What does it mean to be Under the Law?

[reddogs]

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Many look and say well this does away with Gods Law, that those who follow the Ten Commandments are 'legalistic'. That although they are 'under grace,' by walking in a path of obedience, that keeps 'the commandments' they are in danger of coming 'under law' again.

So is Paul saying that the Ten Commandments have any further claims upon the believer, that they no longer have to keep the Law. Well, Paul gives a answer to that as he knew that would be the question. So what does he say, lets look.

Romans 6:15
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Paul makes clear that this is not so we can sin, but that under grace, those who truly believe will not go into sin as he states 'God Forbid' to such a thought. So what is Paul talking about here in Romans, well we get a clue in his letter to Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 9:20-21
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

So what is Paul saying here, well obviously he is talking about the Jews versus the Gentiles, but notice he says a curious thing, 'being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ'. So what is Paul saying, well lets look directly at the words of Christ.

Matthew 5:20
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

This is clear, being under to law to Christ is beyond the level of the literal law, that it surpasses even what the Jews and their teachers thought it was and followed. The entire law, including both moral and ceremonial aspects, revealed by God, existed with a view to the coming of Christ at that point in history. The law was intended by God to keep before the minds of Israel and men everywhere that the real meaning and purpose of the law lay in the full and final revelation when Christ would come to this world. And what does Christ say, He says that ones righteousness would go beyond the law if one wanted to enter into eternal life. We see Christ laying it out to the rich young man.

Matthew 19:17
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

So Christ begins with the standard that had been given, to keep the Commandments, and the young man lays claim to doing that 'All these things have I kept from my youth up' but notice what he says next, 'what lack I yet?'

Jesus says to go beyond the law, so surpass it and give all 'and come and follow me.' Christ wants us to obey out a of love for God and neighbor that goes above the literal words given in the law, and that we know, we cannot claim ignorance...
Acts 17:30-31
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

...and we will be judge by this law of love that we are given which is the literal law, 'being not without law to God', and the level of love that surpasses even that, 'but under the law to Christ.'...

 

[NewLifeInChrist]

What does it mean to be Under the Law?​

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

It means what it says. Those whose sins are forgiven will not suffer the adverse eternal consequences of breaking the law because they are not under law but are under grace.

How can this be? It is because there is a new law in effect which releases us from the condemnation we rightly deserve under the old law. The new law (the law of the Spirit that says there is life in Christ Jesus) has set us free from the old law (the law that says the wages of sin is death) -- Romans 8:2.

Many look and say well this does away with Gods Law, that those who follow the Ten Commandments are 'legalistic'. That although they are 'under grace,' by walking in a path of obedience, that keeps 'the commandments' they are in danger of coming 'under law' again.

Most legalistic people that I have encountered refuse to accept and try to obfuscate the law's demand for perfection and the death penalty it imposes on those who fail to obey it completely. This is a reasonable approach for legalistic people to take, since they know intuitively that it is an impossible standard to meet...

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” (Ga 3:10)​

So is Paul saying that the Ten Commandments have any further claims upon the believer, that they no longer have to keep the Law. Well, Paul gives a answer to that as he knew that would be the question. So what does he say, lets look.

Romans 6:15
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Paul makes clear that this is not so we can sin, but that under grace, those who truly believe will not go into sin as he states 'God Forbid' to such a thought. So what is Paul talking about here in Romans, well we get a clue in his letter to Corinthians.

We don't need to go to Corinthians to find out what Paul meant because he explained it in the next three verses in Romans 6:16-18...

16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. (Ro 6:16–18)​

Here we see the transformation that occurs in the life of a believer when Jesus comes to live in his heart. He is set free from sin and has become a slave of righteousness. In other words, He has gained new life in Christ Jesus (Ro 6:4), he is a new creature (2 Cor 5:17), he is joined to the Lord and is one spirit with Him (1 Cor 6:17). It is not possible for the new creation to unbecome a new creation or to be perverted into becomming an old creation.

This is why Paul previously said we should, "reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Ro 6:11), and we should "present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God" (Ro 6:13). We are alive from the dead. We should "reckon" ouselves to be alive and we should "present ourselves to God" as being alive.

