Results 1 - 2 of 2
|
|
|||||
Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Do we overthrow the Law? | Rom 3:31 | McGracer | 53791 | ||
Kalos, Of course we don't overthrow the Law. How could we, the creations, overthrow the morality of God, the Creator? The Law is useful if we use it correctly - to show unregenerate man that he is a sinner and needs a Savior. But Christians are called to live by faith in Christ, not by faith in the Law. What is the purpose of the Law? The Law was given to make us conscious of sin - Rom 3:20; Rom 7:7,13; Gal 3:19; 1 Tim 1:8-10. The Law was given to stir up sin - Rom 7:5,7-9; 1 Cor 15:56 The Law lets us know what God's character and morality is like. In doing so, it lets us know how sinful and unlike Him we are in our unregenerate state. The Law cannot justify us, impart life to us, make us righteous, or perfect us. - Gal 2:16,21; Gal 3:11,20,21; Heb 7:19; Heb 10:1 It can't do this before salvation and it can't do it after salvation either. Instead, the Law can only bring death. - Rom 7:10; 2 Cor 3:6,7,9; Gal 3:10,21; James 2:10 The purpose of the Law is to lead us to Christ. - Gal 3:1-3,24,25 So should we still preach the Law? To sinners, yes. The Law shows them their sinfulness and their need for a Saviour, Jesus Christ. Christ was born under, taught under, and fulfilled the Law. - Gal 4:4; Matt 5:17,18; Rom 10:4 This is important to know because much of our Lord's teaching was centered in the Law. The New Covenant did not go into effect until Christ's death, so He taught under the Old Covenant to show His listeners their need for salvation by faith, apart from works. And He completely fulfilled the Law. Christ has set us free from the Law. - Rom 6:14,15; Rom 7:1-4,6,18,19,22; Rom 8:2,13; Gal 2:4,19,20; Gal 3:13,25; Gal 4:5; Gal 5:1,18 Christians have died to the Law so that they can now be married to Christ. We are no longer married to Mr. Law. We are married to Mr. Grace. The Law includes the Ten Commandments. Some would say that we are no longer under the ceremonial Law but still under the moral Law. We do not have this option. If we are going to be under the Law, we must be under all of it - ceremonial, moral, and civil. We cannot pick and choose what parts of the Law we can be under. Let's rejoice that we are under grace! McGracer |
||||||
2 | Do we overthrow the Law? | Rom 3:31 | kalos | 53851 | ||
McGracer: Thank you for your interest and input. I see that you have given this question much thought. Grace to you, kalos ************* "...the law cannot be altogether invalid since the New Testament affirms its abiding applicability." The Law under the New Covenant. (Note: The following is a selection from the article "The Law". It is recommended that you go to the website included here and read the entire article.) The New Testament's statements about Old Testament law are difficult to harmonize. On the one hand, some New Testament statements indicate that under the new covenant the whole law is in some sense abrogated (Rom 6:14, "you are not under law" Rom 10:4, "Christ is the end of the law" ). (...) On the other hand, the law cannot be altogether invalid since the New Testament affirms its abiding applicability. "All Scripture is … useful" (2 Tim 3:16-17), including Old Testament laws. Jesus came not to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17-20). The law is the embodiment of truth that instructs (Rom 2:18-19). It is "holy" and "spiritual, " making sin known to us by defining it; therefore, Paul delights in it (Rom 7:7-14,22). The law is good if used properly (1 Tim 1:8), and is not opposed to the promises of God (Gal 3:21). Faith does not make the law void, but the Christian establishes the law (Rom 3:31), fulfilling its requirements by walking according to the Spirit (Rom 8:4) through love (Rom 13:10). When Paul states that women are to be in submission "as the Law says" (1 Cor 14:34) or quotes parts of the Decalogue (Rom 13:9), and when James quotes the law of love (2:8 from Lev 19:18) or condemns partiality, adultery, murder, and slander as contrary to the law (2:9, 11; 4:11), and when Peter quotes Leviticus, "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Peter 1:16; from Lev 19:2), the implication is that the law, or at least part of it, remains authoritative. (...) The New Testament writers also apply the principles in the law. From Deuteronomy 25:4 ("Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out grain"), Paul derives a principle that workers ought to be rewarded for their labors and applies that principle in the case of Christian workers (1 Cor 9:9-14). In 1 Timothy 5:18, Paul again quotes Deuteronomy 25:4, this time in parallel with a saying of Jesus (Matt 10:10) as if both are equally authoritative. Likewise, the principle of establishing truth by two or three witnesses (Deut 19:15), originally limited to courts, is applied more broadly to a church conference (2 Cor 13:1). The principle that believers are not to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers is derived from a law concerning the yoking animals (2 Cor 6:14; cf. Deut 22:10). In 1 Corinthians 5:1-5, 13, Paul affirms on the basis of Leviticus 18:29 that incest, a capital offense in the Old Testament, is immoral and deserves punishment. A person practicing incest in the church must be excommunicated to maintain the church's practical holiness. Paul maintains the law's moral principle, yet in view of the changed redemptive setting, makes no attempt to apply the law's original sanction. ------------- Bibliography. G. Bahnsen, Theonomy in Christian Ethics; W. S. Barker and W. R. Godfrey, eds., Theonomy: A Reformed Critique; H. J. Boecker, Law and the Administration of Justice in the Old Testament and the Ancient Near East; U. Cassuto, A Commentary on the Book of Exodus; D. A. Dorsey, JETS 34/3 (Sept. 1991): 321-34; H.-H. Esser, NIDNTT2:438-51; M. Greenberg, Yehezkel Kaufmann Jubilee Volume, pp. 3-28; idem, Studies in Bible: 1986, pp. 3-28; idem, Religion and Law, pp. 101-12, 120-25; H. W. House and T. Ice, Dominion Theology: A Blessing or a Curse?; W. C. Kaiser, Jr., Toward Old Testament Ethics; idem, JETS33/3 (Sept. 1990): 289-302; G. E. Mendenhall, Religion and Law, pp. 85-100; Dale Patrick, Old Testament Law; V. Poythress, The Shadow of Christ in the Law of Moses; R. J. Rushdooney, The Institutes of Biblical Law; R. Sonsino, Judaism33 (1984): 202-9; J. Sprinkle, A Literary Approach to Biblical Law: Exodus 20:22-23:19. Baker's Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology. Edited by Walter A. Elwell, 1996 by Walter A. Elwell. Published by Baker Books. (http://bible.crosswalk.com/Dictionaries/BakersEvangelicalDictionary/) |
||||||