The Legal Standard of Covenants

[Aaron56]

This is for those who understand that Christ completed (established) the law and that the law at Sinai no longer functions against dead men.

Jesus said "A new commandment I give to you..." The reference to a “new” commandment, by implication, means that there was an “old” commandment. So what is the “old” commandment Jesus referenced?

The “old” commandment is found in Matthew, chapter 22:34-36. The account first begins with a lawyer trying to entrap Jesus.

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’”

Now, you’ll note that, indeed, a lawyer, under the law, could only ask Jesus a question about the law. He couldn’t ask Him about the new commandment; he was unaware of the new commandment. So the context of this question and the answer, both have to do with the law given at Sinai. What is the greatest commandment?

Matthew 22:37-40 “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

Jesus's answer summarized the teachings of the Law and the Prophets and, in this, His answer is solidly to be found in the Law. This is the very thing that Jesus will soon replace (we'll get to that). Today, many people think if you keep the 10 commandments and if you love your neighbor as yourself then you have done everything that God could have required. Now if you look at these two commandments you will immediately observe that they are foundationally different. Why? Because the standard is different.

The full new commandment is this: "A new commandment I give to you, as I have loved you, so you should love one another." And just to be thorough, the “old” commandment can be understood as thus: “With all of your capacity to love so you should love God and so you should love one another.” Well, you will notice that the standard of the “old” commandment is, of course, appropriate for the Law because the Sinai Law can only require you to do as much as it is possible for you to do. Objectively and theoretically it is possible to keep the Law because it does not require any more than all that you are capable of doing. It doesn’t say, “All that you feel like doing,” nor does it say, “All that you want to do.” It says, “All that you are capable of doing.”

So, when the Law says, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart...” all of your heart means all of the capacity that lies within you to do. All, in fact, means all. It doesn’t say, “All that you want to do, all that you feel like doing, all that on certain occasions you may be inclined to do.” No, it requires all. So in that sense, the Law and the standard of the Law is not haphazard but it does point out that it is all that is humanly possible.

It may be important to review why the law was given at Sinai: the Law was designed to keep the Jews alive UNTIL a certain event arose in the earth: the arrival of the SEED of Promise from God, Christ Himself. God could not ask a man to give up his own life under the Law.

There was no promise of a new life in the Law.

Let me write that again; "There was no promise of a new life in the Law."

To ask a man to give up his life would be to make the Law unrighteous. A man cannot give up his own life and simultaneously preserve his own life.

Furthermore, the standard is appropriate for the Law because if the Law asks of anyone more than all then by the existence of the Law you’ve been made lawless. In other words: if it is all plus 10% then the Law makes you lawless because it has exceeded your capacity to respond. But the Law begins and ends with what you can do. Its objective standard regarding loving God is all that you are capable of doing. The standard in regards to loving your neighbor is, “…as you love yourself.” The presumption is that you love yourself pretty thoroughly. Now what if you didn’t love yourself? The Law simply requires you to love your neighbor in the same fashion, to the same extent.

What is the standard of the new and how is that different?

The standard of the new is: “…as I have loved you.” Who is the “I” that is the measurement of this standard? The “I”, of course, is Christ, the one speaking. He is also the Living God. So the standard is: as Jesus has loved us so we are to love one another. Now what if you don’t love yourself? Well that is an irrelevant standard. He didn’t say, “as you love your neighbor, so you should love one another…” or “as I have occasionally loved you so you must love each other.” “As I have loved you” means “I, as God, have loved you perfectly; therefore I require you to love as God loves.”

This is a fascinating standard because it’s the same standard for God as it is for man.
The standard of love is the same for God as it is for man.
That standard of the new commandment makes God and man equal on the matter of love. That’s an incredible observation. On the matter of love, God and man are equal.

Now don’t take my observation for that. Look at this: this is from Matthew5:48, Jesus is speaking. Now this verse of Scripture is very troubling. Matthew 5:48 says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” What we’ve done is we’ve read that verse out of its context and we have inferred meanings to it that it does not mean. For example we’ve inferred that it means “be perfect in power” and so people come up with thoughts like, “if you’re not healed it’s your fault; you don’t have enough faith, you do not exercise enough power.” So if things go badly it’s your fault. God has given you all power, God has given you all faith, and so on, and if you do these things less than perfectly then it is your fault. Well that’s garbage because God would not require us to be perfect in power, whatever power we have is His power given to us, and no one is made "all powerful". Therefore we could only operate in whatever measures of power He has given us. This Scripture is not about being perfect in power; it’s about being perfect in love.

Note the context: jump back to verse 43 “‘You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies…” (so the context is love) “..and pray for those who persecute you…” Now why should you do that and how is this different? You must do that so that you can be sons of your Father in heaven, "..that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” It means that just as natural children resemble their natural parents and the nature of natural children is like the nature of their natural parents, so the nature of the children of God is like the God Who is perfect in love. So it’s not surprising to us that the same standard would apply to God as would apply to us… in the matter of love. So that you will be as sons of your Father in heaven.

And then He gives us some examples of how he loves His enemies and does good for those who persecute Him. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good...
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous…”

Then He contrasts and He says, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the pagans do that?” In short, to be like your Father in heaven it means that you do not simply love your enemies as you love yourselves or you love your neighbor as yourself; it is that you would love your enemy by preferring them over your own life and in that sense, and within that context it says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

The “old” commandment, under the Law, basically required you to love the extent of your capacity to love… love God as much as you are able and to love your neighbor as you are inclined to love yourself. That’s the “old” commandment.

The “new” commandment says, “…as I have loved you.” And it establishes Christ as the standard for love. Christ being the Living God, the standard is the same for God as the standard is for man. Now the reason why the standard is the same is because, according to 2 Peter 1:4, the intent of God is that we be made to be partakers of the divine nature…"

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” and "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature..."

The divine nature, the nature of God, is to love and to love perfectly; to love by preferring the life of another over your own life, to give up your life to God so that God would live through you. By this it is abundantly clear that the “new” covenant is not simply the “old” covenant rehashed. It has the elements of a totally different standard: the standard for God is the same for man.

