On the side of having sins forgiven.
Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.
Rom 5:10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.
Hmmm, being justified for having sinned, not the abolition of the Law, rather the payment for sin.
Christ did not die to abolish the Law, had He done that, you would not need a Savior. If there is no Law, there is no sin...
Rom 4:15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
Rom 5:13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law.
And what is sin?
1Jn 3:4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
Rom 7:7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "YOU SHALL NOT COVET."
Christ is the propitiation for sin...
1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1Jn 2:2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
G2434
ἱλασμός
hilasmos
hil-as-mos'
atonement, that is, (concretely) an expiator: - propitiation.
Total KJV occurrences: 2
Oh I am. The first thing I notice about obeying God is that He tells us to KEEP His COMMANDMENTS...
Mat 19:17 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.
My, that's a big straw man you've constructed.
And you've identified yourself to be in the camp that does preach that one must keep the Law or they're not really saved. Thanks for that clarification. Matthew 19:17 was preached to those under the Law before the Cross. Jesus preached the Law to those born under the Law. You're not rightly dividing the Word of Truth.
The Law wasn't abolished. Nor is it a means to righteousness:
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (from Rom. 3)
No, the Law stands as a tutor for the unrighteous, to bring them to Christ:
21 Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law. 22 But Scripture has locked up everything under the control of sin, so that what was promised, being given through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. (from Gal. 3)
Romans 6 tells us TWICE that believers are no longer under the Law, but under Grace. Romans 7 drives the point deeper and tells us that we are DEAD to the Law!
Ephesians 2 tells us that for those in Christ, the Law IS abolished - we have been released from it, we're dead to it, we have nothing more to do with the Law. It could not be more clear.
I hear a lot of prattle about love, yet this never quite seems to get quoted...
1Jn 5:2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
Rom 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
Fulfilling the Law through love means obeying it, not abolishing it. The Law defines sin and also defines love.
Prattle.
Really?
Greater love hath no man . . . just prattle, I suppose. Yet you NEVER see self-sacrificial love in the Law. No, that kind of love comes from Christ alone:
12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another. (from Jn. 15)
Jesus was preaching Love, not Law; Fruit, not performance.
But according to you that's just prattle . . .
You wrote,
"Fulfilling the Law through love means obeying it, not abolishing it.
No, it's about love, not about law. Those who focus on Law-keeping often become some of the most un-loving and judgemental, sin-centered people I've ever known. The Law makes us conscious of sin, and since they're focused on sin and judgement all the time, that's what their fruit is: sin-consciousness and judgement of themselves and others. There is no rest in that.
You also wrote,
"The Law defines sin and also defines love."
The Law does define sin.
The Law does NOT define Love.
There is not a single Scripture to support that assertion.
What do the Scriptures say about love?
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (from 1 Jn. 4)
4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never ends. (from 1 Cor. 13)
Just more 'prattle', I suppose.
-JGIG