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Why is it that many Christians only cry 'legalism' when their favorite
sin comes up? Murder, lying, theft, sodomy; very few have a problem
believing they are still sins. But bring up pork or shrimp, or keeping
the correct Sabbath day, and they are instantly offended.
Were is the scripture that states that these laws are set aside?
I have a body and I am assuming you have one as well, if the One who created me and carefully stitched me together in my mother's womb says not to eat certain things maybe I should listen.
The New Covenant is with individuals, not tribes. The Law of Jesus is just as binding on Christians as the Law of Moses was on Jews. But the two laws are not the same in most details.
Well, for starters, try re-reading my last post. And then consider the following:
Romans 6:14
14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Romans 3:20-22
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.
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe...
Romans 7:4
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.
Romans 7:6
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.
Romans 10:4
4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Galatians 3:24-25
24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Galatians 5:18
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
And so on.
1 Timothy 6:17
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.
As I said, the commands concerning diet that God gave to Israel were about separation not health. I know people who eat shrimp quite regularly who are fitter by far than 95% of the human population.
Selah.
Perhaps your problem is that you don't realize that the Old Covenant is gone. All those things were part of the Old Covenant laws.
Those laws were not intended to limit where mankind can live. Those laws were only ever for Hebrews, living under God's rule specifically in Israel. And the Hebrews were all supposed to live THERE, forever (unless they broke the laws and were scattered with the destruction of Israel), so Hebrews were never supposed to be living in places where they couldn't keep the Sabbath.
The Law of Moses never, ever, at any time before or after Jesus, applied to anybody but people living in Israel. That's it. That's all.
The OT covenant at Sinai wasn't WITH us. It was with those Hebrews.
He does not.
Sabbath, as defined in Scripture, begins at sundown, and ends at the next sundown. That is Sabbath. That is God's Word.
Men have provided a way for Jews to keep Sabbath, by choosing arbitrary times and keeping track.
Given that Jews were all supposed to be living in Israel anyway, were God's law followed meticulously, the situation could never arise, because no Jews should ever be living anywhere but in the land allotted to them, which is Israel. There never should be a Jew in the Arctic having to figure out Sabbath rules where there are days and nights that are 4 months long.
There is only one set of laws. Not from Moses or from
Jesus, but from God himself.
And then, at the Last Supper, Jesus authorized the eating of blood: HIS.
Let's check what you said here.
The laws are only for Israel when in the land. Yes and no.
Some are, most aren't. Most are how to live and serve
God and deal with your neighbors, which apply everywhere.
The laws apply to anyone wishing to serve God, wherever
they may be. Even during the Babylonian exile or the great
dispersion which has not ended yet.
What do you think cannot be done to observe the Sabbath
outside of Israel? It is a day of rest, a break from the daily
life in order to slow down and listen to God.
There was a mixed multitude at Sinai, accepting for all of
the nations. If not, that leaves a problem for non-Israeli
Christians. There are no gentile covenants. If you aren't
part of Israel, you have nothing. This includes the new
covenant, which Moses describes in Jeremiah 31:31.
Their only hope is in Isaiah 56:6-8
6 Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the LORD,
to serve him, and to love the name of the LORD, to be his servants,
every one that keepeth the sabbath from polluting it, and taketh hold
of my covenant;
7 Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful
in my house of prayer: their burnt offerings and their sacrifices shall
be accepted upon mine altar; for mine house shall be called an house
of prayer for all people.
8 The Lord GOD which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, Yet will
I gather others to him, beside those that are gathered unto him.
Notice 2 requirements. Keep the Sabbath, make burnt offerings, which
most Christians think are gone forever.
Common mistake.
Go read what Jesus said again.
This never happened, and NO ONE in the BIBLE ever thought so, nor said so.
Mixed up ?
Yes.
Why ?
men screwed up.
What did Jesus say ?
He said "My Words are Spirit, and they are LIFE" (Jesus could NEVER SIN, NEVER eat blood, NEVER SAY to eat(physical) blood. NEVER SAID TO.)
Glad we got that cleared up.
The other mistakes , maybe later.
Well said. I am not an argumentative person at heart, and have no reason to argue with it. You obviously believe that, as a Christian, you are an Israelite, under the Sinai Covenant, and bound by those laws. I obviously don't believe that. We have our reasons. It does not offend me that you believe this, and I wish you the best of luck in doing so.
