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Word meanings
Law vs Grace: What Is the Difference?
In short
The law is God's good commandments, which reveal His holiness and expose our sin; grace is the gift of forgiveness and new life in Jesus. The law shows the problem; grace provides the rescue. Christians believe Jesus fulfilled the law and gives, by grace, what the law never could: a right standing with God.
What the law means
The law is God's righteous commands, given through Moses, revealing what is good and exposing our sin. 'By the law is the knowledge of sin.' The law is holy and good, but it cannot, on its own, make us right with God.
What grace means
Grace is God's unearned gift in Jesus Christ: forgiveness, righteousness, and new life we could never achieve by keeping the law. 'The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.'
How they relate
Christians do not see law and grace as enemies. Jesus said He came not to destroy the law but to fulfil it. The law still reveals God's good will and our need of Him, and grace gives what the law never could. Freed by grace, believers then love God's ways, not to earn His favor, but out of gratitude for it.
“For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
John 1:17 · King James Version (public domain)