Kötelező-e az Ószövetség szombati parancsa az Újszövetségben?

 

Folytatjuk az "adventizmus" témakörét egy teológus barátunk adventista ismerősének írt levelének közlésével:

Szia, M,

Köszönöm a válaszodat! Látom, hogy őszinte ember vagy, aki őszintén keresi Isten igazságát, és ez tetszik nekem. Jó közösségben lenni olyan emberekkel, akik elkötelezettek Isten és az Ő Igéje megismerése iránt.

Arra a kérdésedre, hogy valóban meg akarom-e találni "Isten akaratát úgy, ahogy van, függetlenül az emberi véleményektől", igennel válaszolok:

Isten kegyelméből 30 évvel ezelőtt hittem Istenben. És pontosan egy emberen, egy barátomon keresztül hittem, akin láttam a változást annak következtében, hogy kereszténnyé (ortodox) vált. Így én is ortodox lettem, elkezdtem templomba járni, imádkozni, böjtölni stb. Kicsit később (ez 1991-ben volt) megláttam egy másik barátomat, aki evangélista (pünkösdista) lett, és elkezdtem vele pünkösdi összejövetelekre járni. Tőle kaptam az első Bibliámat is. Elkezdtem olvasni. Milen (így hívták a pünkösdistát) azonban nagyon ragaszkodó volt, sokat beszélt hozzám, anélkül is, hogy hajlandó lettem volna hallgatni rá, egészen addig, amíg idegesítő lett. Akkor értékeltem meg a személyes példaadás fontosságát, azt a változást, amit Isten munkál bennünk, hogy az Ő tanúi legyünk másoknak. Saját tapasztalatomból meggyőződtem arról, hogy nem a szavak, legyenek azok bármilyen jók, hanem az élet, a példa a fontos - számunkra és mások számára.

Konkrétan a kérdésedre - azért tettem fel a kérdést a szombatról, mert meg akarom találni "Isten akaratát, úgy, ahogy van, függetlenül az emberi véleményektől". Mert a feleségem adventista, szombattartó, én pedig ortodox vagyok. Bizonyára azt mondanád nekem, hogy a szombatot Isten adta, hogy az az Ő törvényének része, hogy benne van a Dekalógusban stb. De van néhány dolog, ami miatt szkeptikus vagyok azzal kapcsolatban, ahogyan az adventisták a szombatot kezelik:

1., Ha jól emlékszem, a Szentírás sehol sem mondja, hogy szombaton templomba kell menni. Még az Ószövetségben sem. A szombat tisztán családi ünnep volt, fogalmazzunk így: a család összegyűlt az otthonukban, nem mentek ki, hogy ne szegjék meg a szombati szabályt (lásd ApCsel 1:12). Továbbá Izrael egész gyülekezetének csak egy háza volt Isten háza, először a sátor, majd a templom Jeruzsálemben. Akik Jeruzsálemen kívül éltek, azoknak néha napokig kellett utazniuk, hogy eljussanak a Templomba (lásd pl. Lk 2:42-46). Hogyan tudtak akkor szombaton templomba menni?

Igen, az evangéliumban látjuk, hogy Jézus "szokása szerint" zsinagógákat látogatott és prédikált bennük. DE! Van egy nagy "de" - először is, a zsinagógák a babiloni fogság után jelentek meg, és inkább a pogányoktól vették kölcsön, akiknek sok istenük és sok templomuk volt. Ellentétben a zsidókkal, akiknek egy Istenük és egy templomuk volt. Hogy tisztázzuk, a zsinagógák nem templomok voltak, hanem inkább "iskolák", olyasmi, mint a ti szombati iskoláitok. Nem végeztek bennük istentiszteletet. Azt csak a templom papjai végezhették, a rabbik pedig laikusok voltak. Látjuk például, hogy Jézust, aki Júda törzséből származott, "rabbinak" hívták, és a zsinagógában prédikált - Lk 4:16ff. Ap. Pál, aki Benjámin törzséből származott (Róm 11:1), szintén meghívást kapott, hogy a zsinagógában beszéljen (ApCsel 13:14-15), és a papoknak a törvény szerint Lévi törzséből kellett származniuk - lásd Zsid. 7:5, 11-14). Másodszor, Jézus azért ment be a zsinagógákba szombatonként, hogy tanítson, hogy hirdesse Isten országát, mert erre küldték (lásd Lk 4:43). Az apostolok később ugyanezt tették, és ugyanezen okból (ApCsel 13:14ff; 16:13; 17:2; 18:4).

2., Ez a második ok, amiért szkeptikusnak kell lennem azzal kapcsolatban, ahogyan az adventisták kezelik a szombatot - hogy az ősi keresztények nem szombaton, hanem a hét első napján, vasárnap tartották liturgikus gyülekezeteiket, amelyet később "az Úr napjának" (Κυριακή ἡμέρα) neveztek - Jel 1,10. Erről bőséges tanúságtétel van a szent apostolok idejétől kezdve, a kereszténység első évszázadaitól egészen napjainkig. A továbbiakban, ha hajlandó vagy rá, többet is írok neked. Igen, talán azt mondod majd nekem: "Azért megyünk szombaton templomba, mert Krisztus és az apostolok ezt tették". Hadd mondjak azonban valamit: Krisztus körülmetélt volt, és az apostolok is. Ha Krisztust utánozzuk minden vakmerőségben, akkor a mai keresztényeknek is körül kellene metélkedniük. Krisztus a jeruzsálemi templomban járt, és megtartotta a törvény minden előírását; ap. Pál is (lásd ApCsel 21:20 ff.) - azért, hogy megnyerje a zsidókat. Ebből az következik, hogy a mai keresztényeknek is meg kell tartaniuk az összes ószövetségi előírást?

3., Engem zavar az a tény, hogy Jézus Krisztus, ahogy Ő maga mondja, nem azért jött, hogy megszegje a törvényt vagy a prófétákat, hanem hogy "beteljesítse" - de azért is, hogy "kiegészítse", "teljessé tegye" (ami valójában a Máté 5:17 eredetiben használt görög πληρόω szó alapvető jelentése) -, hogy beteljesítse az ószövetségi próféciákat, és hogy új, szellemi értelemmel töltse meg az Ószövetséget, mert "a betű öl, de a lélek megelevenít". A hegyi beszédében (Mt 5-7. fejezet) új értelmezést ad az Ótörvénynek, új jelentéssel töltve meg azt: "Hallottátok, hogy a régieknek mondatott, én is mondom nektek" (Mt 5), a "szintén" szó, ha nem is ellentétet, de legalább világos megkülönböztetést jelent. Nem véletlen, hogy Jézus Krisztust a szombat megszegésével vádolták (Mt. 12:1-8 és par.; Márk. 3:1-6 és par.; Lk. 13:10-17; 14:1-7; Jn 5:8-10, 16-18; 7:22-23; 9:14-16). Tévedés lenne azt gondolni, hogy a törvény összes parancsolata közül az egyetlen "meg nem reformált" parancsolat, az egyetlen parancsolat, amelyet a keresztényeknek még mindig nem szellemben, hanem betű szerint kell megtartaniuk, a szombati parancsolat. Ha érdekel, hogy szerintem mi a szombati parancsolat szellemi értelmezése, akkor írok neked bővebben.

4., Maguk a zsidó rabbik - akik, mint tudjuk, a szombat legszigorúbb megtartói - azt mondják, hogy a nem zsidók, akik Istennek tetszőek akarnak lenni, nem a szombati parancsolatot kötelesek megtartani, hanem az úgynevezett "Noé törvényeit" (lásd például itt: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_Laws_of_Noah). Szerintük a szombat kizárólag és kizárólag a zsidó népnek adatott.

A kérdés tehát továbbra is fennáll: kötelező-e a szombat parancsa - úgy, ahogyan az Ószövetségben szerepel - az Újszövetségben? Ez Isten akarata számunkra, keresztények számára?

Természetesen az, hogy egy törvényt betartanak-e, egészen más, mint az, hogy érvényes-e. De mint tudjuk, minden törvénynek, még egy isteni törvénynek is, van kezdete és vége. Véleményem szerint egyedül a szeretet parancsa (Isten és a felebarát iránt) "soha nem szűnik meg", mert maga Isten a szeretet.

Ami a hazugságot illeti - egy dolog abban a pillanatban válik bűnné, amikor Isten azt annak nyilvánítja. Törvény nélkül nincs bűn - "a törvény előtt is volt bűn a világban; de a bűn nem tekinthető, ha nincs törvény" (Róm 5,13), "mert a törvény által ismertté válik a bűn" (Róm 3,20). Mielőtt Isten kinyilatkoztatását kapnánk ebben a kérdésben - még ha csak a "lelkiismeret törvényében" is -, honnan tudja az ember, hogy mi a bűn és mi nem? És ha a hazugságot (majdnem) minden (civilizált) nemzet a földön rossz dolognak tartja, a szombati parancsolat esetében ez nem így van. Mert azt csak az emberek elenyésző kisebbsége tartja be. Ez nem azt jelenti, hogy az emberek száma meghatározó, hanem azt, hogy ha MINDEN embernek adatott, nem csak a zsidóknak, akkor ezt Isten feltétlenül ki kellett volna fejtenie a Teremtés könyvében, ami az egész emberiség történetét meséli el, nem csak a zsidó népét.

Konkrétan az Exodusban található versek, amelyekre rámutatsz, szintén kizárólag a zsidókra vonatkoznak, bár a Sínai előtti időkből származnak. De vegyük észre, hogy a "törvény" vagy "törvény" szó jóval a 2Mózes 20. fejezete előtt fordul elő: a 2Móz. 12. fejezetben, a kovásztalan kenyerek ünnepéről azt mondják: "tartsátok meg örök törvényként" (14. v.), és "és tartsátok meg ezt a napot nemzedékeitekben örök törvényként" (17. v.). Ez azt jelenti, hogy a keresztényeknek meg kell ünnepelniük a kovásztalan kenyereket? Hasonlóképpen a körülmetélést - amelyet Ábrahámnak adtak - "örök szövetségnek" nevezik (1Móz 17:9-14ff.), de látjuk, hogy egy bizonyos ponton elhagyják, vagy inkább a keresztséggel helyettesítik. És ugyanaz, aki azt mondja: "Mert Krisztus Jézusban nem használ sem a körülmetélkedés, sem a körülmetéletlenség, hanem a hit, amely szeretet által munkálkodik" (Gal 5,6), azt is mondja: "Számold meg a napokat, a hónapokat, az időket és az éveket. Félek értetek, nehogy hiába fáradoztam közöttetek" (Gal 4,11), és: "Egyik ember másként becsüli az egyik napot, mint a másikat, a másik pedig minden napot egyformán. Mindenki úgy cselekedjék, ahogyan a maga teljes meggyőződése szerint cselekszik" (Róm 14:5).

Az Ex. 13:9 szintén "az Úr törvényéről" beszél, de mi ez a "törvény"? Ugyanaz, amely később, a Sínai-hegyen, angyalok jelenlétében adatik (lásd Gal 3:19)? És ha ez ugyanaz, akkor nem inkább valamilyen jövőbeli cselekedetről van-e itt szó - az Úr törvényének egy jelével, amelyet valamivel később (először) adnak? Tulajdonképpen így értem az általad megjelölt verseket - a zsidóknak azt mondták, hogy pénteken gyűjtsenek még egy kicsit több mannát (két napra), mert a manna sok éven át fog esni egymás után, és így Isten felkészítette a népét arra, hogy a szombati parancsolatot (ami egy kicsit később adatik majd) megkapja, és a manna gyűjtése során tartsa be azt. Ezekben a versekben azonban semmi sem állítja, hogy a zsidók a Sínai előtt megtartották volna a szombatot (valójában a kérdésem nem is a zsidókra vonatkozott, hanem arra, hogy a szombati parancsolat MINDEN emberre, az egész emberiségre vonatkozott-e). A 2Mózes 15:25-ben, vagyis közvetlenül a mannáról szóló versek előtt azt írja: "Ott adott Isten a népnek törvényeket és törvényt, és ott tette őket próbára". Ez azonban a Mértékről szól. Mik ezek a "rendeletek" és mi ez a "törvény"? Ha Isten a dekalógust adta volna akkoriban Mérában, nem írta volna le kifejezetten? Látjuk, hogy Isten milyen ünnepélyességgel adja a törvényt a Sínai-hegyen, és Méráról nem esik szó. És mi értelme lenne, ha Isten már Merahban megadta volna a Dekalogot, hogy egy kis idő múlva a Sínai-hegyen megismételje? A Sínainál az izraeliták egész gyülekezete böjtölt, megtisztult, egy ideig távol tartotta magát a nőktől stb. 40 napig böjtölt Mózes, és Merahnál semmi ilyesmiről nincs írva.

Itt megállok. Nem akarlak több kérdéssel untatni. Csak érvelek, és őszintén remélem, hogy az érvelésem hasznos lesz számodra.

Isten vezessen mindkettőnket az Ő útjára és az Ő igazságára. Ámen!

forrás

https://zadrugata.com/2021/08/30/дали-съботната-заповед-от-стария-заве/

Czy można przejść przez most Dziesięciu Przykazań?

 Przypowieść o dziecku wspinającym się na most

Dawno, dawno temu było sobie bardzo słodkie małe dziecko. Jego największym pragnieniem było przejście przez most nad strumieniem, nad którym położył kilka desek, aby mógł na nich balansować i przejść na drugą stronę. Ale deska była wąska i poruszała się, a dziecko chybotało się na niej przez chwilę, a potem zanurzyło się w wodzie. Ponieważ dno strumienia było bardzo muliste, ubranie dziecka zabłocone. Wrócił do domu brudny i brudny.

W domu matka obiecała mu, że będzie dbał o siebie i swoje ubrania i nie pójdzie więcej bawić się nad strumień. Następnie wyprała jego ubrania, wysuszyła je i włożyła na dziecko, aby znów mogło się bawić.

Ale dziecko po prostu wróciło do strumienia, ponieważ musiało przejść przez ten most, nie spocznie, dopóki go nie przekroczy. Oczywiście znowu wpadł do strumienia, a jego ubranie było tak samo zabłocone. Potem wesoło poszedł do domu i powiedział mamie, że już prawie przeszedł przez most i że jeszcze tylko trochę brakuje.

Jej mama ponownie wyprała jej ubrania i wysłała ją do zabawy, mówiąc jej, że naprawdę nie powinna teraz wchodzić do strumienia, bo jeśli znowu do niego wpadnie, będzie na nią zła.

Jak mogła nie, dziecko po prostu wróciło do strumienia i pomyślało, że teraz będę bardziej ostrożny i na pewno nie wpadnę. Ale ledwo zrobił kilka kroków, zanim znowu wpadł do wody i pobrudził sobie ubranie.

W domu jego mama bardzo się rozgniewała, poszła nad strumień i wepchnęła deski do wody. Wyprała ubrania dziecka, a następnie powiedziała mu, że nie może wychodzić się bawić przez trzy dni z powodu tego, co zrobił.

