what is sin?

[David777]

Confusion reigns.

The Law was the written code given to the nation of Israel.

Israel was punished repeatedly by God for disobedience. This occurred all the way through the Old Testament.

This Law of Moses was for Israel, a LAW for the Flesh. A Law system that aroused the sinful nature. This had only one outcome, Death. Of course Israel was almost eliminated from the face of the Earth. Mosaic Law cannot save only condemn. But, there is more.

If you read the Old Testament carefully you will notice that God had another Covenant (Isaiah 42:6). The real Covenant, spiritual, Jesus Christ. Read the messianic prophecies. This was and is the real covenant that God intended for all mankind.

These two covenants (Law and Jesus) do not mix. One is for the flesh and Israel. The other, the real covenant, Jesus, is for all mankind including Israel.

So, therefore, SIN is and only is the rejection of the promise of God. Rejection of Jesus Christ. This is unbelief in God. If you reject Jesus Christ you reject Life, Truth, and Love.

 

[james g]

<DIR>1Jn 3:4πας<SUP>G3956 EVERYONE ο G3588 THAT ποιων G4160 την G3588 PRACTISES αμαρτιαν G266 SIN, και G2532 την G3588 ALSO ανομιαν G458 LAWLESSNESS ποιει G4160 [G5719]<SUP>PRACTISES; και G2532 η G3588 AND αμαρτια G266 SIN εστιν G2076 [G5748] η G3588 IS ανομια G458 LAWLESSNESS. </SUP></SUP></DIR>Verses 4-9. He makes a contrast between sin and the new nature and shows the marks of one who abides in Christ and one who hath not seen Him neither knows Him. "Every one that practiseth sin, practiseth lawlessness; for sin is lawlessness, this is the correct rendering. The definition of sin as "transgression of the law" is misleading and incorrect. Before there ever was a law, sin was in the world (Romans 5:12, etc.); how then can sin be the transgression of the law? It is not sins of which John speaks, but sin, the evil nature of man. Here the apostle regards man as doing nothing else but his own, natural will; he lives as a natural man. He acts independently of God, and, as far as he is concerned, never does anything but his own will. John is, therefore, not speaking. of positive overt acts, but of the natural man's habitual bent and character, his life and nature.The sinner, then, sins, and in this merely shows in it his state and the moral root of his nature as a sinner, which is lawlessness. But the born one, the child of God, is in a different position. He knows that Christ was manifested to take away our sins and that in Him there was no sin. If one knows Him and abideth in Him, that one sinneth not. If the believer sins it is because he has lost sight of Christ and does not act in the new life imparted unto him. Another object usurps the place of Christ, and then acting in self-will he is readily exposed to the wiles of the devil using his old nature and the world to lead him astray. If a man lives habitually in sin, according to his old nature, he hath not seen Him nor known Him. A child of God may sin but he is no longer living in sin; if a professing believer lives constantly in sin it is the evidence that he has not known Him at all. There were such who tried to deceive them. Their teaching was evidently a denial of holiness, that there was no need of righteousness. But the demand is for righteousness, while those who practise sin, live habitually in it, are of the devil. No true believer lives thus, for he knows the One whose life he possesses was manifested that He might destroy the works of the devil. "Whosoever is begotten of God doth not practise sin, because his seed abideth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is begotten of God." This verse has puzzled many Christians, but it is quite simple. Every creature lives according to its nature. The fish has the nature of a fish and lives its nature in the water; a bird has its own nature and lives it in the air, and not under the water as the fish. Our Lord said to Nicodemus, "That which is born of the flesh is flesh." Man has a fallen nature, the nature of sin, and that nature can do nothing but sin. That is why He said, "Ye must be born again." In the new birth the divine nature is imparted. This nature is He Himself, Christ, the eternal life. Christ could not sin for He is God, and God cannot sin. The new nature believers possess cannot sin, for it is His nature. But why do new-born ones sin? Because the Christian has two natures, the old nature and the new nature. The old nature is not eradicated; a believer when he sins does so because he has given way to that old nature, has acted in the flesh. But the new nature followed will never lead to sin, for it is a holy nature, and for that nature it is impossible to sin. Some have suggested out of ignorance that the translation ought to be instead of cannot sin "ought not to sin," or "should not sin." The Greek text does not permit such a translation, anything different from "cannot sin" is an unscriptural paraphrase.

 

[Barny]

Sin ?

Hi james g,

I'm a little unsure what you mean in saying:
"John is, therefore, not speaking. of positive overt acts, but of the natural man's habitual bent and character, his life and nature.The sinner, then, sins, and in this merely shows in it his state and the moral root of his nature as a sinner, which is lawlessness."

