God Worshiper or Law Worshiper?

[Mercy Shown]

Looking back to when I was a young Christian I believe I fell into worshiping the law rather than the law giver. Like the crippled man at the pool of siloam looking to the pool to "save" him, I looked at the law. It was a very stern master finally whipped me into dispair. It is too long of s story to share here but I came to the point of letting go of any kind of God concept and then I met the law giver and relized what He did to procure the gift He was offering me. This is how I have come to undestand where his law fits into His boundless Grace and unconditionsal love.

1. The Law’s True Purpose​

Paul never said the law was bad — he said it had a specific role:

“Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.”
— Galatians 3:24

The law reveals God’s holiness and our sinfulness — it drives us to God for mercy. But once faith comes, the believer’s relationship with the law changes:

“But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.”
— Galatians 3:25

The law shows what righteousness looks like; Christ provides the power and forgiveness to live it.

---

2. Law-Keeping “by the Flesh” — Self-Righteousness​

When Paul speaks of “the flesh,” he means human effort apart from God’s Spirit.

“For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God.”
— Romans 10:3

That’s what Paul calls law-keeping by the flesh — obeying rules to earn favor, to prove oneself righteous, or to feel spiritually superior.

This was his own past error:

“As to righteousness which is in the law, blameless… but what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.”
— Philippians 3:6–7

He had kept the letter of the law, but he didn’t yet know the heart of the Lawgiver. Once he met Christ, he saw that all his efforts without faith were empty.

---

3. Law-Keeping “by Faith” — Spirit-Empowered Obedience​

When we come to God by faith, the Spirit enables us to walk in obedience from the inside out.

“That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
— Romans 8:4

This is law-keeping by faith: not to earn salvation, but as the fruit of a heart transformed by grace. It’s what Jeremiah and Ezekiel foresaw when they spoke of the law written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26–27).

The believer’s obedience flows from love, not fear:

“For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.”
— Galatians 5:6

---

4. Worshiping God, Not the Law​

Paul’s entire gospel defends worship of the Lawgiver rather than the law itself.

• The law worshiper says, “I will prove my loyalty by keeping every command.”
• The God worshiper says, “Because I love Him, I want to walk in His ways.”

Both might look outwardly obedient — but only one is inwardly free.

Paul put it beautifully:

“We… worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”
— Philippians 3:3

 

[bling]

OK Good, but is there a question?

 

[Richard T]

Looking back to when I was a young Christian I believe I fell into worshiping the law rather than the law giver. Like the crippled man at the pool of siloam looking to the pool to "save" him, I looked at the law. It was a very stern master finally whipped me into dispair. It is too long of s story to share here but I came to the point of letting go of any kind of God concept and then I met the law giver and relized what He did to procure the gift He was offering me. This is how I have come to undestand where his law fits into His boundless Grace and unconditionsal love.

1. The Law’s True Purpose​

Paul never said the law was bad — he said it had a specific role:


The law reveals God’s holiness and our sinfulness — it drives us to God for mercy. But once faith comes, the believer’s relationship with the law changes:


The law shows what righteousness looks like; Christ provides the power and forgiveness to live it.

---

2. Law-Keeping “by the Flesh” — Self-Righteousness​

When Paul speaks of “the flesh,” he means human effort apart from God’s Spirit.


That’s what Paul calls law-keeping by the flesh — obeying rules to earn favor, to prove oneself righteous, or to feel spiritually superior.

This was his own past error:


He had kept the letter of the law, but he didn’t yet know the heart of the Lawgiver. Once he met Christ, he saw that all his efforts without faith were empty.

---

3. Law-Keeping “by Faith” — Spirit-Empowered Obedience​

When we come to God by faith, the Spirit enables us to walk in obedience from the inside out.


This is law-keeping by faith: not to earn salvation, but as the fruit of a heart transformed by grace. It’s what Jeremiah and Ezekiel foresaw when they spoke of the law written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26–27).

The believer’s obedience flows from love, not fear:

---

4. Worshiping God, Not the Law​

Paul’s entire gospel defends worship of the Lawgiver rather than the law itself.

• The law worshiper says, “I will prove my loyalty by keeping every command.”
• The God worshiper says, “Because I love Him, I want to walk in His ways.”

Both might look outwardly obedient — but only one is inwardly free.

Paul put it beautifully:

Praise God you are free from the law, that you have the grace now to really be able to serve. I always find that there are two main problems that persist in lots of Christians. First, that we do not have enough knowledge of the love of God. Secondly that we try to perform or work to receive approval. It can be hard to really rest in God. My favorite yet simple book on this subject is Sit, Walk and Stand by Watchman Nee.