Gdy minął trzeci dzień, dziecko zdecydowało, że i tak przekroczy potok, choćby nie wiem co. Wziął więcej desek, położył je w poprzek strumienia i spróbował ponownie. Oczywiście deska znów się pod nim wyślizgnęła i wpadł do wody.

Ubrudzony błotem z wielkim trudem wtoczył się do domu, ale w domu zaczął się przechwalać, że był bardzo blisko udanej przeprawy, że jego matka będzie z niego dumna, że spróbował jeszcze raz. I że to nie jej wina, że się nie udało.

Jego mama była bardzo zdenerwowana i zrugała go, że jest nieposłuszny i zły, że nie jest posłuszny, a nawet przechwalał się wyczynami, które potrafił wykonać. A dziecko odpowiedziało jej - "i tak jesteś praczką, nie ma znaczenia, jakie ubrania pierzesz, pranie masz we krwi".

Jego matka uderzyła go wtedy w twarz za jego bezczelną i złośliwą odpowiedź, na znak nieposłuszeństwa. Dziecko skrzywiło się i zagroziło, że opowie całemu światu, jaką miało złą matkę, która zabraniała mu robić cokolwiek i nie pozwalała mu na wszystko.

Przykład historii z prawdziwego życia

Można by pomyśleć, że taka historia może mieć miejsce tylko w bajce, ale tak nie jest, ponieważ istnieje ona w prawdziwym życiu. Około 20 milionów wierzących chrześcijan, Adwentystów Dnia Siódmego i kilka milionów innych wierzących, wyznaje, że istnieje most zwany Dziesięcioma Przykazaniami, który mogą i przekraczają. Ale to nie tylko ich obowiązek, to obowiązek każdego człowieka na całym świecie. Ponieważ Dziesięć Przykazań jest wiecznym prawem moralnym dla ludzkości, prawem takim jak grawitacja we wszechświecie.

Dziesięć przykazań zostało danych ludzkości jako przewodnik przez Boga, aby być wiecznym standardem moralnym, za którym należy podążać, tak że jeśli człowiek będzie go przestrzegał, będzie postępował naprawdę dobrze.

Z wyjątkiem tego, że Biblia mówi, że ponieważ człowiek jest stworzeniem o zasadniczo zdeprawowanej naturze, prawo wymaga od niego zachowania się w sposób sprzeczny z pragnieniami jego serca, a zatem zamiast je znosić, podżega i stymuluje do grzechu. Prawo nakazuje rzeczy, których nie wolno robić, a wypowiadanie tych rzeczy pobudza grzeszne pragnienia. Czytamy więc: List do

Rzymian 7:9-11 Żyłem niegdyś bez zakonu, lecz z przyjściem przykazania ożył we mnie grzech i umarłem, a przykazanie, które obiecywało życie, stało się dla mnie śmiercią. Grzech bowiem wykorzystał sposobność daną przez przykazanie, zwiódł mnie i przez nie zabił.

Apostoł Paweł opisuje sytuację sprzed czasów Mojżesza, kiedy nie było spisanego prawa danego przez Boga, ludzkość musiała żyć według prawa sumienia. Następnie, gdy Żydzi otrzymali prawo przykazań w księdze przykazań za pośrednictwem Mojżesza, wszystkie 613 praw, zawierało między innymi NIE POŻĄDAJ /jak zakazane drzewo w ogrodzie Eden/, które Ewa uznała za pożądane, ponieważ zabroniono jej z niego jeść.

Prawo to, kierując ludzi ku dobru, by żyli życiem miłym Bogu, jednocześnie potępiało ich, przeklinało, uznawało za nieposłusznych grzeszników. Dlaczego było to konieczne? Ponieważ celem prawa było uświadomienie człowiekowi jego grzesznego stanu /że jego szaty były brudne/, z którego nie mógł się uwolnić. Tak czytamy:

Rzymian 3:19-20; 11:32 Teraz zaś wiemy, że to, co zakon mówi, mówi do tych, którzy są pod zakonem, aby zamilkły wszelkie usta i aby cały świat znalazł się pod sądem Bożym. Albowiem z uczynków zakonu nikt nie jest usprawiedliwiony przed nim, gdyż zakon jest tylko dla rozpoznania grzechu... Albowiem Bóg poddał wszystkich pod nieposłuszeństwo, aby się nad wszystkimi zmiłował".

Widzimy, że prawo nie zostało dane, aby usprawiedliwiać ludzi, ale wręcz przeciwnie, aby uświadomić ludziom, że są grzesznikami /pod nieposłuszeństwem/ i jako tacy podlegają Bożemu sądowi za swoje grzechy. Prawo nie usprawiedliwiało ich, ani nie dawało im mocy.

[Powstaje pytanie, które prawo ich nie usprawiedliwiło? Odpowiedź: ani Dziesięć Przykazań, ani inne prawa Mojżesza nikogo nie usprawiedliwiły. Kolejne pytanie:

Hebrajczyków 10:1 Ponieważ w zakonie jest cień przyszłych dobrych rzeczy, a nie obraz samych rzeczy,

W którym prawie? W ten sam sposób, w jaki Dziesięć Przykazań i Prawo Mojżeszowe /613/ razem są tym, w którym znajduje się cień przyszłych dobrych rzeczy.

Dlatego radziłbym każdemu, aby nie majstrował zbytnio przy ustępach prawa, arbitralnie je rozdzielając, ponieważ wtedy twoja własna chrześcijańska kariera stanie się całkowicie zbędna, nawet biorąc udział w wyścigu!]

Tak więc istnieje już ogromna różnica w adwentystycznym odczytywaniu celu prawa, ponieważ wyznają oni, że zostało ono dane przez Boga specjalnie /od czasu ogrodu Eden/, aby być wiecznym kompasem moralnym. Podczas gdy jego prawdziwym celem było uświadomienie człowiekowi jego grzeszności i doprowadzenie go do Chrystusa /jak ubłocone ubranie dziecka do matki, aby je wyprała/.

Tymi słowami Jan Chrzciciel przedstawił Chrystusa Izraelowi:

"Oto! Baranek Boży, który gładzi grzech świata" (Jana 1:29).

Poprzez porównanie Chrystusa do baranka ofiarnego, lud Izraela został doprowadzony do ujrzenia w Chrystusie Tego, którego zapowiadały wszystkie przepisy ofiarnicze prawa.

Ten cel prawa został podsumowany przez apostoła Pawła w jego słowach w Liście do Galacjan:

"Ale Pismo poddało wszystkich pod grzech, aby obietnica wiary w Jezusa Chrystusa była dana tym, którzy wierzą. Ale zanim przyszła wiara, byliśmy pod zakonem, trzymani pod zakonem, trzymani ku wierze, która ma być objawiona. Dlatego zakon był naszym wychowawcą, aby przyprowadzić nas do Chrystusa, abyśmy zostali usprawiedliwieni przez wiarę". (Galacjan 3:22-24)

Tym, co uwalnia człowieka od grzechu, jest krew Chrystusa, w którą, jeśli człowiek wierzy /i żyje zgodnie z biblijnymi wymaganiami/, może zostać przez nią oczyszczony. Mówiąc obrazowo, jego ubrania zostaną wyprane. Czytamy:

Dzieje Apostolskie 22:16 Cóż teraz zwlekać? Wstańcie, ochrzcijcie się i w imię Pańskie obmyjcie grzechy wasze.

1Koryntian 6:11 Takimi byli niektórzy z was, ale zostaliście obmyci, uświęceni i usprawiedliwieni w imieniu Pana Jezusa i przez Ducha naszego Boga.

Objawienie 7:14 To są ci, którzy wyszli z wielkiego ucisku i wyprali swoje szaty, i wybielili swoje szaty we krwi Baranka.

Aby człowiek nie mógł się już więcej zamulać, symboliczny most /prawo z dziesięcioma przykazaniami/ został usunięty przez Chrystusa w Jego śmierci /jak matka wrzuciła deski do potoku/, aby nie dawał już więcej podstawy do grzeszenia. Czytamy więc:

Efezjan 2:14-16 On bowiem jest naszym pokojem, który sprawił, że dwoje stało się jednym, i zburzył rozdzielający mur wrogości w swoim ciele. On zniósł zakon przykazań, aby czyniąc pokój, stworzyć z dwojga jednego nowego człowieka w sobie samym. Pojednał ich oboje z Bogiem w jednym ciele przez krzyż, zabijając wrogość między nimi;

Kolosan 2:13-14 A was, umarłych na skutek występków i nieobrzezania ciała, razem z nim ożywił i odpuścił nam wszystkie grzechy. Wymazał zapis swoich wyroków przeciwko nam, usunął nas z drogi i posłał nas na krzyż.

Innymi słowy, prawo, które skazywało człowieka na śmierć przekleństwa za nieposłuszeństwo, zostało unieważnione przez Chrystusa, a tym samym otworzyło drogę dla ludzi z narodów nieżydowskich do stworzenia duchowego braterstwa z wierzącymi pochodzenia żydowskiego w kościele Chrystusa.

Tak więc czytamy:

List do Galacjan 3:13 Chrystus wykupił nas od przekleństwa zakonu, stawszy się za nas przekleństwem; napisano bowiem: Przeklęty każdy, który zawisł na drzewie:

Efezjan 2:18-19 Albowiem przez Niego oboje mamy wolny przystęp w jednym Duchu do Ojca. Dlatego nie jesteście już obcymi i cudzoziemcami, lecz współobywatelami świętych i domownikami Boga.

Odtąd tym, co wiąże chrześcijan, nie jest już sama pisana litera prawa /która skazywała na śmierć/, ale to, co było za prawem, boska łaska, która zapewnia inne środki do posłusznego życia.

Rzymian 8:2-4 Albowiem zakon Ducha życia w Chrystusie Jezusie uwolnił mnie od zakonu grzechu i śmierci. Albowiem czego zakon nie mógł dokonać, będąc bezsilny z powodu ciała, tego dokonał Bóg, gdy z powodu grzechu zesłał Syna swego w podobieństwie grzesznego ciała, potępiając grzech w ciele, aby sprawiedliwość zakonu była wypełniona w nas, którzy nie według ciała chodzimy, ale według Ducha.

List do Rzymian 13:8-10 Nikt nie jest niczemu winien, tylko żeby się wzajemnie miłował, bo kto miłuje drugiego, zakon wypełnił. A to: Nie będziesz cudzołożył, ani zabijał, ani kradł, ani pożądał - i jeśli jest jakieś inne przykazanie - jest podsumowane w tym wersecie: Kochaj bliźniego swego jak siebie samego. Miłość nie wyrządza zła bliźniemu. Tak więc wypełnieniem prawa jest miłość.

Galacjan 5:14 Bo całe prawo wypełniło się w tym jednym wersecie: Miłuj bliźniego swego jak siebie samego.

Tak więc, z powodu bezwładności ludzkiego ciała, Dziesięć Przykazań w kontekście całego Prawa Mojżeszowego nie było w stanie doprowadzić do posłuszeństwa, Bóg dał chrześcijańskie królewskie prawo miłości, aby sprawiedliwość /wymóg/ prawa mogła być wypełniona w wierzących.

Galacjan 6:2 Jedni drugich brzemiona noście, a tak wypełniajcie zakon Chrystusowy.

1Koryntian 9:21 Tym, którzy nie mają zakonu, tym, którzy nie mają zakonu, chociaż nie jestem bez zakonu Bożego, ale jestem pod zakonem Chrystusowym, abym pozyskał tych, którzy nie mają zakonu.

Jakuba 2:8 Ale jeśli przestrzegasz królewskiego prawa zgodnie z Pismem: "Kochaj bliźniego swego jak siebie samego", postępujesz właściwie.

Jakuba 2:12 Mówcie i postępujcie jak ci, którzy będą sądzeni przez prawo wolności.

Najwyraźniej to most prawa musi zostać przekroczony, a nie most dziesięciu przykazań!

List do Rzymian 4:15 Albowiem zakon pobudza do gniewu, a gdzie zakonu nie ma, tam zakon nie działa.

Galacjan 5:22-23 Owocem zaś Ducha jest: miłość, radość, pokój, cierpliwość, uprzejmość, dobroć, wierność, łagodność, wstrzemięźliwość. Nie ma prawa przeciwko takim rzeczom.

Jeśli człowiek żyje zgodnie z królewskim prawem miłości, które jest zapisane w jego sercu przez świętego Ducha Bożego, nie musi przestrzegać ustępów Prawa Mojżeszowego, aby udowodnić swoją wiarę w Chrystusa, ponieważ jego posłuszeństwo przykazaniom Chrystusa przez miłość wyraźnie usprawiedliwia go jako wierzącego, który otrzymał łaskę w Chrystusie.

Jana 14:15 Jeśli mnie miłujecie, przykazań moich przestrzegajcie.

1Jana 5:2-3 Po tym poznajemy, że miłujemy dzieci Boże, jeśli miłujemy Boga i przestrzegamy Jego przykazań. Na tym bowiem polega miłość Boga, że przestrzegamy jego przykazań; a przykazania jego nie są trudne.

Wypraliśmy nasze symboliczne szaty, praktykujemy pełen miłości sposób życia, a naśladując wzorowy sposób życia Chrystusa, możemy mieć nadzieję na uzyskanie życia wiecznego.

Powrót pod prawo?

Ale nie tak, mówią adwentyści, ponieważ Dziesięć Przykazań ma być przestrzegane, nie zostały one zniesione jako wieczne prawo moralne, ale poprzez ich przestrzeganie pokazujemy nasze posłuszeństwo, że należymy do Boga. Bóg daje nam siłę, by je wypełniać, tak jak wypełnił je Chrystus.

Mateusza 5:17 Nie sądźcie, że przyszedłem znieść zakon albo proroków. Nie przyszedłem znieść, ale raczej wypełnić.

Z wyjątkiem tego, że odnosi się to do roszczeń i proroctw, a nie do naśladowania Chrystusa.

Łukasza 24:44 Mówiłem wam o tym, gdy jeszcze byłem z wami, że musi się wypełnić wszystko, co napisano o mnie w Prawie Mojżesza, u Proroków i w Psalmach.

Cóż, oto wielki zwrot w tej historii, ponieważ robią dokładnie to, co zrobiło dziecko z przypowieści, kładąc deski z powrotem na strumieniu, przez który chciał ponownie przejść. Ale znowu wpadł do strumienia i ubrudził sobie ubranie. Powiedział, że jego matka je prała, ponieważ zawsze robiła pranie i przez cały dzień czyściła ubrania, ponieważ to była jej praca.

Ale niech nikt nie myli Chrystusa z praczką, ponieważ bardzo łatwo jest spaść ze stanu łaski / noszenia czystych ubrań /, które otrzymaliśmy przez Chrystusa, jeśli ktoś chce ponownie przejść przez most, z którego spadł kilka razy i zabrudził swoje ubrania. Bo co czytamy w piśmie Pawła?