For my part, I know that those laws, of Israel, do not apply to me as law because they say right on their face the group to whom they apply, and I'm not among them. I also recognize that God was getting at something under that law. Jesus explained that the summary of that law was "Love your neighbor as yourself, and love God above all". When I read the Hebrew Law in that light, things like those you mentioned come forward: the purpose of the sabbaths - to give rest to man, animal and the land. But if those things are actually binding LAW for Christians, then no Christian should ever work in the financial industry, nor ever invest in bonds or put money in the bank - for the charging of interest on loans is sin. And of course Christians and Jews should be univocally calling for the complete wiping out of all debt - private and public - every seven years, and the freeing of all prisoners every 50 years. Debt cancellation, and the freedom of people from all debt obligations to one another, and from criminal liability also - the wiping clean of the slate in the Jubilee - is absolutely central and fundamental to God's law of Israel. IT, in particular, is something that God speaks of being violated again and again through the prophets. God never mentions the trimming of beards things again. What he harangues the Hebrews for through the prophets are three things: The charging of interest on debts and the failure to wipe out debts without further consequences every seven years, the failure to keep the sabbaths, and the failure (of the Northern Kingdom) to limit their religious services exclusively to the hands of the Levitical priests, and the insistence of the Northern Kingdom of local sacrifices.
I have seen Christians criticize, even berate other Christians for not following the food laws, or for not keeping the Sabbaths, "because the Law..." I have never heard of a Christian movement, made of these Christians, insisting that mortgages be cancelled after 6 years, and all interest-bearing debt as an abomination to God. The Torah is chock full of the categorical, absolute prohibition on the charging or payment of interest on money that is lent between believers. To foreigners, yes. A Christian nation, if that really is the law, must issue Treasury Bonds at zero percent interest. Christians cannot invest their money at interest, but must instead loan it to poor people who ask, at zero percent interest, and they have to forgive the balance that is not paid back after seven years.
No Christian can take another Christian to court for failure to pay an interest debt - because the charging of interest is an abomination.
If the law is applied as read, that is what it says. I have never heard a single Christian who is willing to uphold the Sabbath and dietary system willing to uphold the extensive, mandatory financial and criminal justice system that God imposed on Israel also. Law is law, after all.
Now, for me, this is not a LEGAL problem, because it is clear to me from the very face of the written document that the Law of Moses, in its entirety, are merely articles of covenant in a contract between the Hebrews at Sinai and their circumcised lineal descendants, and YHWH. It is clear as a matter of law, as written, that that Law never was law for me, either before Sinai, or after Sinai, irrespective of whether Christ ever existed.
Just because the Law of Sinai is not LAW does not mean that it should not be taken very seriously. After all, God only set up one state in all of history that he ruled directly. He intended it for it to be successful and last forever. I think that those laws God imposed - for he did not leave the Hebrews with ANY legislature, so ALL of the law and regulation came from the mouth of God alone - were to make Israel ideal, and if followed, would have made Israel stand above all other nations, a model forever. So certainly I think that IF a state were really governed that way, it would end up being best (and probably favored by God).
BUT we are not held to that standard by God. For God only promised the circumcised lineal descendants of the Hebrews at Sinai that he would PROTECT their state under those laws. Only to them did he give the Urim and Thummim by which they could ALWAYS directly consult God for an answer to any hard judgment facing them.
Even if we follow all the laws by imitation, we do not, thereby, gain the guarantee of protection. Nor do we gaing the certitude of judgment, because we have not been given the Urim and Thummim.
God imposed a year-long agricultural sabbath every seven years. Which meant that after harvest in the sixth year, there would be no planting again until the eighth year. For two full years the Israelites would have to live off stores and gleanings. And in the Jubilee year, the fiftieth year, a SECOND consecutive Sabbath of the land commenced, so the Hebrews had to live for three years, from the end of harvest in the 48th year until the harvest in the 51st year, before planting anything. They had to live off stores and whatever God gave them naturally in the land.
