Justification and the Law

Dispensational "scholars" use a number of Paul's passages to argue that Jesus cancelled the Old Testament laws and that law is no longer needed. Let us briefly look at a couple of these passages:

EPHESIANS

One passage used is Ephesians 2:8-10 - "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Let us begin by looking at the word translated as "saved" (Gk. sozo). This word is best understood when we remove all religious connotations and look at its root meaning: that is to be "rescued". To save someone simply means to rescue them from a situation that put them into danger, or would have resulted in something fatal happening to them, like a lifesaver rescuing someone from drowning in the sea. So, in the spiritual context, it means that we have been "rescued" from our previous condition that has fatal consequences.

The Role of the Law

The modern century church seems to have neglected, and at times perverted, the Biblical teachings of God's law. The reasons for this are varied, but one of the biggest is due to the teachings of Dispensationalism.
Dispensationalism teaches that all Old Testament law (this includes religious, social and civil) have been put aside by Christ and his teachings concerning law. Their motto comes from Paul's teaching that “we are not under law, but under grace.”