Remaining in the New Covenant Grace (Enjoying Christ as Grace) vs. Returning to the Old Covenant Law (Falling from Grace)

 

Remaining in the New Covenant Grace (Enjoying Christ as Grace) vs. Returning to the Old Covenant Law (Falling from Grace)

John 1:17 For the law was given through Moses, but grace and reality come through Jesus Christ.

2 Timothy 2:1 Therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.

Galatians 2:21 I do not reject the grace of God. For if righteousness were obtained through the law, Christ died in vain.

Galatians 5:4 You who seek justification by the law have been separated from Christ and fallen away from grace.

John 15:4 Abiding in me, and I in you, you who are in me. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it does not abide in the vine, so you cannot either unless you abide in me.

John 15:5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 

Item	Remaining in New Covenant Grace, Enjoying Christ as Grace	Returning to Old Covenant Law, Falling from Grace	Main Scriptures
Source and Nature	Grace is God Himself in the Son becoming our enjoyment; it is “giving” and “supplying,” not merely a favor	Law is the requirement God gave through Moses; it is “demanding” and “regulating,” and man must fulfill it by his own effort	John 1:17
Relationship with Christ	Joined to Christ, as a branch to the vine, abiding in Him	Cut off from Christ, separated from Him, reduced to nothing from Christ	John 15:4-5; Gal. 5:4
Source of Power	Empowered in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; grace has the power to enable us to endure all things	Relying on one’s own strength and natural effort (such as keeping rules or improving character), which ends in powerlessness	2 Tim. 2:1; Gal. 3:3
Rule and Authority	Grace reigns and rules over all; we may come to the throne of grace to receive grace as timely help	Law and self become a ruling power over man, leaving him under dominion and bondage	Rom. 5:21; Heb. 4:16
Nature of Obedience	Obeying in grace, like Isaac willingly being bound; obedience flows from enjoying grace, and when we obey we see God’s provision	Acting by the flesh and one’s own will to fulfill God’s promise, as Abram did by bearing Ishmael through Hagar	Gen. 22:5-10; Gen. 16
Attitude toward Grace	Receiving and holding fast to grace	Rejecting grace and nullifying grace	Gal. 2:21
Old Testament Types	Sarah (the free woman), Isaac (the child of promise), the Jerusalem above	Hagar (the maidservant), Ishmael (born according to the flesh), Mount Sinai	Gal. 4:21-31
Enjoyment of Christ	Enjoying Christ continually; Christ becomes our life and supply	Turning to the law, character improvement, or other things apart from Christ, and thereby losing the enjoyment of Christ and not holding the Head	Col. 2:18-19
Spiritual Condition and Result	Strong, free, satisfied, and seeing God’s provision	Losing all the benefits in Christ and being estranged from God, like Abram’s thirteen years from 16:16 to 17:1, when God was silent and did not appear to him	Gen. 16:16; 17:1
How to Be Strengthened	Be strengthened by grace, that is, remain in the New Covenant, enjoying Christ as grace; the heart is established by grace, not by foods (outward regulations)	Relying on ordinances and outward behavior, which profit the heart nothing	Heb. 13:9

Brief Integration

• Core contrast: Remaining in grace means letting Christ be our life, power, and enjoyment; returning to law means leaving Christ and trying to satisfy God’s requirements by ourselves.
• Key turning point: “Returning to law” is not merely a mistake; it is rejecting and nullifying grace, with the result that we are cut off from Christ.
• The way of practice: It is not trying to do better, but being joined to Christ at all times, enjoying Him as grace, obeying in grace, and seeing God’s provision.

 

*Please refer to the 2026 Autumn Training for Elders and Responsible Brothers, General Topic: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Part Five: Living a Life of Enjoying Grace to Please God.