1S12-13: Refuting The Lie That Grace Didn’t Exist Until The New Testament Era

“Sh’mu’el answered the people, ‘Don’t be afraid. You have indeed done all this evil; yet now, just don’t turn away from following Adonai; but serve Adonai with all your heart.  Don’t turn to the side; because then you would go after useless things that can neither help nor rescue, they are so futile.  For the sake of his great reputation, Adonai will not abandon his people; because it has pleased Adonai to make you a people for himself.‘”-1 Samuel 12:20-22

Continuing on from yesterday, Israel is terrified that because of their great sin of rejecting God for a human ruler, they’re finished.

That the Lord will surely abandon them and no longer be their Protector or Savior.

God’s first response through Samuel is “Don’t be afraid”.

See, here’s the thing.

The Lord is concerned that Israel will throw in the towel and give up on God since their sin was so horrible and seemingly permanent.

I betcha you too who are reading this may have felt or maybe even feel that way right now.

You may think the sins you have committed are so evil, that there isn’t a snowball’s chance in hell you can ever restore your broken relationship with God.

Especially since the evil you committed took place AFTER you accepted Yeshua as your Lord and Savior.

Why would God put up with me any longer?

Since my current situation is the result of my own destructive behavior and rejecting God, I deserve everything I’m getting and should be sent to hell.

If that’s how you feel, I offer up these words of Samuel to you that he said to Israel when they were feeling exactly the same way:

“Just don’t turn away
from following Adonai;
but serve Adonai
with all your heart.
Don’t turn to the side;
because then you would
go after useless things
that can neither help nor
rescue, they are so futile”
-1 Samuel 12:20-21

Or to put it in more modern language:

“Yes, you have committed evil and wickedness.
However, God has not given up on you.
So don’t you give up on Him.
Ya feel me?”

See, we humans are the weirdest creatures.

When we commit a sin, we think it’s too late.

It’s like when we go on a diet and give in to our cravings for something sweet.

We eat one little chocolate chip cookie…

And then because of that one little failure, we beat ourselves up for it, throw in the towel, and decide to completely cave into our cravings.

As a result, we go hog wild and eat the whole bag of cookies together with a bag of Cheetos.

That’s how a lot of folks act.

They believe they’re doomed because of their sins…

So they figure might as well give in to their sins even more because it doesn’t matter anymore.

While you will pay the earthly consequences for your sins, God is telling you it’s never too late to return to Him.

That’s why nothing ticks me off more than to hear the gentile church preach that grace didn’t exist until the New Testament era.

Given what we’ve just read here in 1 Samuel Chapter 12, it should be pretty obvious that such a statement reflects total ignorance of what the Bible actually says on the matter…

Or is either born from intentional rebellion to serve some bs manmade doctrine.

If what we’ve just read right here in 1 Samuel Chapter 12 isn’t about the Lord’s grace…

Then guess what homies, there is no such thing as grace.

It doesn’t exist at all.

Actually, come to think of it, we can see God’s divine grace in action as early as the beginning chapters of the book of Genesis.

There are numerous situations when God bestowed his Grace upon others that had nothing to do with human merit.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

God saved Israel by His Grace with a capital “G”.

He saved them by grace first, and then afterward gave them the Law.

There was never any of this “Let’s see if you can obey my Law first, and then I’ll decide if you’re worthy of my salvation” nonsense.

You’d be surprised at how many Christian leaders and gentile Bible study teachers actually believe and teach this baloney.

I’d be embarrassed if I proclaimed such a belief in public because I’d just be demonstrating my Scriptural ignorance to the whole world.

So to recap, if you’ve committed a gross sin against God, all you need to do to reestablish your broken relationship with the Lord is to demonstrate your sincere desire to return to Him by obeying His commands.

This means following God’s ways as defined and established in His Torah.

There ain’t no other way homie.

And no, I ain’t preaching some kind of salvation by works.

I just said salvation is 100% by God’s grace, didn’t I?

Remember God saved Israel from bondage in Egypt FIRST, and then AFTERWARD He gave them the Law.

Reread that last sentence 100 times until it’s frickin’ burned into your cranium.

And say it out loud while you’re at it.

God’s Law or His Torah were NEVER created to be a vehicle for salvation.

That’s another sentence you should read or better yet hand copy out a hundred times until you get it and it sinks into your soul, especially if you were reared in some Christian church.

Remember, when Messiah comes, the entire world is gonna be ruled according to the Torah, not just that little piece of real estate in the Middle East we call Israel.

CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT

“Don’t think that I have come
to abolish the Torah or the Prophets.
I have come not to abolish
but to complete. Yes indeed!
I tell you that until heaven and
earth pass away, not so much as
a yud or a stroke will pass from
the Torah — not until everything
that must happen has happened.
So whoever disobeys the least of
these mitzvot and teaches others
to do so will be called the least in
the Kingdom of Heaven. But
whoever obeys them and so
teaches will be called great in
the Kingdom of Heaven. For I tell
you that unless your righteousness
is far greater than that of the
Torah-teachers and P’rushim,
you will certainly not enter the
Kingdom of Heaven!”
-Matthew 5:17-20