How can Paul say the Law is spiritual, when all it does is to condemn us to death?

2014-04-27 01:30:23 UTC

The law is spiritual because it informs us about and reveals to us God’s holy character. God’s holiness is what separates Him from all other beings, what makes Him separate and distinct from everything else. God’s holiness is more than just His perfection or sinless purity; it is the essence of His “otherness,” His transcendence. God’s holiness embodies the mystery of His awesomeness and we gaze in wonder as we begin to comprehend just a little of His majesty. Read about the experience of Isaiah and John as they witnessed God’s holiness in the first link below. Above all else, God is holy, separated from all moral defilement and hostile toward it. But God is also gracious, and His grace includes His goodness, kindness, mercy, and love. If it were not for God's grace, His holiness would exclude us from His presence.

One purpose of the Mosaic Law was to reveal the holy character of the eternal God to the nation of Israel (Leviticus 19:2; 20:7–8). The Mosaic Law reveals God’s holiness. “The law of the LORD is perfect” (Psalm 19:7) because it is given by a perfect God. The stone tablets Moses received were “inscribed by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18; Deuteronomy 9:10). The Law clearly reveals God’s standard for His people living in a fallen world. The behaviour it demands is righteousness in action. “The law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good” (Romans 7:12; cf. Nehemiah 9:13).

While the Law itself is perfect and holy, those who try to justify themselves before its holy Author bring not His blessing, but His curse upon themselves. Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, ‘the righteous will live by faith.’ The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, ‘The man who does these things will live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree’” (Galatians 3:10–13).

In Galatians 3 the apostle Paul is telling us that everyone who does not keep the Law perfectly is cursed by it (Deuteronomy 27:26; Galatians 3:10). The reason is that no one can obey the Law perfectly. In fact, there were over 600 laws the Jews had to keep to be right in the eyes of God. The breaking of even one commandment put a person under condemnation. Trying to achieve salvation through obedience to the Law is futile. The Law demands perfection—an impossibility because we’re all sinful (Romans 3:10, 23). As a result, all who try to live by the Old Law were under a divine curse. But the good news is that Jesus Christ “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice on the cross when He bore God’s curse. Paul explains how in his letter to the Romans: “God presented [Jesus] as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:25–26). The curse of the Law fell on Christ on our behalf so that the righteousness of God could fall on us, though we did not deserve it (2 Corinthians 5:21). But the believer in Christ has the very righteousness of the Law fulfilled in him as he obeys the Holy Spirit who lives within him (Romans 8:4).

The Ten Commandments were written on tablets of stone (Deuteronomy 10:2) and God’s people were instructed to “write them on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 7:3). But this is impossible for sinful humanity. So God promised a time would come when he would make a new covenant with His people: “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:31-34). God promised to give them a new heart and put His Spirit in them (Ezekiel 36:26-27). Hebrews 8:6-13 quotes from Jeremiah 31:34 and shows how Jesus is mediator of a new covenant, which is “superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.”

Bonus Question: Holiness is not only a possibility for the Christian; holiness is a requirement. “Without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). The difference between God and us is that He is inherently holy while we, on the other hand, only become holy in relationship to Christ and we only increase in practical holiness as we mature spiritually. The New Testament emphasizes the pursuit of holiness in this world and the final attainment of holiness in the world to come. God’s ultimate desire for His people is that we be holy—conformed into the image of His Son, Jesus (Romans 8:29; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-4). Holiness is the will of God for our lives.

Thank you for such a thought-provoking question. I have been blessed by looking into this matter and I would encourage everyone to read the articles in the links below from which I learned so much.

LM

2014-04-27 17:16:54 UTC

I have to Praise the Lord for this Law of the Spirit which my new Spirit in Jesus understands and then I can choose to do.

I'm so grateful for it to literally show me my very present need for Christ.

Dee D

2014-04-27 02:46:33 UTC

The Laws were written by a Holy God, given to man to digest and understand how far from the peaceful shore we were with Him. No one could keep the law and still cannot today. It showed how short we were in coming up to God's standards of righteousness. The temporary form of atonement for sin was the blood of bulls, lambs, etc. Jesus became the permanent and eternal way for life in Him.

We were and are condemned by the Law if we do not have Jesus. The only thing that can wash away our sins is the Blood of Jesus. It makes us stand right, and clean before the Lord God, because Jesus has absorbed all of our sins on the cross, died to it (sin), it was buried in the grave, and now He lives to keep us in the right way through the Holy Spirit before God.

Romans 7:24,25 tells us that we are wretched and how we can and is delivered through Jesus Christ our Lord!.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but walk after the Spirit.

sylvia c

2014-04-27 05:07:44 UTC

It tells us in Psalm 19 why the law is spiritual. verse 3

"the Law of God is whole.

And it revives the soul

By bidding it to rise,

His testomonies sure

Forever will endure

It makes the simple wise,

The precepts of the Lord,

Which are His Perfect Word,

With joy our hearts do brighten

While His commandments sure

Which are both true and pure

The eyes of man enlighten.

God sends His holy spirit into our hearts when we believe on Christ, which convicts us of sin and points us to the grace which is in Christ our Lord and saviour, who aids us in upholding the law.

?

2014-04-27 01:06:49 UTC

The Law reveals to those who are spiritually driven by God that they need Christ. Their "goodness" or "good morals" aren't enough. No adherence to the Law satisfies God.

The Law is good, but we are sinners by nature. Even if we did nothing our nature makes us unacceptable to God. God removes the guilt of sin through Christ.

2014-04-27 00:31:35 UTC

It seems peculiar to me that you would first say that the law has no power and then say that the law only condemns. If it has no power, then should it be able to condemn? Isn't that a power of some kind? Also, Christ's fulfillment of the law does not negate it. Our actions are reflective of Christ (if we are Christians), and the law does offer support in showing us the way in which we ought to live.

?

2014-04-27 01:03:29 UTC

because as humans we are born with sin within us.. there is no way to behave sinless no matter how much we try we will always fail... the law means the rules that are given to us and if we try to live by the law we will fail.. but...Christ frees us from those "rules" by giving us the gift of forgiveness of sins.. even before we commit them.. we as believers are already forgiven.. doesn't mean we deliberately can sin, but if we are weak and fall, he already has paid the price of the punishment for our sins..death no longer holds us captive and neither does the law that condemns us...John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

?

2014-04-27 00:35:23 UTC

As descendants of Adam, we have inherited an imperfect body prone to sin and eventual death. When Adam sinned, we were in his loins, so to speak. So the sentence of death included us. If Jehovah were to reverse the death process without the payment of a ransom, he would be untrue to his word. In effect, Paul spoke for all of us when he said: “We know that the Law is spiritual; but I am fleshly, sold under sin. Miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me from the body undergoing this death?”—Rom. 7:14, 24.

2014-04-27 00:47:27 UTC

I think it means the law wouldn't work death in the spirit, because the spirit is not tempted by the things the law is against - the spirit is in agreement with the law, therefore the law is spiritual. But the flesh is tempted, so it works death in the flesh by arousing the flesh to sin.

GA41

2014-04-27 00:57:02 UTC

The law was not intended to bring death, but life:

10 I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. (Roman's 7:10).

It was sin that bought death:

11 For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.(Romans 7:11)

You are not under the law, IF you follow the spirit. Because nothing the spirit leads you to is against the law.

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

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 2 (Galatians 5:22)

However, it you are living according to the flesh (Whether or not you have accepted Christ) you will certainly die.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.(Galatians 5:19)

A person who believes in Christ is not necessarily IN Christ. Here is John's assessment of those who are IN Christ:

5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God[a] is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did. (1 John 2:5)

There is no condemnation for those who are IN Christ:

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Romans 8:1-3

Don't be decieved into believing you can go on sinning and be covered by Christ. As the Apostle John said.

6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child,(1 John 3: 7)

As Christ Said:

26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”(Matthew 7:26)

?

2014-04-27 00:49:31 UTC

Killing and witnessing killing ... gives human beings p.t.s.d or mental illness as we now know via our doctors.

Grief cannot be prevented even with prayer.

God has no power over our minds.

The ranting words that my eyes just read came from a traumatised mind.

The symptoms are the same in every case and only the issues differ.

Panic attacks happen to people who got a shock from natural disasters and victims of violence and also soldiers who kill or see death next to them.

So ... we can all be pretty well sure that most men had a very trauma filled life.

People don't want to kill.

We don't even want to kill our food.

?

2014-04-27 00:30:45 UTC

The law is from God. The law was to let us know that we went against God when we broke it.

cadisneygirl

2014-04-27 00:36:07 UTC

The law itself, even in the OT, could not save. Only Jesus can save. What the law did was bring people's hearts to God and to the Savior.

I think you are misinterpreting the scripture. The law was very good and it brought people to a spiritual place, if followed and lived correctly. However, it couldn't actually save. The law did have support and help and it did have saving elements in that it brought a person's heart to the place it needed to be in order to eventually be saved thru the atonement of Christ.

Everyone in the OT that was honestly truly living the law, should have already been to the point of the NT version of living the Gospel. There is a serious misunderstanding of the Law of Moses vs the NT among Christians. People in the OT were living the higher law already, if they were living the lower law correctly. Plenty of people in the OT demonstrated that they didn't need the law of Moses to bring them to God. However, because they loved God, they followed his laws.

Christ is the only one who could have saved us. The law, even now, the commandments and laws we live by, lead us to Christ to a point where we will apply that atonement to our lives and become better. Whether we were the people of the OT following the law of Moses or the people in the NT under the new law or we live today, all laws and commandments bring us to Christ and a point where we will accept the atonement. However, without that atonement none of these laws or commandments would have mattered.

Edit

Paul wasn't living the law correctly. Just like the Pharisees and Sadducees weren't living the law correctly. That law had no more special power except that thru obedience in all laws of God we are drawn closer to God ONLY if the obedience is done with the correct heart and in search of understanding. The law brought death is directly related to the fact that the law couldn't save, only Christ could save. The law pulled people spiritually down when people cared more about the law than the actually purpose of the law. Their hearts were in the wrong place, not in the Savior but in the law itself.

Every single law given by God is spiritual. when practiced with the right spirit.

Now, I think the missing piece of the puzzle to all of this is the Priesthood. The priesthood was made very clearly important in the Old Testament and only referred to in the New Testament, but not abandoned. That priesthood authority is what gives man the power to bind what is on Earth to what is in heaven. That priesthood authority is what gives God's church its authority to speak and act in His name. Everything in the OT and the law of Moses was done under the authority and direction of that priesthood. Everything done up to and after Christ was done under the authority of the priesthood. Yet, for some reason, most Protestant sects ignore that authority and claim it isn't necessary anymore, even though it was necessary after the death of Christ. Paul spoke of it. It was passed to new apostles. Jesus was baptized under its authority. The law did have special power and authority because it was directed thru the priesthood. The Temple ordinances were done under the direction of the priesthood. The ordinance of the Last Supper was directed by the priesthood. Paul made it very clear that these ordinances needed to be directed and performed by those with authority to do so and taken as sacred by those doing the ordinances. Those are absolutely saving ordinances because they bind us to God in a way that is so important that the Savior himself was baptized under it. Without Christ these ordinances and the priesthood authority would be meaningless, but because Christ did atone for our sins, they are able to have binding power and meaning because we do have the opportunity now, to be sealed with God, as one, for eternity.

I think you are misinterpreting what a spiritual law is. The purpose of our lives is to become one with God. Jesus made that quite clear. So any law that puts our will in alignment with that of Gods, is a spiritual law. We won't have the same physical temptations in the next life, but we will still have our spiritual struggles. If we can't learn obedience in this life to whatever laws God asks of us, that shows our lack of trust and faith in God. If we don't trust him to follow his laws, then we wont spiritually progress. I will give you a modern example. Mormons cant drink coffee. It is a commandment to not drink coffee. Someone is a generally good person and says, hey I am a good person, God wont really condemn me in the next life because I drank a little coffee. What's the big deal. That person comes face to face with God. The person says to God, are you really going to hold me to some eternal consequence just because I drank some coffee. God says to them, did you really choose to throw away your eternal salvation over a little coffee? It isn't about the coffee. It is the direct defiance of God's law. It isn't about the actual law. It is about your relationship with God and if you don't trust God to follow the little commandments, how can he trust you to hand over all that he has and make you an heir, one with Him and one with the Savior? The law is spiritual because it proves we are willing to do what it takes to become one with God not on our terms, but on his, because he knows what it takes for us to become one with him. We don't and in the next life, we will still need to rely on his knowledge and his direction to continue to progress. If we can't do that now, we wont be able to do it in the next life.

?

2014-04-27 02:05:32 UTC

Ok, lets read the passage carefully,

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.

But I am carnal: The word carnal simply means "of the flesh." Paul recognizes that a spiritual law cannot help a carnal man.

Carnal uses the ancient Greek word sarkikos, which means, "characterized by the flesh." It speaks of the person who can and should do differently but does not. Paul sees this carnality in himself, and knows that the law, though it is spiritual, has no answer for his carnal nature.

Sold under sin: Paul is in bondage under sin and the law can't help him out. He is like a man arrested for a crime and thrown in jail. The law will only help him if he is innocent, but Paul knows that he is guilty and that the law argues against him, not for him.

Even though Paul says that he is carnal, it doesn't mean that he is not a Christian. His awareness of his carnality is evidence that God has done a work in him.

Luther on but I am carnal, sold under sin: "That is the proof of the spiritual and wise man. He knows that he is carnal, and he is displeased with himself; indeed, he hates himself and praises the Law of God, which he recognizes because he is spiritual. But the proof of a foolish, carnal man is this, that he regards himself as spiritual and is pleased with himself."

R T

2014-04-27 00:32:37 UTC

The law's purpose is to prove to us that we can never be good enough on our own. That's why we need a savior.

2014-04-27 00:30:35 UTC

I dislike all religious laws

LiquidSolace

2014-04-27 00:35:03 UTC

God's Law DOES NOT condemn us. God's Law is a tool for us to know when we've sinned so that we can go to God for forgiveness. He wants us to repent, not become prideful (stiffnecked) and pretend he's a jerk. He wants us to realize that having the opportunity to "get it off our chest" is a gift. Otherwise, sin enslaves.

Think about a man (or woman) who has an affair. That can eat you up inside. It destroys marriages, children's lives and it just grows and grows and grows. It's like a heavy weight, a burden. But when we confess our sin, only then can the healing process begin.

SATAN WANTS YOU STIFFNECKED. He wants you to shatter under the pressure of sin. He wants you TO DIE because of your sin.

GOD, on the other hand, wants you to repent and be set free.

God's Law was NEVER given to condemn. It was given to help us, to give us the knowledge of sin and repentance.

To think that you can just live your life without regard to sin is an unfortunate mistake. You see, the more you come to KNOW Jesus, the easier it becomes to keep His commandments. Of course, we will mess up. But God's Holy Spirit CONVICTS, not condemns. Satan condemns, which means he sees you mess up and whispers to your spirit, "You'll never be good enough. You're a loser."

Once you've accepted Christ, you are no longer bound by sin. You are given wisdom when you do sin, you repent and thank Jesus for His precious gift. The more you come to know Christ, the more you walk IN LOVE with Him, the less you sin. The less you sin, the more you BECOME CHRIST-LIKE.

It's really an awesome thing. God's Law is PERFECT.

EDITED: I forgot to put this in there. The word REPENTANCE is written almost TEN TIMES MORE in the New Testament than the Old. That shows how vital God's Law is to us, as children of God. :)