Law or Grace \u2014 You Cannot Have Both!
\nGalatians 5:4<\/p>\n
Most religious people attempt to mix man\u2019s works of obedience to the law
\nwith God\u2019s works of grace for sinners, making salvation a mixture of
\nworks and grace. Fallen men have been attempting to mix law and grace
\nsince the days of Cain and Abel. Very few are the blasphemers who openly
\nassert, \u201cSalvation is by works;\u201d but almost everyone believes it. When
\nsalvation by God\u2019s free grace alone is plainly declared, lost
\nreligionists cling to and defend their works, denouncing the one who
\ndares to affirm that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone,
\nin Christ alone as a promoter of licentiousness and a vile antinomian,
\nYet, the truth must be declared in plain, unmistakable terms.<\/p>\n
Mutually Exclusive
\nGrace and works are mutually exclusive. They annihilate one another. If
\nwe are saved by our own works in any way, to any degree, in whole or in
\npart, then we are not saved by the grace of God. If we are saved by the
\ngrace of God alone, then we are not saved by our own works of obedience
\nto the law of God (Romans 11:6). The doctrine of Holy Scripture is
\nunmistakable. \u2014 The whole work of salvation (election, redemption,
\nregeneration, sanctification, preservation and glorification) is by the
\ngrace of God alone (Romans 8:28-30; 2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 2:8-9}.<\/p>\n
Heretical Doctrine
\nAll churches, religions and systems of doctrine which teach salvation by
\nthe works of the law are heretical. I mean to be understood. I am saying
\nthat any teaching that says sinners are justified, given favor with God,
\nsanctified, preserved, or shall inherit the reward of heavenly glory
\nupon the basis of their own personal obedience to the law of God is
\nlegalism, anti-christ and damning to all who receive it (Galatians 5:1-4).<\/p>\n
Sanctification Too
\nThis gospel doctrine of salvation by grace alone does, most certainly,
\nextend even to the believer\u2019s sanctification in Christ. To be sanctified
\nis to be set apart by God for holy service, declared to be holy and
\nactually made holy. If, as all agree, sanctification is that without
\nwhich no man shall see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14), then sanctification can
\nno more be a matter of works than justification. That is precisely what
\nthe Word of God declares. The Bible nowhere presents sanctification as a
\nconditional thing, depending upon the believer\u2019s works. Like every other
\naspect of salvation, sanctification is an unconditional work of grace,
\nperformed for us and in us by the triune God (Jude 1, Hebrews 10:10; 2
\nThessalonians 2:13). \u2014 \u201cBy grace ye are saved!\u201d \u2014 \u201cSalvation is of the
\nLord!\u201d
\nDon Fortner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Law or Grace \u2014 You Cannot Have Both! Galatians 5:4 Most religious people attempt to mix man\u2019s works of obedience to the law with God\u2019s works of grace for sinners, making salvation a mixture of works and grace. Fallen men have been attempting to mix law and grace since the days of Cain and Abel. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,38,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-don-fortner","category-the-law","category-grace"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5197"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5198,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5197\/revisions\/5198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shoalhavengospelchurch.org.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}