You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
RE: Hello again my steemians brothers, and welcome to Bible Q&A number one.
In Galatians 3:19-25 Paul talks about the purpose of the law. He says it was given to take us to Christ, and in Galatians 2:16 He says nobody can be justified nor fulfill the law.
God demands perfection Mateo 5:48, if we sin only once (I am sure we sin a lot more) we deserve hell, no matter how good we become to the eyes of people. James 2:10
Yes, the Law of Moses is a schoolteacher leading Jews to Christ. Here's how (3 examples only):
The sacrifices were done annually so they were reminded of these things annually. They point to the Christ who would be sacrificed one time only because after that he would send the Holy Spirit which would teach them every day. No more sacrifices needed.
God instituted the sacrifices to draw Jews away from the daily responsibilities of life so they could get this annual sermon given in the form of a play, so to speak, and be drawn to God. Jesus said if he be lifted up he would draw all men unto himself, which leads people to God, and that wasn't just for Jews, that was for all men.
The sacrifices taught people that they were sinners. Paul said it a little differently: "We are all concluded under sin." That doesn't mean the purpose of the Law was to tell everyone they aren't good enough for God, that meant the purpose of the Law was teach Jews that they too were sinners, just like the Gentiles. If anything it was to make the Jew aware that he was a sinner, but they mixed the message up and got to thinking only Gentiles were sinners.
Jesus made the point the one who was justified was the one who knew he was a sinner and asked for forgiveness, not the one who stood smugly by and said "I'm glad I'm not like that sinner." Jesus' point was that they were JUST LIKE that sinner but because they thought their (uniquely Jewish) works of the Law justified them they weren't justified. The Jews didn't think or know they were sinners who needed to come before God in repentance so they weren't getting forgiven. They thought performing the sacrifices (and circumcise, observe the Sabbath, tithe, and everything else that only Jews did) was all they needed to do to be justified in the eyes of God. Paul's point in saying they weren't justified by the (Jewish Law) was that following the (Jewish) Law wasn't good enough.
What WAS good enough, was following the moral Law of God, something the religious Jew FAILED TO DO, but heathen, according to Paul in Rom. 2:26, actually DID obey the moral Law of God - and they were JUSTIFIED! And then, to really mess with the religious Jewish mind, Paul told them that Gentiles don't have to obey the Jewish Law (that issue had already been settled in Acts 15 long before Paul wrote Romans) but could be justified by FAITH in Christ - but please keep in mind - justification does not mean "declared innocent even though guilty," justification is a process, elsewhere called sanctification, of become a truly righteous person who actually lives according to the Royal Law, James calls it, which is "Love your neighbor as yourself."
You said, "Galatians 2:16 He says nobody can be justified nor fulfill the law." That's NOT what he's saying. He's saying nobody can be justified by the JEWISH works of the Law. Jesus said that if you love God and love your neighbor you will inherit eternal life. In order to inherit eternal life you have to be justified. So loving your neighbor is what justifies you. How? Because in order to be declared to be justified you actually BE justified. You can't be declared to be justified if you're not actually walking as a righteous person doing what you're supposed to be doing: loving your neighbor!
God does not demand perfection. Nothing in the bible says that. God commands maturity. Keep growing into the likeness of Christ. THAT'S what Mat. 5:48 says. "Perfect" is a poor translation. God doesn't demand perfection, he expects maturity. So much so that if you're immature you don't qualify to be an elder in the church and be an example to others because an immature person is not a good example.
When James said if any man keep the Law and offend in one point he is guilty of all does not mean if we sin even one sin we deserve hell. The bible never said that. Sin in and of itself does not damn a person to hell. Being a wicked person, like a murderer or rapist, will damn you to hell, but just being a normal human being, being what God made us all to be - sinners - doesn't damn us to hell. Whoever told you that is lying to you. Don't listen to him.
Wow I didn't realize I just wrote a book. Thanks for hangin' in there with me :) Hope I'm making sense out of at least some of this.
Hello, thanks for replying, it is a great explanation really, but there are still some points I don't understand.
You said we don't need perfection, How good should we have to be to gain heaven then? When do we know we reach that point? If you have to believe in God and love our neighbor to be saved, Why did Jesus came for? We don't need Jesus to believe in God and love others, do we ?
How good do we have to be? We have to be good enough to not be considered wicked. Or as Jesus put it to the one asking how to inherit, eternal life: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
The apostle John helps us out with a profile of the wicked:
“Whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.” (1 Jn. 2:11)
“Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.” (1 Jn. 3:10)
“Anyone who does not love remains in death.” (1 Jn. 3:14)
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 Jn. 4:8)
“Do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.” (3 Jn. 1:11)
It’s really simple. An evil person is one who does evil. A righteous person is one who lives righteously. “Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous.” (1 Jn. 3:7)
We don't have to have Jesus to love God and neighbor, but some people need to repent of their wickedness and Jesus can draw them to that point and assist them, and help perfect them afterwords. For those of us who are not wicked Jesus died for all of us to help us gain access to God and His kingdom which is where to find divine assistance to be transformed into the image of Christ. Everyone needs to be transformed into the image of Christ, so in that sense everyone needs Jesus, and Jesus died for them too. As Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto me."