I wasn’t happy with my answer to your question in regards to explaining the difference between the Law and the Gospel.  I guess it kind of caught me off guard, and I believe a fuller answer is needed.

The Law refers to the Commandments and Requirements of God as outlined in the Scriptures.  We can see exactly what that is by several verses:

Hebrews 12:14b “…and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:”

Matthew 5:48 “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

1^st Peter 1:16 “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”

Habakkuk 1:13a “Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity:…”

So we see that God has a standard of moral perfection.  He requires us to be Holy and perfect.  Good and righteous.  Apart from holiness, we cannot dwell in His presence.  He cannot even look at sin.  So here we have the standard.  The Scriptures then go on to tell us what the standard entails.

Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

Exodus 20:7a “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain…”

Exodus 20:13 “Thou shalt not kill.”

Exodus 20:14 “Thou shalt not commit adultery.”

Exodus 20:15 “Thou shalt not steal.”

Exodus 20:16 “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.”

Exodus 20:17a “Thou shalt not covet…”

1^st Corinthians 6:9-10 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,¹⁰ Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”

Revelation 21:8 “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

Galatians 5:19-21 “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,²⁰ Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,²¹ Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.”

The Scriptures then expound upon this and tell us that not only our actions need to be holy, but our thoughts and motives need to be as well.

Matthew 5:28 “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.”

Matthew 5:22 “But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”

1^st John 3:15 “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.”

Matthew 12:36 “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.”

The Law also tells us that we are doomed from the outset because of our forefathers sin and our own sin.  We are born into this and by our own volition choose it.

1^st Corinthians 15:22a “For as in Adam all die,…”

Ephesians 2:1b “…who were dead in trespasses and sins;”

Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Psalm 14:3 “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”

1st Corinthians 2:14 "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Romans 8:7 "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be."

Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"

Genesis 6:5  "And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."

Isaiah 64:6 "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away."

Genesis 8:21b "...for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth;..."

Psalms 51:5  "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me."

Psalm 58:3 “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.”

The Law has outlined God’s standards, it also outlines His justice and the punishment due for violating His commands.

Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death;”

Hebrews 9:22 “And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.”

Leviticus 17:11a “For the life of the flesh is in the blood:…”

Ezekiel 18:20a “The soul that sinneth, it shall die….”

Luke 13:27-28a “But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are; depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity.²⁸ There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth,…"

Matthew 25:30 “And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Revelation 14:11a “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night,…”

Mark 9:48 “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.”

Revelation 20:12 “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.”

Revelation 20:15 “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

The Law has left us all doomed.  We are born sinners and only sin continually all our lives.  Sin is what we desire and what we by nature do.  And God has required holiness from us.  A holiness we not only cannot attain, but we don’t want to attain.  A holiness that we hate.  And because of this, we will all die and face the just judgment of God.

Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”

John 8:24 “ I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.”

Psalm 7:11b “…God is angry with the wicked every day.”

Romans 2:5-6 and 8-9 “But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;⁶ Who will render to every man according to his deeds:…⁸But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,⁹ Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile;”

John 3:36b “…he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”

Nahum 1:2 “God is jealous, and the Lord revengeth; the Lord revengeth, and is furious; the Lord will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.”

Nahum 1:3a “The Lord is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked:…”

Exodus 34:7b “…[The Lord] will by no means clear the guilty;…”

Therein is the Law.  Now let us look to the Gospel, which provides mercy and salvation to doomed and helpless sinners!

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Hebrews 9:28 “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”

Isaiah 53:3-7 “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.⁴ Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.⁵ But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.⁶ All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.⁷ He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.”

Jesus Christ lived the perfect and sin-free life, fulfilling the commandments of God.  He then willing sacrificed Himself as an atonement on our behalf.  Crediting His righteousness to us and taking our guilt!

2^nd Corinthians 5:21 “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.”

Romans 4:22-24 “And therefore it was imputed to him [Abraham] for righteousness.²³ Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;²⁴ But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;”

1^st John 2:2 “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

Romans 3:25a “Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood…”

John 10:15b “…I lay down my life for the sheep.”

Leviticus 17:11b “…and I have given it [blood] to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”

Ephesians 1:7 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;”

Colossians 1:14 “In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:”

He then rose from the dead, proving our justification and ascended to the Father, were He ever pleads on our behalf and will come again some day to get us!

Romans 4:25 “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.”

Mark 16:6 “And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.”

Hebrews 7:25 “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

1^st Timothy 2:5-6 “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;⁶ Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”

Acts 1:11 “ Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.”

He offers this sacrificial atonement and substitutionary death as a free gift!  Apart from anything we are or do.  It is a gift that He imparts to His sheep freely!

John 10:27-28 “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:²⁸ And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.”

Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.”

Galatians 3:22-26 “But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.²³ But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.²⁴ Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.²⁵ But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.²⁶ For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

John 11:25-26 “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:²⁶ And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?”

Romans 10:9-10 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.”

John 3:15 “That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

Matthew 11:28 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Isaiah 55:1 “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.”

John 4:14 “But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Revelation 22:17 “And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.”