You also said " A child of God may sin but he is no longer living in sin; if a professing believer lives constantly in sin it is the evidence that he has not known Him at all."

Can you give scriptural definitions for your use of "sin" here? Are you saying sin is for example coveting, not keeping Sabbath, adultery etc? This might help me to better understand what you are saying.

But, we know that sin results in death so how can a believer be accused of "sin" when 1John3:9 says "Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."?

Romans 11:16 says "For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches."
It is Christ in us that makes us holy. This is the seed 1John3:9 speaks of. As Rom 6:2 says "How shall we that are dead to sin, live in it any longer?" Remember that it is no longer I that lives but Christ lives in me Gal 2:20.

You seem to be suggesting that depending on how good a life we live is evidence of whether we know Christ at all or not. Over the course of ones life many will do wrong. At what point would it be determined to be "habitual" and therefore proof of not knowing Christ. It seems somewhat like a salvation by works message, unless I've misunderstood you.

 

[ozell]

The Law was the written code given to the nation of Israel.

Israel was punished repeatedly by God for disobedience. This occurred all the way through the Old Testament.

This Law of Moses was for Israel, a LAW for the Flesh. A Law system that aroused the sinful nature. This had only one outcome, Death. Of course Israel was almost eliminated from the face of the Earth. Mosaic Law cannot save only condemn. But, there is more.

If you read the Old Testament carefully you will notice that God had another Covenant (Isaiah 42:6). The real Covenant, spiritual, Jesus Christ. Read the messianic prophecies. This was and is the real covenant that God intended for all mankind.

These two covenants (Law and Jesus) do not mix. One is for the flesh and Israel. The other, the real covenant, Jesus, is for all mankind including Israel.

So, therefore, SIN is and only is the rejection of the promise of God. Rejection of Jesus Christ. This is unbelief in God. If you reject Jesus Christ you reject Life, Truth, and Love.

why was sin around in cain's day?

Gen 4
<SUP>6</SUP>And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

<SUP id=en-KJV-87 class=versenum>7</SUP>If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. <SUP id=en-KJV-88 class=versenum>8</SUP>And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that


if sin was around then the law had to be around also.

the LAW and sin was around way before Israel

The law was around in Abraham's day

Gen 26v5
Because that Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.

 

[ozell]

Ps 51v3
For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.


1John 3
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

 

[Barny]

Phil 3:5-9
Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; Concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

 

[David777]

Spirit and Flesh.

Ozell, Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles. God selected Paul for this duty because he knew the law inside out. Paul was a Pharisee Ozell.
Now read the following passage please,

Romans 7:4-6 (NKJV)

"Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve through the Spirit in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter."

Notice the distinction between Flesh and Spirit. This is very important Ozell, the Flesh is subject to the Law. We have been released from the written code (flesh) to a NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.

We are a NEW CREATION in Christ, the former things have passed away, they are dead. We know live a life of love in Jesus. Love is the fulfillment of the law.

If you try and justify yourself thru law, you will be destroyed Ozell.

 

[Barny]

Luke 23:40-43
"But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Consider the criminal on the cross next to Jesus and compare him with Paul Phil 3:5-9.
What did they have in common. It wasn't the law.

They were born of God 1John5:1
It was Christ in them that made them holy Romans 11:16

 

[MelodyC]

MT 12:1 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, "Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath."

MT 12:3 He answered, "Haven't you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 4 He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread--which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests. 5 Or haven't you read in the Law that on the Sabbath the priests in the temple desecrate the day and yet are innocent? 6 I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what these words mean, `I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

Jesus points out the Priest desecrate the Sabbath by working on it in the Lord's Temple. Also Jesus brings up David and his men who one time were running from King Saul and hungry they asked the Temple priests for food and were given the Conscecrated Bread to eat (not meant for anyone but the priests). So were these people breaking the law? After all didn't God command the priests to serve Him in the Temple on the Sabbath on the day God forbids mankind to work.

Some people only see the Letter of the Law but haven't got a clue why the Law was truly given to us.

The law was only a shadow of what was to come. It wasn't the real thing. Jesus is the real thing and brought us the real way of living in relationship with God.

Sin is rebellion against God, it is disobedience. Before the Law was written God judged the world in the day of Noah without a written Law. So you can argue that the people of Noahs day were ignorant and had an excuse. As I said Sin isn't breaking the Law because at that time no Law existed. The people of Noah's day lived in rebellion against God.

I am not saying the Law is finished with today. Neither did Paul say the Law was null and void. Jesus said he fulfilled the Law. As I said before the Law was only a shadow of things to come. A shadow is cast off the real object. It is not the object itself.

