OT and NT believers have always been free to choose what they want to do, but are we really free to do ANYTHING we want?
LIFE OR DEATH CHOICES
"If it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." - Joshua 24:15
"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. 22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ " - Matthew 7:21-23
What's lawlessness?
Why does Jesus say ONLY those that do the will of the Father will enter Heaven?
What's the will of the Father?
Where's the will of the Father recorded?
In scripture? On our hearts and minds?
Does what's written in scripture differ from what God wrote on our hearts and minds?
What happens to those who don't do what's written in scripture?
There's always been and gonna be God's laws which HE's now written on our hearts. Defying God's laws is still called lawlessness.
PAUL PREACHES AGAINST LAWLESSNESS
"He who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life." - Galatians 6:8
"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God." - 1 Corinthians 6:9
"Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders,drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God." - Galatians 5:19-21
GOD HELPS US LIVE RIGHT
If Paul says God helps us overcome temptation and live in a way that pleases Him, it means God wants us to live in a certain way. What way is that?
"Find out what pleases the Lord and is acceptable to Him." - Ephesians 5:10
"God works in you to cause you to both to will and to do what pleases Him." - Philippians 2:13
"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. 13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." - 1 Corinthians 10:12-13
KEEPING THE LAW TO LIVE RIGHT NOT TO BE SAVED
God, Jesus, Paul, the Apostles, and the OT prophets have always promoted God's laws as God's instructions on how to live a Godly lifestyle toward God and man.
No one in the Bible has ever promoted God's laws as a way to be saved, other than certain men in Acts of the Apostles 15:1.
The OT and NT believers were all saved by faith before they started living the lifestyle of God's laws. Exodus 19:5, Exodus 19:8, John 14:15, John 14:23
None of us are to be lawless. The law is supposed to now be written on our hearts and minds. Hebrews 8:10, Hebrews 10:16, Romans 2:15, Jeremiah 31:31
Jesus and Paul constantly quote the OT laws as a lifestyle that pleases God. That part has never changed. http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/NTChart.htm
Jesus and Paul both tell us lawless people won't enter the kingdom of heaven. Galatians 6:8, 1 Corinthians 6:9, Galatians 5:19-21
There's no RED words saying we can do anything we want.
It's best to use the RED words to interpret Paul's words.
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