Galacjan 5:1-8 Trwajcie więc mocno w wolności, do której wyswobodził nas Chrystus, i nie dajcie się znowu pochwycić w jarzmo niewoli. Oto ja, Paweł, mówię wam, że jeśli jesteście obrzezani, Chrystus na nic się wam nie przyda. Dlatego też świadczę każdemu, kto jest obrzezany, że jest zobowiązany do przestrzegania całego prawa. Wy, którzy chcecie być usprawiedliwieni przez zakon, odpadliście od Chrystusa i od łaski. Albowiem przez Ducha oczekujemy z wiarą nadziei sprawiedliwości. Albowiem w Chrystusie Jezusie ani obrzezanie, ani nieobrzezanie nic nie pomoże, tylko wiara działająca przez miłość. Dobrze pobiegliście, kto wam przeszkadza być posłusznymi prawdzie? Ta namowa nie pochodzi od tego, który cię powołuje.

Adwentyści twierdzą, że nie chcą być usprawiedliwieni przez Dziesięć Przykazań, a jedynie udowodnić swoją sprawiedliwość przez to, jak bardzo są posłuszni. Tymczasem są absolutnie nieposłuszni, ponieważ nie są w stanie przestrzegać prawa bez błędu, co nie jest możliwe dla żadnego człowieka o zdeprawowanej naturze, nawet jeśli ma świętego ducha Bożego, jest narażony na możliwość grzeszenia / łamania prawa. Skąd to wiemy? Przeczytaj odpowiedni fragment Biblii:

List Jakuba 3:2 Wszyscy bowiem na wiele sposobów grzeszymy. Jeśli ktoś nie grzeszy mową, jest człowiekiem doskonałym, zdolnym powściągnąć całe swoje ciało.

1Jana 1:8-10 Jeśli mówimy, że nie mamy grzechu w sobie, to samych siebie oszukujemy i prawdy w nas nie ma. Jeśli wyznajemy grzechy swoje, wierny jest i sprawiedliwy i odpuści nam grzechy, i oczyści nas od wszelkiej nieprawości. Jeśli mówimy, że nie zgrzeszyliśmy, czynimy Go kłamcą, a Jego słowa nie ma w nas.

1Jana 2:1 Dzieci moje, to wam piszę, abyście nie grzeszyli. A jeśli kto zgrzeszy, ma Orędownika u Ojca, sprawiedliwego Jezusa Chrystusa.

Oznacza to, że chociaż człowiek umieścił swoje uczucia na drzewie i stara się żyć zgodnie z prawem miłości, jego podstawowa natura jest grzeszna i musi nieustannie z nią walczyć, a żaden człowiek nie jest od tego zwolniony, nawet adwentyści!

Jakuba 4:5; 5:14-15 Czy myślisz, że na próżno Pismo mówi: "Duch, który w nas mieszka, pożąda zazdrości"? ... Czy jest wśród was ktoś chory? Zawołajcie do niego starszych zboru i niech się modlą nad nim, namaszczając go olejem w imię Pańskie. A modlitwa z wiarą uratuje chorego, a Pan mu pomoże. A jeśli zgrzeszył, będzie mu odpuszczone.

"Szabat jest dniem radosnej komunii z Bogiem i ze sobą nawzajem. Jest znakiem naszego zbawienia w Chrystusie, znakiem naszego uświęcenia, świadectwem naszej wierności i przedsmakiem naszego przyszłego życia w Królestwie Bożym. Szabat jest trwałym znakiem wiecznego przymierza Boga z Jego ludem". /Adwentystyczne Wyznanie Wiary/

Jak pokazuje rysunek, jeśli adwentysta wraca pod prawo /lub nie wychodzi spod niego/, ponieważ wierzy, że jego posłuszeństwo jest usprawiedliwione przez przestrzeganie Dziesięciu Przykazań, co wyróżnia go jako jednego z ludu Bożego, a tym samym czyni ich przestrzeganie warunkiem jego zbawienia /od którego zależy jego zbawienie, to, czy przestrzega Dziesięciu Przykazań, czy nie, jest od tego uzależnione, a zatem musi bezbłędnie przestrzegać nie tylko Dziesięciu Przykazań, ale całego Prawa Mojżeszowego, które zawiera 613 przykazań, nawet przykazanie przypisania, jak czytamy:

Jakuba 2:8-12 Lecz jeśli jesteście zbieraczami osób, zgrzeszyliście i zakon potępi was jako przestępców. Bo jeśliby kto przestrzegał całego zakonu, a zgrzeszył przeciwko jednemu, będzie winien całego. Ten bowiem, który powiedział: "Nie będziesz cudzołożył", powiedział również: "Nie będziesz zabijał". A jeśli nie cudzołożysz, lecz zabijasz, jesteś przestępcą. Mów i postępuj jak ci, którzy będą sądzeni przez prawo wolności.

A jeśli złamie przykazanie Nie pożądaj, złamie każde inne przykazanie; a jeśli złamie prawo, prawo przeklnie go jako tego, który nie przestrzega prawa!

5Mojżesz 27:26 Przeklęty, kto nie przestrzega słów tego zakonu, aby je czynić! A cały lud powie: Amen.

Galacjan 3:10 Bo ci, którzy ufają uczynkom zakonu, są pod przekleństwem, jak napisano:

Przeklęty każdy, kto nie zachowuje wszystkiego, co jest napisane w księdze zakonu, aby to czynić. Teraz jest oczywiste, że nikt nie jest usprawiedliwiony przez prawo w oczach Boga, ponieważ sprawiedliwy żyje z wiary. A zakon nie jest z wiary, lecz kto je wypełnia, z nich żyć będzie. Chrystus odkupił nas od przekleństwa prawa, stając się przekleństwem za nas - jest bowiem napisane: Przeklęty, kto zawisł na drzewie.

Adwentysta jest przeklęty, jeśli nie przestrzega całego prawa Mojżeszowego! A jeśli sztucznie wyodrębnia Dziesięć Przykazań z Prawa Mojżeszowego, tak że myśli, że nie należy ono do niego, ponieważ obowiązywało od czasów Ogrodu Eden, jest przeklęty przez Prawo, jeśli go nie przestrzega. A ponieważ człowiek jest skłonny do grzechu, wyklucza to również jego bezbłędne przestrzeganie.

To tania łatwowierność, że krew Chrystusa obmyje go, jeśli zgrzeszy przeciwko Dziesięciu Przykazaniom, ponieważ Chrystus nie jest praczką, aby prać ubranie, które zostało zabrudzone w kółko bez przerwy.

Taki jest katolicyzm, że odkupienie Chrystusa jest wydarzeniem ciągłym i jeszcze się nie zakończyło, dlatego odkupienie za grzechy nieustannie popełniane jest również wydarzeniem ciągłym. Dlatego też mylą oni praktykowanie grzechu z tymczasowym/przypadkowym grzeszeniem, co absolutnie nie jest tym samym.

Wykroczenie adwentyzmu jest ciągłym wykroczeniem, jak ciągłe wpadanie dziecka do wody i brudzenie sobie ubrań. Kiedy już zostanie ono wyprane, niech nikt nie wyrusza w podróż, aby przekonać się, że jego ciągłe samookaleczanie się jest tak samo wymazane krwią Chrystusa. Paweł to uzasadnia:

Galacjan 4:9-11 Lecz teraz, gdy poznaliście Boga, a nawet gdy Bóg was poznał, jakże się to dzieje, że znowu powracacie do słabych i wątłych żywiołów, którym znowu usiłujecie służyć? Zachowujecie dni i miesiące, czasy i lata. Boję się o ciebie, że na próżno trudziłem się wokół ciebie.

Nie można tego uniknąć, mówiąc, że Dziesięć Przykazań nie było częścią prawa Mojżeszowego, ponieważ obowiązywały one przed Mojżeszem i zostały dane w celu wskazania człowiekowi czystej drogi moralnej.

Widzieliśmy wcześniej, że wymagało ono postępowania sprzecznego z pragnieniami upadłego ludzkiego serca, a z powodu tego potępienia wymagało Zbawiciela, do którego prowadziło Żydów potępionych przez prawo.

Ci, którzy zostali potępieni przez Prawo, byli tymi, którzy je otrzymali, więc najwyraźniej lud Izraela, poganie, nie zostali potępieni przez Boga za złamanie Prawa, którego nie otrzymali na piśmie. Zamiast tego otrzymali je w swoim sumieniu, dlatego niegodziwy świat przed Mojżeszem został potępiony.

Nehemiasza 9:13-14 Potem zstąpiłeś na górę Synaj i przemówiłeś do nich z nieba. Dałeś im słuszne dekrety, sprawiedliwe prawa, dobre rozporządzenia i przykazania. Oznajmiłeś im też święty dzień odpoczynku i dałeś im przykazania, ustawy i prawa przez sługę swego Mojżesza.

Psalmy 147:19-20 On przekazuje swoje słowa Jakubowi, swoje prawa i ustawy Izraelowi. Nie czyni tego żadnemu narodowi; nie podaje im też do wiadomości swoich dekretów. Chwalmy Pana.

Amosa 3:2 Wybrałem was tylko dla siebie spośród wszystkich rodzin ziemi; dlatego ukarzę was za wszystkie wasze nieprawości.

Adwentyści i wszyscy, którzy opowiadają się za Dziesięcioma Przykazaniami i 24-godzinnym obowiązkowym przestrzeganiem szabatu, mogą bezbłędnie przestrzegać nie tylko Dziesięciu Przykazań, ale wszystkich Praw Mojżeszowych, ponieważ

Jakuba 2:1 Jeśli bowiem ktoś przestrzega całego prawa, a wykroczy przeciwko jednemu, będzie winien całego prawa.

Pozostaje im zatem tylko jedna droga, droga zbawienia przez prawo, jeśli przestrzegają go bezbłędnie, ponieważ wtedy zostaną usprawiedliwieni przez zbawienie, które pochodzi z przestrzegania prawa:

Galacjan 3:12 A zakon nie jest przez wiarę, lecz kto je wypełnia, będzie przez nie żył.

Rzymian 4:4 Temu, kto pracuje, zapłata nie jest liczona za łaskę, ale według długu.

Czy uda im się w ten sposób osiągnąć zbawienie? Raczej nie, zasłużą jedynie na potępienie:

Galacjan 3:10 Przeklęty każdy, kto nie trwa we wszystkim, co jest napisane w księdze zakonu, aby to czynić.

Wszyscy bez wyjątku są przeklęci. Z wyjątkiem tych, którzy wyprali i wybielili swoje szaty we krwi baranka. Pod warunkiem, że nie wczołguje się z powrotem do swojego potępionego stanu pod prawem, całego zabrudzonego i całego siebie. Mówiąc: Jezus to wypierze, Jezus, który jest jak praczka, po prostu pierze bez przerwy.

Gdyby było prawdą, że oczyszczenie przez obmycie jest tak ciągłe jak linia montażowa, to może, ale tak nie jest! Dowodem na to jest to, że można wypaść z łaski zapewnionej przez jednorazową ofiarę Chrystusa.

Tylko nie dla tych, którzy mierzą wiarygodność swojej wiary przestrzeganiem prawa. Jest ono rzeczywiście bardzo niewiarygodne! Jest ono wiarygodne dla tych, którzy przestrzegają i trwają w prawie Chrystusa.

Galacjan 5:22-23 Owocem zaś Ducha jest: miłość, radość, pokój, cierpliwość, uprzejmość, dobroć, wierność, łagodność, wstrzemięźliwość. Nie ma żadnego prawa przeciwko takim rzeczom.

Czy ktoś kiedykolwiek przeczytał, że owocem Ducha jest przestrzeganie dziesięciu przykazań, nawet powierzchownie, błędnie, najwyraźniej? Ja tego nie czytałem. W takim razie zbawienie takich jest również wprost proporcjonalne do tego powierzchownego, wadliwego, pozornego.

Wręcz przeciwnie, jest to obietnica zbawienia, którą z kolei należy traktować bardzo poważnie:

List do Galacjan 4:24-25 Te są innym przykładem: bo one [kobiety] są dwoma przymierzami, tym z góry Synaj, zrodzonym do niewoli, to jest Hagar, Ale wysokie Jeruzalem jest wolne, to jest matka nas wszystkich.

Galacjan 5: 1 Przetoż w wolności, którą nas Chrystus wolnymi uczynił, stójcie, a nie krępujcie się jarzmem niewoli.

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Jeśli masz przyjaciół adwentystów lub przestrzegających szabatu, prześlij im ten link.

Judy 1:20-23 Ale wy, umiłowani, budując się w świętej wierze, modląc się przez Ducha Świętego, trwajcie w miłości Bożej, oczekując miłosierdzia Pana naszego Jezusa Chrystusa ku żywotowi wiecznemu. I zmiłujcie się nad niektórymi, rozeznając ich. Innych zaś ratujcie z przerażeniem, wyrywając ich z ognia i nienawidząc nawet szaty, którą ciało skalało.

1Koryntian 9:19-22 Bo chociaż jestem wolny od wszystkich, stałem się sługą wszystkich, abym pozyskał większość. I Żydom stałem się Żydem, abym Żydów pozyskał; tym, którzy są pod zakonem, abym pozyskał tych, którzy są pod zakonem; tym, którzy są bez zakonu, abym był bez zakonu, chociaż nie jestem bez zakonu Bożego, ale pod zakonem Chrystusowym, abym pozyskał tych, którzy są bez zakonu. Dla bezsilnych stałem się bezsilny, abym bezsilnych pozyskał. Stałem się wszystkim dla wszystkich, abym wszystkich zbawił.

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O parabolă a copilului care urcă pe pod

A fost odată ca niciodată un copilaș foarte drăguț. Cea mai mare dorință a lui era să treacă un pod peste un pârâu, peste care pusese câteva scânduri, ca să se poată ține în echilibru pe ele și să ajungă pe partea cealaltă. Dar scândura era îngustă și se mișca, iar copilul s-a clătinat o vreme pe ea și apoi a plonjat în apă. Pentru că fundul pârâului era foarte noroios, hainele copilului s-au murdărit de noroi. S-a dus acasă murdar și murdar.

Acasă, mama lui l-a pus să promită că va avea grijă de el și de hainele lui și că nu va mai merge să se joace în pârâu. Apoi i-a spălat hainele, le-a uscat și i le-a pus copilului pentru ca acesta să se poată juca din nou.

Dar copilul s-a întors pur și simplu la pârâu, pentru că trebuia să treacă acel pod și nu avea liniște până nu-l trecea. Bineînțeles că a căzut din nou în apă, iar hainele lui s-au umplut la fel de mult de noroi. Apoi s-a dus vesel acasă și i-a spus mamei sale că aproape că l-a traversat și că mai avea puțin până să-l treacă.

Mama i-a spălat din nou hainele și a trimis-o afară să se joace, spunându-i că nu ar trebui să se mai ducă acum în pârâu, pentru că dacă va cădea din nou în el se va supăra pe ea.

