{"id":2312,"date":"2016-07-27T07:05:09","date_gmt":"2016-07-27T12:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/?page_id=2312"},"modified":"2025-08-18T07:21:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T12:21:08","slug":"the-law","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law","title":{"rendered":"The Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\" border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 11.6409%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 99.9487%;\" colspan=\"2\">STUDY TIP: Also see these links for more about the law:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 11.6409%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 9.38461%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 90.5641%;\">\n<ul class=\"children\">\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-1867 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">The Law is a Stumbling Block <\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-1874 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Two Covenants Part 1<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-3160\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenants-part-2\">Two Covenants Part 2 <\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><strong>UNDERSTANDING THE MYSTERY OF THE LAW<\/strong><br \/>\nBible literalists do not often accept or apply the fact that the Bible contains <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/dictionaries\/bakers-evangelical-dictionary\/parable.html\">parables<\/a>, m<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">ysteries<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/dictionary\/allegory\/\">allegories<\/a>. Because\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/matthew\/13-34.html\">Jesus did not speak unless it was in a parable,<\/a>\u00a0and because\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=1-corinthians+2;+john+7:16;+john+12:49;+john+14:10;+john+14:24-31;+john+16:13;+1-corinthians+2:12-13;+psalm+143:10;+luke+12:11-12;+matthew+10:17-20;+mark+13:11;+1-thessalonians+2:13;+exodus+4:12;+deuteronomy+18:18;+john+5:19;+matthew+26:39;+john+5:30;+john+6:38;+john+6:68;+john+8:28;+acts+4:29-31\">Jesus only spoke God&#8217;s words, we must conclude that God also speaks in parables. <\/a>Therefore, to be a follower of Jesus or a lover of God, it is imperative to understand the meanings of\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/dictionaries\/bakers-evangelical-dictionary\/parable.html\">parables<\/a>, m<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">ysteries<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/dictionary\/allegory\/\">allegories<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Lacking understanding of parables and mysteries, religious people\u00a0 do their very best to obey God by focusing on the literal words of the Bible. With only a few exceptions, they give barely a thought to the spiritual interpretation of the literal words that is available to them by listening to God&#8217;s spoken voice. Instead, they <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">make the mistake of believing that God&#8217;s written word is the same as his spoken voice.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n<p>This is a big problem for Jews who strive for obedience to God and for Christians who claim to follow Jesus. Unable, and in many cases unwilling, to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\">hear God&#8217;s spoken voice<\/a>, they default to hearing the voices and reading the writings of religious leaders who claim to speak for God. Instead of eating the<a href=\" http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/3#treeoflife\"> fruit of the tree of life<\/a>, they <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/#definitionofsin\">sin by choosing\u00a0 to eat from trees of knowledge of good and evil<\/a>. Sadly, what they follow is the parables &#8212; not the spiritual meanings of the parables. The result is religion which is actually\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/fakefaith\/\">fake faith<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-1\">Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 1, <\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-2\">Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 2,<\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-3\">Literal or Symbolic Interpretation Part 3<\/a>, and\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\">Symbols, Signs, Types, Copies, Shadows and Patterns<\/a> for details of what the Bible says about how to interpret it.<\/p>\n<p>It is a curious fact that both Christians and Jews, despite the impossibility of making intellectual sense of a large portion of the Bible, do not waver in their belief that it should generally be interpreted literally. Thus they hold on to the few things that appear to make sense while effectively ignoring those many parts that defy comprehension. And they do it at great risk for their spiritual lives knowing that<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+4:1-2;deuteronomy+12:32;joshua+1:7;proverbs+30:6;revelation+22:18-19\"> God has clearly warned them about subtracting from his word.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Given the Bible is necessarily written in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=psalm+78:1-7;+psalm+49:4;+matthew+13:35;+proverbs+1:6\">parables and dark sayings <\/a>because <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice#whatgodsvoiceislike\">God speaks a unique language<\/a> that humans do not understand intellectually with their natural minds, it is prudent for religious people to make a serious effort to learn how to interpret those\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=psalm+78:1-7;+psalm+49:4;+matthew+13:35;+proverbs+1:6\">parables and dark sayings<\/a>. After all, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2+timothy+3:16-17\">all scripture is God breathed and useful for training in righteousness.<\/a> Anyone who fails to make such investigations says 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<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/deuteronomy\/11.html\"> command to obey all of his laws<\/a>. Such people are among those who <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/deuteronomy\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+29:1-21\">bless themselves in their stubbornness in the belief that their religion keeps them safe.<\/a> They forget, or ignore, that if they<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/james\/2-10.html\"> fail to observe one part of the law, God considers them guilty of disobeying all parts of the law.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Almost everyone knows that God has very high standards for obedience. Few understand or admit, however, that the literal laws found in Bibles are impossible to obey. Anyone who has read Leviticus with serious intent to obey the laws written there knows that they are impossible to understand and obey.<\/p>\n<p>And yet, the world is full of Jews and Christians who are sincerely <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/john\/passage\/?q=john+5:39-40\">devoted to obeying God&#8217;s written word with the belief that they will find life there <\/a>because the written word informs them about the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=leviticus+18:4;+deuteronomy+4:1;+1+kings+11:11;+jeremiah+44:10;+jeremiah+44:23;+ezekiel+11:12\">\u00a0laws they should obey and how to obey them<\/a>. A few of those Christians and Jews are convinced that they understand all of God&#8217;s laws and have persuaded others to listen to and obey their interpretations of these deep things. The result is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/matthew\/passage\/?q=matthew+15:1-19\">blind religious leaders leading blind followers<\/a> because they see and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+11:1-3;+isaiah+32:1-3;+ezekiel+12:1-2;+jeremiah+5:21;+ezekiel+40:1-4;+deuteronomy+29:1-4;+isaiah+6:8-10;+ezekiel+12:2;+matthew+13:14;+acts+28:23-28;+romans+11:8;+mark+8:18\">understand with their natural eyes and ears instead of with their heart.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>We might well wonder why <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/assemble-the-puzzle\">understanding him and finding him is so difficult<\/a>. 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 yield eternal salvation. These are the rules that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\">RELIGION<\/a> creates and enforces, but <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+55:8-9;+isaiah+65:2;+psalm+81:11-12;+isaiah+59:7\">man&#8217;s religious ways are not God&#8217;s way.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>God is hard to understand because he is spirit and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice#whatgodsvoiceislike\">speaks a unique language<\/a>. Being spirit he does not, and will not, employ natural, physical things to communicate with man or to reveal himself to man. All God has to work with, therefore, is his spirit which is his voice. That is why he is so adamant about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15;genesis+22:18;+exodus+23:21-22;+numbers+7:89;+numbers+14:22;+deuteronomy+4:12;+deuteronomy+4:30;+deuteronomy+4:36;+deuteronomy+5:22-26;+deuteronomy+8:20;+deuteronomy+9:23;+deuteronomy+13:4;+deuteronomy+13:18;+deuteronomy+15:5;+deuteronomy+26:14;+deuteronomy+26:17;+deuteronomy+30:20;+joshua+5:6;+joshua+10:14;+joshua+22:2;+joshua+24:24;+psalm+81:11;+psalm+95:7;+psalm+106:25;+jeremiah+3:13;+jeremiah+3:25;+jeremiah+7:23;+jeremiah+7:28;+jeremiah+9:13;+jeremiah+11:4;+jeremiah+11:7;+jeremiah+18:10;+jeremiah+22:20-21;+jeremiah+26:13;+jeremiah+32:23;+jeremiah+40:3;+jeremiah+42:6;+jeremiah+42:13-14;+jeremiah+43:1-7;+jeremiah+44:23;+isaiah+28:23;+isaiah+32:9;+isaiah+55:1-3\">listening to his voice<\/a>. In other words, if you don&#8217;t hear God&#8217;s voice, you don&#8217;t know God.<\/p>\n<p>Man finds it hard to understand God because man is flesh. As flesh, he finds it impossible to understand spiritual things &#8212; including God&#8217;s voice. So, instead of learning how to listen to God&#8217;s voice, people do what they know best how to do:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\" border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 4.56407%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 5.48712%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 89.9487%;\">\n<ul>\n<li>They use their natural eyes and ears to learn about God.<\/li>\n<li>They do not <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+29:1-4;+isaiah+6:9-10;+matthew+13:19;+mark+8:17;+ezekiel+12:2;+matthew+13:14-19;+acts+28:26-27;+ezekiel+3:10;+malachi+2:2\">listen with their hearts<\/a> to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice#whatgodsvoiceislike\">God&#8217;s unique language.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>They go to churches and synagogues to hear religious leaders tell them what they think God communicates in the literal words of the bible.<\/li>\n<li>They read what others have written about God.<\/li>\n<li>They listen to what friends and neighbors say about God and the meaning of the literal words in the bible.<\/li>\n<li>They do the best they can to make sense of the literal, written words of the Bible.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The result of this strategy is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\">religion<\/a>. Religious leaders will never teach people how to hear God&#8217;s voice because, after people learn how to hear God&#8217;s voice, they will have no need for religious leaders. Thus, they will lose their jobs and status.<\/p>\n<p>Once religious people learn how to hear God&#8217;s voice, they learn from God that the following things are true about religion:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%;\" border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 4.71792%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 6.71793%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 88.5641%;\">\n<ul class=\"children\">\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-4523\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-disease\">Religion is Disease<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-1964 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Religion is Sin<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-1964 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\/religion-is-idolatry\">Religion is Idolatry<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-664 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-the-enemy\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Religion is the Enemy<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-637 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Religion is not Faith<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-637 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-a-stronghold-of-wrong-thinking\">Religion is a Stronghold of Wrong Thinking<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-637 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-commerce\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Religion is Commerce<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-637 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-deception\">Religion is Deception<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"page_item page-item-637 page_item_has_children\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-injustice-and-slavery\">Religion is Injustice, Slavery, Oppression and Affliction<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/toxicity\">Religions are\u00a0toxic.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/hypocrisy\">Religion is\u00a0Hypocrisy.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/3#whatgodsaysabouttraditions\">Religious traditions are stumbling blocks to faith<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>When people learn <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice#howtoheargodsvoicel\">how to hear God&#8217;s voice<\/a>, there is no need for religion because people who hear God&#8217;s voice have no time for religion. For people who have heard God&#8217;s voice, going back to religion is like a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=proverbs+26:11;+2-peter+2:22\"> dog going back to its vomit and a clean pig going back to the mud<\/a>.\u00a0There is no substitute for listening to God&#8217;s voice, and having once heard it, there is no returning to religion. That is why <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/god-is-calling-people-out-of-religion\">God is calling his people to come out of religion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The reason God wants people to come out of religion is so that he can <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+jeremiah+32:39-40;+jeremiah+33:14;+jeremiah+24:7;+ezekiel+37:26;+ezekiel+39:29;+luke+22:20;+1-corinthians+11:25;+2-corinthians+3:1-6;+hebrews+8:8-12;+hebrews+10:16-17;+psalm+40:8;+psalm+37:31;+genesis+17:7-13\">write his laws on their hearts<\/a>. While people are religious, they follow <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#religiouslaws\">religious laws written by men<\/a>. God wants his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#spirituallaws\">spiritual laws written on the hearts of men.<\/a> But, as was written above, man finds it hard to listen to God&#8217;s voice because man is flesh and finds it impossible to understand spiritual things &#8212; including God&#8217;s voice.<\/p>\n<p>God&#8217;s strategy to overcome man&#8217;s inability to hear his voice is to introduce himself through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">Mysteries<\/a>,\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Symbols, Signs, Types, Parables, Copies, and Shadows<\/a> found in\u00a0the written word of the Bible. But it is critical to understand that these are not God&#8217;s spiritual laws. They are, however, only <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-2\/3\">natural representations of spiritual truths, <\/a>and it is up to us to acquire Godly knowledge, wisdom, understanding from those\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\">Symbols, Signs, Types, Copies, Shadows and Patterns<\/a> found in the written Bible.