{"id":188,"date":"2018-04-16T16:57:51","date_gmt":"2018-04-16T21:57:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/?page_id=188"},"modified":"2018-09-09T11:38:03","modified_gmt":"2018-09-09T16:38:03","slug":"the-law","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/godsvoice\/hear\/the-law\/","title":{"rendered":"The Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

SIN AND THE LAW<\/span><\/strong>
\nMost people think that knowledge of the law is over their heads. That is why they consult with lawyers when they get into legal trouble. Similarly, most religious people think that knowledge of the law and understanding of\u00a0parables<\/a>, mysteries,\u00a0<\/a>allegories<\/a>,\u00a0laws,\u00a0<\/a>ordinances,\u00a0<\/a>statutes,\u00a0<\/a>charges<\/a> and\u00a0precepts\u00a0<\/a>is way over their heads. And this is not surprising considering the fact that God has made knowing him very difficult.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The problem with going to religious leaders for understanding is that they only know about religious laws<\/a> based on the literal words of the Bible. They know nothing about God’s spiritual laws<\/a> that come from God’s spoken voice. Ignorant of the fact that there are two kinds of knowledge<\/a>, they teach what they think they know and lead people astray<\/a> with their ignorance.<\/span><\/p>\n

Not knowing the difference between religious laws and spiritual laws is a serious handicap for religious people who want to avoid sin. They are clear in their understanding that sin is lawbreaking, but their religious teachers mislead them into the belief that the laws they must keep are religious laws found in the literal words of the Bible. Therefore, in a sincere effort to avoid sinning, religious people do their very best to avoid breaking the religious laws while breaking all of God’s spiritual laws. <\/span><\/p>\n

The result of this ignorance about which laws are the standards for righteousness is that religious people receive praise from their coreligionists<\/a> for their obedience to the literal Bible but are sinners in God’s eyes. This is a serious issue for people who want to be in good standing with God. Thinking that they are righteous in obeying the literal words of the Bible, they have stumbled over the law<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This situation will continue to be a problem until religious people stop listening to false prophets<\/a> and\u00a0STUDY<\/a>\u00a0to learn how to hear personally hear God’s spoken voice<\/a>. As long as they put their trust in religious leaders they will remain ignorant of God’s spiritual laws. In other words, they need to study themselves to learn the truth. And they will be assisted in their learning if they can find a true prophet<\/a> they can trust.<\/span><\/p>\n

Given that God caused the Bible to be written in parables and dark sayings<\/a>, it is prudent for religious people to make a serious effort to learn how to interpret them. After all, all scripture is God breathed and useful for training in righteousness.<\/a> Anyone who fails to make such investigations implies to God and the world that they already have all the righteousness they need in their religious practices and beliefs and that they are exempted by God from his command to obey all of his laws<\/a>. Such people are among those who bless themselves in their stubbornness in the belief that their religion keeps them safe.<\/a> They forget, or ignore, that if they fail to observe one part of the law, God considers them guilty of disobeying all parts of the law.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Almost everyone knows that God has very high standards for obedience. Few understand or admit, however, that he has made obedience to literal laws written in the Bible is impossible. Anyone who has read Leviticus with serious intent to obey the laws written there understand that they are impossible to understand and obey. And yet, the world is full of Jews and Christians who are sincerely devoted to obeying God’s written word with the belief that they will find life there <\/a>because the written word tells them what laws they should obey and how to obey them<\/a>. A few of those Christians and Jews are convinced that they understand all of God’s laws and have persuaded others to listen to what they think about these deep things. So what we see is the blind religious leaders leading blind followers<\/a> because they read and understand with their natural eyes and ears instead of listening to God’s spoken voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

We might well wonder why God made understanding him and following him so difficult. Our logical human thinking says that God should make it easy for people to believe in him, trust him and follow him. And for most people it is relatively easy to read the Bible literally and make up a few rules for holy living that will, hopefully, earn eternal salvation. These are the rules are the essence of religion — but man’s religious ways are not God’s way. <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

