Is following the Bible possible?

Neostarwcc · Nov 13, 2021

Be humble, live with your wife in understanding way. Submit to your husband's. God is sovereign over all and will accomplish all his purpose. Don't be angry, walk in the spirit.

There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

trophy33 · Nov 13, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

They are ready for you when you will need them in your life.

That way you do not have to fall in a pit to find out yourself what is best to avoid.

Sketcher · Nov 13, 2021

I can't think of a circumstance where breaking one of the commands you listed brings a better result than following it well.

Also, when you look at the life of Jesus Christ, everything he told us to do, he modelled.

HTacianas · Nov 13, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
Be humble, live with your wife in understanding way. Submit to your husband's. God is sovereign over all and will accomplish all his purpose. Don't be angry, walk in the spirit.

There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

You would have to give a specific example.

Albion · Nov 13, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
Be humble, live with your wife in understanding way. Submit to your husband's. God is sovereign over all and will accomplish all his purpose. Don't be angry, walk in the spirit.

There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

Name a few of those that it would be right, fair, or just plain irrelevant if violated.

GreekOrthodox · Nov 13, 2021

If you have some free time, this is a fun read "The Year of Living Biblically"
The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs - Official Website

GreekOrthodox · Nov 13, 2021

GreekOrthodox said:
If you have some free time, this is a fun read "The Year of Living Biblically"
The Year of Living Biblically - A.J. Jacobs - Official Website

Neostarwcc · Nov 13, 2021

Albion said:
Name a few of those that it would be right, fair, or just plain irrelevant if violated.

None of course.

lsume · Nov 13, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
Be humble, live with your wife in understanding way. Submit to your husband's. God is sovereign over all and will accomplish all his purpose. Don't be angry, walk in the spirit.

There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

Living according to what Christ teaches is impossible without Him. I believe that under the law it’s impossible to be saved. Following The Word in the New Testament is also impossible without being born again. Even after being born again, I fail from time to time. However, I have an advocate with God my Heavenly Father through Christ my Lord. Thank God

pescador · Nov 13, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
Be humble, live with your wife in understanding way. Submit to your husband's. God is sovereign over all and will accomplish all his purpose. Don't be angry, walk in the spirit.

There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

The commandments in the Bible are here to show us that it's impossible to keep them all. That impossibility has one purpose: to lead us to Christ.

"So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you could be joined to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, to bear fruit to God." Roman 7:4

Albion · Nov 13, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
None of course.

Right. So that answers your question. Not everyone will be confronted by every last one of those "do nots," and they may seem overwhelming to think about it all, but identifying them does serve a purpose.

Unqualified · Nov 13, 2021

You don’t have to obey all of them as commandments with a life or death sentence. They are meant as a guideline on how to live. As a guide to what works in Christ to be blameless’ if for some reason it doesn’t work. They are available for every situation. You will have joy if you follow and trouble if you don’t or maybe even if you do, for the Lord and His goodness is often resisted.

dqhall · Nov 13, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
Be humble, live with your wife in understanding way. Submit to your husband's. God is sovereign over all and will accomplish all his purpose. Don't be angry, walk in the spirit.

There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

Some of the Old Testament laws such as a Kosher diet or circumcision are not widely practiced by Gentiles as they are not popular. The OT laws are published and available online, in as much as someone may need to read incest, adultery and homosexuality are wrong.

Paul preached against fornication (inappropriate contenteia). I Corinthians 1:16-19 warns against joining oneself to a prostitute. Proverbs 7 warns against going to the bed of an adulteress.

One may pray for discernment in searching for relevancy in the Bible as there were too many laws requiring execution. The teachers of the law demanded the crucifixion of Christ. In Exodus the Israelis stoned someone for picking up sticks on the Sabbath.

pescador · Nov 13, 2021

dqhall said:
Some of the Old Testament laws such as a Kosher diet or circumcision are not widely practiced by Gentiles as they are not popular. The OT laws are published and available online, in as much as someone may need to read incest, adultery and homosexuality are wrong.

Paul preached against fornication (inappropriate contenteia). I Corinthians 1:16-19 warns against joining oneself to a prostitute. Proverbs 7 warns against going to the bed of an adulteress.

One may pray for discernment in searching for relevancy in the Bible as there were too many laws requiring execution. The teachers of the law demanded the crucifixion of Christ. In Exodus the Israelis stoned someone for picking up sticks on the Sabbath.

Being a Christian, I am under grace not under law. "For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:14

Clare73 · Nov 13, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
Be humble, live with your wife in understanding way. Submit to your husband's. God is sovereign over all and will accomplish all his purpose. Don't be angry, walk in the spirit.

There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

That's why he gave us his Holy Spirit, who works in us both to will and to do his good will (Philippians 2:13).

Soyeong · Nov 13, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
Be humble, live with your wife in understanding way. Submit to your husband's. God is sovereign over all and will accomplish all his purpose. Don't be angry, walk in the spirit.

There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

In Deuteronomy 30:11-20, it says that God's law is not too difficult to obey and that obedience brings life and a blessing while disobedience brings death and a curse, so choose life! So it is possible to follow them and they are here in order to teach us how to be blessed and how to enter into eternal life.

eleos1954 · Nov 14, 2021

Neostarwcc said:
Be humble, live with your wife in understanding way. Submit to your husband's. God is sovereign over all and will accomplish all his purpose. Don't be angry, walk in the spirit.