<\/p>\n<p>But, understanding of these <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">mysteries<\/a> does not come without <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=psalm+50:17;+deuteronomy+4:36;+proverbs+12:1;+proverbs+19:20;+proverbs+23:12;+1+timothy+4:7;+hebrews+12:4-11;+revelation+3:19\">discipline<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/2-timothy\/passage\/?q=2+timothy+3:10-17\">training in righteousness<\/a>. They are like a<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/assemble-the-puzzle\"> puzzle to be assembled.<\/a> Much <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\">study<\/a> is required. God considers people who\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=ezra+7:10;+matthew+13:52;+acts+17:11\">diligently study to be approved as true disciples<\/a>. Those who do not endeavor to learn through serious <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\">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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11\">what God will teach New Covenant disciples<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/prayer\/prayer-2\/public-prayer#feedingfivethousand\">Feeding the Five Thousand<\/a> for a parable of being content with the little that religion teaches.<\/p>\n<p>This casual, lazy attitude barely satisfies <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/search\/?s=bibles&amp;q=love+heart+soul&amp;t=nas&amp;c=all\">God&#8217;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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/study-for-discipline\">discipline<\/a> of a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/mathetes.html\">disciple &#8212; a learner<\/a>. A casual, only-on-Sunday approach will yield nothing about God&#8217;s true nature and<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/isaiah\/passage\/?q=isaiah+55:1-9\"> his ways<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>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 as God sees it is very challenging. That is why God warns us that the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\">law is a stumbling block.<\/a> But while understanding the law is challenging, so is the reward for disciplining ourselves to study. True spiritual life is only available to people who can hear God&#8217;s spoken voice.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>EXAMPLES OF HARD TO UNDERSTAND SCRIPTURES<\/strong><br \/>\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 &#8212; and we would agree with this assessment.<\/p>\n<p>Finding examples of Old Testament scriptures that are difficult to understand is easy; they are everywhere, and they all pose questions that challenge understanding. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=leviticus+6:9;+leviticus+6:14;+leviticus+6:25;+leviticus+7:1;+leviticus+7:7;+leviticus+7:11;+leviticus+7:37;+leviticus+11:46;+leviticus+13:59;+leviticus+14:2;+leviticus+14:32;+leviticus+14:54-57;+leviticus+15:32\">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&#8217;s laws &#8212; all <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/613_commandments\">six hundred and thirteen of both positive and negative commandments <\/a>&#8212; very seriously.<\/p>\n<p>The Book of Romans, on the other hand, does not have instructions in how to obey laws like those found in Leviticus. Instead, Romans <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/search\/?s=bibles&amp;q=law&amp;t=nas&amp;c=ro\">employs the term &#8220;law&#8221; 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 a double-minded view of the law which portrays it as both the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/search\/?s=bibles&amp;q=law+sin+death&amp;t=kjv&amp;c=ro\">law of the Spirit of life and the law of sin and death.<\/a> Romans also includes many other seemingly contradictory statements about the value of the law that impede understanding of what God is trying to say.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/1-timothy\/1-8.html\">1 Timothy 1:8:<\/a> <span id=\"1ti1-8\">Now we know that the law is good, if any one uses it lawfully,<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How do we know when we are using the law lawfully or unlawfully?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+2:12-15\">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;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">13 for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">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,<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">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,<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: If the law is written on someone&#8217;s heart, why are they bothered in their conscience?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+2:17-29\">Romans 2:17-29: <\/a>But if you bear the name &#8220;Jew&#8221; 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?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: Is it really possible that someone who has been instructed in God&#8217;s law can be a teacher who steals, commits adultery and rob temples?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">23 You who boast in the Law, through your breaking the Law, do you dishonor God?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What does it mean to &#8220;boast in the law&#8221;? How do teachers of the law break the law? How does that dishonor God? 24 For &#8220;THE NAME OF GOD IS BLASPHEMED AMONG THE GENTILES BECAUSE OF YOU,&#8221; just as it is written<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">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.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">26 So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">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?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How can someone who is circumcised and keeps the letter of the law be a transgressor of the law?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">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.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+3:21-31\">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,<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">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.<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What is the difference between the law of works and the law of faith?<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">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.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: How does faith establish the law?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+4:13-16\">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.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified;<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What does it mean to be an heir of the law? If God&#8217;s people are supposed to obey the law, how does obedience to the law nullify faith and make God&#8217;s promises void?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">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,<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: Verse 15 says that the law brings wrath, but this verse says that people who are under the law will receive the promise made to Abraham. How can that be?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+8:1-2\">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.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What does it mean to be &#8220;in Christ Jesus&#8221;? 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?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/matthew\/5-17.html\">Matthew 5:17 <\/a>&#8220;Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/galatians\/6-2.html\">Galatians 6:2 <\/a>Bear one another&#8217;s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: What is the law of Christ and how is it different from the law of sin and death?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/7-6.html\">Romans 7:6 <small>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.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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?<\/div>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/10-4.html\">Romans 10:4 <small>NAS<\/small> <\/a> For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: If Jesus came to fulfill the law, how can he also be the end of the law?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/galatians\/2-21.html\">Galatians 2:21: <\/a> &#8220;I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">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 aw?<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/galatians\/3-21.html\">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.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">QUESTIONS POSED BY THIS SCRIPTURE: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/galatians\/2-21.html\">Galatians 2:21 <\/a>says that righteousness does not come through the law, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/galatians\/3-21.html\">Galatians 3:21<\/a> says that the law is not contrary to the promises of God. Since God&#8217;s promises are fulfilled in Christ who fulfilled the law, why does the law not yield righteousness?<\/p>\n<p>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:<\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+2:12-26\">Romans 2:12-26<\/a>: <span id=\"ro2-12\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">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><span id=\"ro2-13\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline; color: #333333;\"> <span class=\"versenum\">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><span id=\"ro2-14\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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. <span id=\"ro2-15\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro2-16\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">16<\/span> on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-17\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">17<\/span> But if you call yourself a Jew and rely upon the law and boast of your relation to God <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-18\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">18<\/span> and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed in the law, <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-19\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">19<\/span> and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-20\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">20<\/span> a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth&#8211; <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-21\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">21<\/span> you then who teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-22\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">22<\/span> You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-23\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">23<\/span> You who boast in the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-24\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">24<\/span> For, as it is written, &#8220;The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.&#8221; <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-25\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">25<\/span> Circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law; but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. <\/span> <span id=\"ro2-26\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">26<\/span> So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision?<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+3:19-31\">Romans 3:19-31<\/a>: <span id=\"ro3-19\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">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> <span id=\"ro3-20\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro3-21\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro3-22\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">22<\/span> the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction; <\/span> <span id=\"ro3-23\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">23<\/span> since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, <\/span> <span id=\"ro3-24\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">24<\/span> they are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, <\/span> <span id=\"ro3-25\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">25<\/span> whom God put forward as an expiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God&#8217;s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins; <\/span> <span id=\"ro3-26\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro3-27\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro3-28\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">28<\/span> For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of law. <\/span> <span id=\"ro3-29\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">29<\/span> Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, <\/span> <span id=\"ro3-30\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro3-31\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">31<\/span> Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+4:13-16\">Romans 4:13-16<\/a>: <span id=\"ro4-13\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">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> <span id=\"ro4-14\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro4-15\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">15<\/span> For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. <\/span> <span id=\"ro4-16\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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&#8211;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><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+5:12-21\">Romans 5:12-21<\/a>: <span id=\"ro5-12\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">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&#8211; <\/span> <span id=\"ro5-13\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">13<\/span> sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. <\/span> <span id=\"ro5-14\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro5-15\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">15<\/span> But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man&#8217;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> <span id=\"ro5-16\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">16<\/span> And the free gift is not like the effect of that one man&#8217;s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brings justification. <\/span> <span id=\"ro5-17\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">17<\/span> If, because of one man&#8217;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> <span id=\"ro5-18\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">18<\/span> Then as one man&#8217;s trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one man&#8217;s act of righteousness leads to acquittal and life for all men. <\/span> <span id=\"ro5-19\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">19<\/span> For as by one man&#8217;s disobedience many were made sinners, so by one man&#8217;s obedience many will be made righteous. <\/span> <span id=\"ro5-20\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">20<\/span> Law came in, to increase the trespass; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, <\/span> <span id=\"ro5-21\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">21<\/span> so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/7.html\">Romans 7:<span id=\"ro7-1\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"> <\/span><\/a><span id=\"ro7-1\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"> Do you not know, brethren&#8211;for I am speaking to those who know the law&#8211;that the law is binding on a person only during his life? <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-2\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-3\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-4\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-5\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-6\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-7\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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, &#8220;You shall not covet.