The ten commandments are not difficult to remember and recite.
Not sure how this can be compared to a dictionary.
Love God with no other gods before him
Do not make a graven image
Do not take the Lords name in vain
Keep the sabbath
Honour your parents
Do not murder
Do commit adultery
Do not steal
Do not bear false witness
Do not covet.
Are there any principles here that are not difficult to keep?
Have we not repented of sins involved in these things?
we can keep all these, and still be seen as a sinner.
of course, number 1, (if we are honest) should stop us in our tracks. as if we think about it, we can not even keep this one perfecty
I was thinking about the above statement.
Love God, have no other Gods before Him.
The proposition here is we can never do this.
Yet Moses, a large part of Israel, the prophets, the apostles all did exactly that without sinning.
So I would suggest this is an example of hyper-legalism.
Hyper legalism says you are disqualified because an argument can be constructed to show you do
not love God because x, not you love God and show it by y.
It is the spirit of being judgmental and pedantic which is driven by a desire not to love an accept
despite flaws or problems, but to reject and show people as failures.
Listen to satan arguing with God about Job.
"Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. 10 “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
Job 1:9-11
God is not pedantic, but looks at the truth in a persons life.
Security if God is not based on pedantically passing an exam, it is about love, a real desire
in ones heart to walk in love and righteousness.
Samson and Delilah. Samson was true to God but loved Delilah even though she betrayed
him. Now you could say Samson was not in Gods hand, a blessing or walking correctly.
Yet God blessed him and gave him victory over the Philistines.
So the hyper-legalists know they cannot keep their version of the law, but love and acceptance
through the cross works differently than their OCD version of conforming.
God accepts and blesses flawed individuals, but they have love and obedience for Him.
It is obvious people find this reality hard to grasp, and only if they create a lawless version of the
faith do they begin to understand the cross and grace.
It makes sense the law means nitpicking, failure, insecurity and rejection.
Eternal security means safety, acceptance and knowledge of being home.
But for me this is a distortion founded on a lack of appreciation of what love and evil are and how
free will and choice comes into play.
These faith positions are more about us, and our perception of what God accepts and rejects rather
than our ability to listen to Him and see the examples He has given us.