Building the Kingdom: The Law, part 3

This morning, as I was awakening from sleep, God gave me a parable to share with you.

The Parable of Lawless Grace

A certain man was convicted of stealing a hundred sheep and was sentenced to repay four hundred sheep as restitution to his victim. The thief did not have the means to repay such a large amount, so he was sold to a prosperous landowner who was able to make the payment. In return, his newly-purchased slave was obligated by the law to work for his master for ten years.

After a season, the slave appealed to the judge for grace. The judge had compassion on the slave. He came to the master of the slave, paid the remaining restitution, and put the slave under grace. The slave rejoiced in his good fortune and told all of his friends about the love and compassion of the good-hearted judge for freeing him from slavery.

“See how the law sentenced me to ten years of slavery,” he proclaimed. “I was under the law until the judge decided that the law’s sentence was not right. He set aside the law so that I might come under grace. I will praise his name forever!”

But as he was praising the name of the judge, one man answered, saying, “Did the judge not pay your penalty to set you free? In doing so, he upheld the law and respected its just sentence. If he had set aside the law, he would have just canceled the debt that was due to your master.”

“Yes,” the freed slave responded, “he did indeed pay my debt in full, but he also set aside the law and established grace for everyone who believes in the judge.”

“That makes no sense,” the other man responded. “If the law is now set aside, then all believers will believe that they may steal with immunity as long as they have faith that the judge will no longer hold them accountable.”

But the freed slave continued to proclaim the “good news” that the law itself had been put away. He rejoiced that he was no longer under the law but under grace, and soon he established teaching centers to bring this message to the people.

The next generation then stopped studying the law, as it seemed irrelevant to them. Soon they began to support a prison system, and usury became the righteous standard of banking. With the law set aside, the unbelievers found no impediment to further their agendas of immorality. They began killing unborn babies and abolished the death penalty for premeditated murder. They demanded that their government steal from “the rich” workers and give the fruit of their labor to “the poor” who did not work. The government was only too happy to do this, and for every dollar they stole, they gave a dime to the poor.

It was not long before the whole nation had fallen into corruption.

The believers then condemned the unbelievers for being lawless.

The End.