The Legal Promise and the Gospel Promise: Understanding Their Relationship
—by Dr. Michael A. Graham
Throughout Scripture, two fundamental promises shape the biblical narrative: the legal promise and the gospel promise. The legal promise—“Do this and live” (Leviticus 18:5, Galatians 3:12)—is the foundational principle of the covenant of works. It establishes the requirement of perfect obedience to obtain life and reflects God’s holiness and justice. The gospel promise—“Believe in Christ and live” (John 3:16, Romans 10:9)—is the principle of the covenant of grace, in which God freely grants righteousness and eternal life through faith in Christ.
Understanding these two promises is not just an intellectual exercise but a fundamental matter of life and death. The legal promise governs all people, whether they acknowledge it or not, driving them either to self-justification or despair. The gospel promise is the only remedy, offering salvation through Christ’s finished work. As believers, we must daily reject the instinct to live under the legal promise and embrace the gospel promise as our only hope.
The Legal Promise: The Path to Life and the Sentence of Death
✅ The Legal Promise as the Revelation of God’s Holiness and Love
The legal promise is the first great divine promise of life and love. Before sin entered the world, this promise was not a burden but a beautiful pathway to everlasting communion with God. The legal promise reflects not only God’s justice but also His holiness, goodness, and perfect love.
When God created Adam and Eve, He did so in abundant generosity, giving them everything necessary for life and joy in His presence. The legal promise was given within this context of life, love, and perfect harmony:
“You may surely eat of every tree of the garden…” (Genesis 2:16)
This was not a restrictive law but an invitation to life and glory. The Tree of Life stood as the emblem of this promise of confirmed righteousness, held out to Adam as a reward for his faith and obedience. The entire covenant of works was a gracious act of divine love, where obedience was not a test of servitude but the very means to deeper participation in the divine life.
✅ The Legal Promise and God’s Unchanging Holiness
God’s holiness was not first revealed against the backdrop of human sinfulness. His holiness was, is, and always will be absolute and unchanging, existing in infinite beauty before sin ever darkened creation. The legal promise itself revealed God’s holiness in its purest form, for it was the standard of divine righteousness in creation.
“You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44)
Adam and Eve, before the fall, were called to reflect this holiness by living in perfect trust, love, and obedience under the promise of life. Their knowledge of God’s holiness was not obscured by sin but was meant to be increasingly revealed as they lived in obedient fellowship with Him. The fall did not create the holiness of God as something new—it only revealed our inability to see it rightly.
✅ The Legal Promise After the Fall: A Standard of Righteousness and Condemnation
Once sin entered the world, the legal promise remained but took on a new role. No longer was it a pathway to glorified life, for humanity had already failed. Instead, it became the unchanging standard of righteousness against which all human effort is measured:
“For in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:17)
What was once the means to life and divine fellowship became the very thing that now condemned mankind:
“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, ‘Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.’” (Galatians 3:10)
Because of Adam’s sin, the legal promise now functions as a relentless standard that no fallen human can meet. It continues to reflect God’s holiness, but our fallen state makes us blind to its beauty, seeing only our own inadequacy in its reflection.
✅ The Threefold Purpose of the Legal Promise Post-Fall
1️⃣ It continues to reveal God’s holiness, love, and justice. The law did not change in its essence—God remains as holy, just, and loving as He was before the fall. However, our relationship to it has changed. We now stand condemned under it because we lack the righteousness it demands.
2️⃣ It exposes human sinfulness. The legal promise was never meant to be a means of salvation after the fall. Instead, it serves as a mirror to reveal our inability to keep it (Romans 3:20). It crushes human pride and self-reliance, making clear that righteousness cannot come through works.
3️⃣ It prepares the way for the gospel. The weight of the legal promise—its demands and its consequences—drive sinners to seek a Savior (Galatians 3:24). By demonstrating the impossibility of earning righteousness, the legal promise creates the desperate need for the gospel promise.
✅ The Legal Promise and Our Prayers
Understanding the greatness of the legal promise should shape our prayers in at least two ways:
🔹 Pray for a right view of God’s holiness.
“Lord, open my eyes to see Your holiness not only as a standard of righteousness but as the source of all beauty, goodness, and love.”
🔹 Pray for a deep awareness of sin’s deception.
“Father, let me see my sin for what it truly is—rebellion against Your goodness and a refusal to trust in Your perfect love.”
🔹 Pray for humility before God’s perfect standard.