God has a purpose in the way the Bible is written and it is up to us to acquire Godly knowledge, wisdom, understanding<\/a> from the Symbols, Signs, Types, Copies, Shadows and Patterns found in it. But, understanding of these mysteries does not come without discipline<\/a> and training in righteousness<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those who engage in this kind of training show that they are true disciples. Those who do not endeavor to learn through serious study<\/a> effectively say that they only want to know a little bit about God and that the little they do know is enough. They are content with the little that religion teaches them and have no interest in what God will teach New Covenant disciples<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

This casual, lazy attitude barely satisfies God’s command to love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength<\/a>. To learn as much about God as is humanly possible demands the drive and discipline<\/a> of a disciple — a learner<\/a>. A casual, only-on-Sunday approach will yield nothing about God’s true nature and his ways<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what does this review of discipline and study have to do with the law? It is just this: The law is not easy to comprehend; Understanding the law is very challenging because God is very complicated and hearing his spoken voice is difficult<\/a>. That is why God warns us that the law is a stumbling block.<\/a> But while understanding the law is challenging, so are the rewards for those who learn how to hear God’s voice.<\/span><\/p>\n

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EXAMPLES OF HARD TO UNDERSTAND SCRIPTURES<\/strong><\/span>
\nEven though the entire Bible challenges us intellectually, everyone would agree that Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Romans and Galatians include verses that are especially hard to understand. Some might even say they are impossible to understand — and we would agree with this assessment.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finding examples of Old Testament scriptures that are difficult to understand is easy; they are everywhere, and they all pose questions that challenge understanding. Leviticus, for example, includes thirteen scriptures<\/a> that refer to ten different kinds of laws that include: Burnt offering; grain offering; sin offering; guilt offering; peace offering; and laws for dealing with animals, leprosy and plagues, and cleansing from discharge of bodily fluids. Upon reading these laws we are compelled to wonder how anyone can possibly understand these laws or fulfill them. They are so enigmatic that Christians are inclined to dismiss them entirely with thinking that says they applied to ancient Israel but not to us in these modern times. Jews, on the other hand, do their best to obey them because they take all of God’s laws — all six hundred and thirteen of both positive and negative commandments <\/a>— very seriously.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Book of Romans, on the other hand, does not have instructions in how to obey laws like those found in Leviticus. Instead, Romans employs the term “law” fifty times <\/a>to inform New Covenant disciples about a plan for salvation that does not include obedience to the literal laws of Moses. Curiously, Romans in many places presents what appears to be a double-minded view of the law which portrays it as both the law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death.<\/a> This is confusing language causes us to ask: Are these one law or two different laws? Romans also includes many other seemingly contradictory statements about the value of the law that impede understanding of what God is trying to say.<\/span><\/p>\n

Below are a a few of the difficult scriptures and apparent contradictions where a rigid, literal interpretation makes intellectual understanding of the law all but impossible.<\/span><\/p>\n

1 Timothy 1:8:<\/a> Now we know that the law is good, if any one uses it lawfully,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How do we know when we are using the law lawfully or unlawfully?<\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 2:12-15: <\/a>For all who have sinned without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law;<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What does it mean to sin and perish without the law? What does it mean to be judged by the law?<\/span><\/p>\n

13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How is it possible to be a doer of the law without being a hearer of the law? Why are hearers of the law not just before God?<\/span><\/p>\n

14 For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves,<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How is it possible to obey the law without knowing the law? How can someone who does not have the law be a law to themselves?<\/span><\/p>\n

15 in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them,<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: If the law is written on someone’s heart, why are they bothered in their conscience?<\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 2:17-29: <\/a>But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely upon the Law and boast in God,18 and know His will and approve the things that are essential, being instructed out of the Law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the immature, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth, 21 you, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that one shall not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say that one should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: Is it really possible that someone who has been instructed in God’s law can be a teacher who steals, commits adultery and rob temples?<\/span><\/p>\n