1 Corinthians 9:20-21
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

So what is Paul saying here, well obviously he is talking about the Jews versus the Gentiles, but notice he says a curious thing, 'being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ'. So what is Paul saying, well lets look directly at the words of Christ.

Matthew 5:20
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

This is clear, being under to law to Christ is beyond the level of the literal law, that it surpasses even what the Jews and their teachers thought it was and followed. The entire law, including both moral and ceremonial aspects, revealed by God, existed with a view to the coming of Christ at that point in history. The law was intended by God to keep before the minds of Israel and men everywhere that the real meaning and purpose of the law lay in the full and final revelation when Christ would come to this world. And what does Christ say, He says that ones righteousness would go beyond the law if one wanted to enter into eternal life. We see Christ laying it out to the rich young man.

Matthew 19:17
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

So Christ begins with the standard that had been given, to keep the Commandments, and the young man lays claim to doing that 'All these things have I kept from my youth up' but notice what he says next, 'what lack I yet?'

Jesus says to go beyond the law, so surpass it and give all 'and come and follow me.' Christ wants us to obey out a of love for God and neighbor that goes above the literal words given in the law, and that we know, we cannot claim ignorance...
Acts 17:30-31
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

...and we will be judge by this law of love that we are given which is the literal law, 'being not without law to God', and the level of love that surpasses even that, 'but under the law to Christ.'...

Only one thing is still lacking... complete obedience without any failures to obey. Who can live under that requirement without forgiveness to compensate for their (many) failures to obey?

 

[Hopeful 2]

Only one thing is still lacking... complete obedience without any failures to obey. Who can live under that requirement without forgiveness to compensate for their (many) failures to obey?​

I'll answer your rhetorical question...All who are Christ's !
It is written..."And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts." (Gal 5:24)

 

[follower]

Whenever someone obeys the devil/ lawless one, they show they are not Christ's child.

If they continue to live in unrighteousness, they will perish, no excuses.

 

[jonathanbrickman0000]

Whenever someone obeys the devil/ lawless one, they show they are not Christ's child.

If they continue to live in unrighteousness, they will perish, no excuses.

No, the truth is nowhere near so simple. Christ the Lord has said that all swearing of vows, without exception, is of the evil one. And yet, the Holy Spirit never purged the Church of vow-swearing, even including an Apostle. Vow-swearers became the entire visible leadership of the Church until relatively late in its history, when some of the Anabaptists and others were given to repent of this. And there are many other vow-swearers who do not repent of their swearings, yet being in Christ.

 

[JLB]

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Many look and say well this does away with Gods Law, that those who follow the Ten Commandments are 'legalistic'. That although they are 'under grace,' by walking in a path of obedience, that keeps 'the commandments' they are in danger of coming 'under law' again.

So is Paul saying that the Ten Commandments have any further claims upon the believer, that they no longer have to keep the Law. Well, Paul gives a answer to that as he knew that would be the question. So what does he say, lets look.

Romans 6:15
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Paul makes clear that this is not so we can sin, but that under grace, those who truly believe will not go into sin as he states 'God Forbid' to such a thought. So what is Paul talking about here in Romans, well we get a clue in his letter to Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 9:20-21
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

So what is Paul saying here, well obviously he is talking about the Jews versus the Gentiles, but notice he says a curious thing, 'being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ'. So what is Paul saying, well lets look directly at the words of Christ.

Matthew 5:20
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

This is clear, being under to law to Christ is beyond the level of the literal law, that it surpasses even what the Jews and their teachers thought it was and followed. The entire law, including both moral and ceremonial aspects, revealed by God, existed with a view to the coming of Christ at that point in history. The law was intended by God to keep before the minds of Israel and men everywhere that the real meaning and purpose of the law lay in the full and final revelation when Christ would come to this world. And what does Christ say, He says that ones righteousness would go beyond the law if one wanted to enter into eternal life. We see Christ laying it out to the rich young man.

Matthew 19:17
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

So Christ begins with the standard that had been given, to keep the Commandments, and the young man lays claim to doing that 'All these things have I kept from my youth up' but notice what he says next, 'what lack I yet?'

