Author	Thread: Part 2 Works of the law
Admin	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 27 Oct, 2009 02:32 PM The difficult words of Paul James literally said that the law of Moses � that is, the law of God � was being �read in the synagogue every sabbath day� (Acts 15:21). Why would he even bring this up, unless the point he is making is that the Gentile brethren would be HEARING this instruction from the rest of the law of God every Sabbath day, in the synagogue? The Galatians� Problem This same problem of some believers insisting Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep all the requirements of Judaism, surfaced also in the province of Galatia. The apostle Paul was deeply concerned about this �Judaizing� problem, this "yoke of bondage" being forced upon Gentile believers by false brethren from the Pharisee party (Gal.5:1). He lamented to the Galatians, saying �there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ� (Gal.1:7). What was Paul talking about? Notice! Paul points out to them that 14 years after his own conversion and calling (Gal.2:1), he had to go up to Jerusalem, as Paul put it, �because false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage).� These Pharisees said the new converts had to be circumcised, and to keep all the halachic principles of Rabbinic teaching, and their legalistic interpretations of the Law of God! (Gal.2:4). Paul did not put up with this nonsense for one minute (verse 5). The Galatians, unfortunately, had been subjected to this false teaching of salvation through physical circumcision and the keeping of the law, and were in danger of falling away from the truth of God. Therefore, Paul felt constrained to write to them about the problem, and in doing so, he explained the TRUTH about the �Law� and its place in our lives. Notice! The apostle Paul wrote: �And this I say, that the Law, which was 430 years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect� (Gal.3:17). Paul was here speaking clearly of some aspect of the law of Moses. What was this which was �added�? The Law of Moses Let�s go back into the days of Moses, for a moment, and see. Moses, you will remember, was the one whom God used to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage. He was a type of Christ, who delivered us from sin. After crossing the Red Sea in awesome glory, the Israelites came to the Arabian desert, and the hot sweltering sun. They began to murmur and complain, bellyache and grumble. It was not long before men openly began complaining and plotting rebellion against Moses, and against God (Exo.16:2-8). They were riled up, and in a flagrantly sinful attitude of mind! What does God say? Notice! �And the Lord said unto Moses, How long do you refuse to keep My commandments and My laws?� (verse 28). Notice! This was two whole weeks BEFORE they came to Mount Sinai! Yet, already, plainly, God�s laws were in force � and the Israelites were found breaking the Sabbath commandment, and being disobedient and rebellious. Consequently, God did two things. He reiterated the basic spiritual Laws He had given mankind � the Ten Commandments, and statutes and judgments (Gen.26:5). Then He added an entirely NEW Law � a law involving the Levitical Priesthood, which He brought into service, and laws concerning rituals, sacrifices, washings, and ordinances involving the Sanctuary or Temple. This law was added because of DISOBEDIENCE to God�s spiritual Law � it was added to TEACH them the habit of OBEDIENCE, and LESSONS regarding the enormity of sin, and its forgiveness. The entire body of Law was called �the Law of Moses,� because God used Moses as His mediator with Israel. The whole body or corpus of Law came through Moses. However, it was divided into two distinct parts � one consisting of statutes and civil laws for the community, based on the Ten Commandments. The other was the ceremonial laws involving the Levitical priesthood, sacrifices offerings, and rituals. Thus there were TWO PARTS to the Law given at Mount Sinai � the Ethical Law, or Moral Law, governing man�s relationship with God and his neighbor � and an �ADDED� part of the Law � the part relating to rituals and sacrifices! The sacrificial part of the law consisted of ceremonial washings, various laws of sin offerings and sacrifices, and carnal, physical ordinances enjoined upon the people and the Levitical Priesthood. It was not a spiritual law. It could save no one. Speaking of it, the apostle Paul declared in the book of Hebrews, �It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience � concerned only with foods and drinks [offerings], various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed UNTIL the time of reformation� (Hebrews 9:9-10, NKJV). That part of the Law was a temporary law, imposed until the �time of reformation.� So why was it given to ancient Israel? Let the apostle Paul give us the answer! [What purpose did the ritual law serve?] �It was added because of transgressions, till the seed [Christ] should come to whom the promise was made; and it was ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator� (Galatians 3:19). Did you catch that? That Law which was added � the Levitical Priesthood with all the sacrifices and rituals � was added � �BECAUSE OF TRANSGRESSIONS�! For one law to be �added� because of �transgressions,� then means that there had to be another Law which was being transgressed, being broken, by the Israelites! What Law? Remember, God had said, �How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws?� (Exodus 16.28). They had been breaking God�s eternal spiritual law, the Ten Commandments � as well as all those Laws which are based on and derived from the Ten Commandments! Specifically, they broke the SABBATH commandment (Exo.16:23-27). Because Israel had been breaking God�s Law, He added another special law � the laws involving the whole Levitical Priesthood, sacrifices and offerings! WHY? � to teach them the lesson of repentance and of obedience! To teach them to acknowledge their sins, He gave them certain ceremonial washings, sin and other offerings, and commanded sacrifices, and carnal ordinances, as a foreshadow of things to come. What things? The coming of the true sacrifice for our sins, Christ Jesus Himself! And the Holy Spirit which cleans us up spiritually within. These duties, sacrifices, washings, taught them their need for a coming Savior and God�s Holy Spirit. As Paul tells us in Hebrews, this new law �stood only in meats and drinks [meal and drink offerings], and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them UNTIL THE TIME OF REFORMATION� (Hebrews 9:10, KJV). These rituals, ceremonies, and sacrifices were �a FIGURE for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience� (Heb.9:9). Paul also wrote of this sacrificial law, �For the law having a SHADOW of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not cease to be offered? because that the worshipers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. For in those sacrifices there is a REMEMBRANCE again made of SINS every year� (Hebrews 10:1-3). The sacrificial law did not atone for sin � but it REMINDED THE PEOPLE of their sins, and their need for proper, true atonement! Paul goes on: �For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins� (Heb.10:4). Rather, the sacrifices of the law pointed to the one supreme sacrifice � the sacrifice of Jesus Christ Himself, the "Lamb of God"! (Heb.10:5-13). What about the �Schoolmaster� or �Tutor�? Paul goes on, in Galatians, saying, �But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.� �Therefore the law was our tutor (KJV, �schoolmaster�) to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor (schoolmaster)� (Galatians 3:24-25, NKJV). The Greek word for �schoolmaster� or �tutor� here is paidagogos, meaning a �boy leader�, i.e. a servant whose office it was to take the children to school. By implication, a �tutor,� �instructor,� �schoolmaster� (Strong�s Exhaustive Concordance, #3807). The NKJV translates the word as �tutor.� Says Thayer�s Greek-English Lexicon, �a leader, a tutor, i.e. a guide and guardian of 48 boys. Among the Greeks and Romans the name was applied to trustworthy slaves who were charged with the duty of supervising the life and morals of boys belonging to the better class. The boys were not allowed so much as to step out of the house without them before arriving at the age of manhood.� Vine�s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words says of paidagogos: � �a guide� or �guardian� or �trainer of boys,� lit., �a child-leader� (pais, �a boy, or child,� ago, �to lead�), �a tutor,� is translated �instructors� in I Cor.4:15, KJV (RV, �tutors�).� So the �Law� Paul said was a �tutor,� �instructor,� or �teacher� � a �guide� for the children of Israel. It �showed the way� to go. It was a �protector,� and �guardian� to save them from troubles, danger, or perils. Therefore, the �Law� was like a tutor or guardian for ancient Israel, to guard and protect them from danger, to safeguard their moral conduct, to teach them proper conduct and the enormity of sin and its severe penalty. In this respect, we are speaking of the entire �Law� of Moses, including the rituals, washings, and sacrifices. Now that Christ has come, we are no longer guided by the precepts of the Law alone � we are NOW guided by Christ Himself, and by the Holy Spirit of God! That is the meaning here. This does not mean the Law of God is done away with � but now, added to it, is CHRIST � the Saviour and Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit � which God sends upon those who accept and believe in Christ (Acts 5:32). Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 27 Oct, 2009 04:31 PM its a cult and a lie from satan! In Christ Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 27 Oct, 2009 06:11 PM you might as well call the holy bible the sabbith bible,cults always take one point and beat it to death......cant you see this? Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 04:44 AM My friend, You are letting your emotions and preconcieved ideas get in the way of understanding,Have you ever read in Prov.3:5,Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.You have attacked my character personally,I don't even know you,Is this any way for someone who calls themselves a Christian to act? Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 05:06 AM yeah....I apologized in the other post so,Im okay now,LOL In Christ Steve P.S.I think you could be Mark in disguise. Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 05:27 AM Junior Member Romans 7:1-6 tells how the Christian is released from the law; that is, how the law was fulfilled. Romans 7:7-13 tells how the law brings people to Christ; that is, how that law will not pass away until heaven and earth pass away. These verses tell the function of the law. Paul knew that questions like these would come up, and that false teachers would arise who tried to persuade people to keep the law. He was writing this book after the Acts 15 Jerusalem Council. And, as he outlines in 1 Timothy, he know there would be people whom we now call "Seventh Day Adventists" and "Messianic Jews" who would try to persuade us to follow the letter of the law. That's why he wrote Romans 7:1-6. That's why he wrote 1 Timothy 1:3-10, which tells us that the law is not made for believers, but for unbelievers, to show them their sin and their need for Christ. Anyone who believes the Bible cannot rightfully say that the Christian is commanded to keep the Old Testament law. In Christ steve Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 05:54 AM The Ten Commandments continue to fulfill an extremely important function even after the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. They are there to confront every sinner with God's standard of morality and spirituality, and convict the sinner so that he or she finally admits: "I am guilty before God". Once you acknowledge your guilt, you realize that the punishment and penalty will be unfailingly executed, unless you find an alternative (more precisely, unless God presents an alternative). That alternative is the Good News -- the Gospel. So the Law provides each sinner with the "Bad News" while the Gospel provides him with the Glad Tidings or Good News -- that Christ died for his sins and rose again for his justification, and if he believes, repents, and receives Christ, not only will he be saved from Hell, but will receive the gift of eternal life! The reason that God has brought in the New Covenant with its own Law -- the Law of Christ or the Law of the Spirit of Life -- is because the Law that is written on the hearts of believers can only be obeyed through the power of the Holy Spirit. Therefore it is no longer "the works of the Law" but "the fruits of the Spirit". The Law of Christ is encapsulated in one word -- "love" [agape]. If you are wholeheartedly loving God and others with agape love, you are indeed fulfilling the Law. Moses would be extremely pleased. In Christ Steve Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 07:07 AM The word law literally means "instructions." The instructions given to Moses was never intended to be a means of salvation. We wouldn't have needed Christ if the instructions alone could save. Thats why we cannot be saved by works. We can not be saved just by simply following the "instructions." We must also believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah and have faith in Him. Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 07:22 AM . Romans 7:7 What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, �You shall not covet.� 8 But sin, eizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members nother law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from his body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, l could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. 1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. In Christ Steve Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 08:11 AM Senior Member Faith is not a work but an instrument in apprehending Christ, by whom we are made ritghteous. The likeness of Christ is greater than the law. And the work of the spirit to renew us in that image is greater than the law can perform. Law-keeping cannot transform us into Christ's image. Walking in spirit and living in Christ will never be contrary to the law. It will always demonstrate the goodness of the law. The hallmark of the NT is death to self: no power or control over maintaining our righteousness or our improvement. The Law cannot keep us in favor with God. The law cannot improve our moral qualities or improve our character. The Law cannot keep flesh in submission. We cannot please God through obedience of the law. We live by faith in Christ and not by obedience to the law In Christ Steve Post Reply
View Profile History	Part 2 Works of the law Posted : 28 Oct, 2009 08:12 AM messianic jewish believers still honor obeying the law.It is not an occult Steve.Are you anti semitc? I hope not.Even jews who have not accepted christ are not an occult and they worship on saturday. Steve we have disagreed in the past.This time howerver is different.He who has the love of christ does not make baseless accustions. A friendly debate in asking why he believes this would have been better.Jews who accept christ understand the bible better than we do. They have no luther or calvin or catholic views. I challenge you Steve directly- find a messianic church and visit some saturday.They worship like normal jews.NO messianic jew is part of an occult. All men are liars. So, manofgod are you up to this challenge.In that other post you said that this guy was a 7th day adventist.I checked beefcakes profile. He is messianic. For a jew to convert to christ what is the price when the family finds out Steve.You are a smart guy.:waving: You have great knowledge you tell us.I say this becaause you do get me to think. Dennis Post Reply

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