23 You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What does it mean to “boast in the law”? How do teachers of the law break the law? How does that dishonor God?<\/span><\/p>\n

24 For “THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,” just as it is written 25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you practice the Law; but if you are a transgressor of the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How is it possible to practice the law and be a transgressor of the law? What does circumcision have to do with practicing the law? How can someone who practices the law become uncircumcised?<\/span><\/p>\n

26 So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How can someone, whether man or woman, Jew or Gentile, who has not been circumcised but keeps the requirements of the law be considered circumcised?<\/span><\/p>\n

27 And he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not judge you who though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor of the Law?<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How can someone who is circumcised and keeps the letter of the law be a transgressor of the law?<\/span><\/p>\n

28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly , nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter; and his praise is not from men, but from God.<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What does it mean to be circumcised in the heart? What does it mean to be circumcised by the Spirit or by the letter of the law?<\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 3:21-31: <\/a>But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: If God wants his people to obey the law, how is it possible for anyone to achieve righteousness apart from the law?<\/span><\/div>\n
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22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; 25 whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; 26 for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 27 Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What is the difference between the law of works and the law of faith?<\/span><\/div>\n
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28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is He not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since indeed God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith is one. 31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How does faith establish the law?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Romans 4:13-16: <\/a>For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How can it be true that the law, which we are supposed to obey, is not the way to achieve righteousness?<\/span><\/div>\n
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14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What does it mean to be an heir of the law? If God’s people are supposed to obey the law, how does obedience to the law nullify faith and make God’s promises void?<\/span><\/div>\n
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15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How is it possible that someone who has no law does not violate the law? If God gave the law, why does the law bring wrath?<\/span><\/div>\n
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16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: Verse 15 says that the law brings wrath, but this verse also says that people who are under the law will receive the promise made to Abraham. How can that be?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Romans 8:1-2: <\/a>Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What does it mean to be “in Christ Jesus”? What is the law of the Spirit of life and how is it different from the law of sin and death? What does it mean to be set free from the law of sin and death?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Matthew 5:17 <\/a>“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: If the law brings sin and death, why would Jesus not want to abolish it? How does Jesus set us free from the law of sin and death and fulfill the law?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Galatians 6:2 <\/a>Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What is the law of Christ and how is it different from the law of sin and death?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Romans 7:6 NAS<\/small> <\/a>But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.<\/span><\/div>\n
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QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: If God gave the law and if the law is good and if Jesus came to fulfill the law, why should we be released from the law?<\/span><\/div>\n
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Romans 10:4 NAS<\/small> <\/a> For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: If Jesus came to fulfill the law, how can he also be the end of the law?<\/span><\/p>\n

Galatians 2:21: <\/a> “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: If Jesus came to fulfill the law, how can it be that he died needlessly if righteousness comes through the law?<\/span><\/p>\n

Galatians 3:21<\/a>: Is the Law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law.<\/span><\/p>\n

QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: Galatians 2:21 <\/a>says that righteousness does not come through the law, but Galatians 3:21<\/a> says that the law is not contrary to the promises of God. Since God’s promises are fulfilled in Christ who fulfilled the law, why does the law not yield righteousness?<\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously these are all very perplexing scriptures. No one who has tried to understand them and explain them has been able to do it. And yet, these God tells us that all scripture is inspired by God and useful for training in righteousness. <\/a>So the question is: how can we understand them?\u00a0 And the answer is: we listen to God’s voice to explain them to us.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the risk of overloading readers to the point of wanting to cry out in exasperation and confusion, we also offer the following scriptures for consideration without commentary as additional examples of scriptures which are especially difficult to understand:<\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 2:12-26<\/a>: All who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. <\/span> 13<\/span> For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. <\/span>14<\/span> When Gentiles w<\/span>ho have not the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15<\/span> They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness and their conflicting thoughts accuse or perhaps excuse them <\/span> 16<\/span> on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. <\/span> 17<\/span> But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast of your relation to God <\/span> 18<\/span> and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed in the law, <\/span> 19<\/span> and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, <\/span> 20<\/span> a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth– <\/span> 21<\/span> you then who teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? <\/span> 22<\/span> You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? <\/span> 23<\/span> You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? <\/span> 24<\/span> For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” <\/span> 25<\/span> Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. <\/span> 26<\/span> So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 3:19-31<\/a>: Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. <\/span> 20<\/span> For no human being will be justified in his sight by works of the law, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. <\/span> 21<\/span> But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it, <\/span> 22<\/span> the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; <\/span> 23<\/span> since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, <\/span> 24<\/span> they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, <\/span> 25<\/span> whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; <\/span> 26<\/span> it was to prove at the present time that he himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus. <\/span> 27<\/span> Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On the principle of works? No, but on the principle of faith. <\/span> 28<\/span> For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law. <\/span> 29<\/span> Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, <\/span> 30<\/span> since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised through their faith. <\/span> 31<\/span> Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 4:13-16<\/a>: The promise to Abraham and his descendants, that they should inherit the world, did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. <\/span> 14<\/span> If it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. <\/span> 15<\/span> For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. <\/span> 16<\/span> That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his descendants–not only to the adherents of the law but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, for he is the father of us all,<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 5:12-21<\/a>: Therefore as sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all men sinned– <\/span> 13<\/span> sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. <\/span> 14<\/span> Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sins were not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. <\/span> 15<\/span> But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift in the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. <\/span> 16<\/span> And the free gift is not like the effect of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. <\/span> 17<\/span> If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. <\/span> 18<\/span> Then as one man’s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man’s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. <\/span> 19<\/span> For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man’s obedience many will be made righteous. <\/span> 20<\/span> Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, <\/span> 21<\/span> so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 7: <\/span><\/a> Do you not know, brethren–for I am speaking to those who know the law–that the law is binding on a person only during his life? <\/span> 2<\/span> Thus a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives; but if her husband dies she is discharged from the law concerning the husband. <\/span> 3<\/span> Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress. <\/span> 4<\/span> Likewise, my brethren, you have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead in order that we may bear fruit for God. <\/span> 5<\/span> While we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. <\/span> 6<\/span> But now we are discharged from the law, dead to that which held us captive, so that we serve not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit. <\/span> 7<\/span> What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet, if it had not been for the law, I should not have known sin. I should not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” <\/span> 8<\/span> But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. <\/span> 9<\/span> I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; <\/span> 10<\/span> the very commandment which promised life proved to be death to me. <\/span> 11<\/span> For sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me. <\/span> 12<\/span> So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. <\/span> 13<\/span> Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, working 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. <\/span> 14<\/span> We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. <\/span> 15<\/span> I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. <\/span> 16<\/span> Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. <\/span> 17<\/span> So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. <\/span> 18<\/span> For I know that nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. <\/span> 19<\/span> For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. <\/span> 20<\/span> Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. <\/span> 21<\/span> So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. <\/span> 22<\/span> For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, <\/span> 23<\/span> but I see in my members another law at war with the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin which dwells in my members. <\/span> 24<\/span> Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? <\/span> 25<\/span> Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I of myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 8:1-7:<\/a> There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. <\/span> 2<\/span> For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. <\/span> 3<\/span> For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, <\/span> 4<\/span> in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. <\/span> 5<\/span> 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. <\/span> 6<\/span> To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. <\/span> 7<\/span> For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Romans 10:4-5:<\/a> For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified. <\/span> 5<\/span> Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 9:20-21<\/a>: To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews; to those under the law I became as one under the law–though not being myself under the law–that I might win those under the law. <\/span> 21<\/span> To those outside the law I became as one outside the law–not being without law toward God but under the law of Christ–that I might win those outside the law. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