 

[Magenta]

Love

 

[Gideon300]

This is for those who understand that Christ completed (established) the law and that the law at Sinai no longer functions against dead men.

Jesus said "A new commandment I give to you..." The reference to a “new” commandment, by implication, means that there was an “old” commandment. So what is the “old” commandment Jesus referenced?

The “old” commandment is found in Matthew, chapter 22:34-36. The account first begins with a lawyer trying to entrap Jesus.

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’”

Now, you’ll note that, indeed, a lawyer, under the law, could only ask Jesus a question about the law. He couldn’t ask Him about the new commandment; he was unaware of the new commandment. So the context of this question and the answer, both have to do with the law given at Sinai. What is the greatest commandment?

Matthew 22:37-40 “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

Jesus's answer summarized the teachings of the Law and the Prophets and, in this, His answer is solidly to be found in the Law. This is the very thing that Jesus will soon replace (we'll get to that). Today, many people think if you keep the 10 commandments and if you love your neighbor as yourself then you have done everything that God could have required. Now if you look at these two commandments you will immediately observe that they are foundationally different. Why? Because the standard is different.

The full new commandment is this: "A new commandment I give to you, as I have loved you, so you should love one another." And just to be thorough, the “old” commandment can be understood as thus: “With all of your capacity to love so you should love God and so you should love one another.” Well, you will notice that the standard of the “old” commandment is, of course, appropriate for the Law because the Sinai Law can only require you to do as much as it is possible for you to do. Objectively and theoretically it is possible to keep the Law because it does not require any more than all that you are capable of doing. It doesn’t say, “All that you feel like doing,” nor does it say, “All that you want to do.” It says, “All that you are capable of doing.”

So, when the Law says, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart...” all of your heart means all of the capacity that lies within you to do. All, in fact, means all. It doesn’t say, “All that you want to do, all that you feel like doing, all that on certain occasions you may be inclined to do.” No, it requires all. So in that sense, the Law and the standard of the Law is not haphazard but it does point out that it is all that is humanly possible.

It may be important to review why the law was given at Sinai: the Law was designed to keep the Jews alive UNTIL a certain event arose in the earth: the arrival of the SEED of Promise from God, Christ Himself. God could not ask a man to give up his own life under the Law.

There was no promise of a new life in the Law.

Let me write that again; "There was no promise of a new life in the Law."

To ask a man to give up his life would be to make the Law unrighteous. A man cannot give up his own life and simultaneously preserve his own life.

Furthermore, the standard is appropriate for the Law because if the Law asks of anyone more than all then by the existence of the Law you’ve been made lawless. In other words: if it is all plus 10% then the Law makes you lawless because it has exceeded your capacity to respond. But the Law begins and ends with what you can do. Its objective standard regarding loving God is all that you are capable of doing. The standard in regards to loving your neighbor is, “…as you love yourself.” The presumption is that you love yourself pretty thoroughly. Now what if you didn’t love yourself? The Law simply requires you to love your neighbor in the same fashion, to the same extent.

What is the standard of the new and how is that different?

The standard of the new is: “…as I have loved you.” Who is the “I” that is the measurement of this standard? The “I”, of course, is Christ, the one speaking. He is also the Living God. So the standard is: as Jesus has loved us so we are to love one another. Now what if you don’t love yourself? Well that is an irrelevant standard. He didn’t say, “as you love your neighbor, so you should love one another…” or “as I have occasionally loved you so you must love each other.” “As I have loved you” means “I, as God, have loved you perfectly; therefore I require you to love as God loves.”

This is a fascinating standard because it’s the same standard for God as it is for man.
The standard of love is the same for God as it is for man.
That standard of the new commandment makes God and man equal on the matter of love. That’s an incredible observation. On the matter of love, God and man are equal.

Now don’t take my observation for that. Look at this: this is from Matthew5:48, Jesus is speaking. Now this verse of Scripture is very troubling. Matthew 5:48 says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” What we’ve done is we’ve read that verse out of its context and we have inferred meanings to it that it does not mean. For example we’ve inferred that it means “be perfect in power” and so people come up with thoughts like, “if you’re not healed it’s your fault; you don’t have enough faith, you do not exercise enough power.” So if things go badly it’s your fault. God has given you all power, God has given you all faith, and so on, and if you do these things less than perfectly then it is your fault. Well that’s garbage because God would not require us to be perfect in power, whatever power we have is His power given to us, and no one is made "all powerful". Therefore we could only operate in whatever measures of power He has given us. This Scripture is not about being perfect in power; it’s about being perfect in love.

Note the context: jump back to verse 43 “‘You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies…” (so the context is love) “..and pray for those who persecute you…” Now why should you do that and how is this different? You must do that so that you can be sons of your Father in heaven, "..that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” It means that just as natural children resemble their natural parents and the nature of natural children is like the nature of their natural parents, so the nature of the children of God is like the God Who is perfect in love. So it’s not surprising to us that the same standard would apply to God as would apply to us… in the matter of love. So that you will be as sons of your Father in heaven.

And then He gives us some examples of how he loves His enemies and does good for those who persecute Him. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good...
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous…”

Then He contrasts and He says, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the pagans do that?” In short, to be like your Father in heaven it means that you do not simply love your enemies as you love yourselves or you love your neighbor as yourself; it is that you would love your enemy by preferring them over your own life and in that sense, and within that context it says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

The “old” commandment, under the Law, basically required you to love the extent of your capacity to love… love God as much as you are able and to love your neighbor as you are inclined to love yourself. That’s the “old” commandment.

The “new” commandment says, “…as I have loved you.” And it establishes Christ as the standard for love. Christ being the Living God, the standard is the same for God as the standard is for man. Now the reason why the standard is the same is because, according to 2 Peter 1:4, the intent of God is that we be made to be partakers of the divine nature…"

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” and "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature..."

The divine nature, the nature of God, is to love and to love perfectly; to love by preferring the life of another over your own life, to give up your life to God so that God would live through you. By this it is abundantly clear that the “new” covenant is not simply the “old” covenant rehashed. It has the elements of a totally different standard: the standard for God is the same for man.

