Under Grace or Under the Law

So it lies in our own power today whether we choose to live under the grace of the gospel or under the terrors of the law. Each person must lean to one side or the other according to the character of his actions: either the grace of Christ welcomes those who go beyond the law, or else the law keeps its hold on the weaker ones as its debtors, held in its grip. For one who is guilty under the commands of the law will never be able to reach the perfection of the gospel, even though he idly boasts that he is a Christian and set free by the Lord’s grace. We must count as still under the law not only the man who refuses to do what the law commands, but also the man who is satisfied with merely keeping what the law commands, and never brings forth fruit worthy of his calling and of the grace of Christ. For in the grace of Christ it is not said, “You shall offer to the Lord your God your tithes and firstfruits,” but, “Go and sell all that you have and give to the poor, and come, follow me.” And there, because of the greatness of perfection, the disciple who asks is not granted even the very short space of an hour to bury his father, since the duties of human love are outweighed by the virtue of divine love. [a]