Does God Break His Own Rules?

It was a normal day when I stumbled upon a false teaching where the preacher says to his congregation:

God broke the law because of love.

Reading this reminded me once more that such a statement is false. He had distinguished correctly between the covenant of works and the covenant of grace. However, his conclusion is erroneous: he taught that God “broke” the lesser covenant of works to introduce a greater covenant, which is characterized by grace.

Perhaps we must reeducate ourselves on why God’s covenant is leagues different than human promises. God’s covenants differ fundamentally from human promises in two ways: He always fulfills them, and He always does what He promises. He cannot break His institution, for He and His word are one. Thus, the warning in the Garden of Eden about the consequences of disobedience remains fully in effect. Even those under the covenant of grace are subject to the consequences of Genesis 3—physical death.

The accurate phrasing should be: God fulfilled the law through love, for Jesus obeyed the law of loving God and loving neighbor, which are the greatest commandments. He also fulfilled the law that demands God’s burning wrath be extinguished, and justice be repaid—through His death.

This article is my second Reading Response to our assigned readings about the relationship of God's covenant to biblical counseling, as discussed by my instructor in the articles below:

• The Covenant of Works and the Tragedy of the Fall

• The Covenant of Grace