 

[Mercy Shown]

Praise God you are free from the law, that you have the grace now to really be able to serve. I always find that there are two main problems that persist in lots of Christians. First, that we do not have enough knowledge of the love of God. Secondly that we try to perform or work to receive approval. It can be hard to really rest in God. My favorite yet simple book on this subject is Sit, Walk and Stand by Watchman Nee.

Thank-you, the son set me free amd I am free indeed.

 

[Mercy Shown]

OK Good, but is there a question?

Just a praise!

 

[Soyeong]

God Worshiper or Law Worshiper?​

How else do you think that the Israelites knew how to worship God if not through His law?

Looking back to when I was a young Christian I believe I fell into worshiping the law rather than the law giver. Like the crippled man at the pool of siloam looking to the pool to "save" him, I looked at the law. It was a very stern master finally whipped me into dispair. It is too long of s story to share here but I came to the point of letting go of any kind of God concept and then I met the law giver and relized what He did to procure the gift He was offering me. This is how I have come to undestand where his law fits into His boundless Grace and unconditionsal love.

1. The Law’s True Purpose​

Paul never said the law was bad — he said it had a specific role:


The law reveals God’s holiness and our sinfulness — it drives us to God for mercy. But once faith comes, the believer’s relationship with the law changes:


The law shows what righteousness looks like; Christ provides the power and forgiveness to live it.

God's way is the way to know, love, worship, glorify, belief in, and testify about God by embodying His likeness through being a doer of His character traits and the purpose of God's law is to teach us how to walk in His way (1 Kings 2:1-3). Sin is what is contrary to God's character traits, which is why sin is the transgression of God's law, so God's law also reveals what sin is by contrast. The purpose of revealing our sin is to lead us to repent and back to waking in God's way. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that faith is on of the weightier matters of the law, so faith did not change the believer's relationship with the law.

2. Law-Keeping “by the Flesh” — Self-Righteousness​

When Paul speaks of “the flesh,” he means human effort apart from God’s Spirit.


That’s what Paul calls law-keeping by the flesh — obeying rules to earn favor, to prove oneself righteous, or to feel spiritually superior.

This was his own past error:


He had kept the letter of the law, but he didn’t yet know the heart of the Lawgiver. Once he met Christ, he saw that all his efforts without faith were empty.

In Romans 8:4-7, Paul contrasted those who walk in the Spirit with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to the Law of God. In Galatians 5:16-23, Paul contrasted the desires of the flesh with the desires of the Spirit and everything that he listed as works of the flesh that are against the Spirit are also against the Law of God while all of the fruits of the Spirit are aspects of God's character that the Law of God was graciously given in order to teach us how to embody, so "the flesh" does not refer to human effort apart from the Spirit.

If God gave His law as instructions for how to become self-righteous and God does not want us to become self-righteous, then it would follow that God therefore wants to be disobeyed, which is absurd, so God's law was not given as instructions for how to establish our own righteousness but as instructions for how to embody His righteousness.

In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to walk in His way that He and Israel might know Him, and in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them, so the goal of the law is to teach us how to know God and Jesus, which is His gift of eternal life (John 17:3). So this does not leave room to interpret Philippians 3 as saying God's law is rubbish and we just need to focus on knowing Christ instead, but rather Paul had been obeying God's law without being focused on knowing Christ, so he had been missing the whole goal of the law, and that is what he counted as rubbish.

In Romans 9:30-10:4, they had a zeal for God but it was not based on knowing him, so they failed to attain righteousness because they misunderstood the goal of the law by pursuing it as through righteousness were earned as the result of their works in order to establish their own instead of pursuing the law as through righteousness were by faith in Christ, for knowing Christ is the goal of the law for righteousness for everyone who has faith.

---

3. Law-Keeping “by Faith” — Spirit-Empowered Obedience​

When we come to God by faith, the Spirit enables us to walk in obedience from the inside out.


This is law-keeping by faith: not to earn salvation, but as the fruit of a heart transformed by grace. It’s what Jeremiah and Ezekiel foresaw when they spoke of the law written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26–27).

The believer’s obedience flows from love, not fear:

God is trustworthy, therefore His law is also trustworthy (Psalms 19:7), so the way to trust in God for salvation is by obediently trusting in His instructions, so God's law has always been intended to be obeyed through faith and our of love.

4. Worshiping God, Not the Law​

Paul’s entire gospel defends worship of the Lawgiver rather than the law itself.

