[b]Luke 1:30 - "The angel said to her, "Don't be afraid, Miryam, for you have found favor with G-d."[/b] 5485 charis, khar'-ece; from 5463; graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstr. or concr.; lit., fig. or spiritual; espec. the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life; including gratitude):-acceptable, benefit, favour, gift, grace (-ious), joy liberality, pleasure, thank (-s, -worthy). Dictionary Trace 5463 chairo, khah'-ee-ro; a prim. verb; to be "cheer" ful, i.e. calmly happy or well-off; impers. espec. as salutation (on meeting or parting), be well:-farewell, be glad, God speed, greeting, hail, joy (-fully), rejoice. In this verse, righteous Mary receives G-d's grace. It was not because of what she had done, but because G-d chose her. She did not abandon the Torah because of this grace, but rather taught it to her son, and encouraged Him to walk in the ways of Torah. Lets look at some more verses which deal with grace: [b]Acts 2:42-3:1 - "They continued faithfully in the teaching of the emissaries, in fellowship, in breaking bread and in the prayers. Everyone was filled with awe, and many miracles and signs took place through the emissaries. All those trusting in Yeshua stayed together and had everything in common; 45 in fact, they sold their property and possessions and distributed the proceeds to all who were in need. Continuing faithfully and with singleness of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily, and breaking bread in their several homes, they shared their food in joy and simplicity of heart, praising G-d and having the respect of all the people. And day after day the Lord kept adding to them those who were being saved. One afternoon at three o'clock, the hour of minchah prayers, as Kefa and Yochanan were going up to the Temple..."[/b] In these verses, the ones who find grace are the ones who devote themselves to the Apostles' teaching, which includes going to the Temple to pray three times a day. [b]John 1:15-23 - "Yochanan witnessed concerning him when he cried out, 'This is the man I was talking about when I said, The one coming after me has come to rank ahead of me, because he existed before me.' We have all received from his fullness, yes, grace upon grace. For the Torah was given through Moshe; grace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah. No one has ever seen G-d; but the only and unique Son, who is identical with G-d and is at the Father's side -- he has made him known. [/b] [b]Here is Yochanan's testimony: when the Judeans sent cohanim and L'vi'im from Yerushalayim to ask him, 'Who are you?' he was very straightforward and stated clearly, 'I am not the Messiah.' 'Then who are you?' they asked him. 'Are you Eliyahu?' 'No, I am not,' he said. 'Are you the prophet, the one we're expecting?' 'No,' he replied. So they said to him, 'Who are you? -- so that we can give an answer to the people who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?' He answered in the words of Yesha`yahu the prophet, 'I am The voice of someone crying out: 'In the desert make the way of ADONAI straight!'"[/b] Notice, in the above verses, that law and grace are together in the sentence, not as opposites, but as complements to each other. The One who brought us grace was himself, completely, obedient to the Torah. [b]Acts 13:42-44 - "As they left, the people invited Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba to tell them more about these matters the following Shabbat. When the synagogue meeting broke up, many of the born Jews and devout proselytes followed Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, who spoke with them and urged them to keep holding fast to the love and grace of G-d. The next Shabbat, nearly the whole city gathered together to hear the message about the L-rd"[/b] In the above verses, we see Paul and Barnabas urging the saints to "continue" in the grace of God. Notice what they are doing, that they should continue doing: They are studying God's word in the synagogue on the Sabbath. They are not meeting on Sunday, they are, repeatedly, meeting on the Sabbath. [b]Acts 14:1 - "In Iconium the same thing happened - they went into the synagogue and spoke in such a way that a large number of both Jews and Greeks came to trust. But the Jews who would not be persuaded stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. Therefore, Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba remained for a long time, speaking boldly about the L-rd, who bore witness to the message about his grace and kindness by enabling them to perform signs and miracles."[/b] Here we see grace associated with those who go to the Jewish synagogue. [b]Act 15:1-21 - " But some men came down from Y'hudah to Antioch and began teaching the brothers, 'You can't be saved unless you undergo b'rit-milah in the manner prescribed by Moshe.' This brought them into no small measure of discord and dispute with Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba. So the congregation assigned Sha'ul, Bar-Nabba and some of themselves to go and put this sh'eilah before the emissaries and the elders up in Yerushalayim. After being sent off by the congregation, they made their way through Phoenicia and Shomron, recounting in detail how the Gentiles had turned to G-d; and this news brought great joy to all the brothers. On arrival in Yerushalayim, they were welcomed by the Messianic community, including the emissaries