by Elsewhere 5 Replies latest jw friends
Must follow Law Then, indeed, the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will do away with by the spirit of his mouth and bring to nothing by the manifestation of his presence."
--2 Thessalonians 2:8
Must NOT follow law YOU are parted from Christ, whoever YOU are that try to be declared righteous by means of law; YOU have fallen away from his undeserved kindness.
--Galatians 5:4
The OT was the Mosaic Law system. The OT also prophetically pointed to Christ as the perfect way of salvation. The Law was given to show men the need for a savior because none could do it. Jesus came and said he didn't come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it, which he did. The NT teaches we are saved by faith in Christ's death and promise. We observe and trust the law as good things, but since we can never follow it perfectly, we need his undeserved kindness to save us. Faith produces good works, but to ever think that by our works we could be saved without His grace is wrong. The Bible warns against trying and asks, if we could be saved by our own works, Christ died for nothing.
Get a concordance and look up the word grace, or undeserved kindness, and search the scriptures. Make sure you are praying for understanding and it will be given to you.
Gig
The simple answer is, No. As you have mentioned in your post, the law has been done away with. However, that does mean we are to be lawless (as also mentioned by Paul). If, then, we are NOT TO FOLLOW THE LAW, then what/who are we supposed to follow. Our Lord answers that question quite succintly too. He says: Follow ME. Simple enough? What does following Him entail? It means DOING the things he did or would do. It means teaching the things He taught, not what an organization teaches.
Inkie
Dearest Inkie... the greatest of love and peace to you, my brother... and may I say:
Very simply put, and... amen and amen.
It is indeed quite a simple thing that is required, isn't it? My Lord in fact made it simple by SHOWING us how we are to walk: he loved his brothers (and DEMONSTRATED this love by helping/feeding/healing/teaching ALL who came to him, even when they weren't Israel, although that was the only "house" he had been sent to)...as well as "loved" his enemies...and DEMONSTRATED that love...for he did not return evil for evil or go reviling, even offering the gift of "living water" to the Samaritan woman (an "enemy" of Israel), as well as healing the servant of the [Roman] Army office and the daughter of the Phoenician woman.
Is it so much to ask of us, those who claim to be "christian" to love one another? No, and we do it all the time. But so do "the nations". It is when we learn to love our enemies... to love those who do NOT love us... that we can "prove" ourselves sons of our heavenly Father. And we CAN do it... in SPITE of what we've "heard it said" by earthling to do under the guise of "godly devotion".
As always, much peace to you!
Your servant, sister, and fellow slave of Christ,
SJ
Are we supposed to follow the law or not?
Unless you want to take an all-expense paid trip to the state pen and get to know some Bubba in the Biblical sense.
Elsewhere youre hilarious.
Youre going to get a whole bunch of people explaining this to you and you already know the answer.
You crazy atheist you!
By the way, I love how you kept up on your bible even though you're not a believer.
Makes your posts, especially interesting.
Kick back have a brew
Ciao 4 now,
U_R
Edited by - Utopian_Raindrops on 6 January 2003 21:50:14