They relied on God to always provide bountiful crops every six years, and especially bountiful ones in the 48th year (for the 49th year was a sabbatical year, and the 50th was the second sabbath, of the Jubilee. God promised them that, if they followed the law, he would never send a famine or a crop failure in those years, and that he would always provide bounty in the 51st year. Always. God promised that the weather would be grand every 7 years, and every 48 and 51 years.
God never promised us that. Even if we follow all of the Laws of Torah, we are not Hebrews under the promise, and we cannot rely on God to provide us enough food for us to grow and harvest NOTHING every 7 years, and to grow and harvest nothing in the 49th or 50th year. God did not promise that, and there is no reason at all to believe that if the Swedes went and did that, that God would be BOUND to provide them the miracle of guaranteed good weather and bumper crops every 7 years.
In fact, Jesus warned us not to put God to the test. The Gospel of Jesus and the promises of the New Covenant simply are not of this world. The Torah is very much of this world. It never even HINTS at life after death, judgment, the City of God and the Lake of Fire. None of that. It is about material prosperity and happiness in a specific exemplary state in this life, thanks to obedience to God, for a people selected by God to exhibit that. The Gospel, by contrast, promises material hardship and suffering in this life, with the greatest rewards in the next life going to the penurious faithful. There is nothing in the Gospel about peoples and nations and governments. Just as the Torah is ENTIRELY earth focused, the goal of the Gospel is ENTIRELY afterlife focused. Jesus promises hardship in the world, and reward in the next. YHWH promises Hebrews, only, prosperity and peace and victory in this world, and he never mentions that there IS a next world.
So, should we try to bring about God's government for Israel - his economic, judicial and ritual worship system - all across the world?
That is what the Messianics and Judaizers are saying, though they don't seem to realize it. They are very impressed by all of that writing and "Law" of the Old Testament, and think that it must be applied to people today, that that's what God wants.
My problem with that whole line of thinking is that it is not true. God is always very clear about what he wants. He said what he wanted of Noah. He said what he wanted of Abraham and of Hagar also. He said what he wanted of Jacob. He said what he wanted of Moses and the Hebrews. And these were all different things, specific things. God gave Noah (and mankind) ALL animals to eat. He didn't promise they would be good for them, only that it was not a sin to eat them.
God did not make certain animals sinful for Abraham, Isaac and Jacob either. What did Abraham serve God and his angels? He served them meat and curds - meat and milk - an ABOMINATION under the Law of Moses! God and the angels ate the abomination. Was it abominable? NO! Because God hadn't made that law yet, and Abraham wasn't a Hebrew under that Law.
Jesus struck down the dietary laws for the New Covenant both when he lived, and when he lowered the sheet full of unclean animals to Peter before Peter went and baptized uncircumcised Gentile Romans - a warrior and his whole family (presumably including children). God told Peter to eat the unclean animals, and told him three times to not call unclean what God has made clean.
Now, I see Christians who really want to keep the Jewish law say that this had nothing to do with food. That is not true. It obviously has to do with food. It self-evidently, from the acts and the words, is all about God COMMANDING Peter to do what is forbidden under the Mosaic law, to eat "unclean" foods - foods that Jesus MADE clean - specifically to overtly demonstrate that he, as a Christian now, WAS NOT TO OBEY the old Mosaic Law wherever it departed from the Law of Jesus. And Peter was a Jew, so he WAS under the covenant.
So, when it comes down to it, the Law of Moses is not law at all, not for us. But it is still instructive. It still shows us how to bend our minds. And one of the most important things that it does is tell us how we should be spending our money, and how we should not be investing it.
Sins as a basis is what causes harm to another. It literally means to "miss the mark" . The cultural commands related to diet are addressed in the New Testament Passages, what matters is what happens on the inside of a person.
What is the biblical definition of sin?
Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. 1 John 3:4 KJV Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4 NKJV Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4 NIV
Excellent point, especially concerning so called doing away with law.
Of course, Hebrews 7:12 says the law was changed; and Hebrews 7:19 says that what the believer now has is better than the law.
All I am doing is pointing out the flaw in reasoning thus:
1. God is holy, righteous, and unchanging;
2. The Law of Moses comes from God;
3. Therefore the Law of Moses has to be eternal.
An interesting question. Of course Pork and Shrimp are Rabbinical laws. To most Christians, rabbinical laws cary about as much weight as the Pope does to Protestants.Why is it that many Christians only cry 'legalism' when their favorite
sin comes up? Murder, lying, theft, sodomy; very few have a problem
believing they are still sins. But bring up pork or shrimp, or keeping
the correct Sabbath day, and they are instantly offended.
