro 19:12 The king’s wrath is like a lion’s roar, but his favor is like dew on the grass.
Camp Grace connection
Gen 9:27 God shall enlarge Japheth, and He shall live in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be their slave.
Grammatically, ‘He’ is speaking of God. God shall dwell in the tents of Shem, this is the meaning of the word grace.
Grace literally means the camp of the family. Israel in the wilderness, dwelling in camps with the Glory of God in their midst is the perfect definition of Grace.
This is what grace looks like:
How is the Kingdom of Heaven going to be set up?
Rev 21:10 And he carried me in spirit onto a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, holy Jerusalem, coming down out of Heaven from God,
Rev 21:11 having the glory of God. And its light was like a very precious stone, as a jasper stone, being clear as crystal,
Rev 21:12 and having a great and high wall, having twelve gates, and twelve angels at the gates and names having been inscribed, which are of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.
Rev 21:13 From the east, three gates; from the north, three gates; from the south, three gates; and from the west, three gates.
Rev 21:14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Grace – Freedom connection
H2600 חנּם chinnâm
BDB Definition:
1) freely, for nothing, without cause
חנם ‘chinnam’ comes from the root חן ‘chen’ which means grace.
Another word for Freedom/Liberty in Hebrew comes from דרר ‘darar.’ The root of this word is:
It is interesting that one of the words for freedom in Hebrew means free flowing. This is the meaning of the word Jubilee. It is in the Jubilee that we are brought back to our family and our possessions. This was the task of the Messiah, to bring mankind back to the House. The first letter of the Scriptures is a ב ‘bet.’ In Torah scrolls that ב ‘bet’ is enlarged to draw our attention to the importance of the House. Creation started as a House for God to dwell with His creation and in the end the New Jerusalem be established on earth so that God can dwell with His creation. This is the meaning of grace.
Numerical value of חן ‘chen’ – Grace
חן ‘chen’ = 58
Lev 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood {בדם הוא ‘bdam he`’}, and I have given it to you on the altar, to atone for your souls; for it is the blood which makes atonement for the soul.
*בדם הוא ‘bdam he`’…literally in His blood. This phrase = 58
It is only through faith in the blood of the Lamb that we can find His grace. It is through the blood of the Lamb of God that we enter into covenant with the Most High and are brought into the camp of the righteous. The gates of the righteous are opened so that we can enter in through the door of the sheepfold who is the Messiah.
The name Noah = 58
Noah comes from the word נוח ‘nuach’ meaning rest.
נוח ‘nuach’ comes from the root:
This is the picture that Psalm 23 paints, the end of the exile where the Good Shepherd leads us to the still waters. The pictograph meaning of this word also can mean the seed inside the walls as in His people in the camp.
The garden = 58
The kingdom, His rest, His נוח ‘nuach’ is the garden of Eden restored.
Gen 2:15 And Jehovah God took the man and put {נוח ‘nuach’} him into the Garden of Eden, to work it and to keep it.
Early Church
The law of Christ is the life of grace, in which Christ’s teaching and the Spirit enable believers to obey God.
“Now the law is ancient grace given through Moses by the Word.”
“Wherefore it was only temporary; but eternal grace and truth were by Jesus Christ.” (Clement of Alexandria – Paedagogus -Book 1, Chapter 7)
“Grace, therefore, is pointed at by the law, in order that the law may be fulfilled by grace.” (Augustine, On the Grace of Christ, Book I, Chapter 10)
Joh 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
Joh 14:21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Joh 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.
1Jo 2:4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1Jo 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jo 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
2Jo 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
We believe in Jesus because of the word of the Apostles (John 17:20) which was given through the Spirit.
Joh 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
Act 2:39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
Act 2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Act 2:41 Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.
Act 4:4 Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.
Rom 15:18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,
Rom 15:19 Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.
Rom 16:24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Rom 16:25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,
Rom 16:26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith:
Jesus promised the apostles the Spirit would guide them “into all truth,” revealing to them things He had not spoken to them directly (John 16:12-15).