Jesus says to go beyond the law, so surpass it and give all 'and come and follow me.' Christ wants us to obey out a of love for God and neighbor that goes above the literal words given in the law, and that we know, we cannot claim ignorance...
Acts 17:30-31
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

...and we will be judge by this law of love that we are given which is the literal law, 'being not without law to God', and the level of love that surpasses even that, 'but under the law to Christ.'...

To be “under the law” means to be under obligation to obey the law of Moses.


Now that the law of Moses has been abolished in His flesh, and nailed to the cross and thus taken out of the way, we are now under the law of Christ; under obligation to obey His commandments.

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 2:3-4


Keeping His commandments is the biblical expression of love.


For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3

If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15

 

[Bruce.Leiter]

Romans 6:14
For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

Many look and say well this does away with Gods Law, that those who follow the Ten Commandments are 'legalistic'. That although they are 'under grace,' by walking in a path of obedience, that keeps 'the commandments' they are in danger of coming 'under law' again.

So is Paul saying that the Ten Commandments have any further claims upon the believer, that they no longer have to keep the Law. Well, Paul gives a answer to that as he knew that would be the question. So what does he say, lets look.

Romans 6:15
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

Paul makes clear that this is not so we can sin, but that under grace, those who truly believe will not go into sin as he states 'God Forbid' to such a thought. So what is Paul talking about here in Romans, well we get a clue in his letter to Corinthians.

1 Corinthians 9:20-21
20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law;
21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law.

So what is Paul saying here, well obviously he is talking about the Jews versus the Gentiles, but notice he says a curious thing, 'being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ'. So what is Paul saying, well lets look directly at the words of Christ.

Matthew 5:20
For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

This is clear, being under to law to Christ is beyond the level of the literal law, that it surpasses even what the Jews and their teachers thought it was and followed. The entire law, including both moral and ceremonial aspects, revealed by God, existed with a view to the coming of Christ at that point in history. The law was intended by God to keep before the minds of Israel and men everywhere that the real meaning and purpose of the law lay in the full and final revelation when Christ would come to this world. And what does Christ say, He says that ones righteousness would go beyond the law if one wanted to enter into eternal life. We see Christ laying it out to the rich young man.

Matthew 19:17
16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?
17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.
18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness,
19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?
21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

So Christ begins with the standard that had been given, to keep the Commandments, and the young man lays claim to doing that 'All these things have I kept from my youth up' but notice what he says next, 'what lack I yet?'

Jesus says to go beyond the law, so surpass it and give all 'and come and follow me.' Christ wants us to obey out a of love for God and neighbor that goes above the literal words given in the law, and that we know, we cannot claim ignorance...
Acts 17:30-31
30 And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

...and we will be judge by this law of love that we are given which is the literal law, 'being not without law to God', and the level of love that surpasses even that, 'but under the law to Christ.'...

In speaking to the young man, Jesus leaves out one commandment of the second table of the Ten Commandments, 'You shall not covet...." That one was the young man's problem! The commandments in the Exodus 20 form are in a national form for Israel; God took away that external form when Jesus died. However, the laws' outward forms, including the death penalties, disappeared then too, because God re-made them for the international church. But the internal principles continue on, for example, Jesus' equation of murder with anger as well as adultery with lust in his Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5). The two greatest laws for us to love God with our whole beings and to love our neighbors as ourselves are in the Old Testament:
Deu 6:4 “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.
Deu 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.
Lev 19:18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

 

[Whatever]

By "law" I believe Paul means the Old Covenant and all the ceremonial laws that went with it.
We no longer have to sacrifice animals. We can eat what we want. We don't have to celebrate the feast days they did.
But we are still under God's moral standards - murder, theft, rape, fornication and so forth.

 

[JLB]

By "law" I believe Paul means the Old Covenant and all the ceremonial laws that went with it.
We no longer have to sacrifice animals. We can eat what we want. We don't have to celebrate the feast days they did.
But we are still under God's moral standards - murder, theft, rape, fornication and so forth.

We are under the law of Christ.

