Featured How Do the Moral Commands of the Law and Those in the NT Mesh for Christians?

Christians have the moral law written on their hearts (Hebrews 8:10 etc.). They are not without law towards God (1 Corinthians 9:21).
It is only the person who is born again, whose sins are forgiven, who loves God's moral law, since it no longer condemns him (Romans 8:1), but is his guide through life (Psalm 119:105-106).

 

And how shall we do that if we have thrown the words He wrote with His own finger under the proverbial 'bus?

Philippians 2:12-13. 'Therefore, by beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation in fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.'

And what exactly is God's good pleasure? 'Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments' (1 John 2:3). 'For this is the will of God: your sanctification' (1 Thessalonians 4:3).

 

Hi Steven,
I'm just off to preach now. I'll try to post something for you later on.

 

Psa 119:97 O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.​

1. There is not one of the Ten Commandments that do not apply today. (Some will quibble over the Fourth one, but that's for another thread.)

2. Jesus's 'moral code' does not go beyond the law. It is impossible to go beyond the law, as it perfectly testifies of the goodness, holiness and perfection of God.

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.

Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

Love is the fulfillment of the law.

God is love.
​

3. The law is fulfilled in those who walk in the Spirit. It's not about working. It's not about your own personal morality. The work of Redemption has been done. All manner of sin and blasphemy in those who have been redeemed is forgiven. We are in Christ. As long as He is welcome in heaven, so are we.

O strong Ram, which hast batter'd heaven for me !
Mild Lamb, which with Thy Blood hast mark'd the path !
Bright Torch, which shinest, that I the way may see !
O, with Thy own Blood quench Thy own just wrath ;
—John Donne​

 

First of all, well done for thinking out and then re-thinking, your theology. That's good! Although you will need to come to a firm place eventually, it's good that you don't decide something and then close your mind.

My position is basically that of the 1689 Confession. The Law cannot save me, not because of any weakness in the Law itself-- the weakness is in me; I can't keep it. That's why I need a Saviour. For the unsaved, then, the Law is a tutor to bring them to Christ; it convinces them of their sinful condition and their inability to make themselves acceptable before God. Once they are saved, however, the Law is re-written upon their hearts so that they desire to keep God's laws and are upset whenever they fail to do so. It is not their righteousness, but it is their rule. They have ceased to be slaves of sin and have become the willing salves of righteousness (Romans 6:18; c.f. Psalm 40:8).

Christ does not have a different, 'harsher,' set of laws to His Father. That is impossible. The Persons of the Trinity are always in agreement. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord Jesus is giving the true interpretation of the Law, against that of the scribes and Pharisees. For example: "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you.....etc." Leviticus 19:18 says nothing about hating your enemy; that was the gloss put on the verse by the Jewish rabbis. The Lord Jesus does not create a new 'harsher' law; He gives the true meaning that the Law has always had.

may I recommend to you a wonderful book on Psalm 119? It is Bible Delight: Heartbeat of the Word of God by Christopher Ash (Christian Focus. ISBN 978-1-84550-360-4). It is a wonderful book on the sheer delight in obeying God's Law.

I hope to write something on Psalm 119 when I get a little time. I am convinced that only someone who is born of the Spirit could sing the Psalm with delight. Here are verses 9-16 in metrical form. Try singing them to the tune of Amazing Grace or to How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds (in the modern setting by Chris Bowater).

By what means shall a young man learn
His way to purify?
If he according to Thy word
Thereto attentive be.

Unfeignedly Thee have I sought
With all my soul and heart;
O let me not from the right path
Of Thy commands depart.

They word I in my heart have hid,
That I offend not Thee.
O Lord, Thou ever blessed art,
Thy statutes teach Thou me.

The judgements of Thy mouth each one
My lips declared have;
More joy Thy testimonies' way
Than riches all me gave.

I will Thy holy precepts make
My meditation;
And carefully I'll have respect
Unto Thy ways, each one.

Upon Thy statutes my delight
Shall constantly be set;
And, by Thy grace, I never will
Thy holy word forget.

If you haven't already done so, have a browse through the 1689 Federalism website.
1689 Federalism

 

'Now the works of the flesh are evident...........of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practise such things will not inherit the kingdom of God' (Galatians 5:19-21). This is not salvation by works, but those who persist in the works of the flesh are giving evidence that they are not born of God. Those who are God's people love God's righteous laws, love to obey them and are grieved when they fail to do so, which, alas, we all do from time to time (1 John 1:5-10; 2:1).

 

It is a mistake to suppose that the 'Royal Commandments' of Mark 12:29-31 etc. are in opposition in any way to the Decalogue. On the contrary, we love the Lord our God by obeying Commandments 1-4, and love our neighbour by obeying 5-10. We do not 'legalistically compare ourselves to the Law' but as Christians we love God's Law and seek to keep it because we love the One who gave it (John 14:15; 1 John 5:3).

 

The Ten Commandments called for acting righteous under threat of death. Even the most depraved could not steal or murder if it was in their interest not to. But the Two Great Commandments, from which the Ten hung, call for spiritual righteousness motivated by love. You always keep the Ten when you keep the Two, but you cannot keep the Two by keeping the Ten. It's all about motive.

 

Indeed they did. But are things any different under the New Covenant?
Matthew 7:21-23. "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord. Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but He who does the will of My Father in heaven..........And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who practise lawlessness.'"
Revelation 10:12: 'And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things that were written in the books.'

The idea that so long as you 'love,' the Commandments have nothing to do with you, could not be more wrong. "If you love Me, keep My Commandments."

And this is wrong too. The Holy Spirit declares through Paul, 'We have previously charged both Jew and Gentile that they are all under sin' (Romans 3:9), and 'By the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified' (Romans 3:20).

If you really think you can keep either the Ten or the Two well enough to satisfy the judgement of God, you have no understanding of Christianity. We are not saved by love any more than we are saved by works. We are saved by grace alone, by Christ alone, through faith alone. But having been justified by grace through faith, we delight to keep the commandments of God which are re-written on our hearts by the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 10:16 etc.). They are not our righteousness, but they are our rule of life because we love the One who gave them (1 John 5:3).

 

We are still under the moral law to be obeyed, not in order to get saved, or kept save, but to walk as we ought to. The power to live as we should is from the Holy Spirit now in us, so the New Covenant now grants to each one of us the means to actually obey God as we should now, by yielding and submitting to the Spirit, and not relying upon ourselves.

 

This is the catch. The institutional churches need the Ten Commandments just as Israel needed them. Because they are stacked to the gills with unbelievers that need controlled. But Christ's body (Israel the Church) is believers only. These have the Two Great Commandments activated in their hearts through the New Birth. The believers use the Ten Commandments for commentary purposes but they are incomplete. They do not include a Sabbath. And they are missing all of the civil and ceremonial attachments.

 

[Gal 2:16 KJV] 16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Jesus Christ stood in my place of condemnation before God, the Judge. Through His shed blood I was/am washed clean of all the rightful charges brought against me in His court. (The Devil makes sure God is made aware when I sin.)

I now desire to please God by my words, deeds and actions. Even so, I fail. When I ask forgiveness, I am restored to fellowship because of the completed work of Christ on the cross. Praise God for His faithfulness.