&#8221; <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-8\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">8<\/span> But sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, wrought in me all kinds of covetousness. Apart from the law sin lies dead. <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-9\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">9<\/span> I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-10\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">10<\/span> the very commandment which promised life proved to be death to me. <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-11\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">11<\/span> For sin, finding opportunity in the commandment, deceived me and by it killed me. <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-12\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">12<\/span> So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and just and good. <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-13\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-14\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">14<\/span> We know that the law is spiritual; but I am carnal, sold under sin. <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-15\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-16\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">16<\/span> Now if I do what I do not want, I agree that the law is good. <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-17\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">17<\/span> So then it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me. <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-18\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-19\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">19<\/span> For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-20\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-21\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">21<\/span> So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-22\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">22<\/span> For I delight in the law of God, in my inmost self, <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-23\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro7-24\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">24<\/span> Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? <\/span> <span id=\"ro7-25\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/death-resurrection-life\/3#romans7\">this link for interpretation of Romans 7.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+8:1-7\">Romans 8:1-7:<\/a> <span id=\"ro8-1\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. <\/span> <span id=\"ro8-2\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro8-3\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro8-4\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro8-5\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ro8-6\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">6<\/span> To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. <\/span> <span id=\"ro8-7\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">7<\/span> For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God&#8217;s law, indeed it cannot; <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+10:4-5\">Romans 10:4-5:<\/a> <span id=\"ro10-4\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">For Christ is the end of the law, that every one who has faith may be justified. <\/span> <span id=\"ro10-5\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">5<\/span> Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on the law shall live by it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/1-corinthians\/passage\/?q=1-corinthians+9:20-21\">1 Corinthians 9:20-21<\/a>: <span id=\"1co9-20\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">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&#8211;though not being myself under the law&#8211;that I might win those under the law. <\/span> <span id=\"1co9-21\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">21<\/span> To those outside the law I became as one outside the law&#8211;not being without law toward God but under the law of Christ&#8211;that I might win those outside the law. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ResultTitle\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/1-corinthians\/15-56.html\">1 Corinthians 15:56: <\/a>The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the <span class=\"Highlight\">law<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/1-corinthians\/15-56.html\">;<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/galatians\/passage\/?q=galatians+2:15-21\">Galatians 2:15-21<\/a>: <span id=\"ga2-15\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">We ourselves, who are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners, <\/span> <span id=\"ga2-16\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga2-17\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga2-18\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">18<\/span> But if I build up again those things which I tore down, then I prove myself a transgressor. <\/span> <span id=\"ga2-19\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">19<\/span> For I through the law died to the law, that I might live to God. <\/span> <span id=\"ga2-20\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga2-21\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">21<\/span> I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose. <\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"Title TitleSmall\" style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/galatians\/passage\/?q=galatians+3:1-24\">Galatians 3:1-24<\/a>: <span id=\"ga3-1\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified? <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-2\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">2<\/span> Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by hearing with faith? <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-3\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">3<\/span> Are you so foolish? Having begun with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-4\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">4<\/span> Did you experience so many things in vain? &#8211;if it really is in vain. <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-5\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga3-6\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">6<\/span> Thus Abraham &#8220;believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.&#8221; <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-7\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">7<\/span> So you see that it is men of faith who are the sons of Abraham. <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-8\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">8<\/span> And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, &#8220;In you shall all the nations be blessed.&#8221; <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-9\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">9<\/span> So then, those who are men of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith. <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-10\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">10<\/span> For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, &#8220;Cursed be every one who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law, and do them.&#8221; <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-11\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">11<\/span> Now it is evident that no man is justified before God by the law; for &#8220;He who through faith is righteous shall live&#8221;; <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-12\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">12<\/span> but the law does not rest on faith, for &#8220;He who does them shall live by them.&#8221; <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-13\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">13<\/span> Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us&#8211;for it is written, &#8220;Cursed be every one who hangs on a tree&#8221; &#8212; <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-14\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga3-15\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">15<\/span> To give a human example, brethren: no one annuls even a man&#8217;s will, or adds to it, once it has been ratified. <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-16\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">16<\/span> Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, &#8220;And to offsprings,&#8221; referring to many; but, referring to one, &#8220;And to your offspring,&#8221; which is Christ. <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-17\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga3-18\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga3-19\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga3-20\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">20<\/span> Now an intermediary implies more than one; but God is one. <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-21\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga3-22\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">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> <span id=\"ga3-23\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">23<\/span> Now before faith came, we were confined under the law, kept under restraint until faith should be revealed. <\/span> <span id=\"ga3-24\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">24<\/span> So that the law was our custodian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The good news is that God has not left us in the dark without giving us clues to discover the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\">Mystery <\/a>he has planted in every page of the Bible. Following those clues is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/matthew\/passage\/?q=matthew+13:44-46\">what disciples do to find the pearl of great price.<\/a> Old\/First Covenant <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/grammateus.html\">religious scribes<\/a> try to understand these scriptures by using intellect and reason. New Covenant <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/matthew\/13-52.html\">disciples <\/a>understand these mysteries by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15\">listening to the voice of God.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\/assemble-the-puzzle\">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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice#howtoheargodsvoice\">how to hear God&#8217;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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=job+12:22;+daniel+2;+matthew+13:11;+mark+4:11;+luke+8:10;+romans+16:25;+1+corinthians+2;+ephesians+1:9;+colossians+1:24-27\">interpret the mysteries for us.<\/a> Learning how to do all of this is the essence of becoming a disciple.<br \/>\n<!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong>A CONFUSING MIX OF RULES AND REGULATIONS<\/strong><br \/>\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 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\">The Law is a Stumbling Block.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<p>Here is a brief summary of why the law is a stumbling block:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<td>\n<ul>\n<li>Written words need to be more or less finite if they are to be useful for human communication.<\/li>\n<li>God is infinite. Understanding of his character cannot be limited to written or spoken human words.<\/li>\n<li>God&#8217;s character and his ways do not change.<\/li>\n<li>The meanings of human words that attempt to represent God&#8217;s character and his ways are incomplete and ineffective because the meanings of words change from person to person and from culture to culture.<\/li>\n<li>The Bible is generally considered to be God&#8217;s law in writing.<\/li>\n<li>Therefore, people who think that they understand God and his ways because they understand human words used to describe him and his ways have stumbled over the written words of the Bible (i.e. the law of God).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>God understands that human words, whether written or spoken, cannot adequately represent him. The problem for humans is that they do not understand the limitations of human words. Thus they believe that the written words of the Bible contain everything they need to know about God. This is small thinking that grossly underestimates and devalues God&#8217;s character. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/passage\/?q=psalm+145:3;+psalm+139:5-6;+ecclesiastes+8:17;+isaiah+40:28;+1-corinthians+2:9-10;+job+11:7-9;+isaiah+64:4;+isaiah+55:8;+job+26:14;+psalm+147:5;+romans+11:33;+job+5:9;+job+11:7;+job+37:23;+psalm+92:5\">He is too big for human words to understand.<\/a>\u00a0Therefore, the picture of God that they get from the written Bible is only a<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=colossians+2:16-17;+hebrews+10:1\"> shadow of who he is<\/a>. He alone can explain who he is. And he does that through his spoken voice.<\/p>\n<p>The problem with religion based on a literal understanding of the Bible is that it depreciates, minimizes and reduces God down to a god that man can comprehend. Religionists who do not understand God in his fullness, in effect recreate God into a god that they can understand and manipulate for their own purposes and according to their intellectual abilities within the limitations of their language. They use God&#8217;s name and Jesus&#8217; name freely and convincingly in order to appear knowledgeable and spiritual, but they really do not know him. The following scripture speaks to the process of learning to know God:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/1-corinthians\/passage\/?q=1-corinthians+13:9-13\">1 Corinthians 13:9-13: <\/a><span id=\"1co13-9\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\">For our knowledge is imperfect and our prophecy is imperfect; <\/span> <span id=\"1co13-10\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">10<\/span> but when the perfect comes, the imperfect will pass away. <\/span> <span id=\"1co13-11\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">11<\/span> When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I gave up childish ways. <\/span> <span id=\"1co13-12\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">12<\/span> For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall understand fully, even as I have been fully understood. <\/span> <span id=\"1co13-13\" class=\"versetext\" style=\"display: inline;\"><span class=\"versenum\">13<\/span> So faith, hope, love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. <\/span><\/p>\n<p>Lack of intimate knowledge of God and lack of understanding of the law are the result of literal interpretations of the Bible. Real intimacy and knowledge of the law comes only through the the law written on the heart according to the terms of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/5\">New Covenant<\/a>. Therefore, those who lack intimacy and understanding of God will stumble over the law because they are on a fools errand when they use only their human abilities (e.g. mind, language, etc.) to grasp concepts which are spiritual in nature.<\/p>\n<p>When we see this truth we see that God does not call the law a stumbling block without good reason. The Bible is full of various kinds of rules and regulations that appear to direct the way to holiness. Not only are these laws hard to understand, they are hard to identify and catalog. Moreover, God&#8217;s laws, as they appear in the Bible, are impossible to do or fulfill according to the literal terms in which they are presented. Only a hyper religious fool would even try.<\/p>\n<p>What religious people fail to understand is that, even though these laws are identified as commandments, charges, ordinances, statutes and judgments which the Bible literally says people are to do, they are not what God really wants his people to do. People who try to achieve holiness by performing all these literal rules and regulations have stumbled over the stumbling block. What can be more confusing than that? God says one thing and means another. What he says in the Bible in terms that most people can understand are only symbolic representations of spiritual terms that are difficult, but not impossible, to understand.