Mike,
I really enjoyed your article on the ‘Law of Moses versus Law of Spirit’. Thank you.
Got to one section and didn’t know if I’m still misunderstanding a concept. I thought I was following you, and when I came to this part, I started to get confused again. I thought you were both saying the same thing, but apparently not.
This is what one writer has to say regarding the old covenant.“Notice, instead of writing His laws on tablets of stone, He will put them in their minds and hearts. 1—- The terms on the part of the people haven’t been changed, they still must obey His law, the ten commandments, but He, by putting them into their hearts and minds has made it possible to do so.
2 — Now we have the spirit of the law. [ The Covenants, The Law and Grace by Henry Anderson, pp 9 and 11.]”Is this really why God wants to give us His spirit? So we can “by that spirit… keep the letter of the law”? What does the above writer think Paul meant when he said “not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2Co 3:6)?
Question 1 “The terms on the part of the people haven’t been changed, they still must obey” ( the spirit of) “His law, the ten commandments”..( ie. type of beattitudes)..- (not the spirit or letter of the other OT laws)… I was wondering if that is what he meant?
Question 2 “Now we have the spirit of the law.”… if I rephrased that, is he saying, … Now we have the spirit ( ‘of the letter of the law’).”… its original intent?… which seems like that would be a good thing.
I’m stumped at this point. I keep thinking the Holy Spirit is naturally helping us keep the ‘spirit’ of the 10 commandments, which we couldn’t do on our own, which is the same as fullfilling the beatitudes?
Thank you again,G____
Hi G____,
Thank you for your questions concerning the paper entitled The Law of God Versus The Law of Moses.
Yes, the writer I quoted believes what most Christians believe. They believe that the ten commandments and the law of Moses are spiritual and that the gift of the holy spirit simply gives us the ability to keep them. Nothing is further from the Truth.
The truth is that the ten commandments and the law of Moses are carnal commandments which Paul and the rich young ruler “kept… from [ their] youth up”, and which still amounted to nothing more than “the righteousness which is of the law”.
Gal 3:12 And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.
Rom 10:5 For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them.
Php 3:9 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:
The law of Moses was “a carnal commandment” for a carnal nation. The simple truth about the law of Moses is that “the law is not of faith”, and it is therefore not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient who, by faith, will see and obey the spirit of God’s Word and not the “carnal commandment” which has to be “changed” into a “new covenant” for the “new man”.
Look at this very plain statement by God’s apostle under inspiration of the holy spirit, and ask God for eyes to see and ears to hear:
1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
“The law is not made for a righteous man, but” it is made for a carnal man because it is “a carnal commandment” for the carnal minded:
Heb 7:12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law.
Heb 7:16 Who is made, not after the law of a carnal commandment “for the lawless”], but after the power of an endless life.
I hope this helps you to see that the law of Moses really was a “ministration of death… not of faith… not for a righteous man… a carnal commandment… for the lawless and disobedient”, whereas the “law of the spirit” is an entirely “new covenant… the ministration of the spirit”, with new promises, and a “change[ d]” law for a changed, “new man”.
2Co 3:3 Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Here is how Christ reacted when His own disciples applied the law of Moses which clearly taught “an eye for an eye”:
Luk 9:54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
Luk 9:55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
Luk 9:56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.
The holy spirit did not give up the spirit so we can now keep a law which “is not for a righteous man, but for the lawless”. Please take the time to read that paper, and if needed reread it. The law of Moses is not of faith, nor was it ever intended to be “for a righteous man. “The law of the spirit” is both of faith and is for a righteous man.
When Paul says “We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal”, he is not referring to “a carnal commandment… for the lawless” he is referring to “the law of the spirit”.
Your brother in Christ,
Mike