Pardon me if I missed something, but my previous references to Hebrews 7.12 and Hebrews 7.19 do not seem to be addressed. In any case, my reading of Romans and Galatians is that I am under grace, not law.There's a lot of discussion going on in this thread. I see this topic of sin and the gospel of salvation in Christ is fundamental to the OP. So, please permit me to contribute this comment not only for OP but for general edification, as I will try to show how all of these views actually come together, and you should all be finding agreement with each other.
Sin and Salvation
1. The eternal law of God is His expectation of righteousness, that defines when and why we may be permitted to His support against the devil (Revelation 12:10, Revelation 12:12, Psalms 23:4). The eternal law of God is the criteria by which we are determined righteous in His view (Isaiah 54:17).
2. God tests the heart (Jeremiah 17:10), and in doing so, His judgment considers circumstances and knowledge to determine whether the accused is truly culpable for their error, or whether they may be permitted some excuse due to ignorance (Luke 12:47-48, Jonah 3:10, Jonah 4:11).
3. There is no perfect person who does not make mistakes, because we begin with zero knowledge and we inherit corruption from a fallen world. Sometimes these mistakes include a decision to willfully sin, so in other words, we are not entitled to a concession for ignorance. A person who does this is convicted by God in light of the truth (Ephesians 5:13), and they must choose to repent otherwise face the indignation of God (John 3:18-20).
4. The purpose of Jesus' atoning sacrifice is for those who are brought to a point of eternal judgment whereby they are aware that their sin is demanding their life (Romans 6:23). At such a time, the devil rises up to destroy them (John 10:10, 1 John 5:19), and they have no legal claim to God's protection because their sins testify against them. A Christian chooses to enter a covenant with God in Jesus' name, becoming slaves belonging to Jesus Christ (John 15:15, John 10:29-30), because He has made a satisfactory payment to purchase them (1 Corinthians 6:20), and He pleads for us before God, seeing as we belong to Him and we live to serve Him (1 John 2:1).
5. A person who has entered this covenant with God is not entitled to any more waiver of sin though (Hebrews 10:26-27), and must remain in union with Christ until death (John 6:54-56). Hebrews 10:26-31 states that this covenant requires perfect repentance for the rest of our life. Repentance in this sense means to live a faithful relationship with God so that whenever the accuser is right and God requires us to be sorry and make adjustments, we do so lest we lose our righteous standing in God's view and instead incur the curse of Hebrews 10:27 and Hebrews 6:4-6. This is the mechanism of salvation through Jesus Christ, the reason why St. Paul wrote Hebrews 10:14.
Becoming Holy
Because the Jews have been dispersed among the nations for almost 2,000 years, their culture persecuted and largely lost, and also many Gentiles are entering the covenant of salvation through Jesus, the present reality is that everyone who comes into this covenant begins from a position of varying degrees of ignorance to God's law. A person who is leaving their worldly life for a godly life cannot be expected to suddenly be holy, but rather it is a gradual process of observing God's instruction, being sensitive to His judgments, learning to become the person that He really wants us to be. The instant change that we receive upon salvation is a new heart and mind, but we don't suddenly have a perfect personality, belief system or reputation. Those things take time to develop. (Ponder Psalms 119). However, because we are resolved to please Him in all matters, He accepts us and that makes us perfect for His purposes as we represent Him, because He is always able to correct us. Even if we should stumble and bring reproach upon Him, because we are willing to repent, He is able to use our humbleness to transform that reproach to His own glory. We are perfect for His purposes because we are being made holy (not because we are self-righteous).
Law vs. Faith
The ultimate goal is the same for those who follow law and those who live by faith: that we want to be found innocent of the transgression of God's law and acceptable in His sight.
Only, the real effect of living according to the prescribed letter of the law, is that we are always observing it in order to avoid being convicted. Whereas living by faith means that every law we learn to be true has been learned through divine instruction from God Himself (John 8:31-32, Jeremiah 31:33). We do not live to please our fellow man, but we live to please God (Matthew 6:1-2, Galatians 1:10). Because of this arrangement, (being accountable to the one who is perfect), when He prescribes to us the details of His law, then we are able to live that way willingly because He also teaches us that by doing so, it releases us from the bondage to sin and fully liberates us from the power that sin has! (1 Corinthians 15:55). This is why St. Paul emphasised Romans 14:4 all through his writing.