There are so many commandments in the Bible that its just not possible to follow them all so, why are they here?

There are really only 10 ... and those are summed up into one.

Galatians 5:14
New Living Translation
For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

There are a lot of details of what Love (according to God is) ... God sets forth Love as a principle ... for the most part we humans see it as an emotion.

It's pretty basic .... If one Loves God they will do no harm to themselves ... nor to others.

Clare73 · Nov 14, 2021

Soyeong said:
In Deuteronomy 30:11-20, it says that God's law is not too difficult to obey and that obedience brings life and a blessing while disobedience brings death and a curse, so choose life! So it is possible to follow them and they are here in order to teach us how to be blessed and how to enter into eternal life.

And yet Paul demonstrates that
1) it is impossible for man to obey God's law as required in order to avoid its curse (Galatians 3:10) on disobedience,
2) no one on the face of the earth has ever been made righteous by obeying the law (Romans 3:9-10),
3) that the law was not given for righteousness, because righteousness had been only by faith since Abraham (Romans 4:3, Genesis 15:6), and that
4) all righteousness is from God only, by faith only (Romans 1:17, Romans 3:21-22),
so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Soyeong · Nov 14, 2021

Clare73 said:
And yet Paul demonstrates that
1) it is impossible for man to obey God's law as required in order to avoid its curse (Galatians 3:10) on disobedience,

So when God has said something and you think that Paul disagreed with God, then you have a choice to make about which one has the greater authority and which one you are going to follow. However, the reality is that Galatians 3:10 says nothing about it being impossible for man to obey God's law in order to avoid its curse, and the reality of what is recorded about the history of the Israelites is that there were people who did obey God's law and did not come under its curse, such as in Joshua 22:1-3.

2) no one on the face of the earth has ever been made righteous by obeying the law (Romans 3:9-10),

I have never claimed that we are made righteous by obeying God's law. Even if someone managed to live in perfect obedience to it, then they still would not earn their righteousness by their obedience to it because it was never given as a means of doing that (Romans 4:4-5). In Romans 3:21-22, the Law and the Prophets testify that the righteousness of God comes through faith in Christ for all who believe, so this has always been the one and only way to be made righteous that the law testifies about.

3) that the law was not given for righteousness, because righteousness had been only by faith since Abraham (Romans 4:3, Genesis 15:6), and that

I completely agree that God's law was not given as a means of earning our righteousness and that the one and only way that there has ever been to become righteous is through faith. To describe God as being righteous is to describe Him as having a character trait that is expressed by taking actions that are righteous, and God's law is His instructions for how to express that character trait, not for how to earn it. For example, God's law reveals that helping the poor is a way to express God's righteousness, but no amount of helping the poor will ever cause someone to become righteous. So when God declares us to be righteous by grace through faith, He is also declaring us to be someone who expresses His righteousness through our actions in obedience to His instructions for how to do that found in His law. Jesus expressed his righteousness through his actions by living in obedience to God's law, so that is also the way that we live when we have received his righteousness.

4) all righteousness is from God only, by faith only (Romans 1:17, Romans 3:21-22),
so that no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I completely agree that righteousness comes from God only and have never claimed otherwise. In Ephesians 2:10, we are God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works, so while we do not earn our salvation by our works lest anyone who boast, doing what is righteous in obedience to God's law is nevertheless an integral part of the gift of being saved from not doing what is righteous.

Soyeong · Nov 14, 2021

pescador said:
Being a Christian, I am under grace not under law. "For sin will have no mastery over you, because you are not under law but under grace." Romans 6:14

In Romans 6:14, Paul described the law that we aren't under as being a law where sin had dominion over us, which does not describe the Law of God, which is a law where holiness, righteousness, and goodness have dominion over us (Romans 7:12), but rather it is the law of sin where sin had dominion over us. In Romans 6:15, being under grace does not mean that we are permitted to sin, and sin is the transgression of the Law of God (1 John 3:4), so we are still under it, and are still obligated to obey it, but are no longer under the law of sin. In Psalms 119:29, David wanted God to be gracious to him by teaching him to obey His law, so this is what it means to be under grace.

Furthermore, everything else in Romans 6 is speaking in favor of obedience to God's law and against sin. For example, in Romans 6:19-23, we are no longer to present ourselves as slaves to impurity, lawlessness, and sin, but are now to present ourselves as slaves to God and to righteousness leading to sanctification and the goal of sanctification is eternal life in Christ, which is the gift of God, so obedience to God's law is part of the content of His gift. We can't present ourselves as slaves to God and to righteousness by refusing to submit to His laws for how to do what is righteous. Likewise, in John 6:40, everyone who looks on and believes in the Son will have eternal life, and in Matthew 19:17, Jesus said that the way to enter eternal life is by obeying God's commandments, so obedience to God's commandments is the way to look on and believe in the Son. The Son is the exact expression of God's nature (Hebrews 1:3), which he expressed through his actions by setting a sinless example of how to walk in obedience to God's law, so refusing to submit to God's law is rejecting the nature of who Christ is. Being a Christian is about following what Christ taught by word and by example, which was how to obey God's law.

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