“Spirit, humble me under the weight of the law, not to leave me in despair but to drive me to Christ.”
The Gospel Promise: The Fulfillment of the Legal Promise
✅ The Gospel Promise as the Covenant of Grace
If the legal promise is “Do this and live”, the gospel promise is “Believe in Christ and live.” It is the fulfillment of what the law required but humanity could never attain. The covenant of grace, established in eternity past and fulfilled in Christ, is the answer to the brokenness left by the legal promise after the fall. The gospel promise is not merely a solution to sin—it is the full realization of God’s eternal purpose to bring people into unbreakable fellowship with Himself.
Paul expresses this clearly:
“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:3-4)
The law could not grant righteousness to fallen humanity, but the gospel promise does through Christ’s perfect work. He fulfilled the law’s demands, took its curse upon Himself, and now offers eternal life to all who trust in Him.
✅ How Christ Fulfills the Legal Promise
🔹 Perfect Obedience: Jesus fully obeyed the law, securing righteousness for His people (Matthew 5:17; Romans 5:19).
🔹 Substitutionary Death: He bore the curse of the law on the cross, satisfying God’s justice (Galatians 3:13; Isaiah 53:5).
🔹 Resurrection Life: By rising from the dead, Christ secured eternal life for all who trust in Him (Romans 6:23; 1 Corinthians 15:20-22).
This is why Paul proclaims:
“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)
✅ The Gospel Promise Brings New Creation
The gospel promise does not merely save individuals from sin; it recreates them entirely. Salvation is not just forgiveness but new life in Christ:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
This new creation is the beginning of the eternal life promised in the covenant of grace. Just as Adam was offered eternal life through obedience, we now receive it freely in Christ. The gospel does not erase the legal promise—it fulfills it in Christ and freely gives its benefits to those who believe.
✅ How We Receive the Gospel Promise
🔹 By Grace Through Faith: The gospel promise is not earned but received by faith alone (Ephesians 2:8-9).
🔹 Through the Preached Word: Faith comes through hearing the message of Christ (Romans 10:17).
🔹 By the Work of the Spirit: The Holy Spirit regenerates hearts and applies the benefits of Christ’s work (Titus 3:5-7).
✅ Prayers for Embracing the Gospel Promise
🔹 Pray for faith to rest in Christ’s work.
“Lord, I abandon all hope in my works. Help me trust fully in Christ alone.”
🔹 Pray for joy in the freedom of the gospel.
“Father, let me walk in the peace and joy of knowing that Christ has fulfilled the law for me.”
🔹 Pray for the Spirit to deepen your grasp of the gospel.
“Holy Spirit, open my eyes more each day to the riches of the grace found in Christ.”
Faith as a Gift: The Foundation of Praying the Promises
✅ Faith as an Instrument, Not an End in Itself
One of the greatest dangers in discussing the legal and gospel promises is assuming that faith originates within us as an independent human faculty. The fall severed humanity from God, including our ability to believe in Him rightly. Faith in God as its subject and source died in the Garden of Eden. Ever since, humanity has been inclined to place faith in anything but God—whether in self-sufficiency, human effort, religious works, or idolatry.
Yet, saving faith does not and cannot arise from within us. It is not a human work, nor is it something we contribute to our salvation. Rather, faith is the instrumental means by which we receive Christ, and even this faith is itself a gift of grace (Ephesians 2:8-9). The gospel does not merely invite belief—it creates belief.
✅ Faith Comes by Hearing the Gospel
Paul states clearly:
“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:17)
Notice that Paul does not say that faith comes by hearing the word of faith—as though faith itself were an autonomous power. Instead, faith comes by hearing the word of Christ, meaning that it originates from the spoken and preached gospel message about Christ’s person and work. The power to generate faith is not inherent in the believer but in the gospel itself, as applied by the Holy Spirit.
Jesus affirms this in John 6:63:
“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
The gospel is not simply information—it is a divine announcement that comes with power, bringing new life and faith into existence where none previously existed (2 Corinthians 4:6).
✅ New Life Through Faith—A Gift of God
Faith is the God-ordained instrument by which we receive new life in Christ, but it is never a work we produce on our own. The new birth precedes and produces faith (John 3:5-8). The Spirit moves through the proclamation of the gospel to awaken the heart, creating the faith necessary for salvation. Paul reinforces this truth in Philippians 1:29:
“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.”
The word “granted” here (Greek: charizomai) means that faith is freely given as an act of God’s grace. Faith is not something we bring to the gospel but something the gospel brings to us.
