Take heart, brother, Jesus himself was at his wits' end trying to get through to the righteous ones who were supremely confident they knew the scriptures (of the letter but lacking the spirit). It's so ironic so many never get that difference, even with all the emphasis in the Gospels. A stultified, wooden reading that leads to death, rather than a dynamic, fluid reading to life.
I pray you help us all overcome the hypocrisy that so easily creeps in and puffs us up.
Wow! . . .Physician heal thyself!
First of all, there is no such thing as the "letter of the Scriptures" and the "spirit of the Scriptures" in the Bible (
2 Corinthians 3:6).
There is only "the letter" (the written code of the
Law) and "the Spirit" (the Holy Spirit of the Law).
It has nothing to do with an outward (by the letter) vs. an inward (by the spirit) obedience, nor a counterfeit vs. a genuine obedience, nor
hypocrisy vs. righteousness.
The letter (law) kills because it curses all those who rely on it (
Galatians 3:10), because it must be kept perfectly to make one righteous before God, which no one can do, so it condemns every one to death; i.e.,
it kills.
That's life under the Old Covenant:
righteousness by works, which is impossible = judgment/condemnation.
Under the New Covenant, we are not made righteous by law-keeping, but by the new birth of the Holy Spirit, where through faith in the person and work of Jesus Christ, we are justified--
declared "not guilty" by God, made right with his justice, reconciled to him, and
Jesus' righteousness is reckoned,
accounted,
imputed to us, just as God's righteousness (
Romans 1:17;
Romans 3:21) was credited to Abraham because of faith (
Genesis 15:6;
Romans 4:3,
Romans 4:5).
That's life under the New Covenant:
righteousness by faith in Jesus Christ = salvation, justification.
The "letter" vs. the "spirit" has nothing to do with counterfeit vs. genuine anything, nor with hypocrisy vs. sincerity in anything. That is a doctrine of self-righteous man.