HEB 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

HEB 10:5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world


HEB 10:19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

HEB 10:26 If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27 but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31 It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

So do we ignore the Law totally? No but it no longer brings us to God. Christ does.

 

[jiggyfly]

Paul did say,
"But if the ministration of death, written [and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away:" 2Cor. 3:7

and,
"For if that which is done away [was] glorious, much more that which remaineth [is] glorious." 2Cor. 3:11

 

[David777]

Hello MelodyC.

Very well written reply, thoughtful.

 

[Barny]

Hi Ozell.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you sound like a Seventh Day Adventist.

Several of us here have shared God's various definitions of sin with you.
Importantly, John 16:9 Jesus tells us the world will be convicted of the sin of unbelief in him (not transgressing the law).

And the law of sin and death (1John3:4)?
Rom 10:4 "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth."

Your claim that believers are to keep the 10 commandments and should we fail to (e.g not keep Sabbath) we "sin" and are of the devil, is a works doctrine.
Gal 2:16-21 "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

 

[ozell]

Hi Ozell.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but you sound like a Seventh Day Adventist.

Several of us here have shared God's various definitions of sin with you.
Importantly, John 16:9 Jesus tells us the world will be convicted of the sin of unbelief in him (not transgressing the law).

And the law of sin and death (1John3:4)?
Rom 10:4 "Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth."

Your claim that believers are to keep the 10 commandments and should we fail to (e.g not keep Sabbath) we "sin" and are of the devil, is a works doctrine.
Gal 2:16-21 "For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life that I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain."

I'm not a 7th day adventist

I am a follower of Jesus a christian a bible christian

we read what the bible definition of sin is

1John 3v4
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

is this correct or wrong?

now we need to find out what law is being transgressed.

 

[ozell]

Paul did say,
"But if the ministration of death, written [and] engraven in stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the glory of his countenance; which [glory] was to be done away:" 2Cor. 3:7

and,
"For if that which is done away [was] glorious, much more that which remaineth [is] glorious." 2Cor. 3:11

meaning what?

 

[ozell]

Jesus points out the Priest desecrate the Sabbath by working on it in the Lord's Temple. Also Jesus brings up David and his men who one time were running from King Saul and hungry they asked the Temple priests for food and were given the Conscecrated Bread to eat (not meant for anyone but the priests). So were these people breaking the law? After all didn't God command the priests to serve Him in the Temple on the Sabbath on the day God forbids mankind to work.

Some people only see the Letter of the Law but haven't got a clue why the Law was truly given to us.

The law was only a shadow of what was to come. It wasn't the real thing. Jesus is the real thing and brought us the real way of living in relationship with God.

Sin is rebellion against God, it is disobedience. Before the Law was written God judged the world in the day of Noah without a written Law. So you can argue that the people of Noahs day were ignorant and had an excuse. As I said Sin isn't breaking the Law because at that time no Law existed. The people of Noah's day lived in rebellion against God.

I am not saying the Law is finished with today. Neither did Paul say the Law was null and void. Jesus said he fulfilled the Law. As I said before the Law was only a shadow of things to come. A shadow is cast off the real object. It is not the object itself.


So do we ignore the Law totally? No but it no longer brings us to God. Christ does.

Jesus said for us to love him by keeping his commandments

Jn 14v15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Jesus said he love us if we keep his commandments

1Jn 5v3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Jesus knows us if we keep his commandments

1Jn 2v3
And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

we also know that sin separates us from God

Is 59v2
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.

 

[ozell]

=Barny;179327]Luke 23:40-43
"But the other, answering, rebuked him, saying, “Do you not even fear God, seeing you are under the same condemnation?
And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds; but this Man has done nothing wrong.”
Then he said to Jesus, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.”
And Jesus said to him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”

Consider the criminal on the cross next to Jesus and compare him with Paul Phil 3:5-9.
What did they have in common. It wasn't the law.

why do you say this?

the thief repented correct. is repentance a law or command from God?

They were born of God 1John5:1
It was Christ in them that made them holy Romans 11:16

what is it that Jesus put in us?

is it himself or his words/spirit

lets read something here for those who don't understand the spirit that is in us

Jn 6v63
It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

 

[ozell]

Ozell, Paul was the Apostle to the Gentiles. God selected Paul for this duty because he knew the law inside out. Paul was a Pharisee Ozell.
Now read the following passage please,

Romans 7:4-6 (NKJV)

"Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve through the Spirit in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter."

Notice the distinction between Flesh and Spirit. This is very important Ozell, the Flesh is subject to the Law. We have been released from the written code (flesh) to a NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.