 

[Soyeong]

What does it mean to be Under the Law?​

It means what it says. Those whose sins are forgiven will not suffer the adverse eternal consequences of breaking the law because they are not under law but are under grace.

How can this be? It is because there is a new law in effect which releases us from the condemnation we rightly deserve under the old law. The new law (the law of the Spirit that says there is life in Christ Jesus) has set us free from the old law (the law that says the wages of sin is death) -- Romans 8:2.

The Spirit is God, so it would be absurd to interpret Romans 8:2 as the Law of God setting us free from the Law of God. In Romans 7:25-8:2, Paul contrasted the Law of God with the law of sin and contrasted the Law of the Spirit of Life with the law of sin and death, so the law of sin and death is not the Law of God. The Law of God leads us to do what is holy, righteous, and good (Romans 7:12) while the law of sin leads us in the opposite direction by stirring up sinful passions in order to bear fruit unto death (Romans 7:5), so we need to be release from the law of sin in order to be free to obey the Law of God, not the other way around.

In Romans 6:14, Paul described the law that we are not under as being a law where sin had dominion over us, which does not describe the Law of God, but rather that is the role of the law of sin. In Romans 6:15, being under grace does not mean that we are permitted to sin, and in 1 John 3:4, sin is the transgression of the Law of God, so we are still under it. Moreover, everything else in Romans 6 speaks in favor of obedience to the Law of God and against sin. We are slaves to the one that we obey, either the law of sin, which leads to death or obedience to the Law of God, which leads to righteousness.

In 1 John 2:6, those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way that he walked, so verses like Romans 8:1 that speak about those who are in Christ are only speaking about those who are follower of his example of walking in obedience to the Law of God.

Most legalistic people that I have encountered refuse to accept and try to obfuscate the law's demand for perfection and the death penalty it imposes on those who fail to obey it completely. This is a reasonable approach for legalistic people to take, since they know intuitively that it is an impossible standard to meet...

Law of God came with instructions for what to do when God's children sinned, so it never required us to have perfect obedience. Repentance doesn't change the fact that we have not had perfect obedience, so if we needed perfect obedience, then repentance would be of no value, but the fact that it has value demonstrates that we don't need to have perfect obedience. In Romans 10:5-8, Paul referenced Deuteronomy 30 as the word of faith that we proclaim in regard to proclaiming that the Law of God is not too difficult for us to obey and that obedience to it brings life and a blessing while disobedience brings death and a curse, so choose life! So it was presented as a possibility and as a choice, not as the need for perfect obedience.

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” (Ga 3:10)​

In Romans 3:28, Paul contrasted a law of works with a law of faith, Galatians 3:10-12, he contrasted "works of the law" with the Book of the Law, and in Romans 3:31 and Galatians 3:10-12, he said that our faith upholds the Law of God in contrast with saying that "works of the law" are not of faith, so that phrase does not refer to the Law of God. According to Deuteronomy 27-28, relying on the Book of the Law is the way to be blessed while lawlessness is the way to be cursed, so Galatians 3:10 should not be interpreted as Paul quoting from that passage in order to support a point that is arguing the opposite of that passage. Rather, the way to be curse by not relying on the Book of the Law, which is why all who rely on works of the law instead come under that curse.

 

[Soyeong]

No, the truth is nowhere near so simple. Christ the Lord has said that all swearing of vows, without exception, is of the evil one. And yet, the Holy Spirit never purged the Church of vow-swearing, even including an Apostle. Vow-swearers became the entire visible leadership of the Church until relatively late in its history, when some of the Anabaptists and others were given to repent of this. And there are many other vow-swearers who do not repent of their swearings, yet being in Christ.

In Leviticus 19:12, it prohibits swearing falsely by God's name, so someone who was following the spirit of that law would correctly understand that we are not to swear falsely whereas someone who was following the letter of that law would understand that we are free to swear falsely just as long as we swear by something other than God's name. So people were swearing falsely by things other than God's name, which was the practice that Jesus was addressing in Matthew 5:33-37. Jesus swore under oath and Paul also made vows, so it is incorrect to interpret Jesus as speaking against all vows,

 

[Soyeong]

To be “under the law” means to be under obligation to obey the law of Moses.