1 Corinthians 15:56: <\/a>The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law<\/span>;<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Galatians 2:15-21<\/a>: We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, <\/span> 16<\/span> yet who know that a man is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ, and not by works of the law, because by works of the law shall no one be justified. <\/span> 17<\/span> But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we ourselves were found to be sinners, is Christ then an agent of sin? Certainly not! <\/span> 18<\/span> But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. <\/span> 19<\/span> For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. <\/span> 20<\/span> I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. <\/span> 21<\/span> I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Galatians 3:1-24<\/a>: O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? <\/span> 2<\/span> Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? <\/span> 3<\/span> Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? <\/span> 4<\/span> Did you experience so many things in vain? –if it really is in vain. <\/span> 5<\/span> Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? <\/span> 6<\/span> Thus Abraham “believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” <\/span> 7<\/span> So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham. <\/span> 8<\/span> And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” <\/span> 9<\/span> So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith. <\/span> 10<\/span> For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them.” <\/span> 11<\/span> Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for “He who through faith is righteous shall live”; <\/span> 12<\/span> but the law does not rest on faith, for “He who does them shall live by them.” <\/span> 13<\/span> Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us–for it is written, “Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree” — <\/span> 14<\/span> that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. <\/span> 15<\/span> To give a human example, brethren: no one annuls even a man’s will, or adds to it, once it has been ratified. <\/span> 16<\/span> Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many; but, referring to one, “And to your offspring,” which is Christ. <\/span> 17<\/span> This is what I mean: the law, which came four hundred and thirty years afterward, does not annul a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to make the promise void. <\/span> 18<\/span> For if the inheritance is by the law, it is no longer by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise. <\/span> 19<\/span> Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made; and it was ordained by angels through an intermediary. <\/span> 20<\/span> Now an intermediary implies more than one; but God is one. <\/span> 21<\/span> Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not; for if a law had been given which could make alive, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. <\/span> 22<\/span> But the scripture consigned all things to sin, that what was promised to faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. <\/span> 23<\/span> Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. <\/span> 24<\/span> So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

All of the example scriptures cited above make understanding of the law hard by saying or implying that the law can be both good and bad. Worse yet, there are no clues within each scripture or series of verses to tell us how to distinguish between good laws and bad laws. That is the bad news.<\/span><\/p>\n

The good news is that God has not left us in the dark without giving us clues to discover the Mystery <\/a>he has planted in every page of the Bible. Following those clues is what disciples do to find the pearl of great price.<\/a> Old\/First Covenant religious scribes<\/a> try to understand these scriptures by using intellect and reason. New Covenant disciples <\/a>understand these mysteries by listening to the voice of God.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

But coming to understanding is still not easy. What we find is that clues lead to answers that are usually found in remote, unexpected scriptures. Furthermore, answers are often not straightforward, often seem to be out of context, and always require making connections between many seemingly unrelated scriptures to get to the answer. That is why we have described Bible study as a Puzzle<\/a>. It is possible to assemble the puzzle, but effort and patience is required. We are so well trained to read the Bible literally that we have a hard time breaking free from that habit so that we learn how to hear God’s spoken voice<\/a>. Fortunately, we are not dependent on our human resources (i.e. time and intellect) to gain understanding. We have the spirit of God to guide us and interpret the mysteries for us.<\/a> Learning how to do all of this is the essence of becoming a disciple.<\/span>
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\nA CONFUSING MIX OF RULES AND REGULATIONS<\/strong><\/span>
\nIt is not disrespectful of God to say that the entire Old Testament is hard to understand because he made it that way. Readers who are inclined to interpret scripture literally might not admit that this is true, but those who are intellectually honest would have to agree that much of the Old Testament is impossible to interpret and apply with strict literal interpretation. This is all evidence that The Law is a Stumbling Block.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Hard as it may be for us to accept, God caused the law to be a stumbling block for his people. This fact may at first seem to be a cruel trick for God to play on people he loves. But, if we stop to consider that God’s is very deep and very complex, we might begin to appreciate that this is the way it must be. To reduce God to words on a page effectively depreciates, minimizes and reduces God.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here is a brief summary of why the law is a stumbling block:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n
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