✅ Faith for Salvation and Growth—The Same Gospel
Not only does the gospel create faith in unbelievers, but it is also the means by which believers grow and deepen in faith. Paul makes this point clear:
“Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” (Colossians 2:6)
How did we receive Christ? By faith through the gospel. And Paul says we must continue in the Christian life the same way—by continually hearing, believing, and being nourished by the same gospel that first saved us.
This is why faith is always dependent on the external gospel message, not on introspection or subjective experience. If we want stronger faith, we do not look inward—we return again and again to the gospel. The message that first called us to faith is the message that sustains and strengthens our faith.
✅ Prayers for Growing in Faith
🔹 Pray for the Spirit to grant and sustain faith.
“Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24)
🔹 Pray to rest in the gospel’s power to grow faith.
“Father, let the gospel itself strengthen my faith, as I hear it again and again.”
🔹 Pray to reject looking inward for faith.
“Spirit, remind me that faith is not found in me, but in Christ, given freely through the gospel.”
Why Christians Drift Back Under the Legal Promise
✅ The Root Problem: Relating to God Based on the Legal Promise
Many assume that drifting from the gospel promise happens in two opposite directions—legalism on one side and antinomianism on the other. But in reality, all distortions of the Christian life—legalism, antinomianism, and nominalism—are rooted in the same fundamental error: relating to God under the legal promise rather than the gospel promise.
The gospel is not a narrow road flanked by two opposite dangers—it is the only way to God, and everything outside of it is ultimately a form of legalism. Whether one seeks to earn God’s favor through strict moralism, rejects His commands under a false sense of freedom, or relies on external identity markers without true faith, the common thread remains: each of these errors is an attempt to approach God apart from Christ’s finished work.
✅ Three Ways Christians Drift Under the Legal Promise
🔹 Legalism: Seeking to Earn God’s Favor Through Performance
The most recognizable form of reverting to the legal promise is legalism—believing that our standing before God depends on our obedience, spiritual disciplines, or moral conduct. Legalism appears in many ways:
- Self-justification—believing God loves us more when we are doing well spiritually.
- Pride or despair—measuring our worth by performance, leading either to arrogance or self-condemnation.
- A transactional view of God—seeing obedience as a way to secure blessing rather than a response to grace.
Paul warns against this mindset:
“For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.” (Galatians 3:10)
🔹 Antinomianism: Turning Freedom into a New Form of Legalism
Antinomianism is often thought of as the opposite of legalism, but in reality, it is a deeper form of legalism. It is the attempt to claim “freedom” in Christ while rejecting the moral commands of God. The key error here is that it treats freedom as a law itself, using grace as an excuse to resist sanctification and obedience.
Instead of living under the gospel promise, antinomianism:
- Views grace as permission to live without holiness, rejecting the Spirit’s work in transforming us.
- Turns freedom into a rule, resisting any call to obedience as if submission to Christ were legalistic.
- Seeks self-rule instead of Christ’s lordship, turning grace into a way to justify rebellion.
Paul directly addresses this distortion:
“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means!” (Romans 6:1-2)
🔹 Nominalism: Presuming Upon the Gospel Without Living by Faith
Nominalism occurs when Christianity becomes an inherited identity rather than a living faith. Instead of trusting in Christ alone, the nominal Christian relies on external identity markers:
- Baptismal regeneration or church participation—believing rituals alone secure salvation.
- Family heritage or cultural Christianity—seeing oneself as Christian by association rather than by faith.
- Checking religious boxes without true dependence on Christ.
Like legalism and antinomianism, nominalism places trust in something other than the gospel promise, making salvation about status rather than transformation in Christ. Jesus rebukes this mindset:
“This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.” (Matthew 15:8)
✅ The Common Root: All Are Forms of Legalism
Though they appear different on the surface, legalism, antinomianism, and nominalism all arise from the same fundamental issue: relating to God based on the legal promise rather than the gospel promise.
- Legalism clings to law-keeping as a way to establish righteousness.
- Antinomianism twists freedom into a self-justifying law, resisting true submission to Christ.
- Nominalism assumes status or external identity is enough, neglecting the necessity of personal faith.
Each of these errors misses the heart of the gospel—that righteousness is given, not earned; transformation is Spirit-led, not self-willed; and faith is living, not presumed.