To live by faith is to exercise the law willingly, because we have learned that it truly liberates us to manifest the fruits of The Holy Spirit. This leads us to love God because He has granted us power over sin.
To live by law is to sacrifice our sin for fear of the consequences that the transgression would bring. This causes resentment because we are being deprived of our natural desires, and often our heart-felt understanding opposes the law because we chose to believe that the law is right before understanding why.
1 Corinthians 15:56-57
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
.. OP, I notice that this answers most of your opening question, but the other part of the question asks why some Christians get all self-righteous, contentious and condemn those who don't behave the way they do on some particular issues. This probably mostly is due to having not received an accurate knowledge of the truth and therefore not living the Christian way, because certainly you seem to be describing fruits of the flesh.
An interesting question. Of course Pork and Shrimp are Rabbinical laws. To most Christians, rabbinical laws cary about as much weight as the Pope does to Protestants.
My question is, why do people focus on all these individual sins? There are no varying degrees of sin to God. God objects to disobedience in any form. God understands, and we need to also, the same force that drives a person to lie is the same force that drives another to murder. It's this force called the sin nature that will do us all in. Unless of course we accept God's plan to survive this fate, which is understanding God's realm is perfect, if he allows any of us in, that would corrupt that perfection. Jesus makes us perfect.
If we can begin to see this, we could make real progress. If we all understood that we cannot complain about the sins of others, as if they are worse than ours than ours, we could ease many of our societal problems.
Great post, the only thing I want to point out is if we are being lead by the spirit, it cannot be in opposition to the law because the law is spirit, we must test all things to the Word.There's a lot of discussion going on in this thread. I see this topic of sin and the gospel of salvation in Christ is fundamental to the OP. So, please permit me to contribute this comment not only for OP but for general edification, as I will try to show how all of these views actually come together, and you should all be finding agreement with each other.
Sin and Salvation
1. The eternal law of God is His expectation of righteousness, that defines when and why we may be permitted to His support against the devil (Revelation 12:10, Revelation 12:12, Psalms 23:4). The eternal law of God is the criteria by which we are determined righteous in His view (Isaiah 54:17).
2. God tests the heart (Jeremiah 17:10), and in doing so, His judgment considers circumstances and knowledge to determine whether the accused is truly culpable for their error, or whether they may be permitted some excuse due to ignorance (Luke 12:47-48, Jonah 3:10, Jonah 4:11).
3. There is no perfect person who does not make mistakes, because we begin with zero knowledge and we inherit corruption from a fallen world. Sometimes these mistakes include a decision to willfully sin, so in other words, we are not entitled to a concession for ignorance. A person who does this is convicted by God in light of the truth (Ephesians 5:13), and they must choose to repent otherwise face the indignation of God (John 3:18-20).
4. The purpose of Jesus' atoning sacrifice is for those who are brought to a point of eternal judgment whereby they are aware that their sin is demanding their life (Romans 6:23). At such a time, the devil rises up to destroy them (John 10:10, 1 John 5:19), and they have no legal claim to God's protection because their sins testify against them. A Christian chooses to enter a covenant with God in Jesus' name, becoming slaves belonging to Jesus Christ (John 15:15, John 10:29-30), because He has made a satisfactory payment to purchase them (1 Corinthians 6:20), and He pleads for us before God, seeing as we belong to Him and we live to serve Him (1 John 2:1).
5. A person who has entered this covenant with God is not entitled to any more waiver of sin though (Hebrews 10:26-27), and must remain in union with Christ until death (John 6:54-56). Hebrews 10:26-31 states that this covenant requires perfect repentance for the rest of our life. Repentance in this sense means to live a faithful relationship with God so that whenever the accuser is right and God requires us to be sorry and make adjustments, we do so lest we lose our righteous standing in God's view and instead incur the curse of Hebrews 10:27 and Hebrews 6:4-6. This is the mechanism of salvation through Jesus Christ, the reason why St. Paul wrote Hebrews 10:14.
