I have already made what I believe is a strong case that Paul uses the word 'law' in two different senses: (1) the Law of Moses (the written code); (2) the "law written on the heart". I believe that here in Romans 3:31, .
Paul is using the LAW in Rom 3:31 according to "The context" he himself gives it in Romans 3:19.
I believe "context matters" and that exegesis is a more consistent way to understand the text than simply rolling out "a new interpretation as preference demands".
Why? How do you know this?
It's called "exegesis".
Context is the third fundamental principle of exegesis - see who the word was used by the same author in the same chapter or book.
Lecture 3: Four Key Principles of Exegesis | Free Online Biblical Library
The "LAW" in Romans 3 is the Law that defines what sin is - and Paul tells us so - explicitly.
Rom 3:19 "Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin.."
IT is "in that context" that we then have a few verses later "31
Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary,
we establish the law."
We know that in Romans 2, Paul switches back and forth between references to the Law of Moses and a "law" that is not the Law of Moses.
Only if he explicitly says it.
What is your interpretation of this?
But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter
It is the
same law - the one that says "
do not take God's name in vain" and "
do not covet", "
Love your neighbor as yourself" Lev 19:18 the one where "
the first commandment with a promise"Eph 6:1-2 is the fifth commandment.
Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For
the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to
her husband as long as he lives.
But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of
her husband. 3 So then if, while
her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren,
you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. 5
For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not
in the oldness of the letter.
Sin’s Advantage in the Law
7 What shall we say then?
Is the law sin?
Certainly not! On the contrary,
I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “
You shall not covet.”
The lost wicked person covets before reading "Do not covet" but then reading it in the LAW the lost wicked person is convicted - knowing he needs salvation, he needs the gospel.
The role of that SAME Law for the wicked lost person is to convict them of sin -- it is NOT to teach them that "taking God's name in vain is really not a problem any more ---don't give it a second thought".
But for the saved born-again saint that LAW is "WRITTEN on the heart and mind" so that obedience to it is "FROM THE HEART" not merely a failed attempt at "outward conformance".
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The fact that God's law is truth does not mean that truth cannot be communicated to us directly by the Spirit, .
Scripture is authored by the Spirit of God 2 Peter 1:20-21.
It is then "the SPIRIT SAYS" that is the preface used for quoting scripture.
Hebrews 3
Be Faithful
7 Therefore,
as the Holy Spirit says:
“Today, if you will hear His voice,
8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,
In the day of trial in the wilderness,
If you have specific Biblical arguments to make, please do so.
Agreed. That is the method I prefer