So unbelief is sin. Yeaa!!! we're getting somewhere now. So what law is being broken by unbelief? It's not the commandments because there is no 'thou shalt not unbelieve' so it has to be another law or the spiritual aspect of the law that is being broken. Our works have nothing to do with this at all. Do you perform works inside your heart where this is happening? Of course not.
We are indeed close. And those are excellent verses. I would like to take a moment to talk about this one quote though. Because it is very close to a perfect understanding of this.
The law being broken by unbelief...that is the key here. Jesus said that our righteousness had to exceed that of the religious leaders of that day. And they attempted to follow the law. Yet Jesus said they did not believe the law when He said that if they believed Moses they would believe Him.
So even those who tried to keep the law could not do so, because they were in unbelief about it. So because of their unbelief they broke it, and didn't even know.
Jesus spoke to them saying that they strained at a gnat and swallowed a camel. They did everything they could to look right with God. They tried to follow the law, but could not because even though they appeared to believe it, they did not.
Jesus said that they were blind. They sinned, not only on the outside, but also on the inside. He spoke of them as white washed tombs, full of dead men's bones. Because even though they looked good on the outside, they had never repented in their hearts.
It is with the heart that man believes. It is with the heart that he repents. And the flesh must follow after. Because Jesus said they should have done this, and not leave the other undone.
So then, because of unbelief they broke the law, not understanding it and not being able to follow it. They lusted, murdered, and stole from men. Even if it wasn't done on the outside, it was done on the inside. They never repented from the heart.
The works committed by the flesh are only a result of what is inside the heart of man. There is a process to giving birth to sin. It starts inside and then it is brought forth through the flesh.
In the same way their is a process to giving birth to righteousness. It starts inside and then is brought forth through putting the flesh under subjection.
If there is unbelief inside, it will produce the fruit of it. And that fruit is a breaking of the law. It is sin. But sin was there before it was even brought forth, it was already inside.
So from the heart we repent of our sin. The sins that are written of in the law. Because without the law to say thou shalt not steal we would have no sin if we stole. But the law does say this, and so in our hearts we turn from it. And the flesh must be brought under subjection as well.