Function of the Law in Salvation

[patricia1]

I was looking at the ten commandments given in that day for other reasons...

Different views are great for I know Jesus did not abolish the law but fulfilled the law.

I have been in colossians and 1st thessalonians so from that perspective the law is greater to love and if you do this you fufill the ten commandments for without love breaking one law will thus have a dominoe effect and all become broken.... Thanks I gotta go to sleep...my brain is smoking...hahaha

[Pilgrim7]

Heres 'back atcha' Brother Joe

God Bless,

Dennis

[Pilgrim7]

Amen Sister,

When one loves God with all his/her heart, then they will do what He said out of love and not break any of His Commandments. Thus love is the 'fulfilling of the law' or fulfills the law, keeps the law.

Here in Romans 13, Paul is speaking of the '2nd Great Commandment', that of 'loving your neighbor'. The 1st Great Commandment is not mentioned, thus Paul is just dealing here with our behavior toward our fellow man, not toward God:

Rom 13:8 Owe

no man

any thing, but to

love

one another:

for he that loves another

has

fulfilled

the law.

(Not all of it, not necessarily the 1st Great Commandment, but surely the 2nd.)

Now Paul lists 5 out of the last 6 of the Ten Commandments This does not mean that the 5th has been done away with, but just shows he was referring to the 'Big Ten':

13:9

For this,

(#7)

Thou shalt not commit adultery,

(#6)

Thou shalt not kill,

(#8)

Thou shalt not steal,

(#9)

Thou shalt not bear false witness,

(#10)

Thou shalt not covet; and

if there be

any other commandment

,

(regarding your neighbor)

it is briefly

comprehended

(summed up, included)

in this saying, namely,

You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

Now Paul shows how one who 'loves his neighbor' will not break any of these Commandments, for they identify and condemn how we hurt our nieghbor and thus show that we not only don't love them, but in reality 'hate' them:

13:10

Love

(of your neighbor)

works

no ill

(evil)

to his

neighbour:

therefore

love

(of one's neighbor)

is the

fulfilling of the law

(the 2nd Great Commandment, to love your neighbor, it does not fulfill the 1st Great Commandment to love God with all one's heart).

Now Paul speaks of the lateness of time, and if that was the case then, what is it now?

13:11

And that, knowing the time, that

now

it is high time to

awake

out of sleep:

for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.

13:12

The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore

cast off

the

works of darkness

(all sin, transgression of God's Commandments),

and

let us put on the armor of light............

The 'Spiritual man/woman' avoids any occasion of the flesh, mortifies the flesh, has 'crucified' the flesh through the indwelling Spirit:

13:14

But

put on

the Lord Jesus Christ, and make

no provision

for the

flesh

(remember that flesh, that is not subject to the Law of God and thus breaks His Commandments)

, to

fulfill

the

lusts

(desires)

thereof.

These verses are used by many to say that the Commandments applying to God, the first four, then are done away with, since Paul does not mention them here. Context clearly shows that Paul is dealing only with the last 6 that have to do with their neighbor. You can not make doctrine out of what is not said, only out of what is specifically stated as truth, thus here Paul again shows that faith establishes the Law, rather that doing away with it.

The Love of one's neighbor will not cover a lack of love toward God and its resultant disobedience to any Commandments having to do with our behavior toward Him. In other words, loving your neighbor does not cover any transgression against the will of God as expressed in Commandments regarding Him, especially the 1st four.

I hope you slept well, give that brain a little R & R.

God Bless,

Dennis

[Theopolitan]

Great thread. I'm bumping this to the top!

[patricia1]

it is unfortunate that some of us look at the scriptures through the fleshly/soulish realm and thus easily would mistake the missing scriptures paul does not mention as being obliterated. Yet this is not true. And you are most certainly correct in the facts above. Our soulish realm loves to feed and sometimes our spirits are left barren.

We can only be knit together in love and if one does not have it the knitting cannot be done.

And beyond all these things put on LOVE, which is the perfect body of unity. Col.3:14. What i see here is that we are to actively love on...it is a choice for the believer bearing us the the responsibilty of the action. It is there for the taking.

The 10 commandments should lead us straight to Jesus.

[Pilgrim7]

Amen!

The 10 commandments should lead us straight to Jesus.

For forgiveness for any past transgressions, and for the 'New heart', the 'Spiritual heart', that now loves His will as expressed in the Commandments and hates sin, the transgression of them.

God bless,

Dennis

[patricia1]

[Pilgrim7]

Letter Versus Spirit - #2

As previously stated, the 'Letter of the Law', contained in the 'Ten Commandments', is the 'bare minimum' of righteousness, the ceasing of unrighteousness, or sin, when one repents and comes to Jesus. Christ magnifies the Law, and makes it Spiritual, thus expanding it and making it all inclusive, rather that just 10 'rules'.

