Zmouth, didn't you just feel the love and warmth of godly love with this?
No?
Want a parka?
For everyone else who will actually hear -- obvious question? What's the difference between this response and legalism? Aren't both bought at the price of self-righteousness? Isn't the OP presenting a case of "Ha ha! I'm better than you are. My righteousness doesn't stink"?
There are four responses to the law:
1. We must do it all to be saved. (Legalism.)
2. We are totally free from it. It is no longer relevant, so we can do whatever we want now. (Anarchism.)
3. Somewhere in between. (Most people.)
Those are equally as wrong responses. The only thing that makes people feel good about themselves with any of those responses is the never ending nanny nanny nu nu, (which I recently discovered most people think is "nanny nanny boo boo"), little piles of groups fighting the others because any particular pile thinks they're right and, on here, you can always find others to join your pile, just as long as the others agree with you 100% of the time, and let's keep fighting our fight over any of this stuff.
But then there is the only right answer:
4. God! Jesus! He who created the law and kept the law. He who is the law. He who fulfilled the law specifically for those whom the Father has chosen and the the Holy Spirit enables. He who has not given up on who he is, simply because humans can't make the grade, but he who gave some the way to do that, and see that, and be that, strengthening them in that.
NOT "I'm right, you're wrong, and since you're wrong, you're a slithering snake, nanny nanny nun nu" mentality.
Nor a verb tense problem. Nor a keep yammering and maybe you can bully someone into believing just like you do. Nor an "I'm always right, so I'll never be bullied by you" response.
One game changer -- God.
So while the bullies keep on bullying at different angles, more and more people leave this site, because the bullies have taken over... instead of God!
There is the other choice. God! How about not letting the anarchist vs. legalists vs. all viewpoints in betweens keep gaining their satisfaction in the size of their pile of group? How about not playing along with them?
If not that, grab a parka, because it's cold in here!