Approach God by Grace, not by Law

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Ruth 2:7 “And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.’ Thus she came and has remained from the morning until now; she has been sitting in the house for a little while.”

Under God’s law, Ruth has the right to glean and gather on Boaz’s field. However, Ruth did not enforce her rights but came by grace asking Boaz “Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the sheaves.” We also need to know that if ever we come to the Lord, we must come to Him by grace. We cannot come to the Lord claiming our rights or presenting our good works by obeying the Law as something that he must repay us for. No! The throne of grace is open and available to those who see that grace is the only way open for them to come.

The best example of approaching God by the Law and by Grace is the rich young ruler in Matt. 19:16-26 and the gentile woman in Matt 15:21-28. The rich young ruler came to the Lord saying “Teacher, what good thing must I do to inherit eternal life?” In other words, he approached the Lord by the law. He thought he could do some ‘good thing’ that would guarantee a place in heaven. He came by the law so the Lord answered him by the law and gave him the commandments. The Lord did this because He knew that the full extent of the law had not yet worked in this man so that he would come by grace.

On the other hand, the Gentile woman approach the Lord by Grace. Being a gentile she was not legally entitled to Jesus’ help. He had come first to the lost sheep of Israel. But she came by grace, not the law, and received grace! And the Lord was amazed at her faith. The Lord’s grace is the only way in which we can come. It requires faith and humility on our part but it pleases God as much as it pleased the Lord Jesus back then with this gentile woman.