Thank you.

Even though the Law was not beyond Israel's capacity to obey (Deuteronomy 30:15), Israel was rebellious and refused to obey. All mankind is the same. And that is why it is essential to be born again. We need a new heart, with new life and a new set of desires.

 

[Soyeong]

This is for those who understand that Christ completed (established) the law and that the law at Sinai no longer functions against dead men.

Loving or neighbor is not something that we do once and completed our obligation to command and no longer need to love our neighbor, but rather it is something that we need to keep in fulfilling in accordance with the example that Jesus set for us to follow. The law of sin leads of to be a slave if impurity, lawlessness, and sin while the Law of God leads us to be a slave to God and to righteousness, so we need to die to the law of sin in order to be free to obey the law of God, not the other way around (Romans 6)

Jesus said "A new commandment I give to you..."

3501 néos – new ("new on the scene"); recently revealed or "what was not there before" (TDNT), including what is recently discovered.

The command to love our neighbor can be found in Leviticus 19:18, so Jesus was not sinning in violation of Deuteronomy 4:2 by adding a brand new law, but rather what was new about command was the quality of the example by which we should love our neighbor. In order to correctly know how to obey the command to love our neighbor as ourselves we need to know how we should love ourselves and the answer to that is that we should love ourselves as Christ loves us, which is therefore also how we should love our neighbor.

It may be important to review why the law was given at Sinai: the Law was designed to keep the Jews alive UNTIL a certain event arose in the earth: the arrival of the SEED of Promise from God, Christ Himself. God could not ask a man to give up his own life under the Law.

In Acts 3:25-26, it does not say that Jesus was sent as the promised seed to curses us by freeing us to become doers of what the Law of God reveals to be wickedness, but rather it says that he came as the promised seed to bless us by turning us from our wickedness.

There was no promise of a new life in the Law.

In Romans 10:5-8, Paul referee to Deuteronomy 30 as the word of faith that we proclaim in regard to the righteousness that is by faith proclaiming that the Law of God is not too difficult for us to obey and that obedience to it brings life and a blessing while disobedience brings death and a curse, so choose life! In Genesis 18:19, God knew Abraham that he would teach his children and those of his household walk in His way by being doers of righteousness and justice that the Lord might bring to him all that He has promised. In Genesis 26:4-5, God will multiply Abraham's children as the stars in the heavens, to his children He will give all of these lands, and through his children all of the nations of the earth shall be blessed because he heard God's voice and guarded His commandments, statued, and laws. In Deuteronomy 30:16, if the children of Abraham will love God with all of their heart by walking in God's way in obedience to His commandments, statutes, and laws, then they will live and multiply and God will bless them in the land that they to posses, the the promise is directly connected with new life in the Law.

if it is all plus 10% then the Law makes you lawless because it has exceeded your capacity to respond.

In Deuteronomy 30:11-14, it notably does not say that what God commanded is beyond our capacity, but just the opposite.

What is the standard of the new and how is that different?

It's not different. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus summarized the Law of God as being about how to love God and our neighbor, so that is how he loved us and how we are to love our neighbor as he loved us.

Now don’t take my observation for that. Look at this: this is from Matthew5:48, Jesus is speaking. Now this verse of Scripture is very troubling. Matthew 5:48 says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” What we’ve done is we’ve read that verse out of its context and we have inferred meanings to it that it does not mean. For example we’ve inferred that it means “be perfect in power” and so people come up with thoughts like, “if you’re not healed it’s your fault; you don’t have enough faith, you do not exercise enough power.” So if things go badly it’s your fault. God has given you all power, God has given you all faith, and so on, and if you do these things less than perfectly then it is your fault. Well that’s garbage because God would not require us to be perfect in power, whatever power we have is His power given to us, and no one is made "all powerful". Therefore we could only operate in whatever measures of power He has given us. This Scripture is not about being perfect in power; it’s about being perfect in love.

Note the context: jump back to verse 43 “‘You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies…” (so the context is love) “..and pray for those who persecute you…” Now why should you do that and how is this different? You must do that so that you can be sons of your Father in heaven, "..that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” It means that just as natural children resemble their natural parents and the nature of natural children is like the nature of their natural parents, so the nature of the children of God is like the God Who is perfect in love. So it’s not surprising to us that the same standard would apply to God as would apply to us… in the matter of love. So that you will be as sons of your Father in heaven.

And then He gives us some examples of how he loves His enemies and does good for those who persecute Him. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good...
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous…”

Then He contrasts and He says, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the pagans do that?” In short, to be like your Father in heaven it means that you do not simply love your enemies as you love yourselves or you love your neighbor as yourself; it is that you would love your enemy by preferring them over your own life and in that sense, and within that context it says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

Jesus was speaking about having a love that is full or complete where we don't just love those who love us, but also love our enemies, which is in accordance with verses like Exodus 23:4-5, Deuteronomy 23:7, Proverbs 24:17-18, and Proverbs 25:21-22.

The “old” commandment, under the Law, basically required you to love the extent of your capacity to love… love God as much as you are able and to love your neighbor as you are inclined to love yourself. That’s the “old” commandment.

The “new” commandment says, “…as I have loved you.” And it establishes Christ as the standard for love. Christ being the Living God, the standard is the same for God as the standard is for man. Now the reason why the standard is the same is because, according to 2 Peter 1:4, the intent of God is that we be made to be partakers of the divine nature…"

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” and "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature..."

The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact likeness of His nature (Hebrews 1:3), which he embodied through his works by setting a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Law of God, so the way to partake in the divine nature is through following his example. It would be contradictory to partake in God's righteousness while also dying to God's instructions for how to partake in His righteousness.

The divine nature, the nature of God, is to love and to love perfectly; to love by preferring the life of another over your own life, to give up your life to God so that God would live through you. By this it is abundantly clear that the “new” covenant is not simply the “old” covenant rehashed. It has the elements of a totally different standard: the standard for God is the same for man.

The New Covenant is made with the same God with the same nature and therefore the same eternally valid instructions for how to partake in His nature (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26-27). The New Covenant would involve following a different set of laws for how to partake in a different nature only if it were made with a different god with a different nature. Do you believe in the existence of the God who has the nature that the Law of Moses was given in order to teach us how to partake in?