and the elders; and they reported what G-d had done through them. But some of those who had come to trust were from the party of the P'rushim; and they stood up and said, 'It is necessary to circumcise them and direct them to observe the Torah of Moshe.'" [/b] [b]The emissaries and the elders met to look into this matter. After lengthy debate, Kefa got up and said to them, 'Brothers, you yourselves know that a good while back, G-d chose me from among you to be the one by whose mouth the Goyim should hear the message of the Good News and come to trust. And G-d, who knows the heart, bore them witness by giving the Ruach HaKodesh to them, just as he did to us; that is, he made no distinction between us and them, but cleansed their heart by trust. So why are you putting G-d to the test now by placing a yoke on the neck of the talmidim which neither our fathers nor we have had the strength to bear? No, it is through the love and kindness of the Lord Yeshua that we trust and are delivered-and it's the same with them.' Then the whole assembly kept still as they listened to Bar-Nabba and Sha'ul tell what signs and miracles G-d had done through them among the Gentiles. Ya'akov broke the silence to reply. 'Brothers,' he said, 'hear what I have to say. Shim'on has told in detail what G-d did when he first began to show his concern for taking from among the Goyim a people to bear his name. And the words of the Prophets are in complete harmony with this for it is written, 'After this, I will return; and I will rebuild the fallen tent of David. I will rebuild its ruins, I will restore it, so that the rest of mankind may seek the L-rd, that is, all the Goyim who have been called by my name,' says ADONAI, who is doing these things.' All this has been known for ages. 'Therefore, my opinion is that we should not put obstacles in the way of the Goyim who are turning to G-d. Instead, we should write them a letter telling them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled and from blood. For from the earliest times, Moshe has had in every city those who proclaim him, with his words being read in the synagogues every Shabbat."[/b] In the above passage, we see that salvation comes through grace, but we still have to obey parts of the law immediately, and we will learn the rest of the law of Moses when we go to the synagogue on the Sabbath. [b]Acts 18:24-26 - "Meanwhile, a Jewish man named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent speaker with a thorough knowledge of the Tanakh. This man had been informed about the Way of the Lord, and with great spiritual fervor he spoke and taught accurately the facts about Yeshua, but he knew only the immersion of Yochanan. He began to speak out boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the Way of G-d in fuller detail. When he made plans to cross over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote the talmidim there to welcome him. On arrival, he greatly helped those who through grace had come to trust; for he powerfully and conclusively refuted the unbelieving Jews in public, demonstrating by the Tanakh that Yeshua is the Messiah."[/b] Here we see grace associated with those who spoke in the synagogue, Apollo; and those who attended the synagogue, Priscilla and Aquila. Priscilla and Aquila are attending the synagogue, even after they knew the way of od more adequately than Apollo. The Sabbath and the synagogue and Torah were important to those who were saved by grace. [b]Romans 3:21-24 "But now, quite apart from Torah, G-d's way of making people righteous in his sight has been made clear - although the Torah and the Prophets give their witness to it as well - and it is a righteousness that comes from G-d, through the faithfulness of Yeshua the Messiah, to all who continue trusting. For it makes no difference whether one is a Jew or a Gentile, since all have sinned and come short of earning G-d's praise. By G-d's grace, without earning it, all are granted the status of being considered righteous before him, through the act redeeming us from our enslavement to sin that was accomplished by the Messiah Yeshua."[/b] Notice, in the above verses, that grace is related to justification, NOT sanctification. We receive G-d's grace in order to be justified, not for sanctification. Since we sin, we need grace in order to escape the condemnation that our sins bring upon us. This grace does not preclude Torah observance for sanctification. The law and the prophets testify about this righteousness. If we want to "hear" this testimony we have to look to the Torah and to the Prophets. [b]Romans 4:1-10 - "Then what should we say Avraham, our forefather, obtained by his own efforts? For if Avraham came to be considered righteous by G-d because of legalistic observances, then he has something to boast about. But this is not how it is before G-d! For what does the Tanakh say? 'Avraham put his trust in G-d, and it was credited to his account as righteousness.' Now the account of someone who is working is credited not on the ground of grace but on the ground of what is owed him. However, in the case of one who is not working but rather is trusting in him who makes ungodly people righteous, his trust is credited to him as righteousness. In the same way, the blessing which David pronounces is on those whom God credits with righteousness apart from legalistic observances: 'Blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered over; Blessed is the man whose sin ADONAI will not reckon against his account.'" [/b] [b]Now is this blessing for the circumcised only? Or is it also for the uncircumcised? For we say that Avraham's trust was credited to his account as righteousness; but what state was he in when it was so credited - circumcision or uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision!"