Joh 16:12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
Joh 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
Joh 16:14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
Joh 16:15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
To reject the word of the apostles is to reject the word of Christ and God (Luke 10:16; I Corinthians 14:37; I Thessalonians 4:1, 2, 8). The “apostles’ doctrine” is “the doctrine of the Lord” (Acts 2:42; 13:12).
Luk 10:16 He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me.
1Co 14:37 If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord.
1Th 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
1Th 4:2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
1Th 4:8 He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.
Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
Act 13:12 Then the deputy, when he saw what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of the Lord.
2Th 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
2Th 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
1Co 11:2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
Following the example of the Apostles as we follow Christ
Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
Jesus gave new commandments to the Apostles
Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
Act 1:2 Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:
The Apostles gave the commandments of Jesus through the Spirit
2Pe 3:2 That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:
2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
1Jn 2:8 Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
1Jn 4:21 And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
1Jn 3:22 And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
2Jn 1:5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
2Jn 1:6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
2Jn 1:7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.
2Jn 1:8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.
2Jn 1:9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.
1Th 4:1 Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.
1Th 4:2 For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus.
Rom 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.
Rom 16:18 For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
2Th 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
2Th 3:6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us.
1Co 11:2 Now I praise you, brethren, that ye remember me in all things, and keep the ordinances, as I delivered them to you.
Gal_6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
The commandments in the law of Christ are to believe in Christ and love as He does.
1Jn 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jn 3:24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us
The early Church taught obedience to God’s law, but did not teach Christians to follow the law given to Moses. Obedience to God and His commandments was a primary teaching of the early Church.
“The commandment by Moses is the ministration of condemnation; the grace through the Saviour, he calls the ministration of righteousness.” (Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of John, on John 1:17)
Heb 5:9 and having been perfected, He came to be the Author of eternal salvation to all the ones obeying Him,
Mat 28:19 Then having gone, disciple all nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all things, whatever I commanded you. And, behold, I am with you all the days until the completion of the age. Amen.
Joh 12:49 For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.
Joh 12:50 And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.
Rev 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
1Pe 1:2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit to obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied to you.
1Pe 1:13 Because of this, having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober, perfectly hope on the grace being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ,
1Pe 1:14 as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves to your former lusts in your ignorance,
1Pe 1:22 Having purified your souls in the obedience of the truth through the Spirit to unpretended brotherly love, love one another fervently out of a pure heart,
Rev 12:17 And the dragon was enraged over the woman, and went away to make war with the rest of her seed, those keeping the commandments of God, and having the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rev 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints; here are the ones keeping the commands of God, and the faith of Jesus.
Isa 8:16 Bind up the Testimony, seal the Law among My disciples.
Isa 8:17 And I will wait on Jehovah, who hides His face from the house of Jacob; and I will look for Him.
Isa 8:18 Behold, I and the children whom Jehovah has given to me are for signs and wonders in Israel from Jehovah of Hosts, who dwells in Mount Zion.
Isa 8:19 And when they say to you, Seek to the mediums, and to spirit-knowers who peep and mutter; should not a people seek to its God, than for the living to seek the ones who died?
Isa 8:20 To the Law and to the Testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no dawn to them!
Jas 1:22 But become doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
Jas 1:23 Because if anyone is a hearer of the Word, and not a doer, this one is like a man studying his natural face in a mirror;
Jas 1:24 for he studied himself, and has gone away, and immediately he forgot of what kind he was.
Jas 1:25 But the one looking into the perfect Law of liberty, and continuing in it, this one not having become a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in his doing.
Jas 2:8 If you truly fulfill the royal Law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you do well. Lev. 19:18
Jas 2:9 But if you have partiality you work sin, being reproved by the Law as transgressors.
Jas 2:10 For whoever shall keep all the Law, but stumbles in one, he has become guilty of all.
Jas 2:11 For He who said, “You shall not commit adultery,” also said, “You shall not murder.” Ex. 20:14, 13; Deut. 5:18, 17 But if you do not commit adultery, but commit murder, you have become a transgressor of the Law.
Jas 2:12 So speak and so do as being about to be judged through a Law of freedom.
Jas 2:13 For judgment will be without mercy to the one not doing mercy. And mercy rejoices over judgment.
