In our two previous posts, “The Law and Paul’s Explanation,” Part 1 and Part 2, the details were laid out regarding the Torah of Moses (the Law, Old Covenant) and its relationship to the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise.
Additionally, Paul, in the New Testament seems to stress the concept of grace and that we are no longer under “the Law.”
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law (Torah of Moses), but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? The deity forbid. (Romans 6:14-15)
Does grace provide a free ticket to salvation?
If you’re not sure about the answer, how about we proceed to investigate the truth of the matter.
To get started, we will need to get an understanding of what grace is and how it is connected with the Eternal Inheritance.
The Eternal Inheritance
Importantly, grace does not remove the conditions of the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise (Torah of Trust). Grace came about only because Yahu Yahweh (Yahushua the messiah) died to pass on the Eternal Inheritance and then—as the only descendant of Abraham to come under and keep the Torah (Old Covenant)—qualified to receive the same.
Since Yahushua has obtained all rights to the Eternal Inheritance, he can now forgive our sins and, upon his second coming when he shall receive use of his inheritance, by grace can share that inheritance with whomever he forgives and determines to be justified.
A full understanding of the concept of grace comes with knowing that there are conditions by which Yahushua will justify a person who is under grace.
Further, Yahushua is not the source of justification, for it is father Yahweh who justifies (Rom. 8:33-34). Justification, therefore, comes by the instruction and requirements of father Yahweh.
Circumventing Works of The Torah of Moses
Importantly, it is by this procedure that we are able to bypass the works of the Torah of Moses (the Law, Old Covenant). This method provides us a way outside of the written Torah of Moses for entering into the inheritance promised to Abraham and his offspring.
What many fail to realize is that by circumventing the Torah of Moses and its works we return to the conditions placed upon us through the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise (Covenant of Trust). Remember, Yahushua (Yahu Yahweh) cannot change the conditions of his original will (Gal. 3:15).
Grace
In turn, just because our past offenses are forgiven does not mean we can keep sinning (transgressing those conditions). Otherwise, why forgive us for something that is no longer a sin? Therefore, under grace, certain behavior is still required.
The Hebrew term for grace is חֵן (khen), which means “graciousness,” and to show “kindness, favor.” Khen is a form of the word חָנַן (khanan), “to bend or stoop in kindness to an inferior” and to “move to favor by petition.” The Greek form is χάρις (kharis), which also is the act of showing “favor” or “kindness” to someone.
Grace, accordingly, is an act of kindness, something that one bestows upon someone less fortunate and of a lesser position when that person of a lesser position has made a petition. The key point is that grace is not an obligation on the part of the one bestowing it. Grace is a free gift granted by the one who has the power to give it.
At the same time, the person receiving grace is responsible and obligated, especially if he has offended the higher authority. He must meet the requirements that would persuade the person in the higher position of authority to grant him grace. Also, after receiving grace, the person who has offended must never again willingly transgress the laws of the higher authority.
Grace a Gift From Yahweh
In Scriptures, grace is a gift from Yahweh (Rom. 5:15-16; Eph. 3:7), who is the deity of all grace (1 Pet. 5:10). His throne, therefore, is the throne of grace and his ruach is the ruach of grace (Heb. 4:16, 10:29). Yahweh’s gift of grace is expressed in various forms (1 Pet. 4:10).
Paul, for example, considered his commission to go to the nations an act of grace from Yahweh (Eph. 3:8; 1Cor. 3:10). With regard to the inheritance from the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise, by grace we are saved by means of trust (Eph. 2:5, 8)
Heirs by Grace
That we are heirs of the Abrahamic Covenants by grace is confirmed by the apostles Paul and Peter. Paul, for example, states, “that having been justified by his (Yahweh’s) grace, heirs we should become according to the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:7).” He adds that Yahweh’s grace is our access to the Eternal Inheritance, for we are “justified gratuitously by his grace (Rom. 3:24).” Peter speaks of both men and women as “joint-heirs in the grace of life (1 Pet. 3:7).”