✅ The Only Cure: Living Daily in the Gospel Promise
The only way to avoid falling back into legalism, antinomianism, or nominalism is to live consciously in the gospel promise every day. Paul reminds us:
“The righteous shall live by faith.” (Galatians 3:11)
Returning to the gospel promise means:
- Resting in Christ’s righteousness, not our own.
- Living by faith, rejecting both works-based salvation and self-rule.
- Being transformed by grace, not by external identity markers.
✅ Prayers for Those Struggling Under the Legal Promise
🔹 Pray for the Spirit to keep you anchored in grace.
“Lord, help me abide in Your grace and resist the temptation to relate to You based on my works.”
🔹 Pray for freedom from guilt-driven striving.
“Father, remind me that Christ has already paid for my failures, and nothing I do can add to His finished work.”
🔹 Pray for confidence in God’s unconditional love.
“Holy Spirit, assure me that I am fully loved and accepted in Christ, apart from my own righteousness.”
✅ Final Encouragement: Holding Fast to the Gospel
The struggle to drift back under the legal promise is not new—it has existed since the earliest days of the church. But the answer remains the same: Christ is our righteousness. When we find ourselves slipping into legalism, antinomianism, or nominalism, the solution is not to try harder, but to return to the gospel promise again and again.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
May we reject every false way of relating to God under the legal promise and instead rest fully in the grace of the gospel, where true joy, transformation, and freedom are found.
Conclusion: Living in the Power of the Gospel Promise
✅ Returning Daily to the Gospel
The Christian life is not about a one-time acceptance of the gospel promise but about daily living in it. The gospel is not the starting point of the Christian walk—it is the entire foundation, the sustaining power, and the final destination. As Paul reminds us:
“As you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him.” (Colossians 2:6)
This means that the way we grow in Christ is the same way we first came to Him—by faith in His promise, not in our own efforts. Every day, we must turn from our tendency to relate to God under the legal promise and renew our trust in the gospel promise.
✅ Freedom from the Burdens of Legalism, Antinomianism, and Nominalism
As we have seen, drifting back under the legal promise takes many forms—legalism, antinomianism, and nominalism. Each of these arises from failing to rest in Christ’s finished work and instead trying to relate to God on terms other than those He has set forth in the gospel. The gospel promise uproots all of these distortions and replaces them with true freedom in Christ:
- Freedom from legalism—resting in Christ’s righteousness rather than our own performance.
- Freedom from antinomianism—living by grace rather than using grace as an excuse for self-rule.
- Freedom from nominalism—having a living faith rather than a dead religious identity.
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)
✅ Praying the Promises as a Way of Life
We must not merely acknowledge the gospel promise intellectually—we must preach it, pray it, believe it, and live in it. Praying the promises of God is not about trying to manipulate Him but about aligning our hearts with the reality of His grace. It is about taking hold of what He has already given us in Christ.
“For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.” (2 Corinthians 1:20)
Praying the promises of God means returning to His Word, His truth, and His unchanging faithfulness every day. It is confessing our weakness, our tendency to drift back under the legal promise, and pleading with God to keep us firmly planted in the gospel.
✅ A Call to Rest and Confidence in Christ
The Christian life is not a life of endless striving but of deep rest in Christ. We do not labor under the crushing weight of the law, nor do we drift into careless neglect of holiness. We live by faith—faith that is itself a gift of grace, faith that comes by hearing the gospel, and faith that keeps us in the joy of Christ.
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
If we truly believe in the gospel promise, we will cease striving under the legal promise and instead live in the freedom, joy, and power of grace. This is not just a theological reality—it is the very heartbeat of the Christian life.
✅ Final Prayer: Embracing the Gospel Promise
🔹 Pray to abide in Christ’s finished work.
“Lord, keep my heart from turning back to self-reliance. Teach me to live every day in the freedom of Your gospel.”
🔹 Pray for faith to cling to His promises.
“Father, let me walk by faith, knowing that all Your promises are Yes and Amen in Christ.”
🔹 Pray for a life that glorifies God through faith.
“Holy Spirit, shape my heart so that my life proclaims the sufficiency of Christ’s righteousness alone.”
✅ The Final Word: Resting in Christ
The gospel promise is not a backup plan—it is the only plan. Christ has done what we could never do, and in Him, we have everything we need. The invitation remains for all who would hear:
“Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!” (Isaiah 55:1)
May we never return to the yoke of the legal promise, but instead walk in the joy and assurance of the gospel promise—today, tomorrow, and for all eternity.