 

[Aaron56]

Loving or neighbor is not something that we do once and completed our obligation to command and no longer need to love our neighbor, but rather it is something that we need to keep in fulfilling in accordance with the example that Jesus set for us to follow. The law of sin leads of to be a slave if impurity, lawlessness, and sin while the Law of God leads us to be a slave to God and to righteousness, so we need to die to the law of sin in order to be free to obey the law of God, not the other way around (Romans 6)


3501 néos – new ("new on the scene"); recently revealed or "what was not there before" (TDNT), including what is recently discovered.

The command to love our neighbor can be found in Leviticus 19:18, so Jesus was not sinning in violation of Deuteronomy 4:2 by adding a brand new law, but rather what was new about command was the quality of the example by which we should love our neighbor. In order to correctly know how to obey the command to love our neighbor as ourselves we need to know how we should love ourselves and the answer to that is that we should love ourselves as Christ loves us, which is therefore also how we should love our neighbor.



In Acts 3:25-26, it does not say that Jesus was sent as the promised seed to curses us by freeing us to become doers of what the Law of God reveals to be wickedness, but rather it says that he came as the promised seed to bless us by turning us from our wickedness.


In Romans 10:5-8, Paul referee to Deuteronomy 30 as the word of faith that we proclaim in regard to the righteousness that is by faith proclaiming that the Law of God is not too difficult for us to obey and that obedience to it brings life and a blessing while disobedience brings death and a curse, so choose life! In Genesis 18:19, God knew Abraham that he would teach his children and those of his household walk in His way by being doers of righteousness and justice that the Lord might bring to him all that He has promised. In Genesis 26:4-5, God will multiply Abraham's children as the stars in the heavens, to his children He will give all of these lands, and through his children all of the nations of the earth shall be blessed because he heard God's voice and guarded His commandments, statued, and laws. In Deuteronomy 30:16, if the children of Abraham will love God with all of their heart by walking in God's way in obedience to His commandments, statutes, and laws, then they will live and multiply and God will bless them in the land that they to posses, the the promise is directly connected with new life in the Law.


In Deuteronomy 30:11-14, it notably does not say that what God commanded is beyond our capacity, but just the opposite.


It's not different. In Matthew 22:36-40, Jesus summarized the Law of God as being about how to love God and our neighbor, so that is how he loved us and how we are to love our neighbor as he loved us.


Jesus was speaking about having a love that is full or complete where we don't just love those who love us, but also love our enemies, which is in accordance with verses like Exodus 23:4-5, Deuteronomy 23:7, Proverbs 24:17-18, and Proverbs 25:21-22.


The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact likeness of His nature (Hebrews 1:3), which he embodied through his works by setting a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Law of God, so the way to partake in the divine nature is through following his example. It would be contradictory to partake in God's righteousness while also dying to God's instructions for how to partake in His righteousness.


The New Covenant is made with the same God with the same nature and therefore the same eternally valid instructions for how to partake in His nature (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26-27). The New Covenant would involve following a different set of laws for how to partake in a different nature only if it were made with a different god with a different nature. Do you believe in the existence of the God who has the nature that the Law of Moses was given in order to teach us how to partake in?

Yeah, this thread is not for you.

 

[Blade]

 

[Gideon300]

The New Covenant is made with the same God with the same nature and therefore the same eternally valid instructions for how to partake in His nature (Jeremiah 31:33, Ezekiel 36:26-27). The New Covenant would involve following a different set of laws for how to partake in a different nature only if it were made with a different god with a different nature. Do you believe in the existence of the God who has the nature that the Law of Moses was given in order to teach us how to partake in?

So what is the point of the New Covenant? Yes, God gave Israel the law and yes, it is not too hard for man to obey. The problem is that man will not obey. The Old Covenant of Law simply proved that human nature is utterly corrupt, rebellious, proud and stubborn.

The Law is helpless to change anyone. That is why we must be born again. And Lord Jesus demonstrated that keeping the law was insufficient. Check out the sermon on the mount. It's a commentary on the Law from God's point of view. God looks at the heart, man at the outward appearance.

The function of the Law is to lead us to Christ. Once we are born again, the law has done its job. Believers have a new nature which runs on an entirely new principle, the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. This is infinitely superior to outward observation of a set of rules.

Lord Jesus is not an example to follow. He is the Life of every believer. The problem is that there are too many make believe Christians. They have a mental concept but that's as far as it goes. And many of those who are born again do not realise that Jesus lives in them. They know in theory, but in practice they still try to be what they believe a good Christian should be.

God's word says this:

"For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God." Galatians 2:19. Tell me what laws apply to dead people?​

"But now, having died to what bound us, we have been released from the law, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." Romans 7:6. Just in case you did not understand the previous verse

"All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” The law, however, is not based on faith; on the contrary, “The man who does these things will live by them.” Galatians 3: 1-12

When you follow the law, you are not living by faith. That means that you are not pleasing God.

"Before this faith came, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law became our guardian to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian." Galatians 3:23-25

The law does not save us and neither does it make us righteous. "Whoever keeps the whole law but stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." James 2:10

"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Galatians 5:18

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" Romans 8:14

I am led by the Spirit. I am not under the law.

 

[memberofthebride]

This is for those who understand that Christ completed (established) the law and that the law at Sinai no longer functions against dead men.

Jesus said "A new commandment I give to you..." The reference to a “new” commandment, by implication, means that there was an “old” commandment. So what is the “old” commandment Jesus referenced?

The “old” commandment is found in Matthew, chapter 22:34-36. The account first begins with a lawyer trying to entrap Jesus.

“Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ‘Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’”

Now, you’ll note that, indeed, a lawyer, under the law, could only ask Jesus a question about the law. He couldn’t ask Him about the new commandment; he was unaware of the new commandment. So the context of this question and the answer, both have to do with the law given at Sinai. What is the greatest commandment?

Matthew 22:37-40 “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.’”