The Letter of the Law:

COMMANDMENT #2:

Ex 20:4

You

shall not make

unto thee any

graven image

,

or

any likeness

of

any thing

that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:

20:5

You

shall not bow

down to them, nor

serve them

:

for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that

hate me;

20:6

And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that

love me

,

and

keep

my

Commandments

(Notice the reference to the 1st Great Commandment, of the 'New Covenant', that of Loving God with all our being and thus

keeping

His

Commandments

)

.

Here again, we have the 'bare minimum' of righteousness, the starting point in dealing with God, the ceasing of that which is obviously sin. The prohibition of the most basic form of 'Idolatry', worshiping of 'statues' or 'formed images'. when one comes to the Father through Jesus, he/she is to cease this practice. This Command does not tell us any thing positive in the worship of God except that of 'keeping His Commandments' for those who receive His mercy. Keeping this Commandment will not 'save anyone', will not earn them anything, but the breaking of it would show that one hasn't really turned from sin to God. Thus if anyone would say that they served God and still broke this Commandment, they would be a liar, for they would be in transgression of His 'stated will' in this Commandment. Again this is not the 'sum total' of righteousness concerning worship the 'Living God', just the starting point.

The Spirit of the Law or the Spiritual aspect of the Law as written in the heart:

As we are not to make any 'physical' image or representation of God, in the 'New Covenant, God is to 'make us, or re-make us, in His image. Here we have a sort of reversal of roles. God 'creates us' in His 'Spiritual image', giving us His very own Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in the forming of a New Vessel, a Holy Vessel fit for the 'Master's use'. In Jesus we have the only image or likeness of God. To fulfill righteousness of God in the 1st Great Commandment, we are to allow God to make us in the 'image of Jesus'

.

COMMANDMENT#2:

First Jesus expands the meaning of Idolatry in the 'New Testament':

Eph 5:5

For

this you know

,

that no whoremonger, nor unclean person,

nor

covetous man

,

who is an

idolater

,

has

any inheritance

in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

5:6

Let no man

deceive

you

(for many will try)

with

vain words

:

for because of these things

comes the

wrath of God

upon the

children of disobedience.

(whether they claim to be a believer or not)

Col 3:5

Mortify

(kill, destroy)

therefore your members

(sins of the flesh)

which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and

covetousness

,

which is

idolatry

:

3:6

For which things' sake the

wrath of God come

on the

children of disobedience:

Next He shows the true work of creating the 'believer' in 'His own image'. making one a 'Spiritual replica of Christ' on this earth so all can see Him in His followers:

Rom 8:28

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to those who are the

called

according

to

His purpose

.

(what is His purpose in calling us?)

8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate

to be

conformed

to the

image of his Son

....

1Cor 15:49

And as we have borne the

image of the earthy

(a sinner),

we shall also

bear the image

of the

heavenly

(that of Jesus Himself, here on this earth).

2Cor 3:17

Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the

Spirit of the Lord is, there is

liberty

.

(freedom, not to sin and break His Commandments or choose which ones we like, but freedom from sin. from breaking them)

3:18

But

we all

,

with open face

beholding

as in a glass

(mirror)

the

glory

(perfection)

of the Lord,

are

changed

into the

same image

from glory to glory, even as by the

Spirit of the Lord.

Col 3:9

Lie not one to another

(stop breaking God's Commandments),

seeing that

you have

(already)

put off

the

old man

with

his deeds

;

(his sins in breaking God's Commandments, the 'letter of the Law')

3:10

And

have

(already)

put on

the

new man

(spiritual man by faith),

who is

renewed

in knowledge

(or the truth)

after the image

of him that

created him

:

Now lets see, did any of the 'Spirit of the Law', written in the heart, do away with any of the 'letter of the law'? Can the 'New Spiritual Man' now ignore the 'Letter of the Law', because he has the 'Law written in His heart? Can he now make 'graven images' and bow down and worship them? Of course not, in fact the very idea would be repugnant to him. He has now been 're-made' in the 'Image of God' and has put away all transgression of God's will, and seeks to please Him in all things, and keeping God's Commandments pleases Him.

So far, we see that Jesus was right, every jot and tittle is still there, and as Paul says, faith establishes the Law, by keeping the Law of Commandments as expressed in the 'Ten Commandments'.

God Bless,

Dennis

[tsth]

I was reminded of this thread when I read this verse:

Isaiah 51

6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, The earth will grow old like a garment, And those who dwell in it will die in like manner; But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished. 7 "Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, You people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, Nor be afraid of their insults. 8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment, And the worm will eat them like wool; But My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation from generation to generation."

In His Love,

Suzanne

[Pilgrim7]

Thanks Suzanne,

What a blessing, in the 'New Covenant', God writes His Laws in our heart with His own finger, giving us a love for His Will, and the 'best news', is it is all by faith, a free gift to those who 'beleive' and 'receive' His Spirit. All the works and obedience flow from this indwelling love received freely from God and the personal indwelling of Christ who is the 'living Word', thus the 'living will' and thus the 'living law' of God in action.

Gal 5:5

For we

through the Spirit

wait for the hope of

righteousness

by faith.

5:6

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails any thing, nor uncircumcision; but

faith

which

works

by

love

.

May God richly bless,

Dennis