Cum să nu fie așa, copila s-a întors la pârâu și s-a gândit: "Acum voi fi mai atentă și sunt sigură că nu voi mai cădea în apă". Dar abia a făcut câțiva pași că a căzut din nou în apă și și-a murdărit hainele.

Acasă, mama lui s-a enervat foarte tare și s-a dus la pârâu și a împins scândurile în apă. A spălat hainele copilului și apoi i-a spus că nu poate ieși la joacă timp de trei zile din cauza a ceea ce a făcut și nu a vrut să asculte.

Cum a trecut a treia zi, copilul a decis că va traversa oricum pârâul, indiferent de situație. A făcut rost de mai multe scânduri, le-a pus din nou peste pârâu și a încercat din nou. Bineînțeles, scândura a alunecat din nou de sub el și a căzut în apă.

Murdar de noroi, cu mare dificultate, s-a rostogolit spre casă, dar acasă a început să se laude că era foarte aproape de o traversare reușită, că mama lui va fi mândră de el pentru că a încercat din nou. Și că nu era vina ei dacă nu reușea.

Mama lui s-a supărat foarte tare și l-a bătut cu putere cu ciocanul în piept despre cât de neascultător și de rău era copilul, care nu asculta și chiar se lăuda cu isprava pe care o putea face. Iar copilul i-a răspuns - "oricum ești spălătoreasă, nu contează ce fel de haine speli, ai spălătoria în sânge".

Mama i-a dat atunci o palmă peste față pentru răspunsul său impertinent și răutăcios, în semn de nesupunere. Iar copilul a făcut o grimasă și a amenințat că va spune lumii ce mamă rea a avut, care îi interzicea să facă orice și nu o lăsa să facă ce vrea.

Un exemplu din viața reală a poveștii

Ai putea crede că o astfel de poveste se întâmplă doar într-un basm, dar nu este adevărat, pentru că există în viața reală. Aproximativ 20 de milioane de creștini care se declară creștini, adventiști de ziua a șaptea și alte câteva milioane de credincioși, mărturisesc că există un pod numit Cele Zece Porunci pe care pot să îl traverseze și îl traversează. Dar nu este doar datoria lor, ci și a fiecărui om din întreaga lume. Pentru că cele Zece Porunci sunt o lege morală eternă pentru umanitate, o lege precum gravitația în univers.

Cele Zece Porunci au fost date omenirii ca un ghid de către Dumnezeu, pentru a fi un standard moral etern pe care să îl urmeze, astfel încât, dacă îl urmează, îi va merge foarte bine.

Numai că Biblia spune că, deoarece omul este o creatură cu o natură în esență depravată, legea îi cere să se comporte într-un mod care este contrar dorințelor inimii sale și, prin urmare

în loc să o desființeze, ea incită și stimulează păcatul. Legea prescrie lucruri care nu ar trebui făcute, iar rostirea acestor lucruri provoacă o dorință păcătoasă. Astfel, citim: "Nu este o lege care să ne facă pe noi înșine să ne facem griji:

Romani 7:9-11 Am trăit odinioară fără Lege, dar odată cu venirea poruncii, păcatul a luat viață în mine și am murit, iar porunca care promitea viața a devenit moartea mea. Căci păcatul a profitat de ocazia oferită de poruncă, m-a înșelat și m-a ucis prin ea.

Apostolul Pavel descrie o situație de dinaintea lui Moise, când nu exista o lege scrisă dată de Dumnezeu, omenirea trebuia să trăiască după legea conștiinței. Apoi, atunci când evreii au primit legea poruncilor din cartea poruncilor prin Moise, toate cele 613 legi, aceasta includea, printre altele, NU DOREȘTI /cum ar fi pomul interzis din grădina Edenului/, pe care Eva l-a găsit dezirabil, fiindcă i s-a interzis să mănânce din el.

Așadar, această lege, deși îi îndruma pe oameni spre bine, spre a trăi o viață plăcută lui Dumnezeu, îi condamna, îi blestema, îi declara păcătoși neascultători. De ce era necesar acest lucru? Pentru că scopul legii era de a-l face pe om conștient de condiția sa păcătoasă /că hainele sale erau murdare/, de care nu se putea debarasa. Iată ce citim:

Romani 3:19-20; 11:32 Și știm că ceea ce spune legea, spune celor ce sunt sub lege, pentru ca orice gură să tacă, și toată lumea să fie supusă judecății lui Dumnezeu. Căci prin faptele legii nimeni nu este îndreptățit înaintea ei, căci legea este numai pentru recunoașterea păcatului... Căci Dumnezeu a pus pe toți sub neascultare, ca să aibă milă de toți.

Vedem că Legea nu a fost dată pentru a-i justifica pe oameni, ci, dimpotrivă, pentru a-i face pe oameni să conștientizeze că sunt păcătoși /sub neascultare/ și, ca atare, sunt supuși judecății lui Dumnezeu pentru păcatele lor. Legea nu i-a justificat și nici nu le-a dat putere.

[Se pune întrebarea: ce lege nu le-a ajustat? Răspuns: Nici cele zece porunci, nici celelalte legi ale lui Moise nu au îndreptățit pe nimeni. O altă întrebare:

Evrei 10:1 În lege este o umbră a lucrurilor bune care vor veni, nu imaginea lucrurilor în sine,

În care lege? În același mod în care cele Zece Porunci și Legea lui Moise /613/ împreună sunt legea în care se găsește umbra lucrurilor bune care vor veni.

Prin urmare, aș sfătui pe toată lumea să nu umble prea mult la paragrafele legii, alegându-le în mod arbitrar, pentru că atunci îți vei face propria carieră creștină complet inutilă chiar și prin faptul că te-ai înscris în cursă]!

Așadar, există deja o diferență uriașă în lectura adventistă a scopului legii, căci ei mărturisesc că ea a fost dată de Dumnezeu în mod special /din vremea Grădinii Edenului/ pentru a fi o busolă morală eternă. În timp ce adevăratul ei scop a fost acela de a-l face pe om să-și dea seama de păcătoșenia sa și de a-l conduce la Hristos /ca hainele pline de noroi ale unui copil la mama sa pentru a fi spălate pentru el/.

Cu aceste cuvinte, Ioan Botezătorul l-a prezentat pe Hristos lui Israel:

"Iată! Mielul lui Dumnezeu, care ridică păcatul lumii" (Ioan 1,29).

Asemănându-L pe Hristos cu mielul de jertfă, poporul lui Israel a fost determinat să vadă în Hristos pe Cel prezis de toate dispozițiile de jertfă ale legii.

Acest scop al legii este rezumat de apostolul Pavel în cuvintele sale din Galateni:

"Dar Scriptura i-a pus pe toți sub păcat, pentru ca făgăduința credinței în Isus Hristos să fie dată celor ce cred. Dar, înainte de a veni credința, eram sub lege, fiind ținuți sub lege, fiind ținuți pentru credința care va fi descoperită. De aceea legea a fost îndrumătorul nostru pentru a ne aduce la Hristos, ca să fim îndreptățiți prin credință." (Galateni 3:22-24)

Ceea ce îl eliberează pe om de păcat este sângele lui Hristos, în care, dacă omul crede /și trăiește conform cerințelor biblice/, poate fi curățat prin el. La figurat vorbind, hainele sale vor fi spălate. Citim:

Faptele Apostolilor 22:16 Ce întârzie acum? Scoală-te, botează-te și, în numele Domnului, spală-ți păcatele tale.

1 Corinteni 6:11 Așa erau unii dintre voi, dar voi ați fost spălați, sfințiți și îndreptățiți în Numele Domnului Isus și prin Duhul Dumnezeului nostru.

Apocalipsa 7:14 Aceștia sunt cei care au ieșit din necazul cel mare, care și-au spălat hainele și și-au albit veșmintele în sângele Mielului.

Pentru ca omul să nu se mai murdărească, puntea simbolică /Legea cu cele zece porunci în ea/ a fost îndepărtată de Hristos prin moartea Sa /cum a aruncat mama scândurile în pârâu/ pentru ca ea să nu mai dea un temei pentru a păcătui. Așa că citim: "Nu mai este nevoie de o altă cale pentru a nu mai fi învins:

Efeseni 2:14-16 Căci El este pacea noastră, care a făcut din cei doi una și a dărâmat zidul de despărțire, vrăjmășia din trupul Său. El a desființat legea poruncilor, pentru ca, făcând pace, să creeze pe cei doi într-un singur om nou în El însuși. El i-a împăcat pe amândoi cu Dumnezeu într-un singur trup prin cruce, omorând vrăjmășia dintre ei;

Coloseni 2:13-14 Și pe voi, care erați morți în greșeli și în netăierea împrejur a cărnii, v-a făcut vii împreună cu El, și ne-a iertat toate păcatele noastre. El a șters istoricul hotărârilor sale împotriva noastră, ne-a scos din cale și ne-a trimis la cruce.

Cu alte cuvinte, legea care îl condamna pe om la moartea blestemului pentru neascultare a fost anulată de Hristos, deschizând astfel calea pentru ca oamenii din neamurile neevreiești să formeze o frăție spirituală cu credincioșii de origine evreiască în Biserica lui Hristos.

Astfel, citim:

Galateni 3:13 Hristos ne-a răscumpărat din blestemul Legii, fiind făcut blestem pentru noi; căci este scris: Blestemat este oricine este atârnat pe un lemn:

Efeseni 2:18-19 Căci prin El avem amândoi, într-un singur Duh, un acces liber la Tatăl. De aceea, nu mai sunteți străini și străini, ci concetățeni cu sfinții și din casa lui Dumnezeu

De acum înainte, ceea ce îi leagă pe creștini nu mai este însăși litera scrisă a legii /care condamna la moarte/, ci ceea ce se afla în spatele legii, harul divin, care oferă un alt mijloc de trăire ascultătoare.

Romani 8:2-4 Căci legea Duhului de viață în Hristos Isus m-a eliberat de legea păcatului și a morții. Căci ceea ce era cu neputință Legii, fiind făcută neputincioasă din pricina cărnii, Dumnezeu a făcut când, din pricina păcatului, a trimis pe Fiul Său în asemănarea cărnii păcătoase, condamnând păcatul în carne, pentru ca dreptatea Legii să fie împlinită în noi, care nu umblăm după carne, ci după Duhul.

Romani 13:8-10 Nu datorați nimănui nimic, ci numai să vă iubiți unii pe alții, căci cine iubește pe altul a împlinit Legea. Pentru aceasta: Să nu curviești, să nu ucizi, să nu furi, să nu poftești - și dacă mai există vreo altă poruncă - este rezumată în acest verset: Iubește-ți aproapele ca pe tine însuți. Iubirea nu face rău aproapelui tău. Așadar, împlinirea legii este iubirea.

Galateni 5:14 Căci toată Legea se împlinește în acest verset: "Să iubești pe aproapele tău ca pe tine însuți".

Așadar, din cauza neputinței cărnii umane, cele zece porunci în contextul întregii Legi a lui Moise erau neputincioase pentru a conduce la ascultare, Dumnezeu a dat creștinului legea regală a iubirii, pentru ca dreptatea legii /exigența/ să fie împlinită în credincioși.

Galateni 6:2 Purtați-vă sarcinile unii altora și împliniți astfel legea lui Hristos.

1Co 9:21 Pentru cei fără de lege, pentru cei fără de lege, deși nu sunt fără legea lui Dumnezeu, ci sunt sub legea lui Hristos, ca să câștig pe cei fără de lege.

Iacov 2:8 Dar dacă păzești legea împărătească, potrivit Scripturii: "Iubește pe aproapele tău ca pe tine însuți", faci bine.

Iacov 2:12 Vorbiți și acționați ca aceia care vor fi judecați după legea libertății

În mod clar, acest pod al legii este cel care trebuie traversat, nu podul celor zece porunci!

Romani 4:15 Căci legea provoacă mânia; dar acolo unde nu este lege, nu există acțiune împotriva legii.

Galateni 5:22-23 Dar roada Duhului este dragostea, bucuria, pacea, răbdarea, bunătatea, bunătatea, credincioșia, blândețea, cumpătarea. Nu există nici o lege împotriva acestor lucruri.

Dacă un om trăiește conform legii regale a iubirii, care este scrisă în inima lui de către Duhul Sfânt al lui Dumnezeu, nu are nevoie să respecte paragrafele Legii lui Moise pentru a-și dovedi credința în Hristos, deoarece ascultarea de poruncile lui Hristos prin iubire îl justifică în mod clar ca un credincios care a obținut harul în Hristos.

Ioan 14:15 Dacă Mă iubiți, păziți poruncile Mele.

1Ioan 5:2-3 Întru aceasta cunoaștem că iubim pe copiii lui Dumnezeu, dacă iubim pe Dumnezeu și păzim poruncile Lui. Căci aceasta este dragostea lui Dumnezeu: să păzim poruncile Lui; și poruncile Lui nu sunt grele.

Ne-am spălat hainele simbolice, practicăm un mod de viață plin de iubire și, urmând modul de viață exemplar al lui Hristos, putem avea speranța că vom obține viața veșnică.

Din nou sub incidența legii?

Dar nu este așa, spun adventiștii, pentru că cele zece porunci trebuie ținute, ele nu au fost abolite ca lege morală eternă, ci, prin respectarea lor, arătăm prin ascultarea noastră că aparținem lui Dumnezeu. Dumnezeu ne dă puterea de a le împlini, așa cum le-a împlinit Hristos.

Matei 5:17 Să nu credeți că am venit să desființez Legea sau profeții. N-am venit să desființez, ci mai degrabă să împlinesc.

Doar că aceasta se referă la legi și profeții, nu la imitarea lui Hristos.

Luca 124:44 Iată ce v-am spus când eram încă cu voi: că trebuie să se împlinească tot ce s-a scris despre Mine în Legea lui Moise, în Profeți și în Psalmi.

Ei bine, iată o întorsătură uriașă a poveștii, pentru că ei fac exact ceea ce a făcut copilul din parabolă, punând scândurile la loc pe pârâul pe care voia să îl traverseze din nou. Dar a căzut din nou în apă și și-a murdărit hainele. El a spus că mama lui le spală, pentru că ea spală mereu rufele, și tot ce făcea toată ziua era să curețe hainele, pentru că asta era treaba ei.

Dar să nu-L confunde nimeni pe Hristos cu o spălătoreasă, pentru că este foarte ușor să cădem din starea de har /purtarea hainelor curate/ pe care am primit-o prin Hristos, dacă vrem să traversăm din nou podul de pe care am căzut de mai multe ori și ne-am murdărit hainele. Căci ce citim în scrierile lui Pavel?