<\/p>\n<p>What is required to come to understanding is the willingness of religionists to accept that they cannot understand God unless they <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15\">listen to his voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It is a curious thing that people who say they trust God do not trust that he will speak to them. They trust that God speaks to religious leaders, but not to them. They also trust that they can understand God by using their intellect to interpret the Bible literally. This is foolish, misguided trust.<\/p>\n<p>Thus they work very hard trying to understand spiritual matters by integrating what they read in the literal Bible with what they learn from religious leaders. They never give a thought to the possibility that there might be more to God than words on a page. They have as small view of God that limits their understanding of just how big and complex he really is. In short, in their focus on what they can read and understand with their natural minds, they miss spiritual truth.<\/p>\n<p>In God&#8217;s view, in their excessive attention to the written law, people do not bother to listen to the spirit of God speaking to their hearts. This is the essence of stumbling over the law.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">AUTHORS&#8217; NOTE: See\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">God\u2019s Written Word and God\u2019s Spoken Voice<\/a> for discussion on knowing what God really wants. Also read the rest of this website for examples of how to interpret the spiritual content of the Bible which God wants people to obey and distinguish from the literal, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/galatians\/passage\/?q=galatians+3:21-25\">written word (i.e. the law) that he gives only to lead people to spiritual truth. <\/a><\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>THE WRITTEN LAW IS IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND AND OBEY<\/strong><br \/>\nIf we would be honest with ourselves and God, we would have to admit that the literal laws found in the Bible are confusing and impossible to obey. No wonder that God says that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\">the law is a stumbling block<\/a>. And yet, all religionists are compelled to do their best to obey all the laws because God has clearly instructed them to<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=leviticus+11:44-45;leviticus+19:2;leviticus+20:26;leviticus+21:8;1+peter+1:14-16;numbers+6:5;numbers+15:40;numbers+16:7;ephesians+1:1-4;revelation+22:11\"> be holy as he is holy<\/a> while detailing out the many terms of the law. We thus get the clear sense that obedience to each d every detail of the law, no matter how vague, complicated, and even ridiculous it might be, is critical to personal holiness.<\/p>\n<p>Because of the ways these legal concepts are used singly and in various combinations, we also get the idea that it is important to differentiate between different types of laws (e.g. moral, ceremonial, civil, judicial, etc) so that we would be better equipped to understand and obey them. In human terms, that is good, logical thinking, but that is not what God has in mind.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">AUTHORS&#8217; NOTE: Before we can understand God&#8217;s purposes in the details of the law, we must recognize that the number of scriptures with legal-sounding words in the New Testament is significantly less than the number found in the Old Testament. This makes sense considering the fact that the New Testament is about the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+jeremiah+32:40;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11\">New Covenant where the law is written on the heart.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Whereas the Old\/First Covenant is all about the written law in all of its various manifestations, the New Covenant is about the law written on the hearts of New Covenant disciples. That being the case, there is really no need for detailed discussion about the written law like we find in the Old Testament.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Because the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=john+14:26;john+16:13-14;1+john+2:20;1+john+2:27;matthew+10:278:18;isaiah+50:4;isaiah+51:16;jeremiah+1:9\">spiritual law in all its complexity is spiritually written on the hearts of New Covenant disciples as needed and when needed by the Holy Spirit, <\/a>there is no need to go into all the legal details. This is why Christ (i.e. a model of a New Covenant disciple) is considered to be the end of the law (i.e. Old\/First Covenant laws).<\/p>\n<p>God makes his point about the complexity of the law by giving hundreds, perhaps thousands of scriptures about various aspects of the law. That seems like overkill or redundancy to anyone who wants to serve a simple god. But, anyone who stops to think about the many commandments found in the law will sooner or later come to the conclusion that keeping them all straight and doing them as prescribed is humanly impossible. That is an important understanding to come to. And after coming to that understanding, they will stop reading literally and begin reading for spiritual understanding and begin studying to glean the deep spiritual truths found in each law and apply those truths in their lives. They will cease making religion out of obedience to the literal rules and regulations.<\/p>\n<p>When people come to these understandings and make these decisions they make an important transition from religionist to disciple. God calls that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=romans+12:1-2;ephesians+4:20-24;ephesians+5:13-17;titus+3:5\">transformation of the mind which is necessary in order to know God&#8217;s good, acceptable and perfect will. <\/a>In reading the Bible literally, they know God&#8217;s will, but what they know is not good, acceptable and perfect. What they read in the literal Bible is an imperfect <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=colossians+2:16-17;+hebrews+10:1;+hebrews+8:1-5\">shadow<\/a> or image of God<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/galatians\/passage\/?q=galatians+3:16-26\"> that is not able to impart life. <\/a><\/p>\n<p>If they could be honest with themselves and God they would confess that all the fussy laws about animal sacrifices, washing and food, for example, are silly and out of date. But while rejecting these archaic laws, they readily accept what God says about priests, temples, tithes and worship. So they pick and choose the ones they think they understand and do their best to obey them in ways that are consistent with the times in which they live. They are double minded.<\/p>\n<p>What we observe from this history is the formation of religion (i.e. Judaism, Christianity) that evolves over time and geography according to changing tastes, cultures, technology and social patterns. The word that is commonly used to describe this phenomenon is <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Syncretism\">syncretism<\/a>. The changes are slow almost to the point of being imperceptible but the religious attempts to be holy do change over time even though <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=malachi+3:6;numbers+23:19;james+1:17;hebrews+7:18-21\">God does not change<\/a>. The result is evolving religious standards for holiness based on evolving interpretations of the law.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">AUTHORS&#8217; NOTE: These changes in the law over time strongly relate to the so-called end times prophecy found in <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/daniel\/7.html\">Daniel 7 <\/a>where we find that the fourth beast <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/daniel\/7-25.html\">wore out the saints and changed the time and the law<\/a>. This leads us to the conclusion that the &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/End_time\">end-times&#8221;<\/a> are not some global, apocalyptic event as is commonly portrayed by religionists who specialize in <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Eschatology\">eschatology<\/a>. Given the evidence of the evolution of Judaism and Christianity, we find that the end times have been around forever because the saints in every generation have been worn out with their religious activity and because the laws have been evolving. See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/time-hours-days-weeks-and-ages\">this link for insights on how to rightly interpret Biblical references to end times scriptures<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Even though God has said that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=romans+3:1-15;psalm+14:1-3;psalm+53:1-3;ecclesiastes+7:20\">no one will achieve righteousness<\/a> through human, fleshly effort, religionists are dedicated to proving God wrong by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+9:30-31\">pursuing righteousness through religious activities<\/a>. That is why hundreds of generations of Jews and Christians up to the present day did not learn and have not yet learned how to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/fourth-commandment\/sabbath-fasting-rest\">rest<\/a> from their religious works. They do not know the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/5#puredefiledreligion\">difference between their Defiled Religion which is based on legalistic performance of rules and regulations, and Pure Religion<\/a> which is based on obedience to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/5#spirituallaws\">spiritual laws<\/a> written on the hearts of people.<\/p>\n<p>What these burned out religionists did not learn and have yet to learn is that it they are better off doing less work and more listening to the spirit of God. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\">Religion<\/a> is not what God wants &#8212; even though a literal reading of the books of the law leads us to think that God wants people do follow a bunch of moral rules and religious ceremonies. That simple, one dimensional, literal reading of the Bible has kept generations of people in bondage to religious activity.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the appearance of the books of the law, Religion is nothing more than <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=isaiah+29:1-18;matthew+15:1-9;mark+7:7\">rules made up by men<\/a>. Religion based on the literal reading of the law is<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=2+corinthians+5:6-7;2+corinthians+4:17-18;romans+8:24;hebrews+11:1\"> walking by sight &#8212; not by faith<\/a>. It is working for salvation by practicing Old\/First Covenant religion. It is not New Covenant faith which depends on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:26;exodus+23:21;exodus+19:5;jeremiah+7:23\">obedience to God&#8217;s voice<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">AUTHORS&#8217; NOTE: See\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">God\u2019s Written Word and God\u2019s Spoken Voice<\/a> for more about God&#8217;s voice.<\/p>\n<p>These poor, tired, lost souls are deceived into believing that obedience to the written law and rules taught by men is the way to salvation. They are totally ignorant about the New Covenant where God&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/5#spirituallaws\">spiritual laws<\/a> are written on the heart. They are ignorant of the fact that the Messiah came to bring people to the end of working for their salvation and come to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/fourth-commandment\">rest<\/a>in the New Covenant.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>COMMANDS, STATUTES DECREES, ORDINANCES AND JUDGMENTS<\/strong><br \/>\nIt often seems true that the brightest people become lawyers. They must study for years and pass rigorous tests before they can go into professional practice. In a sense, it is also necessary for religious people to become lawyers so that they can take care of their own legal business with God. And, consistent with what God commands, they will help other who struggle to understand the law. The law is not easy to understand and we all need a little bit of help because the concept of law in the Bible is pervasive and confusing. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/ezekiel\/passage\/?q=ezekiel+14:1-11\">We create problems for ourselves and others, however, when we depend on others for instruction about the law<\/a>, when we really should be listening to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">God\u2019s Spoken Voice.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Frequency of the word &#8220;law&#8221; and various related words (i.e. commandment, statutes, decrees, ordinances and judgments) strongly suggest that they are all very important to God. Jews, therefore, take it all very seriously. Christians, on the other hand, tend to avoid and discount any scriptures that hint at legalism because they have been told, and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=romans+6:14-15;romans+7:6;1+corinthians+9:20-21;galatians+3:10;galatians+3:23;galatians+4:4-5;galatians+5:18\">they have read that they are no longer under the law<\/a>. Both religions have clear scripture to support their doctrines. But, the way we see it, both religions are confused and in error because they think that all Biblical references to the law are to the Law of Moses. This wrong belief is part of the reason why God calls The Law a Stumbling Block<\/p>\n<p>Like most Biblical concepts, the law and its many sub-components are not as simple as our common understanding of the individual words might suggest. They are filled with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/nuance\">nuance<\/a> that must be understood in order to comprehend God&#8217;s use of the words in various places in the Bible. In this series of pages we will help readers come to the right interpretation of admittedly difficult scriptures that will unravel the deep meaning of the law.<\/p>\n<p>We will begin by looking at the definitions of the Hebrew words commonly translated as Law, Laws, Commands, Commandments, Statutes, Decrees, Ordinances and Judgments.<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-color: #474062; border-width: 1px; height: 166px;\" border=\"1\" width=\"422\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\"><strong>English Word Related to Law in Different Bible Versions *<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; border: 1px solid #474062;\"><strong>Hebrew Word from which the English Word is Translated and its Definition **<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">\u00a0Law: KJV, NIV, RSV<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/towrah.html\">towrah<\/a><\/p>\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li>instruction, direction (human or divine)\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>body of prophetic teaching<\/li>\n<li>instruction in Messianic age<\/li>\n<li>body of priestly direction or instruction<\/li>\n<li>body of legal directives<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>law\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>law of the burnt offering<\/li>\n<li>of special law, codes of law<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>custom, manner<\/li>\n<li>the Deuteronomic or Mosaic Law<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">Law: KJV, NIV<br \/>\nOrdinance: KJVS<br \/>\nStatute: KJV, NIV, RSV<br \/>\nDecree: NIV; RSV<\/td>\n<td><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/choq.html\">Choq<\/a><br \/>\nstatute, ordinance, limit, something prescribed, due<\/p>\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li>prescribed task<\/li>\n<li>prescribed portion<\/li>\n<li>action prescribed (for oneself), resolve<\/li>\n<li>prescribed due<\/li>\n<li>prescribed limit, boundary<\/li>\n<li>enactment, decree, ordinance\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>specific decree<\/li>\n<li>law in general<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>enactments, statutes\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>conditions<\/li>\n<li>enactments<\/li>\n<li>decrees<\/li>\n<li>civil enactments prescribed by God<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">Command:KJV, RSV, NIV<br \/>\nCommandment:KJV, RSV, NIV<br \/>\nPrecept:KJV<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/mitsvah.html\">Mitsvah<\/a><\/p>\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li>commandment (of man)<\/li>\n<li>the commandment (of God)<\/li>\n<li>commandment (of code of wisdom)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">Command:KJV, NIV,RSV<br \/>\nCharge:KJV, NIV, RSV<br \/>\nCommandment:KJV, NIV, RSV<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/tsavah.html\">Tsavah<\/a><\/p>\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li>\n<ol type=\"1\">\n<li>to lay charge upon<\/li>\n<li>to give charge to, give command to<\/li>\n<li>to give charge unto<\/li>\n<li>to give charge over, appoint<\/li>\n<li>to give charge, command<\/li>\n<li>to charge, command<\/li>\n<li>to charge, commission<\/li>\n<li>to command, appoint, ordain (of divine act)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<li>to be commanded<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">Statute:KJV, RSV<br \/>\nOrdinance: NIV<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/chuqqah.html\">Chuqqah<\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>statute<\/li>\n<li>ordinance<\/li>\n<li>limit<\/li>\n<li>enactment<\/li>\n<li>something prescribed<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\"><a id=\"dabarwordcommandment\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/dabar-2.html\">Word<\/a>:KJV, NIV, RSV<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/dabar-2.html\">Thing<\/a>:KJV<br \/>\nCommandment: KJV<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/dabar-2.html\">Dabar:\u00a0<\/a>Note to Readers: We have included <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/dabar-2.html\">Dabar <\/a>because of its strong association with &#8220;commandment.