Letters to a Legalist

Ian was reminding me that Daddy will fights His own fights. =) Hallelujah! I cannot remember quotes from the bible very well... so I had problems commenting to the recipient of the following (whom I will keep anonymous). Then last night, I was led by the Holy Spirit (w/o a doubt) during quiet time to open my bible and it opened exactly to the letter by the Apostle Paul who addressed the whole slave and sonship issue, we're no longer under law issue that I was trying to explain to the guy in my last comment to him. So HALLELUJAH to Jesus and thank you to the angels who guided my hand by the Holy Spirit to open to that page. I re-read Galatians again and feel so blessed to be taught by the Holy Spirit and not by my own struggling... =) I often read by His leading and not my own, and it is amazing how He leads me perfectly in His Time.

Shalom (ANON),

I did not diminish or subtract from the Word of God... I quoted Paul now and then, and also wrote reflections based on the writings I studied of what He said.

At some points I knew the gist of it but I forgot where the quote was. I can't memorise quotes but I remember the gists and the crux. Slowly but surely, the Holy Spirit will teach me.

If you feel that I have taken away and added to the gospel whilst I was trying to talk about the gist of what Paul was trying to say in his letters, should we then also cease to consider Paul's writings biblical since he was quite adamant that we are no longer under law? =) I am sure Paul had a hard time talking to the early Christians and the first Jews turned Christians.

The OT is written for the Jews. You must remember what is written for who. Even the gospels - some parts are directed at the Jews, some are directed at Gentiles. You must read in context. Some stuff that Jesus said, He said it because He was addressing the Jews and because He still had not died on the cross yet and the Jews were under the OT.

The ministry we now sit under is the ministry of life in the Spirit through the death of Christ and it truly begins from Acts of the Apostles onwards. We sit not under the ministry of death which is the Law.

Am I making this up too?

2 Cor 3:7-11 says

"Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!"

Since discussing in layman terms doesn't work out... I will quote scripture and let scripture confirm scripture.

I was looking for the following quotes when I commented on this page yesterday but I couldn't find them... then last night, after dinner (at around 1am actually lol) I did some quiet time and prayer (esp about our exchange of comments here). The moment I opened my bible after that, the quotes I was looking for was there.

The Apostle Paul on Sonship and Slavery in Galatians 4:3-7

"So also, when we were children, we were in slavery under the basic principles of the world. But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. 6Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba,[a] Father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir."

Food for thought?

What about Galatians 3:28-29

"There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."

It is not what we do as Christians, but what Christ did. You keep bringing the focus back to self-efforts and what law we uphold so that we might be considered worthy of His grace... But what does Paul say?

"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." - Galatians 5:6

So are we under law?

"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." - Galatians 5:18

It is important to note Paul's warning to us as well in Galatians 3:12...

The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does these things will live by them."

I don't know about you but I praise God that I am under the New Covenant not the Old Covenant of Mosaic Law.

So what was the function of the Law then?

Galatians 3:23-26 explains

"Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law."

By the way I WAS NOT THE AUTHOR OF the quotes etc on slavery in our last exchange... I said it was from an article that I found interesting... the guy was using layman terms to get his explanation across. I didn't throw out the baby (explanation of Roman slavery) with the bathwater (the rest of it) but maybe, on hindsight, I should have. =)

AND NO, it is still wrong to murder. I did not say that what the laws say is wrong (remember I said it IS holy and it IS righteous but it cannot make us holy or righteous - only His grace can). I merely said we are now in Christ and not under Law. We are not held prisoners by the Law. The Law is obsolete not the contents of what the Law said. Please understand what I am trying to say.

Now that we are in Christ, as Sons of Light in Jesus, the Holy Spirit is in each one of us to teach us all things... and the Holy Spirit is the One that guides us to do right instead of wrong.

That is why we don't need the Law any more to be our moral compass. We have the Holy Spirit in us.

And because we know how much Christ loves us, we can love much. We cannot give what we were not given.

Christ gave us His unconditional love. And His unconditional love helps us to forgive those who are wrong as well as helps us to choose to do the right things and make the right decisions. We choose to do the right things not to earn brownie points any more and neither do we do it out of just fear alone, but because He first loved us and we do it out of love for Him, out of worshipping Him, out of reverence for Him.

We don't do it just because we have to. We do it because we really want to... we want to lead a life that reflects His glory in us because He first loved us.

Praise Jesus!!!!