It seems you have not understood what happened at the cross.
Jesus perfectly kept the Law - Yes - but after the resurrection He breathed on the disciples and they received the permanent indwelling presence of His Word in the person of the Holy Spirit...
No longer did believers need to refer to and be bound by the written Law as the Author of the Law was permanently within them bringing understanding on how to act in whatever life situation presented itself. This the Law could never do. So yes the bar was raised as such a specific living Law of the Spirit of life, personalised for each believer bought an accountability much more personal, sure and perfect.
Jesus fulfilled the Law in every respect for our sake as no one was capable of keeping every aspect of the law perfectly save Him. In doing so we were released from the consequences of failing to keep the Law as He broke the Curse that was given with the Law as recorded in Deut 28. Paul understood that obedience to the Spirit of God within was the new focus, Walking in the Spirit was a new discipline to be learned, and was much more exacting and demanding than keeping the Law ever was. This new Way was confirmed by the apostles at the Jerusalem Council as they ruled that circumcision, required by the Law was no longer mandatory.
It is not clear what you are trying to say here.
What Paul was saying was that righteousness was a result of Faith, not a result of keeping Laws. And we know that faith comes from hearing the personal breathed word of Christ within us.
It worries me that the Galatian error is being taught here on CF with the Law being elevated higher than the Author Himself who prefers to speak His living Word in our hearts, for our own good, and is no longer writing on tablets of stone.
Hi Carl Emerson,
It seems you are trying to seperate the word which is the Law , the commandments from Christ. They are of Christ. They can not be separated from Him.
In the following text Do you see the parallel being drawn here by God through Paul?
Deut 30:10 If thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the law, and if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul.
Deut 30:11 For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
Deut 30:12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deut 30:13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
Deut 30:14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
Rom 10:6 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above.
Rom 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)
Rom 10:8 But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach;
Do you understand that the words promised in Deut 30:14 are in the present tense and are saying the same thing as Jer 31:33 but are being spoken as a completed act?
Jer 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Do you not understand that the Law mentioned in Jeremiah was understood to be the Decalogue but could also be understood to be the Pentateuch?
With that in mind reread Deut. 30:10-14 and give a moment of pause and consider why Paul through our Lord would paraphrase it in Romans 10:6-8.
What this really about is what of the word, the law, God's commandments have been put in the heart, mind and mouth through Christ and His Spirit.