It is by means of the blood (death and resurrection) of the messiah, i.e., by his passing on and receiving to himself the Eternal Inheritance, that the messiah can forgive our sins under grace (Eph. 1:5-7; Col. 1:12-14). Yet it is actually father Yahweh who forgives us in Yahushua (Eph. 4:32).
The free gift is eternal life (Rom. 6:23). Yahweh gives grace for his name’s sake (1 John 2:12), for he has sworn by an oath to fulfill the Covenants of Promise to Abraham (Gen 22:15-19; Heb. 6:11-19).
All Have Sinned
Since all have sinned and have fallen short (Rom. 3:23), Yahweh must forgive us in order to bring us into the Eternal Inheritance. Grace, accordingly, is an act of passing over our sins by “the forbearance of the deity (Rom. 3:25-26).”
We are justified to receive the inheritance of eternal life promised in the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise by the grace of Yahweh, but continued grace is a gift conditioned upon required behavior. Put another way, it is a free gift to those who are continuing to keep the conditions of the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise regardless of the fact that they have previously sinned and are no longer eligible under either the Torah of Moses (Old Covenant) or the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise.
Accordingly, there is a requirement to avoid sin (the transgression or violation of law). But if we by chance unwillingly sin, under grace, if we repent, confess that sin, and ask for forgiveness, the sin shall be forgiven. Nevertheless, even with the issue of forgiveness under grace, sin is not forgiven carte blanche. We only continue under grace if our subsequent behavior conforms to Yahweh’s requirements.
Continuing Under Grace
The requirements include the following:
• First, we must confess our sins before he will forgive (1 John 1:9).
• Second, we must repent before our sins are forgiven (Luke 17:3-4).
• Third, whether we are forgiven or not is dependent upon our forgiveness and mercy to others (Matt. 18:22-35).
• Fourth, we must forgive others as often as they repent (Matt 18:21-22; Luke 17:3-4).
• Fifth, we cannot willingly sin after coming to the knowledge of the truth (Heb. 10:26-27).
Sin is lawlessness (1 John 3:4). If lawlessness is evil, it means that we are still bound by moral laws. For example, if anyone breaks any of the commandments, or teaches that it is proper to do so (which shows that it is willful), even if it is the least of the commandments, that person shall be considered the least of things by those in the kingdom of Yahweh (Matt. 5:17-19). Accordingly, those who willingly break any of the commandments will not enter into the kingdom.
Yahushua is the Testator
The grace of Yahweh can only be understood within the context that Yahu Yahweh (Yahushua) was the testator of the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise. These covenants are the last will and testament given by Yahu Yahweh to Abraham and his singular seed (the messiah), to the plural seed (the elect) of Abraham, and to the people of other nations who qualify (Gal. 3:15-29).
According to Scriptures, the very fact that Yahu Yahweh (Yahushua) authored the covenant will (Abrahamic Covenants of Promise) required his death, otherwise, the will giving the Eternal Inheritance would be of no use. Yahu Yahweh (Yahushua) had bound himself to this will by a sworn oath.
At the same time, in order to receive the inheritance, someone had to qualify under the conditions of (1) the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise and (2) the written Torah of Moses (the Law, Old Covenant) that was attached thereto as an augmentation. This detail meant that someone had to be sinless. Since no man is capable of sinlessness, or of keeping the whole written Torah (the Law, Old Covenant) without at least one point of transgression (James 2:10; see Rom. 2:23), circumstance demands for Yahu Yahweh himself to become the fleshly descendant of Abraham.
Yahushua Qualifies for Inheritance
As the seed of Abraham, Yahu Yahweh (Yahushua) had to qualify for the inheritance under both the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise (Torah of Trust) and the written Torah of Moses (the Law, Old Covenant) (Gal. 4:4-5). Yahushua’s sinlessness as the fleshly seed of Abraham accomplished this justification and made him eligible to receive the Eternal Inheritance. He then had to sacrifice his life to pass on the inheritance; otherwise, the will would be without any force.
