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Post by wandashort on Jul 21, 2011 8:07:37 GMT -5
I need help! This is the one board/discussion forum that i know I can get viewpoints from a diverse group and hope you all can help me.
Will you please share your thoughts or even links to other articles etc on the Law? I really need an overview type discussion - answering these basic questions (so far):
1. When did the Law begin (I believe right now that ALL the Law was given in the garden) and why (if you feel otherwise).
2. When did/will the Law be fulfilled? (I waffle between at the cross and at the parousia)
3. During the transitional period between the cross and the parousia who was bound by the Law?
4. During the transitional period were the apostles BOUND by the Law AND also FREE under the new covenant?
5. During the transitional period if a person accepted Christ and the New Covenant were they STILL bound also by the Law?
6. Was the Law fulfilled or abolished? I know that Jesus says that He didnt come to abolish but fulfill the Law but I have heard some say that the Law in fact was abolished at the parousia since we are completely free from it now and it has not effect on us...just curious as to your thoughts.
Thanks! w
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Post by Once4all on Jul 21, 2011 13:13:32 GMT -5
4. During the transitional period were the apostles BOUND by the Law AND also FREE under the new covenant? 5. During the transitional period if a person accepted Christ and the New Covenant were they STILL bound also by the Law? 6. Was the Law fulfilled or abolished? I know that Jesus says that He didnt come to abolish but fulfill the Law but I have heard some say that the Law in fact was abolished at the parousia since we are completely free from it now and it has not effect on us...just curious as to your thoughts. Hi Wanda! I think Galatians is a good text to show that Christians were not BOUND by the Law. I think being "under" the Law is the same thing as being "bound" by it, and Paul makes it clear in Galatians that those who are led by the Spirit (i.e., Christians) are not under the Law. We're going through Galatians in our adult Sunday school class and had this very discussion last Sunday. Some of us also came to the conclusion that being free from the Law does not mean that it is wrong to participate in things prescribed by the Law (such as Paul fulfilling a vow: Acts 18:18, Acts 21:23-24). |
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Post by wandashort on Jul 21, 2011 15:04:47 GMT -5
Yes Bev! Please tell me more!
One thing I am really struggling with came up during our biblestudy last week - and it was about being "bound under the law" with regards especially to the apostles.
What does it mean to be bound vs. under vs. condemned??
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Post by Once4all on Jul 21, 2011 18:17:21 GMT -5
Yes Bev! Please tell me more! One thing I am really struggling with came up during our biblestudy last week - and it was about being "bound under the law" with regards especially to the apostles. What does it mean to be bound vs. under vs. condemned?? Well, as I said earlier, I think "bound by" and "under" have the same meaning regarding the Law. Condemned would be the state of someone under the Law. Having sinned, they are condemned by (judged in accordance with) the Law. But if you are not under or bound by the Law, then you cannot be condemned by it. However, it is our own hearts that will condemn us before God: (1 John 3:21 NASB) Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; For more about that, read that chapter 3-1-1, which I mentioned in my reply in your other thread about Satan. "To Be Spiritually Minded" - www.realdevil.info/3-1-1.htm |
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Post by Morris on Jul 21, 2011 21:13:50 GMT -5
But if you are not under or bound by the Law, then you cannot be condemned by it. However, it is our own hearts that will condemn us before God: (1 John 3:21 NASB) Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. A quick comment before I'm able to add more perhaps tomorrow. I agree with Bev in the first sentence, and even the second although with a slightly different bent. I think that even when under the law it was our hearts that condemned us before God. When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus responded in a two-part answer; your heart towards God and your heart towards people. Jesus' famous sayings of "You have heard that it was said to those of old" wherein He showed that even under the law, it was the heart that condemned. The core of the law is all about the disposition of the heart. Deuteronomy 10:12 says, " And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?" The law condemns only because it prescribes what the disposition of the heart is supposed to be. We are still faced with a bit of a paradox; we are not under the law but we are still to fulfill it (or more accurately, live out as best we can that which Christ fulfilled for us). As in 1 John 2:7-10, "Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, ... He who loves his brother abides in the light..." The new command is the old command unfettered and unshackled. |
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Post by Once4all on Jul 21, 2011 22:04:08 GMT -5
But if you are not under or bound by the Law, then you cannot be condemned by it. However, it is our own hearts that will condemn us before God: (1 John 3:21 NASB) Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God. A quick comment before I'm able to add more perhaps tomorrow. I agree with Bev in the first sentence, and even the second although with a slightly different bent. I think that even when under the law it was our hearts that condemned us before God. When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus responded in a two-part answer; your heart towards God and your heart towards people. Jesus' famous sayings of "You have heard that it was said to those of old" wherein He showed that even under the law, it was the heart that condemned. The core of the law is all about the disposition of the heart. Deuteronomy 10:12 says, " And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?" The law condemns only because it prescribes what the disposition of the heart is supposed to be. We are still faced with a bit of a paradox; we are not under the law but we are still to fulfill it (or more accurately, live out as best we can that which Christ fulfilled for us). As in 1 John 2:7-10, "Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write to you, ... He who loves his brother abides in the light..." The new command is the old command unfettered and unshackled. Sheldon, I agree. The Law cannot see into a person's heart. Outwardly, one can appear to be keeping the Law perfectly, as Jesus upbraided the scribes and pharisees (Matthew 23:27-28). Righteousness could never come by the Law (Galatians 2:21) because the Law could only judge the outward man. But God sees the heart. |
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Post by Morris on Jul 22, 2011 15:56:19 GMT -5
Ah, sorry Bev. I thought you were saying something a little different but you weren't.
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