Jesus's answer summarized the teachings of the Law and the Prophets and, in this, His answer is solidly to be found in the Law. This is the very thing that Jesus will soon replace (we'll get to that). Today, many people think if you keep the 10 commandments and if you love your neighbor as yourself then you have done everything that God could have required. Now if you look at these two commandments you will immediately observe that they are foundationally different. Why? Because the standard is different.

The full new commandment is this: "A new commandment I give to you, as I have loved you, so you should love one another." And just to be thorough, the “old” commandment can be understood as thus: “With all of your capacity to love so you should love God and so you should love one another.” Well, you will notice that the standard of the “old” commandment is, of course, appropriate for the Law because the Sinai Law can only require you to do as much as it is possible for you to do. Objectively and theoretically it is possible to keep the Law because it does not require any more than all that you are capable of doing. It doesn’t say, “All that you feel like doing,” nor does it say, “All that you want to do.” It says, “All that you are capable of doing.”

So, when the Law says, “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart...” all of your heart means all of the capacity that lies within you to do. All, in fact, means all. It doesn’t say, “All that you want to do, all that you feel like doing, all that on certain occasions you may be inclined to do.” No, it requires all. So in that sense, the Law and the standard of the Law is not haphazard but it does point out that it is all that is humanly possible.

It may be important to review why the law was given at Sinai: the Law was designed to keep the Jews alive UNTIL a certain event arose in the earth: the arrival of the SEED of Promise from God, Christ Himself. God could not ask a man to give up his own life under the Law.

There was no promise of a new life in the Law.

Let me write that again; "There was no promise of a new life in the Law."

To ask a man to give up his life would be to make the Law unrighteous. A man cannot give up his own life and simultaneously preserve his own life.

Furthermore, the standard is appropriate for the Law because if the Law asks of anyone more than all then by the existence of the Law you’ve been made lawless. In other words: if it is all plus 10% then the Law makes you lawless because it has exceeded your capacity to respond. But the Law begins and ends with what you can do. Its objective standard regarding loving God is all that you are capable of doing. The standard in regards to loving your neighbor is, “…as you love yourself.” The presumption is that you love yourself pretty thoroughly. Now what if you didn’t love yourself? The Law simply requires you to love your neighbor in the same fashion, to the same extent.

What is the standard of the new and how is that different?



Note the context: jump back to verse 43 “‘You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies…” (so the context is love) “..and pray for those who persecute you…” Now why should you do that and how is this different? You must do that so that you can be sons of your Father in heaven, "..that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” It means that just as natural children resemble their natural parents and the nature of natural children is like the nature of their natural parents, so the nature of the children of God is like the God Who is perfect in love. So it’s not surprising to us that the same standard would apply to God as would apply to us… in the matter of love. So that you will be as sons of your Father in heaven.

And then He gives us some examples of how he loves His enemies and does good for those who persecute Him. “He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good...
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous…”

Then He contrasts and He says, “If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even the pagans do that?” In short, to be like your Father in heaven it means that you do not simply love your enemies as you love yourselves or you love your neighbor as yourself; it is that you would love your enemy by preferring them over your own life and in that sense, and within that context it says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

The “old” commandment, under the Law, basically required you to love the extent of your capacity to love… love God as much as you are able and to love your neighbor as you are inclined to love yourself. That’s the “old” commandment.

The “new” commandment says, “…as I have loved you.” And it establishes Christ as the standard for love. Christ being the Living God, the standard is the same for God as the standard is for man. Now the reason why the standard is the same is because, according to 2 Peter 1:4, the intent of God is that we be made to be partakers of the divine nature…"

“Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” and "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His nature..."

The divine nature, the nature of God, is to love and to love perfectly; to love by preferring the life of another over your own life, to give up your life to God so that God would live through you. By this it is abundantly clear that the “new” covenant is not simply the “old” covenant rehashed. It has the elements of a totally different standard: the standard for God is the same for man.

define love -
it is NOT an Emotion, not a feeling !!!!

Love is expressed by action, 13 Greater love (Agape) hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
the ACTION of letting Himself be put to death is, was an action of LOVE, not words, not emotions

The only way to define love is found in the Word:

The first four C define how God wants man to show Him love, "no other god before ME",
do you have a better way than God?? really?

the last six are the ways we are to love our fellow man --- by NOT doing all those evils to each other
I feel very sure, no one want me or anyone to do to them, what the C tells us not to do to each other.

I do understand why the 10 are so hated

The two Great Precepts, precepts that are the foundational bedrock of the Torah and written in Two tables of stone
1 -4 love GOD
6 - 10 love man

Again -- if only three or four of the six were obeyed, the entire world would be at peace for the first time in 6000 years
How is that a bad things? Why would Christ not want you to obey what brings peace??

NO! eternal life can not be earned --- ever
The O T NEVER offered eternal life or the Holy Spirit, never said if you keep My commandment I will give you eternal life --NEVER said that

Who else is it that hates the C, one guess, and you want to join him in hating the C?

but walk contrary unto me; please explain How man is walking contrary to God.
this is how many minds this will change -- zero

 

[Aaron56]

define love -
it is NOT an Emotion, not a feeling !!!!

Love is expressed by action, 13 Greater love (Agape) hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
the ACTION of letting Himself be put to death is, was an action of LOVE, not words, not emotions

The only way to define love is found in the Word:

The first four C define how God wants man to show Him love, "no other god before ME",
do you have a better way than God?? really?

the last six are the ways we are to love our fellow man --- by NOT doing all those evils to each other
I feel very sure, no one want me or anyone to do to them, what the C tells us not to do to each other.

I do understand why the 10 are so hated

The two Great Precepts, precepts that are the foundational bedrock of the Torah and written in Two tables of stone
1 -4 love GOD
6 - 10 love man

Again -- if only three or four of the six were obeyed, the entire world would be at peace for the first time in 6000 years
How is that a bad things? Why would Christ not want you to obey what brings peace??

NO! eternal life can not be earned --- ever
The O T NEVER offered eternal life or the Holy Spirit, never said if you keep My commandment I will give you eternal life --NEVER said that

Who else is it that hates the C, one guess, and you want to join him in hating the C?

but walk contrary unto me; please explain How man is walking contrary to God.
this is how many minds this will change -- zero

You seem totally committed to your lack of understanding. Good luck.