The problem is this: if Yahu Yahweh had not become the fleshly seed of Abraham and did not qualify under the written Torah, then, because all of us have sinned, no other human would ever receive any of the Eternal Inheritance. Further, if Yahu had died and there was no one to pass the eternal inheritance to, Yahweh’s word and good name would have suffered.
Yahushua the Testator Has to Die
This circumstance demanded the death of the testator of the will found in the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise and the granting of grace (Heb. 9:16-17). Since Yahu Yahweh (Yahushua) was the only one who qualified for the Eternal Inheritance, and since he can share it with us by grace, it is clear that he died for all those who shall be saved, thereby relieving us from the burden of qualifying under the written Torah (the Law, Old Covenant).
As the justified (righteous) heir, Yahu Yahweh (Yahushua) can now share this Eternal Inheritance with whomever he justifies (as dictated by father Yahweh). Herein lies the doctrine of grace. By this method, Yahushua is able to bring us into the inheritance by allowing us to circumvent the works of the Torah (the Law) and bring us back under the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise (Torah of Trust)!
To demonstrate these points, we must first recognize that no inheritance is of any force until the one leaving it dies. Therefore, the messiah had to die because he was the author of the will in the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise.
This detail is confirmed in the book of Hebrews:
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the defiled, sanctifies for the purity of the flesh, how much rather the blood of the messiah who through the eternal ruach offered himself spotless to the deity (father Yahweh), shall purify your conscience from dead works unto serving the living deity. And for this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, death having taken place for redemption of the transgressions of the first covenant (i.e., Torah of Moses or the Old Covenant), the promise of the eternal inheritance they who have been called might receive. For where there is a DIATHEKE (COVENANT-WILL) IT IS NECESSARY FOR THE DEATH OF THE TESTATOR TO COME ABOUT. For a COVENANT-WILL IS AFFIRMED UPON DEATH, SINCE IN NO WAY IS IT OF FORCE WHEN THE TESTATOR IS LIVING. (Hebrews 9:13-18)
The text continues by explaining that blood (a life) had to be offered and that the messiah was the better sacrifice. Further, it was the messiah’s own blood that had to be offered; otherwise, there was no legal force to pass on the Eternal Inheritance.
Yahushua Passes On Inheritance To Himself
There is no mistaking the message here. Yahu Yahweh (Yahushua) made a will and had to die in order to pass on the contents of that will. He also had to be raised from the dead to receive the very inheritance he promised to the singular seed (Yahushua) of Abraham and which he, in turn, could share with his followers.
As Keph (Peter) writes:
Blessed be the deity and father of our sovereign, Yahushua the messiah, who according to his great mercy begat us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Yahushua from the dead, to an incorruptible and undefiled and unfading inheritance, reserved in the heavens for us, who by the power of the deity is being guarded through trust, for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)
Yahushua’s death fulfills the legal requirement for passing on this Eternal Inheritance. For this reason the apostle Paul writes, “For I delivered to you in the first place, what I also received, that the messiah died for our sins, according to Scriptures; and that he was buried; and that he was raised from the dead the third day, according to Scriptures; and he appeared to Keph, then to the twelve (1 Cor. 15:3-4).”
This Abrahamic “covenant will” was sworn to by an unchangeable oath:
Wherein the deity desiring more abundantly to show to the heirs of promise the unchangeableness of counsel, interposed by an oath, that by two unchangeable things, in which it was impossible for the deity to lie. (Hebrews 6:17-18)
Yahushua’s death, resurrection, and quickening into immortality, followed by his permanent perfection, are required to fulfill his mercy with the Israelite fathers “and to remember his (Yahu Yahweh’s) sacred covenant, the oath which he swore to Abraham our father (Luke 1:72-73).”
Yahweh swore to the Abrahamic Covenants of Promise by himself, i.e., by his sacred name (Gen. 22:16; Heb. 6:11-19). Because there was a “covenant will,” sworn to by an unchangeable oath, the messiah sealed the necessity for his own death. He was destined to die in order to pass on the promised inheritance of eternal life.
When you’re ready, be sure to continue to the conclusion of our investigation in Part 2.