Galateni 5:1-8 Rămâneți deci tari în libertatea la care ne-a eliberat Hristos și nu vă lăsați prinși din nou în jugul robiei. Iată, eu, Pavel, vă spun că, dacă sunteți tăiați împrejur, Hristos nu vă este de nici un folos. Din nou, așadar, mărturisesc tuturor celor care sunt circumciși că sunt obligați să respecte întreaga lege. Voi, care căutați să fiți îndreptățiți prin lege, v-ați îndepărtat de Hristos și ați căzut din har. Căci prin Duhul așteptăm prin credință nădejdea neprihănirii. Căci, în Hristos Isus, nici circumcizia, nici netăierea împrejur nu sunt de folos, ci credința care lucrează prin dragoste. Ai alergat bine, cine te împiedică să asculți de adevăr? Această convingere nu vine de la cel care vă cheamă.

Adventiștii pretind că nu vor să fie îndreptățiți prin cele zece porunci, ci doar să își dovedească neprihănirea prin cât de ascultători sunt. Între timp, ei sunt absolut neascultători pentru că sunt incapabili să respecte legea fără să greșească, ceea ce nu este posibil pentru că orice om de natură depravată, chiar dacă are spiritul sfânt al lui Dumnezeu, este expus la posibilitatea de a păcătui/încălca legea. De unde știm acest lucru? Citiți partea relevantă din Biblie:

Iacov 3:2 Căci noi toți păcătuim în multe feluri. Dacă un om nu păcătuiește în vorbire, este un om desăvârșit, capabil să-și stăpânească tot trupul.

1Ioan 1:8-10 Dacă spunem că nu avem niciun păcat în noi, ne înșelăm pe noi înșine, și adevărul nu este în noi. Dacă ne mărturisim păcatele, El este credincios și drept să ne ierte păcatele și să ne curățească de orice nelegiuire. Dacă spunem că nu am păcătuit, îl facem mincinos și cuvântul Lui nu este în noi.

1Ioan 2:1 Copilașii mei, vă scriu aceste lucruri, ca să nu păcătuiți. Și dacă cineva păcătuiește, avem un Avocat la Tatăl, pe Isus Hristos cel neprihănit.

Aceasta înseamnă că, deși omul și-a pus afecțiunea pe pom și caută să trăiască după legea iubirii, natura sa fundamentală este păcătoasă și trebuie să lupte în permanență împotriva ei, și nimeni nu este scutit de acest lucru, nici măcar adventiștii!

Iacov 4:5; 5:14-15 Sau credeți că este în zadar că Scriptura spune: "Duhul care locuiește în noi poftește la invidie"? ... Este vreun bolnav printre voi? Chemați la el pe bătrânii bisericii și să se roage pentru el, ungându-l cu untdelemn în Numele Domnului. Rugăciunea cu credință îl va mântui pe bolnav și Domnul îl va ajuta. Și dacă a păcătuit, va fi iertat.

"Sabatul este o zi de comuniune plină de bucurie cu Dumnezeu și cu ceilalți. Este un simbol al mântuirii noastre în Hristos, un semn al sfințirii noastre, o mărturie a credincioșiei noastre și o pregustare a vieții noastre viitoare în împărăția lui Dumnezeu. Sabatul este un semn permanent al legământului veșnic al lui Dumnezeu cu poporul Său." /Credința Adventistă/ 

După cum arată figura, dacă adventistul se întoarce sub lege /sau nu iese de sub ea/ pentru că el crede că ascultarea sa este justificată prin respectarea celor zece porunci, ceea ce îl marchează ca fiind unul dintre membrii poporului lui Dumnezeu, și astfel face ca respectarea lor să fie condiționată de mântuirea sa /de care depinde mântuirea sa, faptul că se supune sau nu celor zece porunci este făcut să depindă de aceasta/, atunci el trebuie să respecte astfel fără greșeală nu numai cele zece porunci, ci întreaga Lege a lui Moise, care conține 613 porunci, chiar și porunca imputării, după cum citim:

Iacov 2:8-12 Dar dacă sunteți culegători de persoane, ați păcătuit, și Legea vă va condamna ca pe niște călcători de lege. Căci dacă cineva păzește toată Legea, dar păcătuiește împotriva uneia, va fi vinovat de toată Legea. Căci Cel care a spus: "Să nu comiți adulter", a spus și: "Să nu ucizi". Iar dacă nu vei săvârși curvie, dar vei ucide, ești un călcător de lege. Vorbește și acționează ca cei care vor fi judecați de legea libertății.

Iar dacă încalcă porunca "Să nu poftești", încalcă orice altă poruncă, iar dacă încalcă legea, legea îl va blestema ca pe unul care nu se supune legii!

Deuteronomul 27:26 Blestemat este cel ce nu ține cuvintele legii acesteia ca să le împlinească! Și tot poporul va zice: Amin!

Galateni 3:10 Căci cei ce se încred în faptele legii sunt sub blestem, după cum este scris: "Blestemat este oricine nu păzește tot ce este scris în cartea legii, ca să facă tot ce este scris în ea!". Or, este evident că nimeni nu este îndreptățit prin lege în fața lui Dumnezeu, căci omul drept trăiește prin credință. Or, legea nu este prin credință, ci cel ce le împlinește va trăi prin ele. Hristos ne-a răscumpărat din blestemul legii, făcându-se blestem pentru noi, căci este scris: Blestemat este cel spânzurat pe lemn.

Adventistul este blestemat dacă nu respectă întreaga lege a lui Moise! Și dacă el taie în mod artificial cele zece porunci din Legea lui Moise, astfel încât să creadă că ea nu-i aparține, pentru că a fost în vigoare încă din vremea Grădinii Edenului, tot blestemat este de Lege dacă nu o ține. Și cum omul este predispus la păcat, acest lucru îl împiedică, de asemenea, să o respecte fără greșeală.

Este o credulitate ieftină faptul că sângele lui Hristos îl va spăla dacă va păcătui împotriva celor zece porunci, căci Hristos nu este o spălătoare care să spele hainele care au fost murdărite mereu și mereu fără încetare.

Așa este catolicismul, că răscumpărarea lui Hristos este un eveniment continuu și nu este încă terminată, deci și răscumpărarea pentru păcatele săvârșite continuu este tot un eveniment continuu. Prin urmare, ei confundă apoi practicarea păcatului cu păcatul temporar/incidental, ceea ce nu este absolut deloc același lucru.

Fărădelegea adventismului este o fărădelege continuă, ca și cum un copil cade continuu în apă și își murdărește hainele. După ce a fost spălat, să nu călătorească nimeni pentru a constata că autoflagelarea sa constantă este în egală măsură ștearsă de sângele lui Hristos. Pavel justifică acest lucru:

Galateni 4:9-11 Dar acum că ați ajuns să-L cunoașteți pe Dumnezeu și chiar că Dumnezeu v-a cunoscut pe voi, cum se face că vă întoarceți iarăși la elementele slabe și firave, cărora căutați din nou să le slujiți? Voi țineți zilele, lunile, vremurile și anii. Mă tem pentru voi că am lucrat în zadar în jurul vostru.

Acest lucru nu poate fi evitat spunând că cele zece porunci nu fac parte din legea lui Moise, deoarece ele erau valabile înainte de Moise și au fost date cu scopul de a arăta omului calea morală pură.

Am văzut mai devreme că El a cerut o conduită contrară dorințelor inimii umane căzute și, din cauza acestei condamnări, a cerut un Mântuitor la care i-a condus pe evreii condamnați de lege.

Cei care erau condamnați de Lege erau cei care au primit-o. Deci, în mod clar, poporul lui Israel, neamurile nu erau condamnate de Dumnezeu pentru că încălcau Legea pe care nu o primiseră în scris. În schimb, ei au primit-o în conștiința lor, motiv pentru care a fost condamnată lumea rea dinaintea lui Moise.

Neemia 9:13-14 Apoi Te-ai coborât pe muntele Sinai și le-ai vorbit din cer. Le-ai dat decrete drepte, legi drepte, rânduieli și porunci bune. De asemenea, le-ai făcut cunoscută ziua sfântă a odihnei Tale și le-ai dat poruncile, statutele și legile prin robul Tău Moise.

Psalmi 147:19-20 El îi comunică lui Iacov cuvintele Sale, lui Israel legile și statutele Sale. El nu face acest lucru cu niciun popor; nu le face cunoscute hotărârile Sale. Lăudați pe Domnul.

Amos 3:2 Eu v-am ales numai pe voi pentru Mine dintre toate familiile pământului; de aceea vă voi pedepsi pentru toate nelegiuirile voastre.

Ceea ce pot face adventiștii și toți cei care susțin cele Zece Porunci și respectarea obligatorie a Sabatului de 24 de ore, este să respecte fără greș nu numai cele Zece Porunci, ci toate Legile lui Moise, deoarece

Iacov 2:1 Căci dacă un om păzește toată Legea și încalcă un singur lucru, va fi vinovat de tot. Rămâne deci o singură cale pentru ei, calea mântuirii prin lege, dacă o păzesc fără greșeală, căci atunci vor fi îndreptățiți prin mântuirea care vine din păzirea legii:

Galateni 3:12 Or, legea nu este prin credință, ci cel ce le împlinește va trăi prin ele.

Romani 4:4 Pentru cel ce lucrează, plata nu se socotește după har, ci după datorie.

Vor reuși oare pe această cale spre mântuire? Cu greu, vor merita doar damnarea:

Galateni 3:10 Blestemat este oricine nu stăruie în toate lucrurile care sunt scrise în cartea Legii, ca să le facă.

Toți sunt blestemați, fără excepție. În afară de cei care și-au spălat și și-au albit hainele în sângele mielului. Cu condiția să nu se târască înapoi la starea de condamnare sub lege, cu totul și cu totul încurcat și întinat. Spunând: Iisus îl va spăla, Iisus care este ca spălătoarea, care spală fără oprire.

Dacă ar fi adevărat, că curățirea prin spălare este continuă ca o linie de asamblare, atunci poate, dar nu este așa! Dovada este că poți cădea din harul oferit de jertfa unică a lui Hristos.

Doar că nu și pentru cei care își măsoară credibilitatea credinței lor prin respectarea legii. Este foarte puțin de încredere, într-adevăr! Ea este credibilă pentru cei care păzesc și rămân în legea lui Hristos.

Galateni 5:22-23 Dar roada Duhului este dragostea, bucuria, pacea, răbdarea, bunătatea, bunătatea, credincioșia, blândețea, cumpătarea. Nu există nicio lege împotriva acestor lucruri.

A citit cineva vreodată că roada Duhului este păzirea celor zece porunci, chiar și în mod superficial, eronat, aparent? Eu nu am citit așa ceva. Atunci și mântuirea unora ca aceștia este direct proporțională cu acest lucru, superficial, defectuos, aparent.

Dimpotrivă, este gajul mântuirii, care, la rândul său, trebuie luat foarte în serios:

Galateni 4:24-25 Acestea sunt o altă pildă: Căci ele [femeile] sunt cele două legăminte, cel de pe muntele Sinai, născut în sclavie, aceasta este Agar, Dar cel înalt Ierusalimul este liber, aceasta este mama noastră a tuturor.

Galateni 5:1 Așadar, în libertatea în care Hristos ne-a făcut liberi, stați pe loc și nu vă lăsați legați din nou cu jugul robiei.

++++++++++

Dacă aveți prieteni adventiști sau care țin Sabatul, trimiteți-le link-ul.

Iuda 1:20-23 Dar voi, preaiubiților, zidindu-vă în sfânta voastră credință, rugându-vă prin Duhul Sfânt, păstrați-vă în dragostea lui Dumnezeu, așteptând îndurarea Domnului nostru Isus Hristos pentru viața veșnică. Și aveți milă de unii, discernându-i. Dar pe alții mântuiți-i cu groază, smulgându-i din foc și urând până și haina pe care a spurcat-o carnea.

1Corinteni 9:19-22 Căci, deși sunt liber de toți, m-am făcut rob al tuturor, ca să câștig pe cei mai mulți. M-am făcut iudeu pentru iudei, ca să câștig pe iudei; și m-am făcut sub lege pentru cei de sub lege, ca să câștig pe cei de sub lege; Pentru cei fără de lege, m-am făcut fără de lege, deși nu sunt fără de legea lui Dumnezeu, ci sub legea lui Hristos, ca să câștig pe cei fără de lege. Pentru cei fără de putere m-am făcut fără de putere, ca să câștig pe cei fără de putere. M-am făcut totul pentru toți, ca să mântuiesc prin toate mijloacele pe unii.

For all denominations of the Church of God - Salvation or damnation

 

THE UNFOLDING OF SALVATION FROM A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE

1. The Law of Moses is a unified whole system

According to the New Testament, salvation is obtained by faith alone - faith in Christ's finished atoning work - without any human works. Subsequently, however, this faith always results in corresponding works - works that correspond to the faith professed. Faith that does not result in these corresponding actions is merely an empty profession of faith - a dead faith - incapable of truly experiencing salvation.

This conclusion naturally leads us to a further question. What actions should we look for in the life of every person who professes faith in Christ for salvation? More specifically, what is the relationship between faith in Christ and the requirements of the Mosaic Law?

The New Testament's answer is clear and consistent: once a person trusts in Christ for salvation, his righteousness is no longer dependent on keeping the Mosaic Law, in whole or in part.

This is a subject on which there is much confusion and confusion among Christians. To clear up the confusion, we must first recognize certain basic facts about the law.

The first big fact is that the law was given in its entirety, once and for all, by Moses.

"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and righteousness came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17).

Notice this phrase: "the law was given by Moses". Not "some of the law", or "part of the law", but the law - the whole law, complete and entire in its system - was given at one time in history and through the human agency of one man, and that man was Moses.

"And these. /kai tauta - LXX/ The "And" connects the preceding commandments with the following. Just as the preceding commandments were revealed in the Sinai, so the following commandments were given there (Mechilta). The Torah does not recognize a strict boundary between the Ten Commandments and the laws of the following chapters. They all express the will of God." /The Five Books of Moses and the haftarah, commentary on Exodus 21:1/

Everywhere in Scripture, unless some special qualifying term is added to modify or change the meaning, the term "law" refers to the entire system of laws given by God through Moses. Confirmation of this is found in Romans.

"For as long as there was no law, sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed if there is no law. Nevertheless, from Adam to Moses death reigned even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's sin" (5:13-14).

Note the two phrases that refer to a specific period of time, "until the law" and "from Adam to Moses". When God created Adam and placed him in the garden, He did not give him a complete set of laws, but a single negative commandment.

"Thou shalt not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden" (Genesis 3:1-3).

When Adam broke this commandment, sin entered the human race, and from that time on, it settled on Adam and all his descendants. The proof that sin has entered every human being from Adam on is the fact that every human being has become dead as a result of sin.

Prior to the time of Moses and the events described in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, there was no divine system of law given to the human race. In fact, nothing further was ever added to this system of law after the close of this era. That the law was thus given once for all, in its entirety, is clear from the words of Moses.

"Now therefore, O Israel, hear the laws and the judgments which I teach thee to keep, that thou mayest live, and go in and possess the land which the Lord God of thy fathers giveth thee. Add nothing to the word which I command you, and take nothing from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you." (Deuteronomy 4:1-2)

These words show that the system of laws that God gave to Israel through Moses was complete and final. After that, nothing could ever be added to it, and nothing could ever be taken away from it.