Jas 2:14 My brothers, what is the gain if anyone says he has faith, but he does not have works? Is the faith able to save him?
Jas 2:15 But if a brother or a sister is naked and may be lacking in daily food,
Jas 2:16 and any one of you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled, but does not give them the things the body needs, what gain is it?
Jas 2:17 So also faith, if it does not have works, is dead being by itself.
Jas 2:18 But someone will say, You have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith out of my works.
Jas 2:19 You believe that God is One. You do well; even the demons believe and shudder.
Jas 2:20 But are you willing to know, O vain man, that faith apart from works is dead?
Jas 2:21 Was not our father Abraham justified by works offering up his son Isaac on the altar? Gen. 22:9
Jas 2:22 You see that faith worked with his works; and out of the works the faith was made perfected.
Jas 2:23 And the Scripture was fulfilled, saying, “And Abraham believed God, and it was counted for righteousness to him;” and he was called, Friend of God. Gen. 15:6; Isa. 41:8
Jas 2:24 You see, then, that a man is justified out of works, and not out of faith only.
Jas 2:25 But in the same way Rahab the harlot was also justified out of works, having received the messengers, and sending them out by another way.
Jas 2:26 For as the body is dead apart from the spirit, so also faith is dead apart from works.
Jas 4:11 Do not speak against one another, brothers. He that speaks against a brother, and is judging a brother, he speaks against Law, and judges Law. But if you judge Law, you are not a doer of Law, but a judge.
Jas 4:12 One is the Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you who judges another?
Rom 15:18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,
Rom 16:26 but now has been made plain, and by prophetic Scriptures, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known for obedience of faith to all the nations;
Eph 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for through these things the wrath of God comes on the sons of disobedience.
Eph 5:7 Then do not become partakers with them;
Eph 5:8 for you then were darkness, but are now light in the Lord; walk as children of light.
1Ti 6:14 that you keep the commandment spotless, blameless, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
2Co 2:9 For to this end I also wrote, that I might know the proof of you, if you are obedient in all things.
“But if some, through weak-mindedness, wish to observe such institutions as were given by Moses, from which they expect some virtue, but which we believe were appointed by reason of the hardness of the people’s hearts, along with their hope in this Christ, and [wish to perform] the eternal and natural acts of righteousness and piety, yet choose to live with the Christians and the faithful, as I said before, not inducing them either to be circumcised like themselves, or to keep the Sabbath, or to observe any other such ceremonies, then I hold that we ought to join ourselves to such, and associate with them in all things as kinsmen and brethren. But if, Trypho,” I continued, “some of your race (the Jews), who say they believe in this Christ, compel those Gentiles who believe in this Christ to live in all respects according to the law given by Moses, or choose not to associate so intimately with them, I in like manner do not approve of them.” Justin Martyr (A.D. 160) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg.218
“And for this reason, indeed, when at this present time the law is read to the Jews, it is like a fable; for they do not possess the explanation of all things pertaining to the advent of the Son of God, which took place in human nature; but when it is read by the Christians, it is a treasure, hid indeed in a field, but brought to light by the cross of Christ, and explained, both enriching the understanding of men, and showing forth the wisdom of God.” Irenaeus (A.D. 180) Ante-Nicene Fathers vol.1 pg. 496
“It is good to obey God, and to believe in Him, and to keep His commandment, and this is the life of man.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.39.1)
“Christ did not abrogate the natural precepts of the law, but rather fulfilled and extended them. He removed the yoke and bondage of the old law, so that mankind, being now set free, might serve God with that trustful piety which becomes sons.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.13.1)
“He did not teach us these things as being opposed to the law, but as fulfilling, extending, and affording greater scope to it.” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.13.1)
“An eternal and final law—namely, Christ—has been given to us.” (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho 11)
Didache
Chapter 1. The Two Ways and the First Commandment. There are two ways, one of life and one of death, but a great difference between the two ways. The way of life, then, is this: First, you shall love God who made you; second, love your neighbor as yourself, and do not do to another what you would not want done to you. And of these sayings the teaching is this: Bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies, and fast for those who persecute you. For what reward is there for loving those who love you? Do not the Gentiles do the same? But love those who hate you, and you shall not have an enemy. Abstain from fleshly and worldly lusts. If someone strikes your right cheek, turn to him the other also, and you shall be perfect. If someone impresses you for one mile, go with him two. If someone takes your cloak, give him also your coat. If someone takes from you what is yours, ask it not back, for indeed you are not able. Give to every one who asks you, and ask it not back; for the Father wills that to all should be given of our own blessings (free gifts). Happy is he who gives according to the commandment, for he is guiltless. Woe to him who receives; for if one receives who has need, he is guiltless; but he who receives not having need shall pay the penalty, why he received and for what. And coming into confinement, he shall be examined concerning the things which he has done, and he shall not escape from there until he pays back the last penny. And also concerning this, it has been said, Let your alms sweat in your hands, until you know to whom you should give.