We are a NEW CREATION in Christ, the former things have passed away, they are dead. We know live a life of love in Jesus. Love is the fulfillment of the law.

If you try and justify yourself thru law, you will be destroyed Ozell.

David

are you still flesh as you read this post?

then you are subject to the commandments

if love is the fulfillenet of the law and it is what must I do to love and fulfill the law?

Love is the law Jesus said this

Paul said this to the gentiles



Rom 13

<SUP id=en-KJV-28276 class=versenum>9</SUP>For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
<SUP id=en-KJV-28277 class=versenum>10</SUP>Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. <SUP id=en-KJV-28278 class=versenum>11</SUP>And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.



Paul explains how to love and fulfill the law which is the commandments.

 

[Barny]

Hi Ozell,

You insist upon only one definition of sin and ignore the others God gave us. Why such a limited focus on definitions of sin? How is such a limited view of sin helpful in understanding scripture?

You asked why I said "
"Consider the criminal on the cross next to Jesus and compare him with Paul Phil 3:5-9.
What did they have in common. It wasn't the law."

The point I was making is our righteousness is in Christ, not in the law.

You refer to 1John 3:8 that whoever "sins" is of the devil. Of course the wages of sin is death. If this doctrine were true then the criminal on the cross did well to die after "repenting" instead of having to live a lifetime having to avoid transgressing the law with it's death penalty.

Regarding the criminal on the cross next to Jesus, what do you think he repented of?

 

[james g]

Romans 10:4 Christ is the end of the Law unto righteousness to every one that believeth.When Christ died, He bore for Israel the curse of the Law, for they, and they alone, were under Law. Divine Law, being broken, does not ask for future good conduct on the part of the transgressor; but for his death,--and that only. Now Christ having died, all the claims of the Law against that nation which had been placed under law were completely met and ended. So that even Jews could now believe, and say, "I am dead to the Law!"

To him that believes, therefore, Jew or Gentile, Christ, dead, buried, and risen, is the end of law for righteousness,--in the sense of law's disappearance from the scene! Law does not know, or take cognizance of believers! We read in Chapter Seven (verse 6) that those who had been under the Law were discharged from the Law, brought to nought, put out of business (katargeo), with respect to the Law! The Law has nothing to do with them, as regards righteousness. The Scripture must be obeyed with the obedience of belief: "Ye are not under law [not under than principle] but under grace" [the contrary principle]. "Ye are brought to nothing from Christ [literally, "put out of business from Christ"], ye who would be justified by the Law; ye are fallen away from grace" (Gal. 5:4). Paul writes in Hebrews 7:18,19: "There is a disannulling of a foregoing commandment, because of its weakness and unprofitableness (for the Law made nothing perfect), and a bringing in thereupon of a better hope, through which we draw near unto God." Again, "Christ abolished in His flesh the enmity [between Jew and Gentile], even the Law of commandments contained in ordinances" (Eph. 2:15); again, speaking as a Hebrew believer, Paul says, "Christ blotted out the bond written in ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us: and He hath taken it out of the way, nailing it to the cross" (Col 2:14).

The words Christ is the end of the Law, cannot mean Christ is the "fulfillment of what the law required." The Law required obedience to precepts--or death for disobedience. Now Christ died! If it be answered, that before He died He fulfilled the claims of the Law, kept it perfectly, and that this law-keeping of Christ was reckoned as over against the Israelite's breaking of the Law, then I ask, Why should Christ die? If the claims of the Law were met in Christ's earthly obedience, and if that earthly life of obedience is "reckoned to those who believe" the curse of the Law has been removed by "vicarious law-keeping." Why should Christ die? Now this idea of Christ keeping the Law for "us" (for they will include us among the Israelites! although the Law was not given to us Gentiles), is a deadly heresy, no matter who teaches it. Paul tells us plainly how the curse of the Law was removed: "Christ redeemed us, " (meaning Jewish believers), "from the curse of the Law, having become a curse, is seen in Deuteronomy 21:23: "He that is hanged is accursed of God." It was on the cross, not by an "earthly life of obedience, " that Christ bore the Law's curse.
There was no law given "which could make alive, " Paul says; "otherwise righteousness would have been by it." Therefore those who speak of Christ as taking the place of fulfilling the Law for us,--as "the object at which the Law aimed" (Alford); or, "the fulfillment or accomplishment of the Law" (Calvin); give the Law an office that God did not give it. There is not in all Scripture a hint of the doctrine that Christ's earthly life--His obedience as a man under the [Mosaic] Law, is "put to the account" of any sinner whatsoever! That obedience, which was perfect, was in order that He might "present Himself through the eternal Spirit without spot unto God, " as a sin-offering. It also was in order to His sacrificial death, as "a curse," that Christ died for our sins" (1 Cor. 15:3). William R. Newell, Romans, Verse by Verse

 

[james g]

<BIG><BIG>F</BIG></BIG>irst, the principle of law was given to unregenerate mankind--the First Adam and his descendants. It pertains to 'accountability' toward God and governing earthly authorities.