These words show that the system of laws that God gave to Israel through Moses was complete and final. After that, nothing could ever be added to it, and nothing could ever be taken away from it.

2. All the commandments of the law must be kept by him who is under the law.

The law was given to Israel by God through Moses as a complete system. This naturally leads us to the next great fact which must be clearly stated concerning the keeping of the law:

Every man who comes under the law is thereby bound to observe the whole system of the law in its entirety at all times. There is no question of observing certain parts of the law and omitting others. Nor is it a question of obeying the law at certain times and disobeying it at others. Anyone subject to the law is necessarily bound to obey the whole of the law at all times.

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point is guilty of all. For he who said, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' said also, 'Thou shalt not kill.' But if you do not commit adultery but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:10-11).

This is both clear and logical. One cannot say, "I consider certain points of the law important, so I keep them, but I do not consider certain other points of the law important, so I do not keep them". Any person who is subject to the law must always observe all its requirements. If you break even one point, you have broken the whole law.

The law is a single, complete system that cannot be divided into some points that are applied and others that are not. As a means of justice, the whole law must be accepted and applied, in its entirety, as a single system, otherwise it has no utility or validity.

"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." (Gal 3:10)

Notice this phrase, "abiding in all things". This indicates that one who is under the law must keep the whole law at all times. A person who at any time breaks any point of the law has broken the whole law, and is thus under the divine curse pronounced upon all lawbreakers.

3. The law was only for Israel

The third important point to recognize about the law, and it is an actual historical fact, is that the system of law given by Moses was ordained by God exclusively for a small group of the human race, and that was the nation of Israel after they were delivered from Egyptian bondage.

Nowhere in the Bible is there any indication that God ever intended the Gentiles, either nationally or individually, to obey the Law of Moses in whole or in part. The only exceptions to this are a few individual Gentiles who voluntarily chose to join Israel and thereby subject themselves to all the legal and religious obligations God had imposed on Israel. Such Gentiles who converted to Judaism are called "proselytes" in the New Testament. Apart from them, God never imposed legal obligations on any Gentile.

Thus we can briefly summarize three important facts that need to be recognized before studying the Christian believer's relationship to the law.

1. The law was given once for all by Moses as a single, complete system; nothing could ever be added to or taken away from it after that.

2. The law must always be observed in its entirety, as a single, complete system; to break any part of the law is to break the whole law.

3. in human history, God never ordained this system of law for the Gentiles, but only for Israel.

4. Christians are not under the law

Having established these three facts, let us examine in detail what the New Testament teaches about the Christian believer's relationship to the law. This question is addressed in several different passages of the New Testament, and each passage teaches the same clear, definite truth. The righteousness of the Christian believer is not dependent on the observance of any part of the law.

Let us look at the many passages in the New Testament that make this clear. First, Romans 6:14 is addressed to Christian believers:

"For sin has no dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace".

This verse reveals two important truths. First, Christian believers are not under law, but under grace. These are two alternatives that are mutually exclusive: those who are under grace are not under the law. No one is under the law and under grace at the same time.

Secondly, Christian believers cannot be under sin precisely because they are not under the law. As long as one is under the law, one is under the dominion of sin. To get out from under the dominion of sin, one must get out from under the law.

"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law" (1 Cor 15:56).

The law actually strengthens the dominion of sin over those who are under the law. The more they try to keep the law, the more they become aware of the power of sin that dwells within them, exerts dominion over them, even against their will, and thwarts any attempt to live according to the law. The only escape from this dominion of sin is to leave the law and come under grace.

"For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin, which the law had awakened, were at work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we have been freed from the law, having died to that by which we were made prisoners, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:5-6).

Paul is saying here that those who are under the law are in their carnal nature subject to the passions of sin, which cause them to bear fruit that leads to death; but as Christian believers we have been "set free from the law..." to serve God, not according to the letter of the law, but in the newness of spiritual life that comes through faith in Christ.

In Romans 10:4 Paul says this again:

"For Christ is the end of the law, the righteousness of everyone who believes".

Once a person places his faith in Christ for salvation, that is the end of the law for that person as a means of attaining righteousness. Here Paul is very precise. He is not saying that the end of the law as part of God's Word. On the contrary, the Word of God "endures forever". For the believer, the end of the law as a means of attaining righteousness is over.

The believer's righteousness no longer comes from keeping the law, in whole or in part, but solely from faith in Christ.

5. Christ has abolished the handwriting

Paul asserts that the law as an instrument of righteousness came to an end with Christ's death on the cross.

"But you who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he raised to life with him, forgiving you all your trespasses, having abolished the handwriting of the statutes which was against us, which was against us. And he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." (Col 2:13-14)

Here Paul says that through the death of Christ, God "blotted out the handwriting of the requirements which was against us" and "removed it out of the way...". Paul is not talking about the abolition of sins, but the abolition of requirements. This word could be better translated "requirements".

These regulations are the ordinances of the law that stood between God and those who transgressed them, and therefore had to be taken out of the way before God could give them grace and forgiveness. The word "ordinances" here refers to the whole system of the law which God ordained through Moses, including that particular part of the law which is commonly called the "Ten Commandments".

That this "abolition" includes the Ten Commandments is confirmed by Paul later in the same chapter.

"Therefore let no man judge you in meat or drink, or in respect of the feast, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath day." (Col 2:16)

The word therefore at the beginning of this verse indicates a direct connection with what he had said two verses earlier; that is, the abolition of the ordinances of the law by the death of Christ.

Again, the mention of "sabbaths" at the end of the verse indicates that the religious observance of the Sabbath day is also one of the ordinances abolished. Yet the command to keep the Sabbath day is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. This indicates that the Ten Commandments are included among the Law's set of ordinances that were abolished and taken out of the way by the death of Christ.

6 The law is not for the righteous

We have seen that the religious observance of the Sabbath day was among the ordinances which were abolished. This confirms what we have established: the law, including the Ten Commandments, is one complete system. As a means of achieving justice, it was introduced as a single, complete system by Moses; and as a single, complete system, it was abolished by Christ.

"For he [Christ] himself is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments which was contained in the statutes, that he might make of the two one new man in himself, and so make peace" (Ephesians 2:14-15).

Here Paul tells us that Christ, by his atoning death on the cross, abolished (i.e., made void) "the law of commandments"; thereby abolishing the great dividing line of the Mosaic Law that separated Jews from Gentiles, allowing both Jews and Gentiles to be reconciled to both God and one another through faith in Christ.

The phrase "the law of commandments" indicates as clearly as possible that the whole law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, was no longer enforced by Christ's death on the cross as an instrument of righteousness.

In 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Paul again discusses the Christian believer's relationship to the law and comes to the same conclusion.

"Now we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not for the righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the profane and impious, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for murderers of men, for fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, false witnesses, and if there be any other thing contrary to sound doctrine."

Paul here identifies two classes of persons: on the one hand, there are the righteous; on the other hand, there are those who are guilty of the various sins listed in Paul's enumeration. Those who are guilty of these sins are not true believing Christians; such a person is not saved from sin through faith in Christ.

The one who trusts in Christ for salvation is no longer guilty of these sins; he is justified, made righteous - not by his own righteousness, but by the righteousness of God which is imputed to all and all who believe through faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul affirms that the law was not made for such a righteous man; he is no longer under the rule of the law.

7 God's children are not under the law

In Romans 8:14 Paul says:

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14)

The true, believing sons of God are those who are led by the Spirit of God - that is what characterizes them as sons of God. Concerning such people, Paul says:

"But if the Spirit leads you, you are not under the law." (Galatians 5:18)

So the very thing that characterizes true, believing sons of God - that they are led by the Spirit of God - also means that such people are not under the law.

In short, we can put it this way: If you are a true child of God through faith in Christ, then the evidence is that you are led by the Spirit of God. And if you are led by the Spirit of God, then you are not under the law. Therefore, you cannot be both a child of God and under the law.

Children of God are not under the law. The contrast between the law and the Spirit can be illustrated by the example of trying to find your way to a certain place using two different tools: one tool is using a map, and the other tool is following your personal guide. The law corresponds to the map; the Holy Spirit corresponds to the guide.

Under the law, a man is given a completely accurate and detailed map and told that if he follows every detail of the map without error, it will lead him on the road to salvation. However, no man has ever been able to follow the map flawlessly. In other words, no human being has ever made the road to salvation by flawlessly following the law.

Under grace, a person commits himself to Christ as Savior, and then Christ sends the Holy Spirit to that person to be his personal guide. The Holy Spirit knows the way and does not need a map. The believer in Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, need only follow this personal guide to reach salvation. He does not need to rely on the map, which is the law. Such a believer can be absolutely certain of one thing: the Holy Spirit will never lead him to do anything contrary to His holy nature.

Therefore, the New Testament teaches that those who are under grace are led by the Spirit of God and are not dependent on the law.

From this we conclude that God never really expected men to attain true righteousness by keeping the law, either in part or in whole.

This conclusion raises a very interesting question: if God never expected men to attain justice by keeping the law, why was the law ever given to men?

8. Revealing the sin

Why did God give the law? The first main purpose of the law is to show people their sinful condition.

"Now we know that what the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silent, and the whole world may be guilty before God. Therefore by the works of the law no one is justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:19-20)

Notice first the very emphatic statement, "By the works of the law no man's body is justified in his sight" (Rom 3:20).

In other words, no man will be justified before God by keeping the law.

In parallel, Paul states twice, in two different sentences, the primary purpose for which the law was given. First, he says, "that the whole world may become sinful before God". An alternative translation is, "and the whole world shall come under the judgment of God" (Kaldi, Neovulgate).

Secondly, it says that "by the law is the knowledge of sin". We see, then, that the law was not given to make men righteous, but on the contrary, to make men conscious that they are sinners, and as such subject to God's judgment for their sins.

"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Of course not! On the contrary, I should not have known sin but by the law. For I would not have known greed if the law had not said: " (Rom 7:7)

"Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Is that which is good therefore become death to me? Surely not! But sin, that it might appear to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that sin might become sinful above all sin through the commandment." (Rom 7:12-13)

Paul uses three different phrases that all express the same truth.

"I would not have known sin but by the law." (Rom 7:7)

"But sin, to appear sin..." (Rom 7:13)

"...that sin might be made exceeding sinful by the commandment." (Rom 7:13)

In other words, the purpose of the law was to expose sin - to show sin for what it really is - as the subtle, destructive, deadly thing that it is. After that, people had no excuse left to deceive them as to the extreme sinfulness of their condition.

In medical practice, when treating diseases of the human body, the doctor first of all examines the sick person and tries to ascertain the nature and cause of the disease; only then does he try to prescribe a cure. God follows the same order when dealing with man's spiritual needs. Before prescribing a cure, God first diagnoses the condition.

The root cause of all human need and suffering lies in a condition common to all members of the human race: sin. No satisfactory cure for human need can be offered until this condition has been diagnosed. The Bible is the only book in the world that correctly diagnoses the cause of all humanity's needs and suffering. For this reason alone, in addition to everything else it offers, the Bible is invaluable and irreplaceable.

9. Man is unable to save himself

The second main purpose for which the law was given was to show men that, as sinners, they were incapable of justifying themselves by their own power. There is a natural tendency in all men to want to be independent of God's grace and mercy. This desire to be independent of God is itself both the result and the evidence of man's sinful condition, though most people do not realize it. Thus, when man becomes convinced of his sinful condition, his first reaction is to seek some means by which he can cure himself of this condition and by his own efforts make himself righteous, without having to depend on God's grace and mercy.

Religious laws and regulations have therefore always been strongly attractive to the human race in all ages, regardless of differences of nationality or background. By practising such laws and rituals, people have sought to silence the inner voice of their own conscience and to make themselves righteous through their own efforts.This is precisely how many religious Israelites responded to the Mosaic Law. Paul describes this attempt by Israel to establish its own righteousness.

"For not knowing God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God's righteousness" (Rom 10:3).

As a result of trying to establish their own righteousness, Israel failed to submit to God and God's righteousness. The root cause of their error, therefore, was spiritual pride - a refusal to submit to God, a desire to be independent of God's grace and mercy.

Nevertheless, when people are truly willing to be honest with themselves, they are always forced to admit that they can never succeed in making themselves righteous by adhering to religious or moral laws. Paul describes this experience in the first person singular; he himself at one time sought to make himself righteous by keeping the law. He says this in Romans 7:18-23:

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing; for the will is present in me, but how to do what is good I cannot find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not do, I practice. But if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwells in me. I find, therefore, a law that evil is present in me who will to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. But I see that another law is in my members, which wars against the law of my mind, and brings me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members".

Paul speaks here as one who sincerely acknowledges the righteousness and desirability of living according to the law. However, the more he struggles to do what the law commands, the more he becomes aware of another law, another power in his own carnal nature that is constantly fighting against the law and thwarting his strongest efforts to make himself righteous by keeping the law.

The central point of this inner conflict is expressed in verse 21.

"I find then that the law is present in me, that evil is present in me, who desires to do good".

This is an apparent paradox, yet all human experience confirms it. One never knows how bad one is until one truly tries to be good. Then every attempt to be good only reveals more clearly the hopeless, incurable sinfulness of his own carnal nature, against which all his efforts and good intentions are utterly futile.

10. The image of Christ

We have seen that the second main object of the law was to show men that they were not only sinners, but utterly incapable of saving themselves from sin and making themselves righteous by their own power.

These words show that the system of laws that God gave to Israel through Moses was complete and final. After that, nothing could ever be added to it, and nothing could ever be taken away from it.

2. All the commandments of the law must be kept by him who is under the law.

The law was given to Israel by God through Moses as a complete system. This naturally leads us to the next great fact which must be clearly stated concerning the keeping of the law:

Every man who comes under the law is thereby bound to observe the whole system of the law in its entirety at all times. There is no question of observing certain parts of the law and omitting others. Nor is it a question of obeying the law at certain times and disobeying it at others. Anyone subject to the law is necessarily bound to obey the whole of the law at all times.

"For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point is guilty of all. For he who said, 'Thou shalt not commit adultery,' said also, 'Thou shalt not kill.' But if you do not commit adultery but murder, you have become a transgressor of the law" (James 2:10-11).

This is both clear and logical. One cannot say, "I consider certain points of the law important, so I keep them, but I do not consider certain other points of the law important, so I do not keep them". Any person who is subject to the law must always observe all its requirements. If you break even one point, you have broken the whole law.

The law is a single, complete system that cannot be divided into some points that are applied and others that are not. As a means of justice, the whole law must be accepted and applied, in its entirety, as a single system, otherwise it has no utility or validity.

"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." (Gal 3:10)

Notice this phrase, "abiding in all things". This indicates that one who is under the law must keep the whole law at all times. A person who at any time breaks any point of the law has broken the whole law, and is thus under the divine curse pronounced upon all lawbreakers.