• The law worshiper says, “I will prove my loyalty by keeping every command.”
• The God worshiper says, “Because I love Him, I want to walk in His ways.”

Both might look outwardly obedient — but only one is inwardly free.

Paul put it beautifully:

"Faith" is synonymous with "loyalty' and obedience to the law is not about proving our loyalty, but rather it is simply the way to be loyal to God.

 

[fhansen]

Looking back to when I was a young Christian I believe I fell into worshiping the law rather than the law giver. Like the crippled man at the pool of siloam looking to the pool to "save" him, I looked at the law. It was a very stern master finally whipped me into dispair. It is too long of s story to share here but I came to the point of letting go of any kind of God concept and then I met the law giver and relized what He did to procure the gift He was offering me. This is how I have come to undestand where his law fits into His boundless Grace and unconditionsal love.

1. The Law’s True Purpose​

Paul never said the law was bad — he said it had a specific role:


The law reveals God’s holiness and our sinfulness — it drives us to God for mercy. But once faith comes, the believer’s relationship with the law changes:


The law shows what righteousness looks like; Christ provides the power and forgiveness to live it.

---

2. Law-Keeping “by the Flesh” — Self-Righteousness​

When Paul speaks of “the flesh,” he means human effort apart from God’s Spirit.


That’s what Paul calls law-keeping by the flesh — obeying rules to earn favor, to prove oneself righteous, or to feel spiritually superior.

This was his own past error:


He had kept the letter of the law, but he didn’t yet know the heart of the Lawgiver. Once he met Christ, he saw that all his efforts without faith were empty.

---

3. Law-Keeping “by Faith” — Spirit-Empowered Obedience​

When we come to God by faith, the Spirit enables us to walk in obedience from the inside out.


This is law-keeping by faith: not to earn salvation, but as the fruit of a heart transformed by grace. It’s what Jeremiah and Ezekiel foresaw when they spoke of the law written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26–27).

The believer’s obedience flows from love, not fear:

---

4. Worshiping God, Not the Law​

Paul’s entire gospel defends worship of the Lawgiver rather than the law itself.

• The law worshiper says, “I will prove my loyalty by keeping every command.”
• The God worshiper says, “Because I love Him, I want to walk in His ways.”

Both might look outwardly obedient — but only one is inwardly free.

Paul put it beautifully:

Yes, and faith is the direct doorway to the Lawgiver who then puts His law in our minds and writes it on our hearts. By the Spirit, not the Letter; by Him, and not by ourselves. Here’s an applicable quote, BTW, from a 4th century bishop:

“If we turn away from evil out of fear of punishment, we are in the position of
slaves. If we pursue the enticement of wages, . . . we resemble mercenaries. Finally if
we obey for the sake of the good itself and out of love for him who commands . . . we
are in the position of children.” St Basil of Caesarea

 

[Mercy Shown]

How else do you think that the Israelites knew how to worship God if not through His law?


God's way is the way to know, love, worship, glorify, belief in, and testify about God by embodying His likeness through being a doer of His character traits and the purpose of God's law is to teach us how to walk in His way (1 Kings 2:1-3). Sin is what is contrary to God's character traits, which is why sin is the transgression of God's law, so God's law also reveals what sin is by contrast. The purpose of revealing our sin is to lead us to repent and back to waking in God's way. In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said that faith is on of the weightier matters of the law, so faith did not change the believer's relationship with the law.

No, it does not. Nor does it change the unbelievers relationship to the law. For the believer, the law does not hold salvation, and for the unbeliever, it does not give them salvation.

For the unbeliever who has a form of Godliness but denies the power of it. The law is what they seek for salvation instead of receiving it as a gift from God.

For the believer salvation is found in Christ only and his righteousness produced the fruit of obedience. But it is not necessarily immediate, it is a growth process, and during that growth we are still seeing is perfect before God because of Christ fulfilling the law for us.

In Romans 8:4-7, Paul contrasted those who walk in the Spirit with those who have minds set on the flesh who are enemies of God who refuse to submit to the Law of God. In Galatians 5:16-23, Paul contrasted the desires of the flesh with the desires of the Spirit and everything that he listed as works of the flesh that are against the Spirit are also against the Law of God while all of the fruits of the Spirit are aspects of God's character that the Law of God was graciously given in order to teach us how to embody, so "the flesh" does not refer to human effort apart from the Spirit.

If God gave His law as instructions for how to become self-righteous and God does not want us to become self-righteous, then it would follow that God therefore wants to be disobeyed, which is absurd, so God's law was not given as instructions for how to establish our own righteousness but as instructions for how to embody His righteousness.