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Whatever God says, whether it is called a commandment or not, should carry the same motivational weight as a designated command.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+55:10-11;+isaiah+45:23;+matthew+24:35;+isaiah+46:10;+ezekiel+12:25;+lamentations+2:17\">Whatever God says he will do will be done. His word is his command to himself and to us. He always follows his laws because his laws represent who he is.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In other words, the statement &#8220;hear the word of the Lord&#8221; should also be interpreted as &#8220;hear the law\/commandment\/statute\/ordinance\/charge\/precept of the Lord.&#8221; And, perhaps more importantly, hearing the word of the Lord should be interpreted as hearing <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11\">God&#8217;s word (i.e. laws) spoken by his mouth to the hearts of New Covenant disciples.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>See\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">God\u2019s Written Word and God\u2019s Spoken Voice<\/a> for more about God&#8217;s spoken word.<\/p>\n<p>Definition of Hebrew word dabar:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ol>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul type=\"a\">\n<li>speech, word, speaking, thing<\/li>\n<li>speech<\/li>\n<li>saying, utterance<\/li>\n<li>word, words<\/li>\n<li>business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something, manner (by extension)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">Ordinance: KJV, RSV<br \/>\nJudgment: KJV<br \/>\nLaw: KJV, NIV<br \/>\nJust: NIV<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/mishpat.html\">Mishpat<\/a><\/p>\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li>justice, right, rectitude (attributes of God or man)<\/li>\n<li>ordinance<\/li>\n<li>decision (in law)<\/li>\n<li>right, privilege, due (legal)<\/li>\n<li>proper, fitting, measure, fitness, custom, manner, plan<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">Charge: KJV, RSV<br \/>\nRequirements: NIV<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/mishmereth.html\">Mishmereth: <\/a>Note to readers: We have included this word because in several scriptures God says to &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/shamar.html\">keep <\/a>the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=leviticus+8:35;numbers+1:53;numbers+3:7-8;numbers+3:32;numbers+8:26;numbers+18:3-5;numbers+31:30;deuteronomy+11:1;1+kings+2:3;1+chronicles+22:12;1+chronicles+23:32;2+chronicles+13:11;ezekiel+44:16;zechariah+3:7\">charge&#8221; of the Lord (i.e. laws, statutes, etc.)<\/a> This is the equivalent of a command.<\/p>\n<ol type=\"a\">\n<li>guard, watch, house of detention or confinement<\/li>\n<li>keeping, preserving<\/li>\n<li>charge, injunction<\/li>\n<li>office, function (ceremonial)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">Precepts: NAS,<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/piqquwd.html\">Piqquwd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>precept, statute<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em>*<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> Bible versions are only examples; other versions may use other English words. There may also be other English words translated for each Hebrew word.<\/em><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">**<\/p>\n<p><em>We recommend looking at each Hebrew word and investigating sample scriptures listed under <strong>KJV Verse Count.<\/strong><\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">AUTHORS\u2019 NOTE: We have included only the Hebrew words for law in the above table because there is only one Greek word for law: \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/nomos.html\">nomos.<\/a>\u201d Nomos is translated as \u201claw\u201d one hundred and fifty-eight times in the in the King James Version of the New Testament. In the Greek <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Septuagint\">Septuagint<\/a>, \u201ctowrah\u201d is always translated as \u201cnomos.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">It is helpful to understand that \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/nomos.html\">nomos<\/a>\u201d does not refer exclusively to the law of God or the law of Moses. It can refer to any law made by God or man.<\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, this table is only moderately instructive in unraveling the confusion about the law and related concepts.Nevertheless, we can learn the following important facts from the definitions of Hebrew words:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; height: 359px;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"width: 6.10253%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 7.02564%;\"><\/td>\n<td style=\"width: 86.8718%;\">\n<ul>\n<li>No matter what you call them, and no matter how you define them, the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=psalm+78:1;+deuteronomy+32:1;+isaiah+51:4\"> law in all of its forms comes from God&#8217;s mouth.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>God&#8217;s laws are not written down in books that can be studied and researched in times of need to find answers.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+jeremiah+32:39-40;+jeremiah+33:14;+jeremiah+24:7;+ezekiel+37:26;+ezekiel+39:29;+luke+22:20;+1-corinthians+11:25;+2-corinthians+3:1-6;+hebrews+8:8-12;+hebrews+10:16-17;+psalm+40:8;+psalm+37:31;+genesis+17:7-13\">God&#8217;s laws are written on the hearts of New Covenant disciples.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>God&#8217;s laws are readily accessible to New Covenant disciples so that they will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=john+14:26;+john+16:13-14;+1-john+2:20;+1-john+2:27;+john+6:45;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+hebrews+8:11\">know what to say and do in all situations at all times.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Organizing the information like this we see even more clearly the overlaps and duplications in definitions of Hebrew words that relate to laws and commandments. This might cause us to wonder why God used so many different words to describe one concept.<\/p>\n<p>To the logical human mind, it seems like God could have made the Bible easier to understand and shorter if he had used just one or two words to represent laws and commandments. And the matter is made is made much more complicated and confusing because different translators of the Bible have often used different words to translate one Hebrew word. So, when we consider that the Bible is full of redundancies, repetitions and wrong translations, there is little wonder that we are confused.<\/p>\n<p>The first thing we need to recognize is that God is not the one who is confused. The confusion exists only in the minds of the multitude of Bible translators who used only their intellect to interpret the original Hebrew and Greek words without <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15\">listening to God&#8217;s voice<\/a>. This is why God can say that the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/jeremiah\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+8:1-9#\">scribes who translated God&#8217;s ordinances lied in their writing because they rejected God&#8217;s spoken word <\/a>(i.e. <a href=\"http:\/\/biblehub.com\/str\/hebrew\/1697.htm\">Dabar<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>The problem is further aggravated by religious people who insist on interpreting what they read in the Bible <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/literal-or-symbolic-interpretation-part-1\">literally &#8212; not symbolically<\/a>. The result of this process is religion totally misses the meaning of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\">God&#8217;s spoken word<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This situation might seem to be unredeemable until we consider that God still speaks to his people. Yes the Bible is full of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">MYSTERY<\/a> and\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\" aria-haspopup=\"true\">Symbols, Signs, Types, Allegories, Parables, Copies, Shadows and Patterns <\/a>that are impossible to understand. But this is OK in God&#8217;s mind because he never intended that the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/4\">manna<\/a> of the written word would be the source of life for his people. It has always been true, and is still true that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+8:3;+matthew+4:1-4;+luke+4:1-4\">spiritual life exists for those who listen to God&#8217;s voice.<\/a>\u00a0Thus the redemption for the seemingly unredeemable situation exists in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=john+6:63-68;+deuteronomy+32:45-47;+deuteronomy+30:19-20;+proverbs+4:10\">spoken words of God <\/a>&#8212; not in the written words of the law.<\/p>\n<p>The way we see it, God made it complicated to understand and manage so that we would sooner, or later, tire of trying to keep it all straight in our minds and tire of doing whatever the law says according to our literal understanding of it. Trying to keep it straight and do it requires all of our fleshly capabilities which God wants us to stop using so that we will instead start <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=genesis+22:18;+exodus+23:21-22;+numbers+7:89;+numbers+14:22;+deuteronomy+4:12;+deuteronomy+4:30;+deuteronomy+4:36;+deuteronomy+5:22-26;+deuteronomy+8:20;+deuteronomy+9:23;+deuteronomy+13:4;+deuteronomy+13:18;+deuteronomy+15:5;+deuteronomy+26:14;+deuteronomy+26:17;+deuteronomy+30:20;+joshua+5:6;+joshua+10:14;+joshua+22:2;+joshua+24:24;+psalm+81:11;+psalm+95:7;+psalm+106:25;+jeremiah+3:13;+jeremiah+3:25;+jeremiah+7:23;+jeremiah+7:28;+jeremiah+9:13;+jeremiah+11:4;+jeremiah+11:7;+jeremiah+18:10;+jeremiah+22:20-21;+jeremiah+26:13;+jeremiah+32:23;+jeremiah+40:3;+jeremiah+42:6;+jeremiah+42:13-14;+jeremiah+43:1-7;+jeremiah+44:23;+isaiah+28:23;+isaiah+32:9;+isaiah+55:1-3\">listening to and obeying his voice <\/a>&#8212; not the teachings of religious leaders who make and enforce <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#religiouslaws\">religious laws<\/a>. This is the essence of the New Covenant and of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/fourth-commandment\/sabbath-fasting-rest\">Sabbath Rest<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>We are not at rest while keeping all the laws that religions &#8212; including Judaism and Christianity &#8212; require of its adherents. Law-keeping requires mental attention and physical work. Even going to church on Sunday and Synagogue on Saturday and praying is work in God&#8217;s view. These routine religious activities, along with Bible reading and prayer, are symbolically represented as manna which the Israelites were commanded to gather every day according to the Law of Moses.<\/p>\n<p>It is important to recognize that the gathering of manna ceased when Israel entered the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+12:10;+deuteronomy+25:19;+joshua+11:23;+leviticus+26:34\"> Promised Land because it was and is a place of rest<\/a>. It makes one mentally and physically tired just thinking about the difficulty of keeping all the laws, commandments and such. Now we can begin to understand what Jesus meant about<a style=\"outline: 1px dotted; outline-offset: 0px;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/matthew\/passage\/?q=matthew+11:28-30\"> his yoke being easy and his burden light.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>When we stop to consider that what he ultimately wants is for us to learn from him by <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=psalm+81:11;+jeremiah+11:4-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25\">listening to his voice<\/a> instead of learning from the written word or human spoken words, the redundancies, repetitions and mistranslations begin to make sense. We begin to understand what Jesus said regarding God looking for is<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/john\/passage\/?q=john+4:1-26\"> people who will worship him in Spirit and truth.<\/a> &#8212; not in the flesh.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">AUTHORS&#8217; NOTE: See\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/5\">Two Covenants<\/a> for more about Spirit and flesh.<\/p>\n<p>Although God is looking for people who will worship in spirit and truth and not in the flesh, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/galatians\/passage\/?q=galatians+3:22-24\">we are all consigned to first worship him in the flesh. <\/a>This is a hard fact to grasp, but scripture makes it all too plain that this is the wilderness journey that no one can escape. Those who recognize this fact will do well to expedite the process through serious, diligent <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/study\">STUDY<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><br \/>\n<strong>UNDERSTANDING DIFFERENT KINDS OF LAWS<\/strong><br \/>\nUnderstanding the Bible is impossible without understanding the law. Here is where being like a lawyer comes into play. In the New Testament <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/nomikos.html\">lawyers<\/a> interpreted and taught others from the Old Testament law. They convened in a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/kjv\/sunedrion.html\">council of religious elders called the Sanhedrin<\/a> which had responsibility for<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=matthew+5:22;matthew+26:57-59;mark+14:53-59;mark+15:1;john+11:47;acts+4:1-22;acts+5:21-41;acts+6:12-15;acts+7;acts+22;acts+23\"> judging people on matters related to the Law of Moses<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\"><a id=\"commentaryonsanhedrin\"><\/a>COMMENTARY ON THE SANHEDRIN: The Sanhedrin is a symbolic reference to the rule-making bodies of all religious organizations. Whether large or small, all religious organizations have boards and committees that meet to discuss and make policy decisions on the operations of the organization. They also oversee and supervise the doctrines of the organization, the printed materials used by the organization, its teachers and its teaching. It functions more-or-less like the Board of Directors of any other corporation, and has final authority on all matters pertaining to religious organizations (e.g. churches, synagogues, para-church ministries, etc.).