<CENTER><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="21%" align=left>Romans 3:19</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="79%" align=left>Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="21%" align=left>Romans 4:15</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="79%" align=left>because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="21%" align=left>Romans 5:13</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="79%" align=left>for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="21%" align=left>Romans 13:1,4</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="79%" align=left>Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities...for he is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="21%" align=left>1 Timothy 1:8-10</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="79%" align=left>But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine...</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER>
<BIG><BIG>T</BIG></BIG>he principle of law was neither given to bring us into right relationship with God nor empower us to live a life pleasing to God. Law has to do with Adam, sin, and death, not righteousness and life. Law does not impart Life. The Mosaic law was not meant to replace the principles of promise, grace, and faith, but was brought in alongside.

<CENTER><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Acts 13:39</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">"and by Him [Jesus] everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 3:21</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 3:28</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 3:31</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 8:3</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">For what the Law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so He condemned sin in sinful man,</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 9:31</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">but Israel, who pursue a law of righteousness, has not attained it.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 2:16</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 2:21</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">"I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain."</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 3:11-13</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">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 has redeemed us from the curse of the law...</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 3:17</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 3:21</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">Is the law, therefore, opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 5:4</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Hebrews 7:19</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">(for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER>
<BIG><BIG>K</BIG></BIG>ey to understanding the Christian life is seeing that law increases our awareness of our lost condition and our propensity (nature) to sin inherited from the First Adam. Law exacerbates bondage and most often leads to hypocrisy.

<CENTER><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 3:20</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 5:20</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 7:7</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet."</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 11:32</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">For God bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 3:19</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 3:23,24</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER>
<BIG><BIG>R</BIG></BIG>ather that being subdued, our sin nature is energized and gains power over us when we are law oriented. Contrary to widespread religious tenet, successful law-keeping either before or after regeneration is not God's intention for the new-creation Christian.

<CENTER><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 5:20</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more,</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 6:14</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 7:5</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 7:8,9</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from law, sin is dead. Once I was alive apart from law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 8:7</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>1 Corinthians 15:56</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER>
<BIG><BIG>T</BIG></BIG>he bottom-line result of law as a "rule of life" [for either Jew, Christian, or other] is SIN and HYPOCRISY. This truth is supported by over six thousand years of recorded religious history.

<CENTER><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 2:17-23</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">Now you, if you call yourself a Jew [or Christian]; if you rely on the law and brag about your relationship to God; if you know his will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of infants, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth -- you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER>
<BIG><BIG>L</BIG></BIG>aw primarily addresses the First Adam and his descendents. The new-creation Christian's death with Christ separates him/her from their relationship to the First Adam and the realm of the principle of law.

<CENTER><TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 7:4</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead (separated) to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another, even to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 7:6</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 8:2</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Romans 10:4</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 2:19</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 3:13</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">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."</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 3:25</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Galatians 4:5</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>Ephesians 2:15</TD><TD bgColor=#c0c0c0 width="78%">by abolishing in His flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace,</TD></TR><TR><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 vAlign=top width="22%" align=left>1 Timothy 1:9,10</TD><TD bgColor=#e1e1e1 width="78%">We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers--and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which He entrusted to me [Paul].</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></CENTER>
From the beginning and up to the present day, a candid reading of Paul's Gospel of Grace, together with time amongst legalists, turns upside-down the erroneous notion that law as a "rule of life" produces moral integrity. Either as an external principle for the Jews or an internal principle for the rest of world [Romans 2:14,15], law produces bondage to sin. Cartoonist Wiley, with tongue in cheek, echoes our sentiments:

A Reformed sister named Robin writes that after her awakening to the truth of God's sovereignty in her salvation "sanctification has become a dance instead of a duty." What a beautiful analogy! Robin continues: "...y'know what a legalist is? (S)he's a dancer that keeps looking at his or her FEET to be sure (s)he's getting it exactly right. Kinda misses the whole point of dancing, doesn't it? Our eyes should be on His face, not on our own feet - or worse, on OTHER PEOPLE'S feet!"
William K's - THINKMAIL However, little does Robin yet realize that in spite of the wonderful "truth of God's sovereignty", the Reformed tradition will bind her to a life of 'feet watching'-----law, not identification with Christ, as a "rule of life"! DS