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NASB | Matthew 7:23 "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 7:23 "And then I will declare to them publicly, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME [you are banished from My presence], YOU WHO ACT WICKEDLY [disregarding My commands].' [Ps 6:8] |
Subject: What is iniquity in Matthew 7:23? |
Bible Note: You our doing me a disservice , I would not give up on you. The problem may be that you have only been exposed to one perspective. Please see this excerpt of a commentary on Romans. http://www.yashanet.com/studies/romstudy/text07a.htm Paul's argument in Romans, is similar to one he made in Philippians, chapter 3, when he said he counted the past things he relied on for righteousness, "as dung." Again, due to the lack of knowledge of where Paul, (the rabbi and Pharisee) is coming from, this section is also often used to teach that Paul no longer followed Torah. This is not what Philippians (or Galatians, or Colossians, or any of Paul's writings) says however. Paul is not asserting that God's holy Torah is "dung" -- rather, he is saying that his efforts in trying to achieve righteousness by following Torah commandments on his own, outside of faith, is an exercise in futility. He counts his legalistic approach to Torah as "dung." In Philippians, Paul is teaching along the same lines as he does in Romans, not trying to achieve salvation by doing the "works of the Law" in one's own righteousness, but through faith in Yeshua: Philippians 3:9 - Paul's righteousness as a Jew, prior to his "meeting" with Yeshua, was erroneously placed in his own ability to follow the Torah to "earn" his salvation. Paul's teaching (in all his letters) is that we cannot do this on our own. We are to trust in the "righteousness which is of God by faith," and then follow His Torah with His spirit in us. "Believing in the Messiah" is not the end of the road (as is effectively taught by Christianity). Trusting in Yeshua is the door to the path we are to follow -- the path of Torah. Note that in the same chapter of Philippians, Paul does not presume to say that "just by believing" he is guaranteed salvation: Philippians 3:11-14 - If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus...I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Paul's admonition was for the Philippians to walk in the same path he did, (which was Torah): 5 For when we were in the flesh This verse looks back at the past from which we were delivered. The Torah (even today), leads us to salvation through its "negative commands," (i.e. "Thou shall not ..."), that both regulates sin in the life of an unbeliever, and causes us to see that we fall short of God's standards.2 We then realize the need to die to our sin (and to the judgment of Torah) and make way for God's spirit to enable us to do what the Torah demands. See notes to verse 6 below for the "positive aspects" of Torah. 6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. This verse clarifies what Paul was saying with his analogy (verse 1-4) and looks ahead to what will be said in chapter 8. In "dying" to sin, and making room in your will to "let God in," a person is now governed by the "positive commandments" of the Torah (i.e. walking according to the Spirit and not the flesh, re: 8:1-15). Paul makes it clear that we still serve God (i.e., follow His ways as He gave in the Torah.) A person must serve one of two masters. He is either "bound" in the oldness of the letter to serve his Yetzer Hara (evil inclination), or he is "freed" from this inclination to serve God. (Of course this does not mean he will never sin - even King David sinned, yet he declared himself [in Psalms, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit] to be "righteous according to the Torah.") A breakdown of Romans 7:6 is as a follows: "But now we are delivered from the law" - We are delivered from the condemnation of the Torah that came when we tried to follow it outside of faith and failed. Refer to the "curse of the Law" mentioned in our background study. "... being dead wherein we were held" - Because Yeshua paid the penalty (by His death), for our violation of God's Torah, we have been released from this sentence (the fruit of unbelievers is death, re: 7:5). We are not released from the entirety of Torah however, only certain aspects, (i.e., its condemnation) just as the woman in the analogy of verses 7:1-4, was only released from certain aspects of the Torah. "... serve in newness of spirit" - Those of the Spirit continue to "serve" (i.e., follow Torah - re: Romans 8:2-8) "... not in the oldness of the letter." - Outside of faith, we can only grasp at the "letter of the Law." We are no longer to serve God in a lifeless spirit of self-righteous legalism, or misuse of God's Torah. We are now to follow it out of love of God, as Torah is holy, righteous and good (6:12), as well as spiritual (6:14). |