<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">Members of these Sanhedrin-like bodies are not lawyers dealing with matters of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#civillaws\">civil law<\/a>. They do function, however, as authorities on matters of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#religiouslaws\">religious law<\/a>. They do not have professional degrees like lawyers who are licensed to practice law in judicial courts, but they are qualified to serve in Sanhedrin-like boards (i.e. elders, deacons) because of their knowledge of the Bible and because of their demonstrated faithfulness to adhere to the doctrines of the religious organization. They are elected to these boards because they have <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/fakefaith\/2018\/02\/18\/making-a-name-for-yourself\/\">made names for themselves<\/a> as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&amp;q=pious\">pious<\/a> religious people who have reputations for loving God and often for success in business.<\/p>\n<p>It is important to note that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/passage\/?q=matthew+5:22;matthew+26:57-59;mark+14:53-59;mark+15:1;john+11:47;acts+4:1-22;acts+5:21-41;acts+6:12-15;acts+7;acts+22;acts+23\">Biblical accounts of the Sanhedrin show clearly that it was in opposition to Jesus and his disciples<\/a>. The literal interpretation of these encounters with the Sanhedrin suggests that it was opposed to the man Jesus and his disciples. A spiritual interpretation tells us that it was opposed to the threat that the New Covenant posed to their Old\/First Covenant religion which gave religious leaders position and income.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">AUTHORS&#8217; NOTE: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-commerce\/jesus-and-the-money-changers-in-the-temple-2\">Jesus and the Money-Changers in the Temple<\/a> for understanding of Jesus&#8217; contentious relationship with temple leaders.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">For those who understand the difference between the Old\/First Covenant and the New Covenant, the conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders is not a surprise. We see this conflict throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It is not surprising that Judaism remains opposed to Jesus because of his criticism of the Pharisees and temple officials. Moreover, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=mark+14:58;+matthew+26:61;+mark+15:29;+john+2:18-20;+1-john+3:8\">he prophesied about the downfall of the temple system<\/a> which gave all religious leaders their position and income. In fact, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\/jesus\/13\">Jesus entire ministry focused on the destruction of religious systems<\/a>. This is also the focus of Jesus&#8217; followers (i.e. New Covenant disciples).<\/p>\n<p>But understanding the Bible is not just a matter of discerning between Old\/First Covenant and the New Covenant. There are actually eight different kinds of laws that we must learn to identify:<\/p>\n<table style=\"border-color: #474062; border-width: 1px; height: 166px;\" border=\"1\" width=\"422\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: center;\"><strong>TYPES OF LAWS <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>and<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>HOW LONG THEY LAST<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"text-align: center; border: 1px solid #474062;\"><strong>DESCRIPTION <\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>OF LAWS<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: center;\"><strong>WHO MAKES, AND ENFORCES THE LAWS<\/strong><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: center;\"><strong> PEOPLE TO WHOM THE LAWS APPLY <\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\"><a id=\"naturallaws\"><\/a>1. NATURAL LAWS ARE UNIVERSAL AND ETERNAL<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: center;\">\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">These are sometimes call the laws of nature that include, but are not limited to the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Laws_of_classical_mechanics\"><span class=\"tocnumber\">M<\/span><span class=\"toctext\">echanics<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Laws_of_gravitation_and_relativity\"><span class=\"tocnumber\">G<\/span><span class=\"toctext\">ravity<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Electromagnetism\"><span class=\"toctext\">Thermodynamics<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Electromagnetism\"><span class=\"toctext\">Electromagnetism<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Photonics\"><span class=\"toctext\">Photonics<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Laws_of_quantum_mechanics\"><span class=\"tocnumber\">Q<\/span><span class=\"toctext\">uantum mechanics<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Radiation_laws\"><span class=\"toctext\">Radiation<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Laws_of_chemistry\"><span class=\"tocnumber\">C<\/span><span class=\"toctext\">hemistry<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Geophysical_laws\"><span class=\"toctext\">Geophysics<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Laws_of_science#Biological_laws\"><span class=\"toctext\">Biology<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">God<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">Everyone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">2.<a id=\"culturallaws\"><\/a> CULTURAL\/MORAL LAWS CHANGE FROM ONE CULTURE TO ANOTHER AND EVOLVE OVER TIME<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: center;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\">Mores, customs and rules of social conduct informally applied to citizens of a distinct culture. People who live in a culture voluntarily submit themselves to obey these laws by virtue of their citizenship.<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/examples.yourdictionary.com\/examples-of-morals.html\">Morals<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">People<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062;\">People<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">3.<a id=\"civillaws\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/civil%20law\">CIVIL LAWS<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.britannica.com\/EBchecked\/topic\/128386\/common-law\">COMMON LAWS<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/criminal%20law\">CRIMINAL LAWS CHANGE\u00a0 FROM ONE CULTURE TO ANOTHER AND EVOLVE OVER TIME<\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Laws established and enforced by legitimate bodies of government (e.g. nation, state, county, city, etc.).<\/li>\n<li>Laws established and enforced by legitimate royal authority (i.e. king, queen).<\/li>\n<li>Laws established by illegitimate authorities who take over a jurisdiction by force.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+13:1-7\">Government &#8212; under God&#8217;s direction.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Kings, Queens and their appointed delegates.<\/li>\n<li>Elected officials.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Usurper\">Usurpers<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>People who live in a government or royal domain voluntarily submit themselves to obey these laws by virtue of their citizenship.<\/li>\n<li>People who live in a jurisdiction that has been overcome by an anarchist organization submit to these law involuntarily.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">4. <a id=\"institutionallaws\"><\/a>INSTITUTIONAL LAWS CHANGE FROM ONE INSTITUTION TO ANOTHER AND EVOLVE OVER TIME<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Laws, rules of conduct and policies for members of legally established for-profit or non-profit institutions, businesses and corporations.<\/li>\n<li>Informally established movements, clubs and associations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Governing boards established according to government laws in the case of legally established institutions.<\/li>\n<li>Ad-hoc leadership committees in the case of informal institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Employees, members and customers of legally established institutions.<\/li>\n<li>Members or adherents of informal institutions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">5.<a id=\"householdlaws\"><\/a>HOUSEHOLD LAWS CHANGE FROM ONE HOUSEHOLD ANOTHER AND EVOLVE OVER TIME<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Laws that individuals and families create for themselves to govern how a household functions and how members of the household relate to each other.<\/li>\n<li>These laws may or may not have their origins in cultural, civil or religious laws.<\/li>\n<li>These laws may not be codified but they still have the weight and impact of written laws because they are verbally repeated and enforced often within the hearing and view of household members.<\/li>\n<li>In some households, these laws may have been in place for several generations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Head or heads of households (i.e. parents, elder relatives).<\/li>\n<li>Anyone who ascends to the role of head of household because of the death or absence of the historical head or head of a household.<\/li>\n<li>Anyone who, by force of will and personality, usurps the role of head of household.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">Household members whether by birth or formal or informal adoption<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">6. <a id=\"personallaws\"><\/a>PERSONAL LAWS CHANGE FROM ONE PERSON TO ANOTHER AND EVOLVE OVER TIME<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Laws individuals create for themselves to give direction and order to all aspects of their personal lives (e.g. health, grooming, finances, employment, recreation, relationships, etc.). See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+2:14-15\">Romans 2:14-15.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>These laws are typically not codified (except perhaps, as New Year&#8217;s Resolutions) but they still have the weight of written laws because individuals meditate on them, refine them, and try to enforce them.<\/li>\n<li>These laws may be personal applications of other cultural, civil, household and religious laws.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">Individuals<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">Individuals<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">7. <a id=\"religiouslaws\"><\/a>RELIGIOUS LAWS CHANGE FROM ONE RELIGION TO ANOTHER AND EVOLVE OVER TIME.<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Laws established by formal or informal religious institutions (e.g. churches, denominations, para church ministries, <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Cult\">cults<\/a> etc.).<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\">RELIGION<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Doctrines and rules of conduct developed by and enforced by informal, legally unincorporated communities of religious people.<\/li>\n<li>In Judaism and Christianity these laws are usually written down on paper so they can be distributed widely, and referenced by many people.<\/li>\n<li>In Judaism these laws include:\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Law of Moses<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Oral laws developed by generations of Pharisees and rabbis.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Ceremonial and moral laws based on literal interpretations of the Law of Moses.<br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+29:13;+matthew+15:1-6;+mark+7:1-13;+colossians+2:8\">Traditions <\/a>based on literal interpretations of the Law of Moses.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Congregational laws developed by leaders of local religious institutions to legally manage the local religious unit and conduct its religious services and customs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12px;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Books and other manuscripts of religious teaching included in, or abstracted from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org\/the-oral-law-talmud-and-mishna\">Jewish Oral law.<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In Christianity these laws include:\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Ten Commandments<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Ritual and ceremonial laws derived from a literal interpretation of the New Testament.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+29:13;+matthew+15:1-6;+mark+7:1-13;+colossians+2:8\">Traditions <\/a>based on literal interpretations of the Bible<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Ceremonial and moral laws based on literal interpretations of the Bible.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Congregational laws developed by leaders of local religious institutions to instruct and manage the local religious unit and conduct its religious services and customs.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Customs and liturgies developed by religious leaders. <\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Doctrine\">Doctrine<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/www.merriam-webster.com\/dictionary\/theology\"> theology<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Ceremonial and moral laws based on literal interpretations of the Bible .<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Administrative policies and procedures designed to comply with governmental laws.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Books and other manuscripts of religious teachings written by religious leaders<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Church_Fathers\"> past<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/List_of_current_Christian_leaders\">present<\/a>.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>For all other religions these laws include:\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Customs and liturgies developed by religious leaders.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Ceremonial and moral laws.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+29:13;+matthew+15:1-6;+mark+7:1-13;+colossians+2:8\">Traditions<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\">Congregational laws developed by leaders of local religious institutions to legally manage the local religious unit and conduct its religious services and customs.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>In Biblical terms, these laws may all be cataloged as Old\/First Covenant laws because they all relate to written laws that are administered by a human.<\/li>\n<li>The Bible assigns the following names to these laws:<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/romans\/8-2.html#\"><br \/>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/romans\/8-2.html#\"> The Law of Sin and Death<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+3:23-27\">Law of Works<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+7:22-25\">Law of Sin<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/ephesians\/passage\/?q=ephesians+2:14-16#\">Law of commandments and ordinances.<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/3#treeofknowledgeofgoodandevil\">Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=ephesians+6:10-12;+ephesians+3:8-10;+colossians+1:16;+colossians+2:15\">Religious leaders, past and present<\/a>, who<a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=matthew+15:7-9;+mark+7:6-8;+isaiah+29:13;+colossians+2:20-23;+jeremiah+5:31;+isaiah+29:13-14;+titus+1:10-14\"> make and enforce religious laws on their own authority<\/a> and to whom people assign <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/toxicity\/3\">charismatic authority<\/a> to create and teach doctrines.<\/p>\n<p>Policies and procedures designed and implemented to comply with governmental laws are dictated by various government bodies.<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Members and adherents of religious organizations.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Excommunication\">Membership within a religious community may be revoked for people who break these laws.<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">8. <a id=\"spirituallaws\"><\/a>SPIRITUAL LAWS NEVER CHANGE BECAUSE <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=malachi+3:6;+psalm+55:19;+numbers+23:19;+psalm+102:27;+1-samuel+15:29;+ezekiel+24:14;+titus+1:1-2\">GOD DOES NOT CHANGE<\/a><\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\n<ul>\n<li>The spiritual meaning and intent of the literal, written Law of Moses.