 

[lrs68]

Both Tenants mentioned in the New Commandment covers everything the Old Commandments were trying to teach the ancient Hebrew peoples.

Love God and love everyone else with God's Love.

 

[memberofthebride]

You seem totally committed to your lack of understanding. Good luck.

Just for clarity, What Christ said is the greatest example of agape --- is that wrong?

What Chrsit did was way above doi

 

[memberofthebride]

Got distracted sorry..

 

[Aaron56]

Just for clarity, What Christ said is the greatest example of agape --- is that wrong?

What Chrsit did was way above doi

Are you asking or remaining in your level of understanding?

 

[memberofthebride]

Are you asking or remaining in your level of understanding?

I was asking if you thought what Christ did was "the greatest example of love" as He said it is? I got interrupted and had to leave.

there is a zero chance of me having any involvement with the 45,000 flavors of confusion.

How is it you do not believe Jesus Christ. Christ said He is not the savior of the MANY, only the few.
I would think, how every many churches there are, and I have been told maybe by you, that there is very little differences, thus they are all the same.

How can they not be the Many? xmas and easter are national holidays and 97% of christian churches keep sunday.
Who then are the Many? I, most likely, am in the .01%
if there are 10 or 20 or 40,000 types of churches, the majority (97%) keep Xmas, easter and sunday, the few do not.

 

[Aaron56]

I was asking if you thought what Christ did was "the greatest example of love" as He said it is? I got interrupted and had to leave.

there is a zero chance of me having any involvement with the 45,000 flavors of confusion.

How is it you do not believe Jesus Christ. Christ said He is not the savior of the MANY, only the few.
I would think, how every many churches there are, and I have been told maybe by you, that there is very little differences, thus they are all the same.

How can they not be the Many? xmas and easter are national holidays and 97% of christian churches keep sunday.
Who then are the Many? I, most likely, am in the .01%
if there are 10 or 20 or 40,000 types of churches, the majority (97%) keep Xmas, easter and sunday, the few do not.

Content then. Okay.

 

[Soyeong]

So what is the point of the New Covenant? Yes, God gave Israel the law and yes, it is not too hard for man to obey. The problem is that man will not obey. The Old Covenant of Law simply proved that human nature is utterly corrupt, rebellious, proud and stubborn.​

In Deuteronomy 30, it forms the basis of the New Covenant by prophesying about a time when the Israelites would return from exile, God would circumcise their hearts, they they would return to obedience to the Law of Moses, which is what Ezekiel 36:26-27 and Jeremiah 31:33 and in regard to. In Hebrews 8:7-10, the fault that God found with the New Covenant was not with His righteousness or with His laws for how to embody His righteousness, but rather the fault that he found was with the people for not continuing in their covenant, so the solution to the problem was not for God to do away with His righteousness or with His laws for how to embody His righteousness, but to do away with what was hindering us from obeying them. This is why the New Covenant involves God sending His Son to free us from sin so that we might be free to meet the righteous requirement of the Law of Moses (Romans 8:3-4), God taking away our hearts of stone, giving us hearts of flesh, and sending His Spirit to lead us in obedience to the Law of Moses (Ezekiel 36:26-27), and God putting the Law of Moses in our minds and writing it on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). If someone wants nothing to do with following Christ's example of obedience to the Law of Moses, then they also want nothing to do with being under the New Covenant.

The Law is helpless to change anyone. That is why we must be born again. And Lord Jesus demonstrated that keeping the law was insufficient. Check out the sermon on the mount. It's a commentary on the Law from God's point of view. God looks at the heart, man at the outward appearance.​

The Law of Moses never given to change anyone in the first place, but rather it was given to describe the life of someone who is being changed to be like Christ. The Law of Moses was never given as a way of becoming righteous even as the result of having perfect obedience, but rather it was given to describe the experience of someone who is righteous as it describes what Christ experienced. Nowhere did Christ demonstrate that keeping the law was insufficient. In Matthew 7:21-24, Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount by saying that only those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven in contrast with saying that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them and he said that the one who hear his words and does them will be like a man who builds his house on a rock. What is in our hearts flows out through our works.

The function of the Law is to lead us to Christ. Once we are born again, the law has done its job. Believers have a new nature which runs on an entirely new principle, the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. This is infinitely superior to outward observation of a set of rules.​

In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to walk in His way that he and Israel might know Him, so the Law of Moses leads us to Christ because it was given in order to teach us how to know him through embodying his character traits and it still has this function. A child of someone is a person who embodies their character traits through their works, such as with John 8:39 saying that if they were children of Abraham, then they would be doers of the same works as him. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact likeness of His character (Hebrews 1:3), which he embodied through his works by setting a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in the Spirit/how to walk in obedience to the Law of Moses. God's character traits are the fruits of the Spirit, which is why Paul contrasted those who are born of the Spirit with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to the Law of Moses (Romans 8:4-14). Likewise, this is why 1 John 3:4-10 says that those who are not doers of righteous works in obedience to the Law of Moses are not born again.

Lord Jesus is not an example to follow. He is the Life of every believer.​

A Christian is by definition a follower of Christ and as his followers we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22), that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way that he walked (1 John 2:6), and to be imitators of Paul as he is of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1. Jesus experienced living in obedience to the Law of Moses, so that is also what we have the gift of getting to experience when he is living in us.

Galatians 2:19. Tell me what laws apply to dead people?​

omans 7:6. Just in case you did not understand the previous verse

Those who are under the the law of sin are slaves to impurity, lawlessness, and sin while those who are under the Law of Moses are slaves to God and to righteousness leading sanctification and the goal of sanctification is eternal life in Christ, which is the gift of God (Romans 6), so we should die to the law of sin in order to be free to obey the Law of Moses, not the other way around. The way to live for God is not by dying to His instructions for how to live for Him.

Galatians 3: 1-12

When you follow the law, you are not living by faith. That means that you are not pleasing God.

In Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law of works with a law of faith, in Galatians 3:10-12, he contrasted the Book of the Law with "works of the law", and in Romans 3:31, he said that our faith upholds the Law of Moses in contrast with saying that "works of the law" are not of faith, so that phrase does not refer to the Law of Moses, which is why it is not of faith. God is trustworthy, therefore the Law of Moses is also trustworthy (Psalm 19:7), so the way to trust in God is by obediently trusting in His instructions and it would be contradictory to think that we should have faith in God for salvation but not in His instructions. God wanted His people to repent and to return to obedience to the Law of Moses all throughout the Bible and even Jesus began his ministry with that Gospel message (Matthew 4:15-23), so it is completely absurd to think that God is not pleased by this as if the way to be pleasing to God is by rebelling against His instructions.

Galatians 3:23-25

It is incorrect to think that Jesus came as the promised seed to curse us by freeing us to become doers of what the Law of Moses reveals to be wickedness, but rather the Gospel that Jesus spread in Matthew 4:15-23 that calls for us to repent from our disobedience to the Law of Moses is in accordance with him being sent as the promised seed to bless us by turning us from our wickedness (Acts 3:25-26).

James 2:10

I agree that we can't earn our salvation or righteousness even as the result of having perfect obedience to the Law of Moses because it was never given as a way of doing that in the first place, but that doesn't mean that we aren't required to obey it for the reasons for which it was given. In James 2:1-11, he would encouraging them them to repent from their disobedience to the Law of Moses and to obey it more consistently.

"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Galatians 5:18


"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God" Romans 8:14

I am led by the Spirit. I am not under the law.

In Romans 8:2-7, Paul said that the Law of the Spirit has freed us from the law of sin so that we might be free to meet the righteous requirement of the Law of Moses and he contrasted those who walk in the Spirit with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to the Law of Moses, so the law that we are not under when we are led by the Spirit is the law of sin, not the Law of God. In Galatians 5:16-23, Paul contrasted the desires of the flesh with the desires of the Spirit and everything that he listed as works of the flesh that are against the Spirit are also against the Law of Moses while all of the fruits of the Spirit are aspects of God's character traits that the Law of Moses was given in order to teach us how to embody. The Law of Moses was given by God and the Spirit is God, so it would be contradictory to interpret Galatians 5:18 as referring to the Law of Moses as if we are not led by God when we are led by God.

 

[Gideon300]

In Deuteronomy 30, it forms the basis of the New Covenant by prophesying about a time when the Israelites would return from exile, God would circumcise their hearts, they they would return to obedience to the Law of Moses, which is what Ezekiel 36:26-27 and Jeremiah 31:33 and in regard to. In Hebrews 8:7-10, the fault that God found with the New Covenant was not with His righteousness or with His laws for how to embody His righteousness, but rather the fault that he found was with the people for not continuing in their covenant, so the solution to the problem was not for God to do away with His righteousness or with His laws for how to embody His righteousness, but to do away with what was hindering us from obeying them. This is why the New Covenant involves God sending His Son to free us from sin so that we might be free to meet the righteous requirement of the Law of Moses (Romans 8:3-4), God taking away our hearts of stone, giving us hearts of flesh, and sending His Spirit to lead us in obedience to the Law of Moses (Ezekiel 36:26-27), and God putting the Law of Moses in our minds and writing it on our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). If someone wants nothing to do with following Christ's example of obedience to the Law of Moses, then they also want nothing to do with being under the New Covenant.


The Law of Moses never given to change anyone in the first place, but rather it was given to describe the life of someone who is being changed to be like Christ. The Law of Moses was never given as a way of becoming righteous even as the result of having perfect obedience, but rather it was given to describe the experience of someone who is righteous as it describes what Christ experienced. Nowhere did Christ demonstrate that keeping the law was insufficient. In Matthew 7:21-24, Jesus ended the Sermon on the Mount by saying that only those who do the will of the Father will enter the Kingdom of Heaven in contrast with saying that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them and he said that the one who hear his words and does them will be like a man who builds his house on a rock. What is in our hearts flows out through our works.


In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to walk in His way that he and Israel might know Him, so the Law of Moses leads us to Christ because it was given in order to teach us how to know him through embodying his character traits and it still has this function. A child of someone is a person who embodies their character traits through their works, such as with John 8:39 saying that if they were children of Abraham, then they would be doers of the same works as him. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact likeness of His character (Hebrews 1:3), which he embodied through his works by setting a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in the Spirit/how to walk in obedience to the Law of Moses. God's character traits are the fruits of the Spirit, which is why Paul contrasted those who are born of the Spirit with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to the Law of Moses (Romans 8:4-14). Likewise, this is why 1 John 3:4-10 says that those who are not doers of righteous works in obedience to the Law of Moses are not born again.


A Christian is by definition a follower of Christ and as his followers we are told to follow his example (1 Peter 2:21-22), that those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way that he walked (1 John 2:6), and to be imitators of Paul as he is of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1. Jesus experienced living in obedience to the Law of Moses, so that is also what we have the gift of getting to experience when he is living in us.


Those who are under the the law of sin are slaves to impurity, lawlessness, and sin while those who are under the Law of Moses are slaves to God and to righteousness leading sanctification and the goal of sanctification is eternal life in Christ, which is the gift of God (Romans 6), so we should die to the law of sin in order to be free to obey the Law of Moses, not the other way around. The way to live for God is not by dying to His instructions for how to live for Him.


In Romans 3:27, Paul contrasted a law of works with a law of faith, in Galatians 3:10-12, he contrasted the Book of the Law with "works of the law", and in Romans 3:31, he said that our faith upholds the Law of Moses in contrast with saying that "works of the law" are not of faith, so that phrase does not refer to the Law of Moses, which is why it is not of faith. God is trustworthy, therefore the Law of Moses is also trustworthy (Psalm 19:7), so the way to trust in God is by obediently trusting in His instructions and it would be contradictory to think that we should have faith in God for salvation but not in His instructions. God wanted His people to repent and to return to obedience to the Law of Moses all throughout the Bible and even Jesus began his ministry with that Gospel message (Matthew 4:15-23), so it is completely absurd to think that God is not pleased by this as if the way to be pleasing to God is by rebelling against His instructions.