Becoming Holy
Because the Jews have been dispersed among the nations for almost 2,000 years, their culture persecuted and largely lost, and also many Gentiles are entering the covenant of salvation through Jesus, the present reality is that everyone who comes into this covenant begins from a position of varying degrees of ignorance to God's law. A person who is leaving their worldly life for a godly life cannot be expected to suddenly be holy, but rather it is a gradual process of observing God's instruction, being sensitive to His judgments, learning to become the person that He really wants us to be. The instant change that we receive upon salvation is a new heart and mind, but we don't suddenly have a perfect personality, belief system or reputation. Those things take time to develop. (Ponder Psalms 119). However, because we are resolved to please Him in all matters, He accepts us and that makes us perfect for His purposes as we represent Him, because He is always able to correct us. Even if we should stumble and bring reproach upon Him, because we are willing to repent, He is able to use our humbleness to transform that reproach to His own glory. We are perfect for His purposes because we are being made holy (not because we are self-righteous).
Law vs. Faith
The ultimate goal is the same for those who follow law and those who live by faith: that we want to be found innocent of the transgression of God's law and acceptable in His sight.
Only, the real effect of living according to the prescribed letter of the law, is that we are always observing it in order to avoid being convicted. Whereas living by faith means that every law we learn to be true has been learned through divine instruction from God Himself (John 8:31-32, Jeremiah 31:33). We do not live to please our fellow man, but we live to please God (Matthew 6:1-2, Galatians 1:10). Because of this arrangement, (being accountable to the one who is perfect), when He prescribes to us the details of His law, then we are able to live that way willingly because He also teaches us that by doing so, it releases us from the bondage to sin and fully liberates us from the power that sin has! (1 Corinthians 15:55). This is why St. Paul emphasised Romans 14:4 all through his writing.
To live by faith is to exercise the law willingly, because we have learned that it truly liberates us to manifest the fruits of The Holy Spirit. This leads us to love God because He has granted us power over sin.
To live by law is to sacrifice our sin for fear of the consequences that the transgression would bring. This causes resentment because we are being deprived of our natural desires, and often our heart-felt understanding opposes the law because we chose to believe that the law is right before understanding why.
1 Corinthians 15:56-57
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
.. OP, I notice that this answers most of your opening question, but the other part of the question asks why some Christians get all self-righteous, contentious and condemn those who don't behave the way they do on some particular issues. This probably mostly is due to having not received an accurate knowledge of the truth and therefore not living the Christian way, because certainly you seem to be describing fruits of the flesh.
Pardon me if I missed something, but my previous references to Hebrews 7.12 and Hebrews 7.19 do not seem to be addressed. In any case, my reading of Romans and Galatians is that I am under grace, not law.
Not at all! I think that you have simply not expected my motive to be so innocentPardon me if I missed something, but my previous references to Hebrews 7.12 and Hebrews 7.19 do not seem to be addressed. In any case, my reading of Romans and Galatians is that I am under grace, not law.
It probably wasn't addressed because there is a very thin line of understanding the difference between a "legalist" who follows God''s law looking to vindicate himself and his salvation, and someone who does it out of obedience without expecting salvation as a reward for that obedience.
Only, the real effect of living according to the prescribed letter of the law, is that we are always observing it in order to avoid being convicted. Whereas living by faith means that every law we learn to be true has been learned through divine instruction from God Himself (John 8:31-32, Jeremiah 31:33). We do not live to please our fellow man, but we live to please God (Matthew 6:1-2, Galatians 1:10). Because of this arrangement, (being accountable to the one who is perfect), when He prescribes to us the details of His law, then we are able to live that way willingly because He also teaches us that by doing so, it releases us from the bondage to sin and fully liberates us from the power that sin has! (1 Corinthians 15:55). This is why St. Paul emphasised Romans 14:4 all through his writing.
To live by faith is to exercise the law willingly, because we have learned that it truly liberates us to manifest the fruits of The Holy Spirit. This leads us to love God because He has granted us power over sin.
To live by law is to sacrifice our sin for fear of the consequences that the transgression would bring. This causes resentment because we are being deprived of our natural desires, and often our heart-felt understanding opposes the law because we chose to believe that the law is right before understanding why.
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