3. The law was only for Israel

The third important point to recognize about the law, and it is an actual historical fact, is that the system of law given by Moses was ordained by God exclusively for a small group of the human race, and that was the nation of Israel after they were delivered from Egyptian bondage.

Nowhere in the Bible is there any indication that God ever intended the Gentiles, either nationally or individually, to obey the Law of Moses in whole or in part. The only exceptions to this are a few individual Gentiles who voluntarily chose to join Israel and thereby subject themselves to all the legal and religious obligations God had imposed on Israel. Such Gentiles who converted to Judaism are called "proselytes" in the New Testament. Apart from them, God never imposed legal obligations on any Gentile.

Thus we can briefly summarize three important facts that need to be recognized before studying the Christian believer's relationship to the law.

1. The law was given once for all by Moses as a single, complete system; nothing could ever be added to or taken away from it after that.

2. The law must always be observed in its entirety, as a single, complete system; to break any part of the law is to break the whole law.

3. in human history, God never ordained this system of law for the Gentiles, but only for Israel.

4. Christians are not under the law

Having established these three facts, let us examine in detail what the New Testament teaches about the Christian believer's relationship to the law. This question is addressed in several different passages of the New Testament, and each passage teaches the same clear, definite truth. The righteousness of the Christian believer is not dependent on the observance of any part of the law.

Let us look at the many passages in the New Testament that make this clear. First, Romans 6:14 is addressed to Christian believers:

"For sin has no dominion over you, for you are not under law, but under grace".

This verse reveals two important truths. First, Christian believers are not under law, but under grace. These are two alternatives that are mutually exclusive: those who are under grace are not under the law. No one is under the law and under grace at the same time.

Secondly, Christian believers cannot be under sin precisely because they are not under the law. As long as one is under the law, one is under the dominion of sin. To get out from under the dominion of sin, one must get out from under the law.

"The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law" (1 Cor 15:56).

The law actually strengthens the dominion of sin over those who are under the law. The more they try to keep the law, the more they become aware of the power of sin that dwells within them, exerts dominion over them, even against their will, and thwarts any attempt to live according to the law. The only escape from this dominion of sin is to leave the law and come under grace.

"For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sin, which the law had awakened, were at work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death. But now we have been freed from the law, having died to that by which we were made prisoners, so that we may serve in the newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:5-6).

Paul is saying here that those who are under the law are in their carnal nature subject to the passions of sin, which cause them to bear fruit that leads to death; but as Christian believers we have been "set free from the law..." to serve God, not according to the letter of the law, but in the newness of spiritual life that comes through faith in Christ.

In Romans 10:4 Paul says this again:

"For Christ is the end of the law, the righteousness of everyone who believes".

Once a person places his faith in Christ for salvation, that is the end of the law for that person as a means of attaining righteousness. Here Paul is very precise. He is not saying that the end of the law as part of God's Word. On the contrary, the Word of God "endures forever". For the believer, the end of the law as a means of attaining righteousness is over.

The believer's righteousness no longer comes from keeping the law, in whole or in part, but solely from faith in Christ.

5. Christ has abolished the handwriting

Paul asserts that the law as an instrument of righteousness came to an end with Christ's death on the cross.

"But you who were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he raised to life with him, forgiving you all your trespasses, having abolished the handwriting of the statutes which was against us, which was against us. And he has taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." (Col 2:13-14)

Here Paul says that through the death of Christ, God "blotted out the handwriting of the requirements which was against us" and "removed it out of the way...". Paul is not talking about the abolition of sins, but the abolition of requirements. This word could be better translated "requirements".

These regulations are the ordinances of the law that stood between God and those who transgressed them, and therefore had to be taken out of the way before God could give them grace and forgiveness. The word "ordinances" here refers to the whole system of the law which God ordained through Moses, including that particular part of the law which is commonly called the "Ten Commandments".

That this "abolition" includes the Ten Commandments is confirmed by Paul later in the same chapter.

"Therefore let no man judge you in meat or drink, or in respect of the feast, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath day." (Col 2:16)

The word therefore at the beginning of this verse indicates a direct connection with what he had said two verses earlier; that is, the abolition of the ordinances of the law by the death of Christ.

Again, the mention of "sabbaths" at the end of the verse indicates that the religious observance of the Sabbath day is also one of the ordinances abolished. Yet the command to keep the Sabbath day is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. This indicates that the Ten Commandments are included among the Law's set of ordinances that were abolished and taken out of the way by the death of Christ.

6 The law is not for the righteous

We have seen that the religious observance of the Sabbath day was among the ordinances which were abolished. This confirms what we have established: the law, including the Ten Commandments, is one complete system. As a means of achieving justice, it was introduced as a single, complete system by Moses; and as a single, complete system, it was abolished by Christ.

"For he [Christ] himself is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments which was contained in the statutes, that he might make of the two one new man in himself, and so make peace" (Ephesians 2:14-15).

Here Paul tells us that Christ, by his atoning death on the cross, abolished (i.e., made void) "the law of commandments"; thereby abolishing the great dividing line of the Mosaic Law that separated Jews from Gentiles, allowing both Jews and Gentiles to be reconciled to both God and one another through faith in Christ.

The phrase "the law of commandments" indicates as clearly as possible that the whole law of Moses, including the Ten Commandments, was no longer enforced by Christ's death on the cross as an instrument of righteousness.

In 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Paul again discusses the Christian believer's relationship to the law and comes to the same conclusion.

"Now we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not for the righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the profane and impious, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for murderers of men, for fornicators, sodomites, kidnappers, liars, false witnesses, and if there be any other thing contrary to sound doctrine."

Paul here identifies two classes of persons: on the one hand, there are the righteous; on the other hand, there are those who are guilty of the various sins listed in Paul's enumeration. Those who are guilty of these sins are not true believing Christians; such a person is not saved from sin through faith in Christ.

The one who trusts in Christ for salvation is no longer guilty of these sins; he is justified, made righteous - not by his own righteousness, but by the righteousness of God which is imputed to all and all who believe through faith in Jesus Christ.

Paul affirms that the law was not made for such a righteous man; he is no longer under the rule of the law.

7 God's children are not under the law

In Romans 8:14 Paul says:

"For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God." (Romans 8:14)

The true, believing sons of God are those who are led by the Spirit of God - that is what characterizes them as sons of God. Concerning such people, Paul says:

"But if the Spirit leads you, you are not under the law." (Galatians 5:18)

So the very thing that characterizes true, believing sons of God - that they are led by the Spirit of God - also means that such people are not under the law.

In short, we can put it this way: If you are a true child of God through faith in Christ, then the evidence is that you are led by the Spirit of God. And if you are led by the Spirit of God, then you are not under the law. Therefore, you cannot be both a child of God and under the law.

Children of God are not under the law. The contrast between the law and the Spirit can be illustrated by the example of trying to find your way to a certain place using two different tools: one tool is using a map, and the other tool is following your personal guide. The law corresponds to the map; the Holy Spirit corresponds to the guide.

Under the law, a man is given a completely accurate and detailed map and told that if he follows every detail of the map without error, it will lead him on the road to salvation. However, no man has ever been able to follow the map flawlessly. In other words, no human being has ever made the road to salvation by flawlessly following the law.

Under grace, a person commits himself to Christ as Savior, and then Christ sends the Holy Spirit to that person to be his personal guide. The Holy Spirit knows the way and does not need a map. The believer in Christ, led by the Holy Spirit, need only follow this personal guide to reach salvation. He does not need to rely on the map, which is the law. Such a believer can be absolutely certain of one thing: the Holy Spirit will never lead him to do anything contrary to His holy nature.

Therefore, the New Testament teaches that those who are under grace are led by the Spirit of God and are not dependent on the law.

From this we conclude that God never really expected men to attain true righteousness by keeping the law, either in part or in whole.

This conclusion raises a very interesting question: if God never expected men to attain justice by keeping the law, why was the law ever given to men?

8. Revealing the sin

Why did God give the law? The first main purpose of the law is to show people their sinful condition.

"Now we know that what the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silent, and the whole world may be guilty before God. Therefore by the works of the law no one is justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." (Romans 3:19-20)

Notice first the very emphatic statement, "By the works of the law no man's body is justified in his sight" (Rom 3:20).

In other words, no man will be justified before God by keeping the law.

In parallel, Paul states twice, in two different sentences, the primary purpose for which the law was given. First, he says, "that the whole world may become sinful before God". An alternative translation is, "and the whole world shall come under the judgment of God" (Kaldi, Neovulgate).

Secondly, it says that "by the law is the knowledge of sin". We see, then, that the law was not given to make men righteous, but on the contrary, to make men conscious that they are sinners, and as such subject to God's judgment for their sins.

"What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Of course not! On the contrary, I should not have known sin but by the law. For I would not have known greed if the law had not said: "(Rom 7:7)

"Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. Is that which is good therefore become death to me? Surely not! But sin, that it might appear to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that sin might become sinful above all sin through the commandment." (Rom 7:12-13)

Paul uses three different phrases that all express the same truth.

"I would not have known sin but by the law." (Rom 7:7)

"But sin, to appear sin..." (Rom 7:13)

"...that sin might be made exceeding sinful by the commandment." (Rom 7:13)

In other words, the purpose of the law was to expose sin - to show sin for what it really is - as the subtle, destructive, deadly thing that it is. After that, people had no excuse left to deceive them as to the extreme sinfulness of their condition.

In medical practice, when treating diseases of the human body, the doctor first of all examines the sick person and tries to ascertain the nature and cause of the disease; only then does he try to prescribe a cure. God follows the same order when dealing with man's spiritual needs. Before prescribing a cure, God first diagnoses the condition.

The root cause of all human need and suffering lies in a condition common to all members of the human race: sin. No satisfactory cure for human need can be offered until this condition has been diagnosed. The Bible is the only book in the world that correctly diagnoses the cause of all humanity's needs and suffering. For this reason alone, in addition to everything else it offers, the Bible is invaluable and irreplaceable.

9. Man is unable to save himself

The second main purpose for which the law was given was to show men that, as sinners, they were incapable of justifying themselves by their own power. There is a natural tendency in all men to want to be independent of God's grace and mercy. This desire to be independent of God is itself both the result and the evidence of man's sinful condition, though most people do not realize it.

Thus, when man becomes convinced of his sinful condition, his first reaction is to seek some means by which he can cure himself of this condition and by his own efforts make himself righteous, without having to depend on God's grace and mercy.

Religious laws and regulations have therefore always been strongly attractive to the human race in all ages, regardless of differences of nationality or background. By practising such laws and rituals, people have sought to silence the inner voice of their own conscience and to make themselves righteous through their own efforts.

This is precisely how many religious Israelites responded to the Mosaic Law. Paul describes this attempt by Israel to establish its own righteousness.

"For not knowing God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, they did not submit to God's righteousness" (Rom 10:3).

As a result of trying to establish their own righteousness, Israel failed to submit to God and God's righteousness. The root cause of their error, therefore, was spiritual pride - a refusal to submit to God, a desire to be independent of God's grace and mercy.

Nevertheless, when people are truly willing to be honest with themselves, they are always forced to admit that they can never succeed in making themselves righteous by adhering to religious or moral laws. Paul describes this experience in the first person singular; he himself at one time sought to make himself righteous by keeping the law. He says this in Romans 7:18-23:

"For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwells no good thing; for the will is present in me, but how to do what is good I cannot find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not do, I practice. But if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin dwells in me. I find, therefore, a law that evil is present in me who will to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inner man. But I see that another law is in my members, which wars against the law of my mind, and brings me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members".

Paul speaks here as one who sincerely acknowledges the righteousness and desirability of living according to the law. However, the more he struggles to do what the law commands, the more he becomes aware of another law, another power in his own carnal nature that is constantly fighting against the law and thwarting his strongest efforts to make himself righteous by keeping the law.The central point of this inner conflict is expressed in verse 21.

"I find then that the law is present in me, that evil is present in me, who desires to do good".

This is an apparent paradox, yet all human experience confirms it. One never knows how bad one is until one truly tries to be good. Then every attempt to be good only reveals more clearly the hopeless, incurable sinfulness of his own carnal nature, against which all his efforts and good intentions are utterly futile.

10. The image of Christ

We have seen that the second main object of the law was to show men that they were not only sinners, but utterly incapable of saving themselves from sin and making themselves righteous by their own power.

The third chief purpose for which the law was given was to foretell and foreshadow the Saviour who was to come, and by whom alone it would be possible for man to obtain true salvation and righteousness. This was done through the law in two main ways: the Saviour was prophesied by direct prophecies, and foretold by the types and ceremonies of the ordinances of the law.

An example of direct prophecy within the framework of the law is found in Deuteronomy 18:18-19, where the Lord says to Israel through Moses:

"I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers, and I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which I shall speak in my name, I will require him."

Peter later quotes these words of Moses and applies them directly to Jesus Christ (see Acts 3:22-26). Thus the prophecy foretold by Moses in the Law is fulfilled in the New Testament in the person of Christ.

Many of the sacrifices and ordinances of the law foreshadow Jesus Christ as the coming Saviour. For example, the Passover sacrifice in Exodus 12 foreshadows redemption by faith in the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, shed on the cross of Calvary at the Passover. Likewise, the various sacrifices described in the first seven chapters of Leviticus, which relate to the atonement of sins and drawing near to God, all foreshadow different aspects of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

These are therefore the words John the Baptist used to introduce Christ to Israel:

"Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

By likening Christ to the sacrificial lamb, the people of Israel were led to see in Christ the one foretold by all the sacrificial provisions of the law.

This purpose of the law is summed up by the apostle Paul in his words in Galatians:

"But the Scripture has made everyone subject to sin, that the promise of faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were under the law, being kept under the law, being kept unto faith which shall be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." (Gal 3:22-24)

The Greek word translated "tutor" here refers to a senior slave in a rich man's household, whose special duty was to give the first elementary grades of instruction to the rich man's children, and then to accompany them to school each day, where they could receive a more advanced education.

Accordingly, the law gave Israel the first elementary instruction in the basic requirements of God's justice, and then it was the means of directing them to put their faith in Jesus Christ, and learn from Christ the lessons of true righteousness which comes by faith without the works of the law.

Just as the educational task of this slave was completed when he delivered the children of his master into the care of the fully qualified teacher of the school, so the task of the law was completed when he led Israel to their Messiah, Jesus Christ, and led them to see their need of salvation through faith in him.

11. Preservation of Israel

Read Galatians 3:22-24:

"But the Scripture has made all under sin, that the promise of faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, he kept us under the law, keeping us under the law, saving us for the faith which was then to be revealed. Therefore the law was our tutor to lead us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith." (3:22-24)

In these words of Paul there is a phrase that reveals another important function of the law in relation to Israel. Speaking as an Israelite, Paul says this:

"But before faith came, we were under the custody of the law, bound together until the revelation of the faith to come." (Galatians 3:23)

The law kept Israel as a special nation, set apart from all others, set apart by its distinctive rites and ordinances, preserved for the special purpose for which God had called them. 

