From: RFaussette@aol.com
Date: Wed Jul 23 2003 - 13:03:28 EDT
In a message dated 7/22/03 1:05:56 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
richard@biblewheel.com writes:
> >if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily
> righteousness should have been by the law.
>
> Rich, could you clarify your postion with regards to the Law? Your statement
> seems to be at odds with the explicit teaching of Scripture.
>
>
> Richard Amiel McGough
> Discover the sevenfold symmetric perfection of the Holy Bible at
> http://www.BibleWheel.com
>
>
>
Yes Richard,
Yes, of course, the Law in and of itself gives nothing. Conforming to the Law
gives life. The central demonstration of the technique of conforming to the
Law was provided by Jesus who made the self sacrifice, the ultimate conformity
to the will of God which in a few circumstances such as marriage/divorce was
even more stringent than the OT law.
There are two aspects of religion, the personal aspect and the communal
aspect. The self sacrifice is the personal aspect of religion and implies mastery
of the body to surrender it to do the will of God. The will of God as
embodied in the OT is the Law. Jesus took the Law out of the corrupt Temple and
wrote it on his heart. That act of righteousness gave life without the need for
the external temple sacrificial system which was corrupt in Jesus' time and
had never been religiously acceptable to many Jews from the time Solomon began
it in Jerusalem. It was personal religion (a life of righteousness) and not
the temple that fulfilled the law.
As in the case of divorce, if you read Matthew 5:17-24 you see that the Law
written on the heart is stricter, hence purer and holier than the one emanating
from the Temple.
The law does nothing without the self sacrifice. In fact, the text in my New
English Bible says precisely what I am saying: "If righteousness comes by
law, then Christ died for nothing." Gal. 2:21. Righteousness permits us to do the
will of the father and maintain the Law in our hearts without a temple of
corrupt pharisees and scribes ruling over us. Righteousness permits man to
internalize the Law. The combination of personal righteousness and the Law gives
life. "The life I now live is not my life, but the life which Christ lives in
me." Jesus showed how to do that. The Law alone is not enough. My remarks are not
in disagreement with scripture.
Righteousness should have been by the Law, but was corrupted by those who
maintained the Law. The righteous heart is incorruptible.
rich faussette
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