In Romans 6:14, Paul described the law that we are not under as being a law where sin had dominion over us, which does not describe the Law of Moses, but rather it is the law of sin where sin had dominion over us. In Romans 6:15, being under grace does not mean that we are permitted to sin, and in Romans 3:20, it is by the Law of Moses that we know what sin is, so we are still under it. Moreover, everything else in Romans 6 speaks in favor of obedience to God and against sin.

Now that the law of Moses has been abolished in His flesh, and nailed to the cross and thus taken out of the way, we are now under the law of Christ; under obligation to obey His commandments.

In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus specifically said that he came not to abolish the law and warned against teaching to relax the least part of, and in Romans 3:31, Paul also affirmed that our faith does not abolish God's law, but rather or faith upholds it. In Matthew 27:37, they nailed a handwritten ordinance to Christ's cross that announced the charge that was against him that he was the King of the Jews. This fits perfectly with the concept of the handwritten ordinance that was against us being nailed to Christ cross and with him dying in our place to pay the penalty of our sins, but has nothing to do with nailing any laws to the cross. In Titus 2:14, it does say that Jesus gave himself to free us from the Law of Moses, but in order to free us from all lawlessness, so the way to believe in what Jesus spent his ministry teaching by word and by example and in what he accomplished through the cross is by repenting and becoming zealous for doing good works in obedience to the Law of Moses (Acts 21:20).

Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
1 John 2:3-4


Keeping His commandments is the biblical expression of love.


For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 1 John 5:3

If you love Me, keep My commandments. John 14:15

The Law of Christ is not something other than or contrary to anything that Christ taught by word or by example. Everything in the Law of Moses is in regard to how to love God and our neighbor, which is why Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40 that those are the greatest two commandments and that all of the other commandments hang on them, so the position that we should obey the greatest two commandments is also the position that we should obey the commandments that hang on them. In John 15:10, Jesus used a parallel statement to equate his commandments with those of the Father, and in John 14:24, he said that his teachings were not his own, but that of the Father, so he did not teach his own set of commandments. The Bible says repeatedly throughout the OT and the NT that the way to love God is by obeying his commandments and the way to love the Father is not different than the way to love the Son.

 

[jonathanbrickman0000]

Jesus swore under oath

Christ the Lord never swore at all. There is no cause to suggest that He did the evil that He said it is.

and Paul also made vows, so it is incorrect to interpret Jesus as speaking against all vows,

Christ the Lord commanded us, "do not swear at all". Paul was not as holy as the Lord.

 

[Soyeong]

By "law" I believe Paul means the Old Covenant and all the ceremonial laws that went with it.
We no longer have to sacrifice animals. We can eat what we want. We don't have to celebrate the feast days they did.
But we are still under God's moral standards - murder, theft, rape, fornication and so forth.

We are free to create whatever categories of law that we want and to decide for ourselves which laws we think best fits into which of our categories, but we should not interpret the authors of the Bible as referring to a category of law that we created without establishing that they had in mind an identical set of laws, which there is no way of doing because the Bible makes no attempt to list which are the ceremonial or moral laws and never even refers to those as being categories of law. I could categorize God's laws based on which part of the body is most commonly used to obey/disobey them, such as with the law against theft being a hand law, but just because I can do that does not establish that any of the authors of the Bible used the same categories or that they would agree with me that it best fits as a hand law, so if I were to interpret Romans 6:14 saying that we are no longer under hand laws, then I would be making the same sort of error that you are making.

The existence of the category of moral law would imply that we can be acting morally while disobeying the laws that aren't in that category, however, there are no examples in the Bible where disobedience to God was said to be moral and I see no justification for thinking that if can ever be moral to disobey God. Morality is in regard to what we ought to do and we ought to be in God's likeness by being a doer of His character traits, so all of God's laws are inherently moral laws. To claim that some of God's laws are not moral laws is to claim that God made a moral error about what ought to be done when he gave those laws and therefore to claim to have greater moral knowledge than God.