Every such effort to embody the righteousness of God will fail. The only way to embody the righteousness of God is to embody God, and that is done by submitting to Him. At the point, a temptation comes into our lives we face a choice to submit to God or to go our own way. We can choose to be righteous, even though we do not have the power to do so. Once we choose, God supplies the power. Again, this is a process, not an instantaneous halo appearing above our heads.

In Exodus 33:13, Moses wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to walk in His way that He and Israel might know Him, and in Matthew 7:23, Jesus said that he would tell those who are workers of lawlessness to depart from him because he never knew them, so the goal of the law is to teach us how to know God and Jesus, which is His gift of eternal life (John 17:3). So this does not leave room to interpret Philippians 3 as saying God's law is rubbish and we just need to focus on knowing Christ instead, but rather Paul had been obeying God's law without being focused on knowing Christ, so he had been missing the whole goal of the law, and that is what he counted as rubbish.

In Romans 9:30-10:4, they had a zeal for God but it was not based on knowing him, so they failed to attain righteousness because they misunderstood the goal of the law by pursuing it as through righteousness were earned as the result of their works in order to establish their own instead of pursuing the law as through righteousness were by faith in Christ, for knowing Christ is the goal of the law for righteousness for everyone who has faith.


God is trustworthy, therefore His law is also trustworthy (Psalms 19:7), so the way to trust in God for salvation is by obediently trusting in His instructions, so God's law has always been intended to be obeyed through faith and our of love.


"Faith" is synonymous with "loyalty' and obedience to the law is not about proving our loyalty, but rather it is simply the way to be loyal to God.

In the end, God will make us much more righteous than “the law“ ever can if we choose to submit to him.

 

[Soyeong]

No, it does not. Nor does it change the unbelievers relationship to the law. For the believer, the law does not hold salvation, and for the unbeliever, it does not give them salvation.

For the unbeliever who has a form of Godliness but denies the power of it. The law is what they seek for salvation instead of receiving it as a gift from God.

For the believer salvation is found in Christ only and his righteousness produced the fruit of obedience. But it is not necessarily immediate, it is a growth process, and during that growth we are still seeing is perfect before God because of Christ fulfilling the law for us.

God's law was never given as a way of earning our salvation even as the result of having perfect obedience, but rather God graciously teaching to obey His law is the way that He is giving us His gift of salvation (Titus 2:11-13). It is contradictory to think that salvation is found in God's Word made flesh, but not in following his example of embodying God's Word. Jesus saves us from our sin (Matthew 1:21) and sin is the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4), so Jesus graciously teaching us to be a embody it is intrinsically the way that he is giving us his gift of saving us from not embodying it, but if Jesus fulfilled the law for us, then he would be removing his of salvation from us, so thankfully he did not do that. In 1 John 2:6, those who are in Christ are obligated to walk in the same way that he walked, so only those who are following his example of walking in obedience to God's law are in Christ, which is how his righteousness produces the fruit of obedience.

Every such effort to embody the righteousness of God will fail. The only way to embody the righteousness of God is to embody God, and that is done by submitting to Him. At the point, a temptation comes into our lives we face a choice to submit to God or to go our own way. We can choose to be righteous, even though we do not have the power to do so. Once we choose, God supplies the power. Again, this is a process, not an instantaneous halo appearing above our heads.

For example, if someone gives money to charity, then they succeeding at embodying the righteousness of God, so that is not beyond our ability. In Romans 10:5-8, Paul referred to Deuteronomy 30 as the word of faith that we proclaim in regard to proclaiming that God's law is not too difficult for us to obey and that obedience to it brings life and a blessing while disobedience brings death and a curse, so choose life! So it was presented as a possibility and as a choice, not as something that we will all fail at. The way to submit to God is by obeying His commandments through faith.

In the end, God will make us much more righteous than “the law“ ever can if we choose to submit to him.

Character traits are not earned as the result of our works but other they are embodied through our works, so God's law was never given as a way to make us righteous, but as instructions for how to embody His righteousness. The only way for someone to attain a character trait is by faith apart from being required to have first done enough works in order to earn it as the result, but what it means to have a character trait is to be a doer of works that embody that trait, so while we become righteous by faith apart from works, it would be contradictory for someone to become righteous apart from becoming a doer of righteous works. What it means for God to make us righteous is for Him to make us into a doer of righteous works and the way that He does that is by graciously teaching us to be a doer of His law.