<\/li>\n<li>The laws upon which God&#8217;s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=hebrews+13:20;+isaiah+55:3;+jeremiah+32:40;+ezekiel+37:26\">eternal covenant<\/a> are based.<\/li>\n<li>The laws to which God refers when he says to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=exodus+19:5;+exodus+23:21;+psalm+81:11;+jeremiah+7:23;+jeremiah+11:1-10;+jeremiah+22:21;+deuteronomy+18:19;+deuteronomy+4:10;+isaiah+28:23;+john+14:24\">listen to and obey his voice and hear my words.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+hebrews+10:15-17;+hebrews+8:7-13\">Laws which are written on the heart according to the terms of the New Covenant.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Laws reflecting God&#8217;s name (i.e. character) which are communicated by his <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/how-to-hear-gods-spoken-voice\">spoken voice.<\/a><\/li>\n<li>The Bible assigns the following names to these laws:\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=1+corinthians+9:21;+galatians+6:2\">Law of Christ<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+7:22-25\">Law of God in the inner man<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/james\/1-25.html\">Perfect Law of Liberty<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/basilikos.html\">Royal<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/greek\/nas\/nomos.html\">Law<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/owlam.html\">Perpetual<\/a> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/nas\/choq.html\">Allotment<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+9:30-33\">Law of Righteousness<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+3:23-27\">Law of Faith<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/romans\/8-2.html#\">Law of the Spirit of Life<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px;\"><a href=\" http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/3#treeoflife\">Tree of Life<\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\u00a0God<\/td>\n<td style=\"border: 1px solid #474062; text-align: left;\">\u00a0Everyone<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">STUDY TIP: When we look at this table, we see that religious laws and spiritual laws are the ones in view in the Bible. This is hard to do, however, because the Bible does not clearly indicate when it is talking about one law or the other.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 120px;\">Old\/First Covenant religionists concern themselves with religious laws. People who are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/the-law-is-a-stumbling-block\/signs-wonders-and-miracles\/5\">born again<\/a> are New Covenant disciples who focus exclusively on God&#8217;s spiritual laws. See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/death-resurrection-life\/3#romans7\">this link<\/a> for an example of scriptures that are very hard to understand for Old\/First Covenant religionists to understand but are understandable for New Covenant disciples.<\/p>\n<p>With respect to all laws other than spiritual laws, we are acculturated from an early age to understand them and conduct our lives in ways that do not violate those laws. Failure to do this results in trouble, pain, and possible death in the case of natural laws. We may not suffer death when we break these laws, but authorities responsible for making and enforcing these laws will usually make sure that we experience trouble and pain of one kind or another when we violate them.<\/p>\n<p>When we break our own personal laws, there are no external authorities to discipline us, but we will probably experience some sort of inner conflict until we bring our behaviors and thoughts into alignment with the laws we establish for ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>We might be able to avoid discipline for breaking religious laws, but religious people, both those who have formal authority and those who do not have formal authority, can be depended on to use whatever influence they have to enforce the laws of their particular religion. Jesus is an example of someone who suffered at the hands of religious authorities who went to great extremes to keep their religion pure and safe from outside influences. New Covenant disciples who dare to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\">speak the truth about religion<\/a> can expect to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-the-enemy\">receive the same kind of treatment from religious people with whom they once shared religious beliefs<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Spiritual laws are the only laws that are totally under God&#8217;s control. He makes them and enforces them without any help from religious people. These are the laws to which he is referring whenever the Bible mentions <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=genesis+26:1-5;+ezekiel+44:24;+hebrews+8:10-11\">obedience to his laws, commandments, ordinances<\/a> and so on.<\/p>\n<p>As the creator and enforcer of spiritual laws, God does not use his authority in the same way that humans do. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=2-peter+3:9;+nahum+1:3;+jonah+4:2;+joel+2:13;+psalm+145:8;+psalm+103:8;+psalm+86:15;+nehemiah+9:17;+numbers+14:18\">He is not slow to discipline as people count slowness, but he is patient and compassionate as he gives people time to repent before he punishes the guilty <\/a>by sending them into exile from him (i.e. spiritual death).<\/p>\n<p>New Covenant disciples are the only people who understand spiritual laws because they listen to and obey his spoken voice. Understanding that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-sin\">religion is sin<\/a>, they have repented of practicing religion and listening to false prophets and have instead chosen to listen to God&#8217;s voice. From then on, God&#8217;s laws which are written on their hearts, control, more or less, their thinking and behaviors. They have been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/forum-descriptions\/freedom\">set free<\/a> from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-injustice-and-slavery\">slavery to religion<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>LOVE GOD, LOVE JESUS, LOVE THE COMMANDMENTS<\/strong><br \/>\nReligious people may often be heard saying that they love God. Friends and acquaintances of those people may often say of them, &#8220;He\/she loves God&#8221;. When we know those people well, and observe their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/hypocrisy\">hypocrisy<\/a>, we may wonder about their claims of loving God and\/or Jesus because aspects of their lives do not line up the standards God sets up for their conduct. Nevertheless, it is hard to argue with what people say or feel about their affections for God. It is like, if they say it, it must be true.<\/p>\n<p>Claims for loving God are empty, however, for people do not listen to and obey God&#8217;s commandments\/laws. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=exodus+20:1-6;+deuteronomy+5:9-10;+deuteronomy+7:9;+deuteronomy+11:1;+deuteronomy+11:13;+deuteronomy+30:15-16;+joshua+22:5;+nehemiah+1:5;+psalm+119:47-48;+daniel+9:1-4;+john+14:15;+john+14:21;+john+15:10;+1-john+5:1-3;+2-john+1:6\">Love of God is inextricably tied to listening to his voice and obedience to the commandments\/laws<\/a> he speaks to the hearts of those who love him.<\/p>\n<p>These commandments to which love is tied are much more than the so-called Ten Commandments and they do not at all include any <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/5#religiouslaws\">religious laws<\/a> or traditions. The Ten Commandments are only simplified summaries of all the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/search\/?q=statutes ordinances commandments&amp;t=rsv&amp;s=Bibles&amp;ps=10&amp;p=1\">commandments, statutes and ordinances of all of\u00a0<\/a>God&#8217;s\u00a0 commandments\/laws written on the hearts of New Covenant disciples. And <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=isaiah+29:13;+matthew+15:1-6;+mark+7:1-13;+colossians+2:8\">religious laws and traditions are man&#8217;s creations<\/a>. They do not come from God.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>TEST FOR THE LAW BEING WRITTEN ON YOUR HEART<\/strong><br \/>\nOld\/First Covenant religionists assume that God&#8217;s laws are written on their hearts because they willingly and eagerly engage in religious activities that they find prescribed or suggested in the Bible. And they assume that God&#8217;s laws are written on their hearts because they vigorously avoid participation in activities that the Bible prohibits. It can be said, therefore, that their righteousness is based on activities that they do or do not do.<\/p>\n<p>Since all these prescribed and prohibited activities all involve the flesh (i.e. the physical body, the mind, and emotions), it can be said that they are all works of the flesh (i.e. the doing of prescribed activities and not doing of prohibited activities). And, since the doing and not doing of certain activities can be observed by others, it can again be said that the righteousness of religious people who do the prescribed activities and do not do the prohibited activities is based on things that can be seen (i.e. they can be seen doing the prescribed activities and can be seen not doing the prohibited activities).<\/p>\n<p>The point here is that none of this doing, or not doing, of certain activities is not a matter of faith because <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/kjv\/passage\/?q=hebrews+11:1;+romans+8:24;+2-corinthians+4:18;+2-corinthians+5:7;+hebrews+11:7;+hebrews+11:27\">faith is the substance of things that are not seen<\/a>. And if the doing, or not doing, of certain activities are not matters of faith, they are based on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/5#religiouslaws\">religious laws made by men. <\/a>It follows, therefore, that the doing, or not doing, of certain activities are not based on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/5#spirituallaw\">God&#8217;s spiritual laws which are written on the hearts of New Covenant disciples<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>These are very important distinctions to make because whatever is not of faith is sin as we read in the following verses:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+14:13-23\">Romans 14:13-23<\/a>: <span class=\"verse-number\">13<\/span> <span class=\"verse-13\"> Then let us no more pass judgment on one another, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: Each religion has its own doctrines about the things can can be done and not be done to achieve righteousness. And all religions look at the doctrinal practices of other religions and find them to be in error in one way or another because the doctrines of those religion are different. In Biblical language, each religion &#8220;judges&#8221; the doctrines of those other religions against the standard of their own doctrines.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">This verse says that the act of judging other religions based on the things that others (i.e. brothers) do or do not do is wrong because the standards of righteousness by which one religion compares itself are based on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/5#religiouslaws\">religious laws<\/a> &#8212; not on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/5#spirituallaw\">God&#8217;s spiritual laws<\/a>. In God&#8217;s view, setting up standards of righteousness that are different from God&#8217;s spiritual laws causes people to stumble.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"verse-number\">14<\/span> <span class=\"verse-14\"> I know and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but it is unclean for any one who thinks it unclean. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: This verse basically says that all religious standards of righteousness based on activities that are prescribed or prohibited are neither clean or unclean (i.e. righteous or unrighteous). They are all dependent on what people think\/believe &#8212; not on what God says.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"verse-number\">15<\/span> <span class=\"verse-15\"> If your brother is being injured by what you eat, you are no longer walking in love. Do not let what you eat cause the ruin of one for whom Christ died. <\/span><span class=\"verse-number\">16<\/span> <span class=\"verse-16\"> So do not let your good be spoken of as evil. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: God uses the specific example of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/2\">clean and unclean foods <\/a>to make the general point about all religious activities. In other words, we should not promote or advertise our preferred religious doctrines of right and wrong is not the loving thing to do.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">When we practice our religion in view of other religions, we set those religions up for making judgements (i.e. comparisons) in which they will find our chosen (i.e. good) doctrines to be wrong (i.e. unclean) compared to theirs. And having made those comparisons, those other religions will criticize us (i.e. speak evil) for our unrighteousness religious beliefs and practices.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"verse-number\">17<\/span> <span class=\"verse-17\"> For the kingdom of God is not food and drink but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit; <\/span><span class=\"verse-number\">18<\/span> <span class=\"verse-18\"> he who thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: Old\/First Covenant religions do the kinds of things mentioned in verses 13 through 16. By comparison, New Covenant disciples understand that the Kingdom of God is not controlled by doctrines of religious do&#8217;s and don&#8217;ts which are symbolically represented as rules about eating and drinking such as&#8221;eat this&#8221; and &#8220;don&#8217;t eat that&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Rather, New Covenant righteousness is based on righteousness that accrues to people in whom God&#8217;s spiritual laws are written on the heart. New Covenant disciples understand that <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+17:10;+psalm+44:20-21;+proverbs+15:11;+1-samuel+16:7;+1-chronicles+28:9;+2-chronicles+6:28-31;+psalm+44:21;+acts+1:24\">God who looks at the heart<\/a> is not impressed with religious activity. They do not try to follow religious rules of any kind &#8212; including rules about going to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/tabernacles-temples-altars-high-places-and-pilgrimages\">church<\/a>, giving <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/sacrifices-tithes-and-offerings\">tithes<\/a>, or <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/prayer\/prayer-2\/public-prayer\">prayer<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"verse-number\">19<\/span> <span class=\"verse-19\"> Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual up-building. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: The open practice of religion that leads to making judgments of one religion by another religion promotes strife and discord between religions &#8212; not peace. Thus the only way to pursue peace is to avoid public practice of religion. But, because most <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=matthew+6:1-5;+matthew+6:16;+matthew+23:1-5;+luke+6:20-26;+john+12:37-43;+john+5:41-44;+romans+2:29;+john+12:38-43;+1-corinthians+4:5;+2-corinthians+10:18\">religionists depend on the affirmations of their religiosity by co-religionists,<\/a> totally private, non-public practice of religion is not likely.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">All religions think other religions are foolish because they do not believe and practice as they do. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-the-enemy\/gods-at-war\">There may not be open hostility, but there is always a kind of uneasiness between religions that compete for the hearts and minds of people who are tempted to prefer one religion over another.