Chapter 2. The Second Commandment: Grave Sin Forbidden. And the second commandment of the Teaching; You shall not commit murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not commit pederasty, you shall not commit fornication, you shall not steal, you shall not practice magic, you shall not practice witchcraft, you shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill that which is born. You shall not covet the things of your neighbor, you shall not swear, you shall not bear false witness, you shall not speak evil, you shall bear no grudge. You shall not be double-minded nor double-tongued, for to be double-tongued is a snare of death. Your speech shall not be false, nor empty, but fulfilled by deed. You shall not be covetous, nor rapacious, nor a hypocrite, nor evil disposed, nor haughty. You shall not take evil counsel against your neighbor. You shall not hate any man; but some you shall reprove, and concerning some you shall pray, and some you shall love more than your own life.
Chapter 3. Other Sins Forbidden. My child, flee from every evil thing, and from every likeness of it. Be not prone to anger, for anger leads to murder. Be neither jealous, nor quarrelsome, nor of hot temper, for out of all these murders are engendered. My child, be not a lustful one. for lust leads to fornication. Be neither a filthy talker, nor of lofty eye, for out of all these adulteries are engendered. My child, be not an observer of omens, since it leads to idolatry. Be neither an enchanter, nor an astrologer, nor a purifier, nor be willing to took at these things, for out of all these idolatry is engendered. My child, be not a liar, since a lie leads to theft. Be neither money-loving, nor vainglorious, for out of all these thefts are engendered. My child, be not a murmurer, since it leads the way to blasphemy. Be neither self-willed nor evil-minded, for out of all these blasphemies are engendered.
Rather, be meek, since the meek shall inherit the earth. Be long-suffering and pitiful and guileless and gentle and good and always trembling at the words which you have heard. You shall not exalt yourself, nor give over-confidence to your soul. Your soul shall not be joined with lofty ones, but with just and lowly ones shall it have its intercourse. Accept whatever happens to you as good, knowing that apart from God nothing comes to pass.
Chapter 4. Various Precepts. My child, remember night and day him who speaks the word of God to you, and honor him as you do the Lord. For wherever the lordly rule is uttered, there is the Lord. And seek out day by day the faces of the saints, in order that you may rest upon their words. Do not long for division, but rather bring those who contend to peace. Judge righteously, and do not respect persons in reproving for transgressions. You shall not be undecided whether or not it shall be. Be not a stretcher forth of the hands to receive and a drawer of them back to give. If you have anything, through your hands you shall give ransom for your sins. Do not hesitate to give, nor complain when you give; for you shall know who is the good repayer of the hire. Do not turn away from him who is in want; rather, share all things with your brother, and do not say that they are your own. For if you are partakers in that which is immortal, how much more in things which are mortal? Do not remove your hand from your son or daughter; rather, teach them the fear of God from their youth. Do not enjoin anything in your bitterness upon your bondman or maidservant, who hope in the same God, lest ever they shall fear not God who is over both; for he comes not to call according to the outward appearance, but to them whom the Spirit has prepared. And you bondmen shall be subject to your masters as to a type of God, in modesty and fear. You shall hate all hypocrisy and everything which is not pleasing to the Lord. Do not in any way forsake the commandments of the Lord; but keep what you have received, neither adding thereto nor taking away therefrom. In the church you shall acknowledge your transgressions, and you shall not come near for your prayer with an evil conscience. This is the way of life.
