| Author | Message | ||
| Rayna |
I have been stuyding Martin Luther's Commentary on Galatians, and the way I understand the terms about "law" is that no matter what law there is, moral, ceremonial, or the commanding us to love one another, we are not justified before God by the keeping of any of these laws, only by the righteousness which is of fath, which is imputed to us when we accept Jesus as our Saviour. Jesus comes to us daily and we are continually justified by the righeousness which is of faith, as we will always be sinners in this life. All the glory belongs to God and to Jesus for our salvation. We are not justified before God by the keeping of any law. The plan of salvation is complete in Jesus. | ||
| GM |
Rayna: You are correct, very good; but don't let your freedoms lead you full circle to lawlessness. We are bound to God through His free gift. But we are still bound to all the principles that were pictured in the law. All the elements of the law are found in love. If you love your brother, you do not hold up a bank operated by him. Most of us would never hold up a bank, but some here donít think twice about holding a grudge or not forgiving someone. If that is true, we might as well go hold up a bank. Little sins are just as great as large ones, and more dangerous because they seem so small. | ||
| Lynn W |
GM, I hope you don't mistake lack of trust for lack of forgiveness. When I was young, there was a neighbor who repeatedly molested me & tried to rape me. Time & time again he would come to me with apologies & I would always forgive him. Like a fool, I would mistake his apologies for repentance of his ways. I would let him in the house & he would, without exception, take advantage of me. Being the good, naive, Christian that I was, I thought it was my duty to continuously "forgive & forget." Now I know that forgiving doesn't always mean trusting. Forgiveness can be freely given in an instant, but trust has to be earned over time. If you expect to earn trust, you must continuously show yourself trustworthy. Just my 2 cents worth. | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Lynn, your "two cents" are worth millions. --Jude | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
Rayna, Great post! You're studying Luther's commentary on Galatians! I studied that in seminary. In my opinion, that and his commentary on Romans are two of the greatest works of theology in existence. They burst onto the legalistic, hypocritical, pharisaical scene like Monet's Impressionist paintings did on the hide-bound European artistic scene of his time. Or like Einstein's theory of relativity did on the moribund scientific scene of his time. Only more so! Much more so! What power is there! How it makes one want to get into a time machine and go back and hear his "I cannot and I will not recant" speech before the church inquisitors, knowing full well the instruments of torture and death that lay behind their narrowed eyes and compressed lips. And by the way, I'm not the slightest bit worried that you, as a result of studying Luther, are in the slightest danger of going "full circle to lawlessness." The gospel is not to be feared and distrusted. Freedom in Christ is not to be feared and distrusted. Both are to be embraced -- not with caution and reserve and worry -- but with broad smiles and wide open arms and tears running down the cheeks. It is in fact, if Paul is to be believed (in Romans) the ONLY way to AVOID lawlessness. (Paul had already proved that lawkeeping does not prevent lawlessness.) And anyone who says anything to the contrary is engaging in nothing less than slander (Romans 3:8). And slandering gospel-keepers is the oldest of all SDA tricks. Don't fall for it. Also, as you already know, since you're studying Luther's Galatians commentary, Paul himself lays down moral laws in this very book, Galatians, as he does in ALL his epistles. Galatians 5:19,20 (NIV), for example: "The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 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." If you keep these New Testament laws, you HAVE NO NEED OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS! New Testament laws are better in every way, as the book to the Hebrews makes abundantly clear, because they spring from the very person of Jesus Christ Himself, his words and actions as "God on earth" (Emanuel). Bless you with many blessings, Rayna, whoever you are, for, like Mary of old, thou hast "chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from" you (Luke 10:42). We have Christ's word on that. -Jude | ||
| Jude the Obscure |
GM, Please, I do not mean to imply that you are engaging in legalistic SDAism in your cautionary remarks to Rayna. I certainly do believe that you are a bona fides gospel-keeper. I'm just a bit concerned that you don't have as clear a vision of what it's all about as she does. Learn from her. I did! -Jude | ||
| Lynn W |
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious" This sums it up so well, what need have we for the 10C? As it has been shown on here before, those who are busy straining at gnats (sabbath) will eventually end up swallowing camels (sexual immorality, impurity, etc.) and excusing it because they keep the sabbath, as if that covers all. There are 9 other commandments in the Mosaic covenant alone, not to mention 612 others in the Torah. My brother-in-law once told me to stay away from SDAs. When I asked him why, he said, "they're a bunch of pot-smoking, wife-beating, drunken, fowl-mouthed, etc...." (you get the idea). I asked him, "where in the world did you get that idea?" He told me of his neighbor who keeps inviting him over for a joint, then lecturing him on the sabbath. Needless to say, my brother-in-law wasn't impressed with the guy's "gospel." I'm not saying all Adventists are like this, but they each seem to have something that's so much bigger than the sabbath that they're willing to overlook while preaching the sabbath. |
