NewLifeInChrist
Member
- Sep 3, 2011
- 334
- 74
I see that you are at least consistant with your prior statements that there are many different kinds of laws mentioned in Paul's writings. Here, however, you miss the point entirely that the 10 commandments (etc.) kill us because of the weakness of the flesh to obey it. Not only that, but you also miss the point that in Christ we have received God's free gift of life (i.e., the law that says there is life in Christ Jesus). And the main point is that we have escaped the eternal condemnation we deserve for breaking God's laws by virtue of the fact that we have received life by putting our trust in Christ.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.
There is no law of sin. The law of God produces death because of our sins. And when we turn to Christ for forgiveness, He gives us the free gift of eternal life. This new life joines us to Him and makes us one spirit iwith Him (1 Cor 6:17). There is no turning back to loving sin after this happens to us.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.
I like to ask those who speak of our obligation to walk as Christ walked to explain themselves. You indicate here it is by being obedient to God's laws. But that is not how Jesus walked. He had an intimate personal relationship with His Father. Per His own testimony (I can provide many verse references if needed), He never said anything unless He heard it first from the Father and He never did anything unless He saw it first from the Father. He said that by Himself He could do nothing. Without Him, we can do nothing. And He told us that abiding in Him as He abided in His Father is the only way that we can bear fruit. Walking in lock step with His Spirit as He leads, guides, directs, corrects, and comforts us from the intimacy of our own hearts is not the same thing as being obedient to His laws.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.
Like I said, denying that the law of God came with curses for those who do not obey it completely is required to maintain a law-oriented view of righteousness. I am glad, however, to see that you have included in your doctrine the concept of repentance because it shows that the law is performing its function to convict people of their sins and drive then to Christ for forgiveness. However, if repentance is just a recommitment to be more obedient and is not an admission of failure and of the need for forgiveness, then it is little more than righteousness through obedience to the law. In other words, being sorry about one's sins and a recommitment to do better does not eliminate the need for one's sins to be forgiven. And, if one's sins are forgiven, then it is grace that produces the reconciliation, not obedience.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.
Everyone (no exceptions) is cursed who does not continue to do all things that are written in the book of the law. Their failures to continue to do all those required things is what puts them under the curse that the law establishes for lawbreakers. If a person puts himself under the law, then by default, that person is putting himself under the curse. Why? Because no person is declared righteous (by God) on the basis of his obedience to the law. This truth is made obvious in the OT verse that says the just ones will have life because of their faith (not by their obedience). Furthermore, it is obvious that obedience to the law is not a matter of faith, but a matter of performance because of another OT verse that says the man who obeys the law will have life based on his good performance of the law.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.
This is what Galatians 3:10-12 says. I can testify that seeing it the right way is very liberating.