Paul isn't saying that we obtain righteousness from the Law.
He is saying the opposite.
He is saying that the Law CANNOT give righteousness because it is weak through the flesh. But we can obtain the righteousness DESCRIBED by the law through our walk in the Spirit.
You try to twist Pauls words to say that the Law gives righteousness???
He would NEVER have said Romans 8:2 if he was going to turn around and say the Law gives righteousness. You are missing his whole point.
I think that I am in agreement with you there,
@Grandpa.
The righteousness that God gives when we walk according to the Spirit is not obtained when we attempt to obey a set of do's and don'ts...
It is obtained when we receive the Spirit by faith (Galatians 3:14) and then begin to walk according to that Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23, Romans 8:4).
The righteousness that we obtain through this faith walk amounts to obedience to the law; although it is obtained through a venue that is different than seeking to obey a set of do's and don'ts.
That being said, it is not necessarily a sin to look at what the law requires and to seek to obey it (we would certainly be remiss, if, after seeing what it says, we sought to disobey it!).
For if we look into the perfect law of liberty and continue in it, we will be blessed in what we do (James 1:25).
And also, if we were to turn away our ears from hearing the law, even our prayer would be an abomination (Proverbs 28:9).
So, we should look into the perfect law of liberty (every moral tenet in the Old and New Testaments) and not seek to disobey what we find written therein. As a matter of fact, we ought to seek to obey it as being the specifics of God's commandment to every believer that we love one another.
If we see our obedience to the commandments as being specifically how to love as God commanded, I believe that we will be reduced to love in our obedience to the commandments and the path will be easier.
Because when we study the commandments, we will see them as a more specific way of loving our neighbor; and therefore when the time comes to love our neighbor in the manner that is prescribed, we will simply do so as an extension of the love that has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost.
When we obey that commandment out of love, we will very likely think, Oh yes, that is a commandment!
Our obedience to that commandment will be a specific outworking of the love of the Lord that has been shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost.