16on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.
17But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself?
Here we are contrasting again those who rely on the written law, vs. those who rely on the law on the heart. the written law does no good without the spiritual understanding, if they pay no attention to their conscience, like the good gentiles do
1 Co 2:6Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. 7But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. 8None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
10these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. 12Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. 13And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.c
14The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. 15The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. 16“For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
I’m not saying we throw the scripture away. But our conscience is where the rubber meets the road. We are called to be one with Christ, we have the mind of Christ. My sheep hear my voice. That is how we determine what is supposed to be followed. Each mans conscience affirming or denying him. Like I wrote in the sabbath desecration thread, each person is at a different place, and each person is given different understanding by God, and I believe we are never out of God’s will. If you believe that you’re supposed to follow the letter to the…erm letter , then thats what you’re supposed to be doing at that moment. It may change. God is in complete control. we are all part of a grand story, when people ask why do we suffer, or why does God allow ECT to be taught? I say because thats all part of the plan. We keep looking at it through our own life, but if we realize that we are part of the bigger picture, we are where we are cus thats His plan.
I know this may seem contradictory, but I also believe He wants us to be pushing forward, pressing in, to come to the knowledge of the truth and to the stature of the mature man. So we have some measure of free will, as we are to discern good and evil, which again is why I don’t think we are to hang on to the letter for ever, because once we are grown to the age we don’t need a schoolmaster, we’re set on our own to be able to discern good and evil. But we don’t do it on our own, we aren’t just making it up as we go along. Our conscience confirms or denies
(speaking of sabbath rest )
Heb 4:9 So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his.
11Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 12For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
We enter the rest by resting from our works, by not relying on our own understanding whether it comes from the written word or what we deem right, but allowing the mind of Christ(word of God) to do its work in us
I’m with you on this, Mag. I love it that you use scripture, it’s a blessing to me. I don’t depend on the law for my salvation but, to extend your idea a little more . . .
We have the mind of Messiah. We have the Spirit of Yehovah, who writes the law on our hearts and minds. Jesus spoke only what the Father told Him. So isn’t the law of Yehovah’s Spirit and the Father’s words what we are to obey? If Jesus spoke only what the Father told Him, where do we come up with this new, different law? If Yehovah’s Spirit is within us, why is there a new and different law written on our hearts? Yehovah wanted all His people, in all time to follow the Spiritual law. The letter kills only if you are trying to earn your own way to God by it. How can it kill those for whom Yeshua died? We do walk in Spirit and Truth. If the words are the Father’s and the law is the Father’s and the Father’s Spirit wrote the law on our hearts, wouldn’t our consciences condemn or acquit us based on Jesus’ words and actions (which came from the Father) and the Spirit of Yehovah’s law inscribed on our hearts? And so, wouldn’t following the law of liberty, or following the letter of the law merely be a matter of whether we obey God out of a right heart and walk in the Spirit verses working to earn our own salvation by keeping the law apart from the Savior? It’s us that needs the change of heart, not Him.
Thank you for your posts, they give me a lot to think about.