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Religious competition does not promote peace or mutual up-building. The open practice of religion (e.g. observing clean or unclean foods, styles of worship, etc.) actually destroys God&#8217;s work by creating diversions that cause people to stumble when they are tempted to choose one religion over another. No matter which religion they choose, they fall for religion just like Adam and Eve fell when they choose to eat fruit from the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/3#treeofknowledgeofgoodandevil\">Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"verse-number\">20<\/span> <span class=\"verse-20\"> Do not, for the sake of food, destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong for any one to make others fall by what he eats;<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/#evilspiritualfood\">Food here symbolizes all kind of religious activity. <\/a>It is <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine#evilsoulishfood\">evil soulish food<\/a>, not <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine#goodspiritualfood\">good spiritual food.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">When we consider that this reference to food actually points to the fruit of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/3#treeofknowledgeofgoodandevil\">Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil<\/a>, we can understand how food (i.e. religion) destroys the work of God. Elevating food (i.e. religion) destroys the works of God because the public practice of religion has an <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/genesis\/passage\/?q=genesis+3:1-6\">attractive<\/a>, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+13:1-10;+deuteronomy+4:19;+1-kings+22:21-22;+2-peter+2:1-19;+james+1:13-15\">seductive, enticing,<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/toxicity\">intoxicating,<\/a> effect that draws people to religion and away from God. God symbolically calls all of these effects &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=1-john+2:16;+romans+13:14;+ephesians+2:3;+1-peter+2:11\">lusts of the world of religion&#8221; (i.e. flesh)<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">People fall into the sin of religion when they taste it (i.e. practice it) and discover how it fuels and satisfies their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/pride\">pride<\/a> and fulfills their life in so many ways.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">The reason people fall into the sin of religion is that they observe others practicing it and enjoying it in what appears to be a loving, accepting community. This environment is very attractive to people who are otherwise lost and lonely because they do not know God. Religion promises to be a quick, easy fix for all their problems, but it is all <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/religion\/religion-is-not-faith\/religion-is-deception\">deception<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"verse-number\">21<\/span> <span class=\"verse-21\"> it is right not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that makes your brother stumble. <\/span><span class=\"verse-number\">22<\/span> <span class=\"verse-22\"> The faith that you have, keep between yourself and God; happy is he who has no reason to judge himself for what he approves. <\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: At first glance verse 21 seems to approve religious practices regarding clean and unclean foods. When we read the whole of verse 21, however, we see that freedom to &#8220;not eat meat or drink wine&#8221; exists only in the context of not making your brother stumble.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Given that eating and drinking are specific examples of the general principle of not engaging in any religious practices, we see here a strong exhortation to resist and reject any and all types of religion because all religion causes people to stumble and fall with respect to God&#8217;s standard of righteousness which is faith.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">People who have true faith are able to eat and drink anything because they understand that in God&#8217;s view <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/mark\/passage\/?q=mark+7:14-23\">all foods are clean and that spiritual uncleanness originates in the heart of man.<\/a>\u00a0They understand that when God talks about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine\/2#cleanuncleanfood\">clean and unclean food<\/a> he is talking about <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine#goodspiritualfood\">clean spiritual food <\/a>and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/breadfood-and-wine#evilsoulishfood\">evil soulish food<\/a>. Therefore they have no reason to make judgments about the natural food that they eat.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">Certain religious people (e.g. Jews, Muslims, and Messianic Christians, etc.), on the other hand, always make legal judgments (i.e. decisions) about the food that they and others eat. When they, or others they observe, eat what they consider to be clean (i.e. kosher) food, they count those who eat clean foods to be righteous because they are following the letter of the written law. The faith they profess to have is fake faith because it is based on what they read in in the Bible and what they see others doing &#8212; not on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/10-17.html\">what they hear God say.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span class=\"verse-number\">23<\/span> <span class=\"verse-23\"> But he who has doubts is condemned, if he eats, because he does not act from faith; for whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: Choosing to eat, or not eat, certain food is fake faith because the choice is not based on hearing God&#8217;s spoken voice. Rather,\u00a0the faith they profess to have is fake faith because it is based on what they read in in the Bible and what they see others doing &#8212; not on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/romans\/10-17.html\">what they hear God say.<\/a>\u00a0This <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/#definitionofsin\">choice defines sin<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><!--nextpage--><\/p>\n<p><strong>RIGHTEOUSNESS AND THE LAW<\/strong><br \/>\nThere is much confusion within Judaism and Christianity about the source of righteousness. The belief in both religions is that obedience to the letter of the law is what they need to do to be right with God. For Jews, that means they obey the<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jewfaq.org\/613.htm\"> six hundred and thirteen commandments <\/a>which they call <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/lexicons\/hebrew\/kjv\/mitsvah.html\">mitzvah<\/a> or mitzvot in the plural form. For Christians, righteousness basically means obeying the Ten Commandments plus a few other <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Sacrament\">sacraments<\/a> such as baptism, confirmation and communion which are inferred from New Testament scriptures. In addition to these, Christians will vary a little to a lot on the liturgies, music and worship rituals practiced in each denomination and church.<\/p>\n<p>The odd thing about the mitzvah, sacraments and worship rituals is that they vary from a little to a lot from church to church, denomination to denomination and religious movement to religious movement. Since the rules by which churches, denominations and movements are always <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Codification_%28law%29\">codified <\/a>by governing religious bodies, each set of rules is in effect a written law that directs and controls the activities of the members of each body.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">STUDY TIP: See <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/5#religiouslaws\">Religious Laws<\/a> for more about written laws.<\/p>\n<p>Each religious body represents to its members and to the world that its laws are the correct interpretation of God&#8217;s laws. But, because these religious laws do not agree with one another, it is impossible to say that any one of them accurately represents God&#8217;s laws. There is nothing about any religious law written by one group is more valid than the religious laws written by any other group. What people choose to believe depends entirely on human judgment and preferences and on the written and speaking skills of religious leaders. That is why God says that we should <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=psalm+118:8;+2-chronicles+32:7-8;+psalm+40:4;+psalm+56:4-11;+psalm+108:12;+isaiah+31:1;+isaiah+31:3;+isaiah+57:13;+jeremiah+17:5;+psalm+146:3;+isaiah+2:22;+isaiah+30:1\">not trust man to teach us about God<\/a>. God wants his people to listen to his voice only <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=jeremiah+31:31-34;+1-thessalonians+4:9;+1-john+2:27;+john+14:11-17;+john+14:26;+1-corinthians+2:12;+hebrews+8:10-11\">spoken by his spirit<\/a> directly or through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/symbols-signs-types-copies-shadows-and-patterns\/people\/true-prophets\">true prophets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>People who do not listen to God&#8217;s voice effectively limit their knowledge of God to the knowledge that false prophets have about God. Therefore, people who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/passage\/?q=deuteronomy+6:25;+psalm+103:17-20;+numbers+15:40;+john+14:15;+deuteronomy+7:9;+deuteronomy+5:9-10\">love God and want to obey his commandments <\/a>will listen to his voice.<\/p>\n<p>All religionists sincerely want to be obedient, so they faithfully do their best to obey the literal written Bible says as it has been interpreted by generations of religious leaders. The problem with this practice is that God does not want anyone to obey the literal law or humans who teach obedience to the literal law. What he wants is that his people <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/passage\/?q=exodus+15:22-26;+exodus+23:20-25;+exodus+19:1-5;+jeremiah+7:23-26;+jeremiah+11:1-4;+matthew+4:1-4;+deuteronomy+8:1-3;+job+22:21-23;+psalm+119:9-13;+psalm+138:4;+isaiah+28:23;+jeremiah+11:1-7;+jeremiah+22:21;+psalm+106:25;+nehemiah+9:29;+jeremiah+11:10;+jeremiah+13:11;+zechariah+7:11;+isaiah+46:12;+matthew+13:15\">hear and obey his voice<\/a> &#8212; not the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/nas\/ezekiel\/passage\/?q=ezekiel+14:1-7\">voices of false prophets<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The problem is that every <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/5#religiouslaws\">religious law<\/a> written by men conflicts with God&#8217;s spiritual laws that are written on the hearts of people by the Spirit. We know this from the following scripture:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+2:12-16\">Romans 2:12-16<\/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. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 When Gentiles who 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 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 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 150px;\">COMMENTARY: This is perhaps one of the most confusing scriptures in the Bible. All the references to the law sound like double-talk where it is sometimes good and sometimes bad. Nevertheless, we can sort it all out by carefully reconsidering the various ways that God uses the term &#8220;law&#8221; as we mentioned above: With these understandings of the various ways that God uses the term &#8220;law,&#8221; we can now begin to understand <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+2:12-16\">Romans 2:12-16<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><a id=\"circumcision\"><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+2:17-25\">Romans 2:17-25<\/a> But if you call yourself a Jew and <span style=\"color: #993300;\">rely upon the law<\/span> and boast of your relation to God 18 and know <span style=\"color: #993300;\">his will<\/span> and <span style=\"color: #993300;\">approve what is excellent<\/span>, because you are <span style=\"color: #993300;\">instructed in the law,<\/span> 19 and if you are sure that you are a <span style=\"color: #993300;\">guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness<\/span>, 20 a <span style=\"color: #993300;\">corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth&#8211; 21 you then who teach others<\/span>, will you not teach yourself? While you <span style=\"color: #993300;\">preach against stealing<\/span>, do you <span style=\"color: #339966;\">steal<\/span>? 22 You who <span style=\"color: #993300;\">say that one must not commit adultery<\/span>, do you <span style=\"color: #339966;\">commit adultery<\/span>? You who <span style=\"color: #993300;\">abhor idols<\/span>, do you <span style=\"color: #339966;\">rob temples<\/span>? 23 You who <span style=\"color: #993300;\">boast in the law<\/span>, do you <span style=\"color: #339966;\">dishonor God by breaking the law<\/span>? 24 For, as it is written, &#8220;The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.&#8221; 25 <span style=\"color: #339966;\">Circumcision<\/span> indeed is of value if you <span style=\"color: #993300;\"><span style=\"color: #339966;\">obey the law<\/span>;<\/span> but if you <span style=\"color: #339966;\">break the law<\/span>, your <span style=\"color: #993300;\">circumcision<\/span> becomes <span style=\"color: #339966;\">uncircumcision<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 160px;\">COMMENTARY: These verses compare <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#religiouslaws\">Religious Laws<\/a> with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/6#spirituallaws\">God&#8217;s Spiritual Laws<\/a>. Religious laws are written by men in books, and God&#8217;s spiritual laws are written on the hearts of men. For clarification of which laws are religious and which are spiritual, <span style=\"color: #993300;\">religious laws in the scripture are identified with this color text<\/span>, and <span style=\"color: #339966;\">spiritual laws are identified with this color text.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 160px;\">God describes the two kinds of laws in terms of Two Covenants <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#oldcovenant\">Old\/First Covenant<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/2#newcovenant\">New Covenant<\/a>,\u00a0and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\/two-covenantspart1\/5\">compares them as Pure Religion and Defiled Religion.<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 160px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblestudytools.com\/rsv\/romans\/passage\/?q=romans+2:17-25\">Romans 2:17-25<\/a> gives several examples to show that people who obey <span style=\"color: #993300;\">religious laws<\/span> actually break his <span style=\"color: #339966;\">spiritual laws<\/span>. He uses circumcision and uncircumcision to make the point that obedience to man&#8217;s laws about circumcision (a symbolic reference to all of man&#8217;s laws) has the same spiritual value as man&#8217;s laws about uncircumcision. In effect, this scripture says that, in God&#8217;s eyes, obedience to man&#8217;s religious laws has the same value as disobedience to his spiritual laws which he otherwise calls sin. Put another way, righteous with respect to man&#8217;s religious laws is considered by God to be unrighteousness with respect to his spiritual laws.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>STUDY TIP: Also see these links for more about the law: The Law is a Stumbling Block Two Covenants Part 1 Two Covenants Part 2 UNDERSTANDING THE MYSTERY OF THE LAW Bible literalists do not often accept or apply the <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/mystery\/gods-written-word-and-gods-spoken-voice\/the-law\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1863,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2312","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2312"}],"version-history":[{"count":86,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14197,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2312\/revisions\/14197"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1863"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaywesee.com\/religiondetoxnetwork\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}