Cool but I think the laws could be summarised to two important commandments. This seems to have covered our dealings with God but not with people around us.
this is true, drett.
if i read you right, there's an implicit remark about christian hypocrisy
particularly concerning these 2 great commandments.
but the reality is: no one has or does obey these 2 great commandments sufficiently to enter the Presence of the Almighty and not be condemned. not one. no one who identifies as a Christian, either.
not by our own works/behavior. it's out of the question.
the morally upstanding people who have ever lived still need their sins forgiven by Holy God, and only through the shedding of blood is there remission of sin. the sacrifice had to be perfect and without spot to be acceptable to God, for the forgiveness of sin.
there was only ONE who obeyed those 2 commandments (and all of them) perfectly, and that Man was Jesus of Nazareth.
only through faith in His perfect obedience will anyone be justified in the sight of God.
after being found not guilty (though we are guilty) - by trusting in God's OWN perfect provision - Jesus....THEN the new man who has been adopted and accepted by God (BY FAITH IN CHRIST, not SELF) will be transformed by the Spirit of God.
then the new man can and will desire to obey those 2 great commands - Love God and neighbor...because he has the Spirit in him, conforming and transforming God's NEW possession.
NO ONE will be justified before God through obedience to the Law because all men (ALL) have already sinned and fallen short. it is impossible to be saved through the Law since the Law was brought in to show us how far from God we are.
it is ONLY through faith and trust in His OWN Perfect Plan - which He Himself Planned perfectly before the world began, with every part performed FOR US, BY HIM, THROUGH CHRIST...because He is a Good and Merciful God.....Who needs to maintain His Perfect Justice also.
how can any man who has offended God and MUST pay the price for it be saved from His Justice?
only by God Himself, through His OWN means, accepted as free gift, to be received by faith, with thanksgiving.
is this a mystery to you? i know it seems like it because Islam teaches that man can only be accepted through obedience and good works, and that Islam's god will decide arbitrarily who will be saved. that justice is meted out according to the individual's performance. yet this is no justice at all....because in reality no one performs or obeys God ENOUGH.
the God of the Bible is ABSOLUTE. there is no sliding scale of righteousness according to the Law for justification and forgiveness (acceptance).
this is why Jesus Came.
John 3:16
For God loved the world
in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
that's how He loved the world.
in that way.
John 6:40
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."
John 6:39
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.
John 6:44
"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.
the question might be: is the Father drawing you to the Son?
Hebrews 12:25
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?
the Hebrews got the warning - about not turning back to the Law for justification.
it's the deceitfulness of sin that keeps people in unbelief - from believing that Jesus Christ is the only Way to God.
Hebrews 3:12
The Dangers of Unbelief
12Take care, brethren, that there not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God. 13But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called "Today," so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
the deceitfulness of sin is a 2-part problem:
-
believing that we have no sin (or that our sin is not enough to condemn us; or that our sin won't earn us the due penalty)
- believing that we can remain slaves to sin (which we previously denied we had) after salvation.
the order of salvation is:
1) agreeing with what God has said about our condition as children of Adam; and
2) understanding that God reconciled us to Himself through Christ...and that it is ONLY Christ's Work that is acceptable to God for justification from sin.
Romans 5:19
Death in Adam, Life in Christ
6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Death Through Adam, Life Through Christ
12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
13To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
15But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! 16Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. 17For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
18Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. 19For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
20The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
...
the kind of righteousness for life and living here (per your post - obeying the 2 great commands for real) is a product of having already been accepted by God by faith in Christ - we are not only MADE righteous by decree though we are not, we are MADE to be righteous then through obedience by the working of the Spirit Who we receive as a GIFT:
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
love zone