It is incorrect to think that Jesus came as the promised seed to curse us by freeing us to become doers of what the Law of Moses reveals to be wickedness, but rather the Gospel that Jesus spread in Matthew 4:15-23 that calls for us to repent from our disobedience to the Law of Moses is in accordance with him being sent as the promised seed to bless us by turning us from our wickedness (Acts 3:25-26).


I agree that we can't earn our salvation or righteousness even as the result of having perfect obedience to the Law of Moses because it was never given as a way of doing that in the first place, but that doesn't mean that we aren't required to obey it for the reasons for which it was given. In James 2:1-11, he would encouraging them them to repent from their disobedience to the Law of Moses and to obey it more consistently.


In Romans 8:2-7, Paul said that the Law of the Spirit has freed us from the law of sin so that we might be free to meet the righteous requirement of the Law of Moses and he contrasted those who walk in the Spirit with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to the Law of Moses, so the law that we are not under when we are led by the Spirit is the law of sin, not the Law of God. In Galatians 5:16-23, Paul contrasted the desires of the flesh with the desires of the Spirit and everything that he listed as works of the flesh that are against the Spirit are also against the Law of Moses while all of the fruits of the Spirit are aspects of God's character traits that the Law of Moses was given in order to teach us how to embody. The Law of Moses was given by God and the Spirit is God, so it would be contradictory to interpret Galatians 5:18 as referring to the Law of Moses as if we are not led by God when we are led by God.

The rich young ruler assured Jesus that he (the ruler) had obeyed the commandments from his youth. Lord Jesus said in effect, not good enough. And that is what God says to you legalists. There is a new law, the law of the Spirit of Life. It is not written on stone. It is in Christ Jesus. Be led by the Spirit and you will not be under the law.

I've been born again 54 years. Not once in all that time has God told me to worship on the Sabbath. He's told me countless things that are not included in the Law of Moses. And He always gives me grace that I might obey Him.

You pick and choose what you mean by law. It's how you legalists rationalise your misinterpretation of God's word.

 

[Aaron56]

The rich young ruler assured Jesus that he (the ruler) had obeyed the commandments from his youth. Lord Jesus said in effect, not good enough. And that is what God says to you legalists. There is a new law, the law of the Spirit of Life. It is not written on stone. It is in Christ Jesus. Be led by the Spirit and you will not be under the law.

I've been born again 54 years. Not once in all that time has God told me to worship on the Sabbath. He's told me countless things that are not included in the Law of Moses. And He always gives me grace that I might obey Him.

You pick and choose what you mean by law. It's how you legalists rationalise your misinterpretation of God's word.

Yeah, deep down, legalists like holding God to account. They likely have unresolved daddy issues causing them to need God to give them what they’re owed. Their relationships are transactional: “I did this so you must now do this.” It’s the mind of a slave unable to be an inheritor with the Son. Gee, I wonder what creature could have thought that up?

 

[memberofthebride]

The rich young ruler assured Jesus that he (the ruler) had obeyed the commandments from his youth. Lord Jesus said in effect, not good enough. And that is what God says to you legalists. There is a new law, the law of the Spirit of Life. It is not written on stone. It is in Christ Jesus. Be led by the Spirit and you will not be under the law.

I've been born again 54 years. Not once in all that time has God told me to worship on the Sabbath. He's told me countless things that are not included in the Law of Moses. And He always gives me grace that I might obey Him.

You pick and choose what you mean by law. It's how you legalists rationalise your misinterpretation of God's word.

The rich young ruler assured Jesus that he (the ruler) had obeyed the commandments from his youth.

Lord Jesus said in effect, not good enough.
I must comment on this;
Christ was NOT saying 'Not good enough!"

Christ only mentioned those commandments showing how to love your neighbor
He did not mention any of the 4 showing how to love God.

As those are the commandments the rich man was transgressing.

This is the main commandment he was breaking!
He put His wealth before God.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

Christ is dead serious about "no other gods before ME"

37 He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me:
and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

38 And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

the rich man was not willing to give up his wealth, that was his god,

 

[Soyeong]

The rich young ruler assured Jesus that he (the ruler) had obeyed the commandments from his youth. Lord Jesus said in effect, not good enough. And that is what God says to you legalists. There is a new law, the law of the Spirit of Life. It is not written on stone. It is in Christ Jesus. Be led by the Spirit and you will not be under the law.

Jesus did not say anything to the effect that it was not good enough. Obedience to the Law of Moses has nothing to do with trying to be good enough. God has not commanded anything that is not in accordance with walking in the Spirit, but rather the Law of Moses is God's instructions for how to embody His character traits and His character traits are the fruits of the Spirit, which is they the Spirit has the role of leading us to obey it (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Again, the Law of Moses was given by God and the Spirit is God, so it would be contradictory to interpret Galatians 5:18 as referring tot he Law of Moses as if we are not led by God when we are led by God. Christ set a sinless example for us to follow of how to walk in obedience to the Law of Moses and those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way that he walked (1 John 2:6).

I've been born again 54 years. Not once in all that time has God told me to worship on the Sabbath. He's told me countless things that are not included in the Law of Moses. And He always gives me grace that I might obey Him.

You have the Bible available to you where God has commanded to keep the Sabbath holy, so why it makes sense to you to interpret the Bible as speaking against obeying what God has commanded is beyond me.

You pick and choose what you mean by law. It's how you legalists rationalise your misinterpretation of God's word.

I speak about which law a verse is referring to only when I can justifiably make the case that it is referring to that law. Paul spoke about multiple categories of law other than the Law of God, such as with the law of sin and works of the law, so it is important to correctly discern which law he was referring to rather than blindly assume that he was always speaking about the Law of God even when he was contrasting two different categories of law with each other. For example, in Romans 7:25-8:2, Paul said that he served the Law of God with his mind in contrast with saying that he served the law of sin with his flesh and he said that the Law of the Spirit has freed us from the law of sin and death. Moreover, in Romans 8:4-7, Paul contrasted those who walk in the Spirit with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to the Law of God, so this passable should inform how to interpret Galatians 5:16-23.