Apostolic Constitutions
XIX. For since ye have known God through Jesus Christ, and all His dispensation, as it has been from the beginning, that He gave a plain law to assist the law of nature,3258 such a one as is pure, saving, and holy, in which His own name was inscribed,3259 perfect, which is never to fail, being complete in ten commands, unspotted, converting souls;3260 which, when the Hebrews forgot, He put them in mind of it by the prophet Malachi, saying, “Remember ye the law of Moses, the man of God, who gave you in charge commandments and ordinances.”3261 Which law is so very holy and righteous, that even our Saviour, when on a certain time He healed one leper, and afterwards nine, said to the first, “Go, show thyself to the high priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them;”3262 and afterwards to the nine, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.”3263 For He nowhere has dissolved the law, as Simon pretends, but fulfilled it; for He says: “One iota, or one tittle, shall not pass from the law until all be fulfilled.” For says He, “I come not to dissolve the law, but to fulfil it.”3264 For Moses himself, who was at once the lawgiver, and the high priest, and the prophet, and the king, and Elijah, the zealous follower of the prophets, were present at our Lord’s transfiguration in the mountain,3265 and witnesses of His incarnation and of His sufferings, as the intimate friends of Christ, but not as enemies and strangers. Whence it is demonstrated that the law is good and holy, as also the prophets.
XX. Now the law is the decalogue, which the Lord promulgated to them with an audible voice,3266 before the people made that calf which represented the Egyptian Apis.3267 And the law is righteous, and therefore is it called the law, because judgments are thence made according 459to the law of nature, which the followers of Simon abuse, supposing they shall not be judged thereby, and so shall escape punishment. This law is good, holy, and such as lays no compulsion in things positive. For He says: “If thou wilt make me an altar, thou shalt make it of earth.”3268 It does not say, “Make one,” but, “If thou wilt make.” It does not impose a necessity, but gives leave to their own free liberty. For God does not stand in need of sacrifices, being by nature above all want. But knowing that, as of old, Abel, beloved of God, and Noah and Abraham, and those that succeeded, without being required, but only moved of themselves by the law of nature, did offer sacrifice to God out of a grateful mind; so He did now permit the Hebrews, not commanding, but, if they had a mind, permitting them; and if they offered from a right intention, showing Himself pleased with their sacrifices. Therefore He says: “If thou desirest to offer, do not offer to me as to one that stands in need of it, for I stand in need of nothing; for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof.”3269 But when this people became forgetful of that, and called upon a calf as God, instead of the true God, and to him did ascribe the cause of their coming out of Egypt, saying, “These are thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt;”3270 and when these men had committed wickedness with the “similitude of a calf that eateth hay;” and denied God who had visited them by Moses3271 in their afflictions, and had done signs with his hand and rod, and had smitten the Egyptians with ten plagues; who had divided the waters of the Red Sea into two parts; who had led them in the midst of the water, as a horse upon the ground; who had drowned their enemies, and those that laid wait for them; who at Marah had made sweet the bitter fountain; who had brought water out of the sharp rock till they were satisfied; who had overshadowed them with a pillar of a cloud on account of the immoderate heat, and with a pillar of fire which enlightened and guided them when they knew not which way they were to go; who gave them manna from heaven, and gave them quails for flesh from the sea;3272 who gave them the law in the mountain; whose voice He had vouchsafed to let them hear; Him did they deny, and said to Aaron, “Make us gods who shall go before us;”3273 and they made a molten calf, and sacrificed to an idol;—then was God angry, as being ungratefully treated by them, and bound them with bonds which could not be loosed, with a mortifying burden and a hard collar, and no longer said, “If thou makest,” but, “Make an altar,” and sacrifice perpetually; for thou art forgetful and ungrateful. Offer burnt-offerings therefore continually, that thou mayest be mindful of me. For since thou hast wickedly abused thy power, I lay a necessity upon thee for the time to come, and I command thee to abstain from certain meats; and I ordain thee the distinction of clean and unclean creatures, although every creature is good, as being made by me; and I appoint thee several separations, purgations, frequent washings and sprinklings, several purifications, and several times of rest; and if thou neglectest any of them, I determine that punishment which is proper to the disobedient, that being pressed and galled by thy collar, thou mayest depart from the error of polytheism, and laying aside that, “These are thy gods, O Israel,”3274 mayest be mindful of that, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Lord;”3275 and mayest run back again to that law which is inserted by me in the nature of all men, “that there is only one God in heaven and on earth, and to love Him with all thy heart, and all thy might, and all thy mind,” and to fear none but Him, nor to admit the names of other gods into thy mind, nor to let thy tongue utter them out of thy mouth. He bound them for the hardness of their hearts, that by sacrificing, and resting, and purifying themselves, and by similar observances, they might come to the knowledge of God, who ordained these things for them.
