The question is did Jesus come to destroy the law? Does paul say we forget the law? The commands and word of God are holy and God will work in us to conform to his will. No one will disagree with this. People disagree on how this conforming happens. Is by our willful surrender to his will or does God make us conform against our will. Some see we are without free will before belief and others say we are without free will after belief.
I think a huge point of misunderstanding is the differance in the covenant law, the ten commandments (which paul endorses by naminmg a few of them and then saying whatever other commandment there might be are breifly summed up in this one rule " Love thy neighbor as thyself. and the mosaic Law which was always meant to testify against sinners. Paul also talks of being made free of the law of sin that is in us because of adam, through the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus. which is the gospel.
pauls main opponent in His ministry were jews coming behind Him as the churches were esteblished on the gospel, they would then come and tell the people they needed to be circumsized and adhere to the mosaic Law. so much of what He says, is because of that. if you notice in His arguments its always relating to the festivals and ordinances of the mosaic Law, the mosaic Law is for the unrighteous, thos who live contrary to the 10 commandments which is the Covenant Law given By God written on stone by Gods hand, and then placed into the ark oif the covenant. the book of the Law of mises is far different, its a witness against those sinners. when paul is talking about dying to the law hes talking about the mosaic Law because it did not allow for certain sins to be repented of, such as adultery, cursing your parents, bearing false witness, murder, talking to a siviner or spiritist ect. instead those types of sinners were commanded to be put to death. One person who was the witness of the sin would cast the first stone and then the congregation would all gather round and toss rocks until the person was dead. there was no mercy in the Law of moses.
both the gospel, and the mosaic Law incorporate Gods Law of the ten commandments. the gospel is very opposed in priniciple in every way to the law of moses. Jesus says "forvie the sinner" Moses says condemn the sinner" Jesus says be merciful" Moses says " show no mercy, no pity" Jesus says turn the other cheek" moses says : eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth , life for a life" Jesus says many things like that completely contrary to the mosaic Law, its why they hated Him, the teachers of the Law i mean. On one hand he was doing miracles so they knew he had Power, on the other hand he was not teaching thier Law. he directly contradicts it with His teachings.
Pauls main opposition were the judaizers, he mentions it several times. its the reason that galatians was wroitten, and its also the reason for the gathering of apostles in acts. the mosaic Law had demands that were not Like the gospel, and were infact very contrary to the gospel. almost everything He taught was opposite or different in principle and directive. One is the witness against sinners as God says just before moses Death, then commands moses to write all of the commands of the mosaic Law down in a book and tells them to place it beside the ark, where it will witness against those who sin because its full of the punishments and curses for those who break the covenant law.
its always imoportant to know the old things to really understand what paul is saying, and really all the apostles are making points that needs Knoweldge of the Law, in order to understand the covenant Law, is different than the mosaic Law, and the gospel is different from the mosaic Law in every aspect. Jesus says " not one jot or titlle will disappear from the law until everything is accomplished, and then on the cross He says " it is accomplished" He also explains that " everything written about him in the law had to be accomplished" the mosaic Law is a foreshadow, a prophetic type that points to the messiah and His work, it actually speaks much about Jesus.
yeah the free will thing is absurd to me, but others have thier belief and its thier choce what to believe. God doesnt force anyone to do anything, Hes making an offer of eternal Life. His will is that all people come to repentance, but clearly not all people will come to repentance. if it was His choice everyone would repent and Live upright Lives in His sight and thus be saved and given the inheritance of eternal Life. His will, needs to be accepted by the believer freely because in the very beginning God gave man dominion over the earth and freedom to choose whether to keep His word in the garden and Live.
Gods will was that they not eat the fruit and satan added His will that they do through deception. the tree is the Knowledge of Good and also evil. it proiduces a double nature in man. avident in the first two men born, the first, murders the second. and then just 2 nd a half chapters later, God regrets even making man, because man was corrupt and so full of evil continually. the fruit was devastating to mankind, but free will is what it is, we stil have the free will to either Hear Gods word and believe it because He is God, or to reject it as if He is not God.