[/b] Now, we can see that Abraham was justified by grace BEFORE he was circumcised, BUT, he still circumcised himself and his whole household. He even circumcised Isaac, sometime later, on the eighth day, just as the law requires. [b]Romans 4:13-16 - "For the promise to Avraham and his seed that he would inherit the world did not come through legalism but through the righteousness that trust produces. For if the heirs are produced by legalism, then trust is pointless and the promise worthless. For what law brings is punishment. But where there is no law, there is also no violation. The reason the promise is based on trusting is so that it may come as G-d's free gift, a promise that can be relied on by all the seed, not only those who live within the framework of the Torah, but also those with the kind of trust Avraham had - Avraham avinu for all of us."[/b] I used a different translation, but in your christian one you will notice that there are words in the brackets are NOT part of the text. These words reflect the theology of the translator. The above verses also compare law and grace. The law brings wrath. We are never justified by the Torah, justification always comes by grace through faith. Grace from G-d is clearly linked to faith and to justification. But, lest you think that Abraham did not obey the Torah, consider: [b]Romans 5:1 - "So, since we have come to be considered righteous by G-d because of our trust, let us continue to have shalom with G-d through our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah. Also through him and on the ground of our trust, we have gained access to this grace in which we stand; so let us boast about the hope of experiencing G-d's glory."[/b] Here we see that grace is clearly associated with justification. The law is never used for justification. [b]Romans 5:12-18 - "Here is how it works: it was through one individual that sin entered the world, and through sin, death; and in this way death passed through to the whole human race, inasmuch as everyone sinned. Sin was indeed present in the world before Torah was given, but sin is not counted as such when there is no Torah. Nevertheless death ruled from Adam until Moshe, even over those whose sinning was not exactly like Adam's violation of a direct command. In this, Adam prefigured the one who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offence. For if, because of one man's offence, many died, then how much more has G-d's grace, that is, the gracious gift of one man, Yeshua the Messiah, overflowed to many! No, the free gift is not like what resulted from one man's sinning; for from one sinner came judgment that brought condemnation; but the free gift came after many offences and brought acquittal. For if, because of the offence of one man, death ruled through that one man; how much more will those receiving the overflowing grace, that is, the gift of being considered righteous, rule in life through the one man Yeshua the Messiah! In other words, just as it was through one offence that all people came under condemnation, so also it is through one righteous act that all people come to be considered righteous."[/b] The ones who need grace, are the ones who trespass God's law, and we know that we are not to sin in order for grace to abound. John tells us what sin is; [b]1 John 3:4 - Everyone who keeps sinning is violating Torah - indeed, sin is violation of Torah."[/b] James indicates that those who obey God's word, which is found in the Bible, will be justified by their faith, i.e. given grace. [b]James 2:14-24 - "What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith but has no actions to prove it? Is such "faith" able to save him? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food, and someone says to him, 'Shalom! Keep warm and eat hearty!' without giving him what he needs, what good does it do? Thus, faith by itself, unaccompanied by actions, is dead. But someone will say that you have faith and I have actions. Show me this faith of yours without the actions, and I will show you my faith by my actions! You believe that "G-d is one"? Good for you! The demons believe it too - the thought makes them shudder with fear! But, foolish fellow, do you want to be shown that such 'faith' apart from actions is barren? Wasn't Avraham avinu declared righteous because of actions when he offered up his son Yitz'chak on the altar? You see that his faith worked with his actions; by the actions the faith was made complete; and the passage of the Tanakh was fulfilled which says, "Avraham had faith in G-d, and it was credited to his account as righteousness." He was even called G-d's friend. You see that a person is declared righteous because of actions and not because of faith alone."[/b] Abraham had Faith. He believed all that G-d said to be true and lived it and that was credited to him as righteousness. His Faith was an action on HaShem’s word and nothing else (not a belief). What HaShem wants man to do he has given us in Torah and never is it shown where anyone has invalidated Torah and been given grace.