Good work 2

Dear ...

Thank you for putting so much thought into this. I hope to come to a closer understanding of God's will in grace.

If by practical life everyday you meant the ceremonial law, then no question they don't apply anymore because the significance of those laws found substance in the person of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. But the spirit of the ten commandment (law written in stone) certainly are not done away with because it represents the righteousness of God in our everyday living. I agree that law is not destroyed but fulfilled by Jesus Christ; but in Him we are no longer bound by the law of doing but on a higher plane of being.

If your emphasis is finding out the boundary of God's law in detail description, you will spend the rest of you life searching for a definitive line and not find it. Can you say with confidence that you have discovered it, or come close? Or more so than those who live not to know the law by by the spirit of grace? And even if you find it and are able to define it, what then? Our problem is not in knowing right or wrong, but abiding in the right and not the wrong. The mistake of the pharisees were not that they didn't know the law clearly enough! They were blinded by their knowledge of law in not being able to see grace even when He was right in front of them. The same mistake can be made -- and is being made -- by believers today, trying to know the law in order to obey the law so as to live righteously when the only true righteousness is found abiding in grace. Paul clearly stated in Galatian 5:4 that such is fallen away from grace. In order to live by grace we must have the confidence in grace to guide us by the spirit. Law consciousness is the veil that blinds us from full revelation of grace! It keeps us in judgment. Look at the church in its present state.

And the spirit of law is not that difficult to know and understand: Love God and love one another. There, is your boundary, but more than that -- it is a law without boundary, for to have boundary is to do just enough where love overflows what is minimally required. Law is not separate from grace, and grace contains all that law can be and much more. Otherwise you have to say that grace is not enough and we still need law, which is saying Jesus is not enough, or grace is not the entire truth. For grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. The spirit of law is in grace, but the requirement of law is not. Jesus fulfilled the requirement of law on the cross for us already. What are we doing keep on trying to meet that requirement ourselves? It is a sign of unbelief or at least nonacceptance of His redemption.

As always, I uphold the law as perfect and holy. But it's purpose is not for us to obey, for we can never do it to a standard God requires. Otherwise Jesus didn't have to come to die for us. And if you want to keep the law you are consigning to the consequence of any failure on your part. For as you said, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. How confident are you about keeping perfectly the requirement, and staying within the boundary of God's law -- even if you know it? Is trying your best good enough for God? And if you stand on both grace and law it is mixture that frustrates grace. No, only grace can give us rest that we are righteous even in our sinful state, and that the holy spirit will sanctify us to become truly holy, and knows and needs no boundary nor constraint. Jesus doesn't need to know the boundary of law -- and we can as well when we surrender completely to Him. Trying to keep the law is not complete surrender.

It is true that for a new believer, many of what they do they view not as sin. And as they grow in knowledge of Christ more of their imperfection is realized. As such, if one is not standing on firm ground of his righteous in Christ, such growth of one's sin awareness becomes even more of a bondage instead of the freedom Christ's blood was intended to bring us. We don't stop growing just because we are in grace. But let's grow in grace to know the heart of God and not grow in our knowledge to be acceptable to God. For if one is sincere in the search of law it never fails that one becomes even more under its condemnation in not being good enough. No, we don't need to know how sinful we truly are when we are in grace, because faith in grace is already acceptance of that fact, and the blood of Jesus cleansed us of all of it. God's goodness leads us to repentance, and His forgiveness empowers us to love.

And when we have His love flowing out of us like rivers of living water, law has already done it's job and should depart like Moses did on the mount of Transfiguration, and not to follow the people of grace into the land of rest. In keeping law it is not of love; and love above all is the heart of God.

James