That We Who Believe in Christ are Under Grace, and Not Under the Servitude of that Additional Law.
XXI. “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.”3276 Yours, I say, who have believed in the one God, not by necessity, but by a sound understanding, in obedience to Him that called you. For you are released from the bonds, and freed from the servitude. For says He:3277 “I call you no longer servants, but friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father have I made known unto you.”3278 For to them that would not see nor hear, not for the want of those senses, but for the excess of their wickedness, “I gave statutes that were not good, and judgments whereby they would not live;”3279 they are looked upon as not good, as burnings and a sword, and medicines are esteemed enemies by the sick, and impossible to be observed on account of their 460obstinacy: whence also they brought death upon them being not obeyed.
How Christ Became a Fulfiller of the Law, and What Parts of It He Put a Period To, or Changed, or Transferred.
XXIII. For He did not take away the law of nature, but confirmed it. For He that said in the law, “The Lord thy God is one Lord;”3291 the same says in the Gospel, “That they might know Thee, the only true God.”3292 And He that said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,”3293 says in the Gospel, renewing the same precept, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.”3294 He who then forbade murder, does now forbid causeless anger.3295 He that forbade adultery, does now forbid all unlawful lust. He that forbade stealing, now pronounces him most happy who supplies those that are in want out of his own labours.3296 He that forbade hatred, now pronounces him blessed that loves his enemies.3297 He that forbade revenge, now commands long-suffering;3298 not as if just revenge were an unrighteous thing, but because long-suffering is more excellent. Nor did He make laws to root out our natural passions, but only to forbid the excess of them.3299461He who had commanded to honour our parents, was Himself subject to them.3300 He who had commanded to keep the Sabbath, by resting thereon for the sake of meditating on the laws, has now commanded us to consider of the law of creation, and of providence every day, and to return thanks to God. He abrogated circumcision when He had Himself fulfilled it. For He it was “to whom the inheritance was reserved, who was the expectation of the nations.”3301 He who made a law for swearing rightly, and forbade perjury, has now charged us not to swear at all.3302 He has in several ways changed baptism, sacrifice, the priesthood, and the divine service, which was confined to one place: for instead of daily baptisms, He has given only one, which is that into His death. Instead of one tribe, He has appointed that out of every nation the best should be ordained for the priesthood; and that not their bodies should be examined for blemishes, but their religion and their lives. Instead of a bloody sacrifice, He has appointed that reasonable and unbloody mystical one of His body and blood, which is performed to represent the death of the Lord by symbols. Instead of the divine service confined to one place, He has commanded and appointed that He should be glorified from sunrising to sunsetting in every place of His dominion.3303 He did not therefore take away the law from us, but the bonds. For concerning the law Moses says: “Thou shalt meditate on the word which I command thee, sitting in thine house, and rising up, and walking in the way.”3304 And David says: “His delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law will he meditate day and night.”3305 For everywhere would he have us subject to His laws, but not transgressors of them. For says He: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. Blessed are they that search out His testimonies; with their whole heart shall they seek Him.”3306 And again: “Blessed are we, O Israel, because those things that are pleasing to God are known to us.”3307 And the Lord says: “If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”3308
Related Studies:
Saved by Grace Through Faith (FULL VERSION)
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