[A few lines omitted.]

12. The law was perfectly fulfilled by Christ

Let us summarize the four main purposes for which the Law of Moses was given.

1 The law was given to show men their sinful condition.

2. The law also showed men that as sinners they were unable to justify themselves by their own efforts.

3. The law was given to foreshadow by prophecy the Saviour who was to come, and through whom alone it would be possible for man to obtain true salvation and righteousness.

4. The law served to keep Israel as a distinct nation throughout the many centuries of their dispersion, so that even now they would remain true to the special purposes God had worked out for them.

No consideration of the relationship between the law and the gospel can be complete without considering the words in which Christ Himself summarizes His attitude and relationship to the law.

"Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I did not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or one tittle of the law will pass away until the whole is fulfilled." (Mt 5:17-18)

In what sense did Christ fulfil the law? First, he fulfilled it personally by his own immaculate righteousness and by his flawless, consistent observance of all its provisions.

"God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons" (Galatians 4:4-5)

Notice the words, "born of a woman, born under the law...". Jesus Christ, by being born a man, was a Jew, subject to all the provisions and obligations of the law. He fulfilled them perfectly throughout His life on earth, without deviating one iota from all that the law required of every Jew. In this sense Jesus Christ alone, of all who ever came under the law, fulfilled it perfectly.

13. Christ fulfilled the law by his atoning death

We have seen that Jesus fulfilled the law by keeping the law completely and perfectly. In another sense, he fulfilled the law by his atoning death on the cross.

"Who committed no sin, and was found guilty of no guile in his mouth... who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness." (1 Peter 2:22,24)

Christ, who was not Himself a sinner, took upon Himself the sins of all who were under the law, and then paid the ultimate penalty of the law, which is death, in their place in full. By the full penalty thus paid by Christ, it was made possible for God, without compromising His divine justice, to offer full and free forgiveness to all who would accept by faith Christ's atoning death on their behalf.

Christ, then, by his life radiating perfect justice, first, and by his atoning death, second, fulfilled the law, thereby satisfying the just demands of the law for all those who did not perfectly obey the law. Third, Christ fulfilled the law by uniting in himself all the attributes prophetically set forth in the law about the Saviour and Messiah whom God had promised to send. Already at the beginning of Christ's earthly ministry we read what Philip said to Nathanael:

"We have found Him of whom Moses wrote in the Law and the prophets - Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph" (John 1:45).

Again another time, after his death and resurrection, Christ said to his disciples:

"These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things which were written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms might be fulfilled." (Luke 24:44)

So we see that Christ fulfilled the law in three ways:

1. by His perfect life.

2. by His redemptive death and resurrection.

3. by fulfilling all that the law foretold and foretold of the coming Saviour and Messiah.

14 Christ is the end of the law

We have seen that Christ fulfilled the law in three different ways:

1. by His perfect life.

2. by His Saviour's death and resurrection.

3. by fulfilling all that the law required and foretold concerning the coming Saviour and Messiah.

Thus we find ourselves in perfect agreement with Paul's words:

"Do we by faith make void the law? Of course not! On the contrary, we establish the law" (Rom 3:31).

The believer who accepts the atoning death of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of the law on his behalf is thereby enabled to accept every jot and tittle of the law as fully and unalterably true without compromise or reservation. Faith in Christ for salvation does not set aside the revelation of the law; on the contrary, it fulfils it.

"For Christ is the end of the law for the righteousness of the law to everyone who believes." (Rom 10:4)

The Greek word translated "end" here has two related meanings:

1. the purpose for which something is done.

2. the end of something.

3. in both senses, the law ended with Christ.

In the first sense, once the law has successfully led us to Christ, we no longer need it in that capacity. In the second sense, Christ has ended the law as a means of achieving righteousness with God by his death. Faith in him is now the only all-sufficient requirement for righteousness.

In all other respects, however, the law remains, complete and entire, as a part of God's Word which "abideth forever." Its history, its prophecy, and its general revelation of God's thought and counsel - all these remain eternally and unchangingly true.

15. Appendicitis

A man went to the doctor complaining of a stomach ache. On examination, the doctor diagnosed appendicitis.

"Appendicitis!" said the man. "What is it?"

"Appendicitis", the doctor explained, "is irritation or inflammation of the appendix".

"Well", the man admitted, "I didn't know my appendix was inflamed until now!".

In a similar way, many professing Christians are aware of some deep-rooted trouble in their spiritual experience - trouble that manifests itself in symptoms such as instability, inconsistency, lack of certainty, lack of peace. If such Christians were told that the root of their trouble lies in their failure to understand basic New Testament teachings such as the relationship between faith and works, or law and grace, they would have to confess, like the man with appendicitis:

"Well, we didn't even know the New Testament had anything to say about such things before!"

Let us briefly outline the conclusions we have reached so far on these two related issues.

1.The whole New Testament emphatically teaches that salvation is obtained by faith alone - faith in Christ's finished atoning work - without any human works.

2 Salvific faith is then always expressed in appropriate works - appropriate actions.

3 The actions by which saving faith is expressed are not actions of the law. The righteousness that God requires cannot be achieved by keeping the Mosaic Law.

These conclusions concerning the nature and purpose of the Mosaic Law naturally lead us to a further question: If saving faith is not expressed by keeping the law, what are the works by which saving faith is expressed? What are the proper works that we can expect in the life of every person who professes saving faith in Christ?

The answer to this question, and the key to understanding the relationship between law and grace, is given by the Apostle Paul in the Letter to the Romans.

"For what the law could not do, because it was made weak by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, because of sin: condemning sin in the flesh, so that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit." (8:3-4)

The key phrase here is "that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us," where "us" refers to Spirit-led Christians. It is not the law itself that is to be fulfilled in Christians, but the righteous requirement of the law.

What does this phrase "the righteous requirement of the law" mean? The answer is given most clearly by Jesus himself, and we will now examine it.

16 The two great commandments

What does the phrase "the righteous requirement of the law" mean? The answer is most clearly given by Jesus himself, when he answers a Jewish lawyer's question about the law.

One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him, and said: "Master, which is the great commandment in the law?". Jesus answered him, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself'. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (Mt 22:35-40).

In these words Jesus sets out the righteous requirement of the law to which Paul refers. The law of Moses was given to only a small part of humanity at a certain period in human history. But behind this whole system of laws are two great, eternal, unchanging laws of God for the whole human race: "Love the Lord your God" and "Love your neighbour as yourself".

The system of laws given by Moses was merely the detailed application and implementation of these two great commandments - love of God and love of neighbour. These two commandments were the basis of the whole legal system of Moses and the whole ministry and message of all the Old Testament prophets. Here, then, is "the righteous requirement of the law" summed up in two overarching commandments: "love God" and "love your neighbour".

The apostle Paul teaches the same truth in 1 Timothy 1:5-7.

"Now the object of the commandment is charity, which arises out of a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith, from which some have gone astray, and have turned aside into empty talk, seeking to be teachers of the law, neither understanding what they say nor what they assert".

Note this illuminating statement, "the purpose of the commandment is love..."

The ultimate purpose and object for which the whole law was given was to instruct in love - love for God and love for man. Paul goes on to say that all those who try to teach or interpret the Law of Moses without understanding this fundamental purpose of the whole Law "have gone astray into empty talk... they neither understand what they say nor what they claim".

In other words, such interpreters have completely missed the main point of the law, which is love. This law of love - love for God and man - is the law behind all other laws.

17 The law of love is the law of freedom

We have seen that the chief end of the law is love. Paul expresses the same truth in Romans 13:8-10 about this single supreme law of love:

"No one owes anyone anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "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 are any other commandments, can all be summed up in this saying, "Love thy neighbour as thyself". Love does not harm your neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilment of the law".

And again, more succinctly, in Galatians 5:14:

"For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, and that is this, 'Love your neighbour as yourself'."

Thus "the righteous requirement of the law", with all its complexities and all its requirements, can be reduced to a single word: love.

At this point, one might be tempted to say, "You are telling me that as a Christian I am not under the law or the commandments of Moses. Does that mean I am free to break those commandments and do what I want? Am I free to murder, commit adultery or steal if I so choose?"

The answer is that as a Christian, you are free to do whatever you are free to do with perfect love for God and people in your heart. But as a Christian you are not free to do anything that cannot be done in love.

A man whose heart is filled and guided by the love of God is free to do whatever his heart desires. That is why James twice calls this law of love the law of liberty.

"But he who looks to the perfect law of liberty, and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:25)

"Speak and act as those who are judged by the law of liberty." (James 2:12)

James calls this law of love "the perfect law of liberty," because a person whose heart is always filled with and guided by God's love has the freedom to do exactly what he or she wants. What such a man wills to do will always be in harmony with God's will and nature, for God is love itself.

The man who lives according to this law of love is the only truly free man on all the earth - the only man who is free to do what he will at any time. Such a man needs no other law to guide him.

18. The royal law

We have seen how James spoke of the law of liberty in connection with love. In the same epistle, he gives this law of love another title. He calls it "the royal law".

"If you truly fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, 'Love your neighbor as yourself,' you are doing well." (James 2:8)

Why is this "royal" law? Because whoever lives by this law is truly living like a king. He is not subject to any other law. He is always free to do as his heart dictates. By fulfilling this law, he fulfills all laws. In all circumstances, and in all his dealings with God and man, he rules life as a king.

An analysis of what is meant by the "righteous requirement of the law" leads us to the following conclusion: There is no contradiction or inconsistency between the standard of true righteousness set up in the Old Testament under the Law of Moses and the standard set up in the New Testament in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The standard of true justice is the same in both cases. It can be summed up in one word: love - love for God and love for man.

The difference between the two dispensations - the dispensation of the Mosaic Law and the dispensation of grace through Jesus Christ - lies not in the end to be achieved, but in the means used to achieve it.

In both cases, under both law and grace, the end to be achieved is love. But under law, the means used to attain this end is an external system of commandments and regulations imposed on man from without; under grace, the means is the wonderful and continuous operation of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer.

The law of Moses did not fail in its purpose, not because there was anything wrong with the law itself, but because of the inherent weakness and sinfulness of man's carnal nature.

19. Being sold under sin, then born again and set free

The law of Moses could not achieve its purpose because of human weakness. Paul makes this clear in the second part of Romans chapter 7.

"Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good" (Rom 7:12).

"For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin" (Rom 7:14).

"For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man." (Rom 7:22)

"But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members." (Rom 7:23)

The law itself is just and good. The man who desires to live according to the law can be perfectly sincere in acknowledging the precepts of the law and seeking to live according to the law. But in spite of all this, the power of sin in him and the weakness of his own carnal nature continually prevent him from living according to these standards.

According to the New Testament, God's grace in Jesus Christ still directs man to the same end - love of God and love of neighbour - but provides him with entirely new and different means to achieve that end. Grace begins with the wonderful work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the believer.

The result of this operation is called "regeneration" or "birth of the Spirit". This experience is prophetically described in the Old Testament, where the Lord says to the children of Israel:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezek. 36:26)

The effects of this inner change are further described by Jeremiah.

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." (Jer 31:31)

"And this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, 'I will put My law in their minds and write it in their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be My people." (Jer. 31:33)

This new covenant that the Lord has promised here is the new covenant of grace through faith in Jesus Christ, which we now call the New Covenant.

Through this new covenant the nature of the sinner is completely changed from within. The old, hard, callous heart is removed; in its place, a new heart and a new spirit are implanted. The new nature is in harmony with the nature of God and the laws of God.

Thus it becomes natural for a man who has been recreated by the Spirit of God to walk in God's ways and do God's will. The sovereign law of love is engraved by the Spirit Himself upon the sensitive tablet of the believer's heart, and from there it is naturally enforced in the believer's new character and conduct.

20.God's love pours out in the human heart

Romans 8:3-4 says:

"For what the law could not do, because it was made weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, because of sin: condemning sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." (Romans 8:3-4)

The law did not fall short of God's standard of righteousness not because the law was flawed, but because of the weakness of man's fleshly nature. Under grace, God's Spirit changes man's carnal nature and replaces it with a new nature capable of receiving and expressing God's love.

The fundamental difference between the operation of law and the operation of grace can be summarised as follows: law depends on man's own ability and operates from without; grace depends on the miraculous operation of the Holy Spirit and operates from within.

The New Testament tells us that the human heart can only come under this law of divine and perfect love through the operation of God's Holy Spirit.

"But hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom 5:5)

Notice that this is not merely human love in any form or degree, but God's love - God's own love - which God's Spirit is able to pour out into our hearts.

This divine love poured out by the Spirit of God into the human heart produces in its perfection the ninefold fruit of the Spirit. This fruit of the Spirit is the love of God, which manifests itself in every aspect of human character and conduct. This is described by the Apostle Paul:

"Now the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against these there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).

Paul again emphasizes that a life in which divine love is perfectly manifested in these nine spiritual fruits need not be governed by any other law. Hence he says: "Against such there is no law".

This law of love is therefore the end of all other laws and commandments. It is the perfect law, the royal law, the law of liberty.

21. The New Testament pattern of obedience

We conclude that the law of love marks the end of all other laws and commandments. However, we must be careful not to give the impression that God's love is something vague, indefinite, unrealistic or sentimental. On the contrary, God's love is always definite and practical. According to the New Testament, love for God and love for man are expressed in a way that is equally consistent with God's own love - in a definite and practical way.

Throughout the Bible, the supreme test of man's love for God is expressed in one word: obedience. In the Old Testament, God spoke this truth to His people in Jeremiah 7:23:

"Listen to my voice, and I will be your God, and you will be my people."

True love for God is always expressed in obedience to Him.

Likewise, in the New Testament, Jesus emphasised this point of obedience above all other requirements in his farewell address to his disciples. In John 14, he stresses this point three times in succession in a few verses:

"If you love me, keep my commandments." (15. v.)

"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them loves me." (21. v.)

Then he very clearly juxtaposes the two alternatives of obedience and disobedience, for he says:

"If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word" (v. 23). And then, on the contrary, he who does not love Me does not keep My words." (24. v.)

In the light of these words, it is obvious that for any Christian to profess his love for Christ by not obeying the will of Christ as revealed in His words and commands is mere self-deception.

Christ's supreme command in the New Testament is love. Without love it is impossible to speak of obedience. But if we look further into the nature and development of Christian love, we find that the New Testament offers us a pattern of life that is guided in every aspect by this love.

It encompasses the believer's own individual and personal life, his relationship with God and with his fellow human beings. It guides and controls Christian marriage and the life of the Christian family, including parents and children. It ensures the life and conduct of the Christian church. It regulates the believer's attitude and relationship to secular society and government.

To follow this pattern in our lives, we must first study and apply all the teachings of the New Testament with a prayerful spirit. Second, we must constantly acknowledge that we depend moment by moment on the supernatural grace and power of the Holy Spirit.

In this way, we prove by our own experience the truth of 1 John 2:5. "By this we know that we are in Him."

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By Derek P.