 

[Soyeong]

Christ the Lord never swore at all. There is no cause to suggest that He did the evil that He said it is.

God swore by Himself (Genesis 22:16-17, Hebrews 6:13, 7:21), Jesus swore under oath before the Sanhedrin (Matthew 26:63), and Paul also made an oath to the Corinthian church (2 Corinthians 1:23), and made solemn appeals to God (Romans 1:9, Galatians 1:20, Philippians 1:8; 1 Corinthians 15:31, 1 Thessalonians 5:27, Revelation 10:5-6). God commanded His people to swear by His name in Deuteronomy 6:13 and 10:20, and we see many examples of this throughout the OT, such as 1 Kings 2:23 and 1 Samuel 20:3, so Jesus should not be interpreted as speaking against obeying what God has commanded, especially because he upheld vows in Matthew 23:20-22, so he was speaking against making vows in general, but rather he was only speaking against false vows.

This was said in regard to Gentiles:

Jeremiah 12:16-17 And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, ‘As the Lord lives,’ even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 17 But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, declares the Lord.”

Christ the Lord commanded us, "do not swear at all". Paul was not as holy as the Lord.

"All" is often limited to everything in a particular set and the context of not swearing false vows, not all vows.

 

[jonathanbrickman0000]

"All" is often limited to everything in a particular set and the context of not swearing false vows, not all vows.

"Do not swear at all", saith Christ the Lord. "Anything more, is of the evil one." From that moment on, all obedient to Christ do not swear at all, and all swearing of vows, is of the evil one. Christ the Lord, ended all righteous vow-swearing, leaving only the unrighteous vow-swearing, which is of evil.

 

[JLB]

In Romans 6:14, Paul described the law that we are not under as being a law where sin had dominion over us, which does not describe the Law of Moses, but rather it is the law of sin where sin had dominion over us. In Romans 6:15, being under grace does not mean that we are permitted to sin, and in Romans 3:20, it is by the Law of Moses that we know what sin is, so we are still under it. Moreover, everything else in Romans 6 speaks in favor of obedience to God and against sin.

For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. Romans 6:14

Do you understand that being under grace, means we are under obligation to obey grace, just as being under the law of Moses meant being under obligation to obey the law of Moses.

Do you understand what grace is ?

Grace is Someone as much as something.

So, we are obligated to walk according to the Spirit (of grace) rather than walk according to the flesh (the law of sin in our flesh).

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:1


Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Galatians 6:7-8

• For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption,
• but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

 

[JLB]

In Matthew 5:17-19, Jesus specifically said that he came not to abolish the law and warned against teaching to relax the least part of, and in Romans 3:31,

By not quoting the actual scripture you left out an important word in Jesus teaching about the law of Moses.

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Matthew 5:17-18

• I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.

Do you believe Jesus fulfilled the law of Moses?

 

[JLB]

The Law of Christ is not something other than or contrary to anything that Christ taught by word or by example.

Ok

Everything in the Law of Moses is in regard to how to love God and our neighbor, which is why Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40 that those are the greatest two commandments and that all of the other commandments hang on them, so the position that we should obey the greatest two commandments is also the position that we should obey the commandments that hang on them.

God instructed the children of Israel to do many things under the law of Moses, that were not optional.

Example:

Specific animal sacrifices
Dietary laws
Sabbath laws

You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Exodus 31:14-15


Do you believe the Church is obligated to obey these laws and commandments of the law of Moses?

 

[Soyeong]

"Do not swear at all", saith Christ the Lord. "Anything more, is of the evil one." From that moment on, all obedient to Christ do not swear at all, and all swearing of vows, is of the evil one. Christ the Lord, ended all righteous vow-swearing, leaving only the unrighteous vow-swearing, which is of evil.

Again, that was not directed to everyone, but in context was spoken in regard to those who were intentionally swearing falsely by swearing by something other than God’s name. If you want to insist on a broad interpretation to applies even to people who were correctly swearing by God’s name in accordance with what God has commanded, then you should try to resolve the major problems with that interpretation, such as with other verses where he upheld vows, where he made a vow, where Paul made vows, or where God commanded to swear by His name.