it helps yes SMM. (though i dont know what convoluted means... i mean - im only 18.5yrs into this earth life...haha)
i think i tend to lean to believe that we both "have to" and "want to" follow the law.
i'll try to explain - the reason we have to is because if we dont - we don't love Christ fully "if ye love me keep my commandments" i notice it doesn't say 'if ye love me you should want to keep my commandments' in fact - Jesus right there commands us to keep his commandments if we love him. right?
but also the reason for "want to" is that - because we love him (because he first loved us and paid the fine that we couldn't)
im going to post a bit of an anecdote from ray comfort explaining this "want to" stuff:
"In the book Hell’s Best Kept Secret, we give an illustration of a speedster who drove through a town at a dangerous
speed of 120 mph. He was drunk, there was no law against speeding, so the town council gathered and passed a
law stating that 60 mph was the maximum speed, and any transgressors would be fined $100 for every mph over
the speed limit. The speedster comes back. He’s apprehended by the law. He stands in front of the judge, who
was his own father, the town’s only judge. He was proclaimed guilty. He had no money, no words of defense, he
couldn’t raise the money for the $6000 fine, so he was thrust into prison. As he waited in prison, his father arrived,
opened the door and told his son that he had sold all his goods to raise the $6000, he paid the fine himself, and that
he was free to go.
Now, after such a display of love, such sacrifice on behalf of the father, what would the son’s attitude be to the law?
Well, firstly, the law has been satisfied. As soon as the fine was paid, he was free to go. He could smile at the law.
The judge could say, “you’re free.” The law had no demand on him whatsoever because of the sacrifice and
payment of the father. The law was satisfied.
And what’s his reaction to the father? What is his attitude? Well, he’s filled with gratitude at such sacrifice and a
brokenness that his father would do such a thing for him despite his transgression. And now he lives in honor of
the father. He wants to live for the father’s will.
Listen to the attitude of a believer to the Law. Romans 7:4 again, “Wherefore my brethren you also are become
dead to the Law by the body of Christ.” There was the father’s sacrifice. That’s what appeased God’s Law. “Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the Law being made a curse for us.” “You are become dead to the Law by the body
of Christ.” The Law has no demand upon the believer. “There is no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit.” “That you should be married to another, even Him who is raised
from the dead, that you should bring forth fruit unto God.”
So the true believer brings forth the fruit of a new lifestyle, a lifestyle that is pleasing in the sight of Almighty God. If
we are rooted and grounded in Christ, it should be evident. Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He
that abides in Me and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit.” Colossians 1, speaking of the gospel, says “the
gospel brings forth fruit in the believer.” "
This message was first preached in 1983. True and False Conversion is non-copyrighted, duplication is encouraged.
www.LivingWaters.com – Living Waters Publications, P.O. Box 1172, Bellflower, CA 90706 – Order line: 1-800-437-1893
like you said - the "new law" (i dont know what that means... but anyways) is something that is desired to be followed - by those who are true christians. not by the goats - the lukewarm or the cold.
one may think it may be needed to be enforced to those who are goats - lukewarm - or cold... but if they had repented truthfully - and had the fruits of a true believer - they would desire to do the things of God in the first place.
i think we are on the same track here... maybe?
gek.