Could the law give life?

[tonychanyt]

Yes, in some sense, Exodus 20:

12 Honor your father and mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.

This law promised a long life. Moreover, Deu 32:

45 When Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”

Moses was talking about the present life, only metaphorically pointing to the eternal one.

In the NT, NIV, Lk 10:

25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

He studied Moses' law. He liked to think that the law gave life.

26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”

Jesus answered a question with a question.

27 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

This expert knew the law well.

28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.””

Did Jesus tell this lawyer that he could obtain eternal life by following the law?

Right, it was possible. The challenge was: Could he do it? Could anyone do it?

Could the law give eternal life?

Yes, in theory, but no, in practice. Gal 3:

21 Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. 22 But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

The law alone or the works of the law does not give eternal life. This is where faith and grace come in.

1 John 5 spelled it out:

11 This is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Jesus is our source of the present life and eternal life. In fact, our eternal life starts here and now.

Jn 11:

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. 26 And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”

 

[Reluctant Theologian]

Yet in Luke 10:25-28 we have the story of the lawyer asking Yeshua how he could obtain eternal life:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? How do you read it?' And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' And he said to him, 'You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.'​

This may seem contradictory to Paul's statements in Galatians - Yeshua literally says doing what the Law required would give eternal life.

Loving YHWH with all our heart and acting righteously requires fully trusting/leaning/loyalty/faithfulness to Him.

And until Yeshua's coming the role of the Messiah in personal atonement wasn't revealed yet.

 

[David Lamb]

Yet in Luke 10:25-28 we have the story of the lawyer asking Yeshua how he could obtain eternal life:

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, 'Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' He said to him, 'What is written in the Law? How do you read it?' And he answered, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.' And he said to him, 'You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.'​

This may seem contradictory to Paul's statements in Galatians - Yeshua literally says doing what the Law required would give eternal life.

Loving YHWH with all our heart and acting righteously requires fully trusting/leaning/loyalty/faithfulness to Him.

And until Yeshua's coming the role of the Messiah in personal atonement wasn't revealed yet.

True, if the lawyer could perfectly, every moment of his life, love the Lord God with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength and all his mind, and love his neighbour as himself, then he would have eternal life. But of course he couldn't and didn't. Nor can anybody. That is surely why the sinless Jesus came.

 

[tonychanyt]

This may seem contradictory to Paul's statements in Galatians

Good point.

I expanded the OP. Take another look. Feel free to follow up. Thanks.

 

[KevinT]

True, if the lawyer could perfectly, every moment of his life, love the Lord God with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength and all his mind, and love his neighbor as himself, then he would have eternal life. But of course he couldn't and didn't. Nor can anybody. That is surely why the sinless Jesus came.

I like this reply. But to expand a bit, any given regulation, a rule that gets written down, will always be too rigid to work for all situations. There are going to be exceptions to the rule. And there will be times when the written regulation needs to be expanded. We think of this today as the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law.

The Jewish leaders of Jesus' time seemed to want to depend on the letter of the law, manipulating it to their advantage. Jesus wanted to point their minds to the higher principles so they could more fully understand how to live life better.

There is also the issue of needing God's help to internalize the rules. I can acknowledge how wonderful it is to love God with all my heart, but my sinful heart can't achieve this on my own. I must ask God to come into my heart and "wash me snow white."

Best wishes
KT

 

[Clare73]

Yes, in some sense, Exodus 20:
This law promised a long life. Moreover, Deu 32:
Moses was talking about the present life, only metaphorically pointing to the eternal one.
In the NT, NIV, Lk 10:
He studied Moses' law. He liked to think that the law gave life.
Jesus answered a question with a question.
This expert knew the law well.

Did Jesus tell this lawyer that he could obtain eternal life by following the law?
Right, it was possible. The challenge was: Could he do it? Could anyone do it?
Could the law give eternal life?
Yes, in theory, but no, in practice. Gal 3:

The law could not give salvation/eternal life in theory, because salvation/eternal is only by faith (Eph 2:8-9, Ge 15:6).

The law alone or the works of the law does not give eternal life. This is where faith and grace come in.
1 John 5 spelled it out:
Jesus is our source of the present life and eternal life. In fact, our eternal life starts here and now.
Jn 11:

 

[NewLifeInChristJesus]

True, if the lawyer could perfectly, every moment of his life, love the Lord God with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength and all his mind, and love his neighbour as himself, then he would have eternal life. But of course he couldn't and didn't. Nor can anybody. That is surely why the sinless Jesus came.

The basic problem of legalism (i.e., seeking right standing with God through obedience to His laws) is that people who adhere to it are not able to see that their efforts are futile, or that the law can't give life because of the weakness of the flesh, or that the purpose of the law was to convict us of our sin and point us to the Savior.

 

[Clare73]

True, if the lawyer could perfectly, every moment of his life, love the Lord God with all his heart, all his soul, all his strength and all his mind, and love his neighbour as himself, then he would have eternal life. But of course he couldn't and didn't. Nor can anybody. That is surely why the sinless Jesus came.

I'm thinkin'. . .if eternal life (salvation) is only by faith, not by works (Eph 2:8-9), would perfect law-keeping ever give eternal life?

I'm thinkin' the law was only to teach us the nature of sin--spiritual defilement.

 

[Soyeong]

Yes, in some sense, Exodus 20:


This law promised a long life. Moreover, Deu 32:


Moses was talking about the present life, only metaphorically pointing to the eternal one.

In the NT, NIV, Lk 10:


He studied Moses' law. He liked to think that the law gave life.


Jesus answered a question with a question.


This expert knew the law well.


Did Jesus tell this lawyer that he could obtain eternal life by following the law?

Right, it was possible. The challenge was: Could he do it? Could anyone do it?

Could the law give eternal life?

Yes, in theory, but no, in practice. Gal 3:


The law alone or the works of the law does not give eternal life. This is where faith and grace come in.

1 John 5 spelled it out:


Jesus is our source of the present life and eternal life. In fact, our eternal life starts here and now.

Jn 11:

In Luke 10:25-28 and Matthew 19:17, Jesus said that the way to inherit eternal life is by obeying God's commandments, so Moses was speaking about eternal life. Likewise, in Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to to walk in His way that he and Israel might know Him, and in John 17:3, eternal life is knowing God and Jesus, so again Moses was speaking about eternal life. Our obedience to God's law had nothing to do with trying to earn eternal life life, but rather our obedience to it is the way to know God and Jesus by being a doer of His character traits, which is eternal life (John 17:3), and which anyone can do.