say i covet something. i can, by my willpower, forcibly modify my behaviour so i do not steal it.
but in my heart, i steal it, and covet it. modifying my behaviour has no value to stopping what's in the heart.
say i lust after someone. i can, by the effort of my will, impose modification of my behaviour upon myself so that i do not follow through with desire. but in my heart, i'm still an adulterer already. keeping my flesh from carrying out its lusts doesn't have any value to remove that lust that was already present.
so what i'm asking is, does it make sense that modified outward behaviour is the fulfillment of the law in His righteous ones? is that the sum total of it?
in the context of the sabbaths. are they just about modifying outward behaviour on certain days or is there an actual deep meaning to them that is spiritual, not merely concerned with fleshly inaction?
As the Lord describes them through Ezekiel: a sign, signifying that God is He who sanctifies. take what Christ said about the one who hates his brother, is a murderer in his heart, and apply it here -- what do i get?
this is related to - which maybe needs its own thread, IMO - what does it mean for God's law to be written in a heart, instead of engraved on stones and transcribed on scrolls?
what are we talking about when we quote Jeremiah 31 there? put in our mind and written on our hearts - what? the Torah is now memorized so you don't have to read it? is that all? is that what put in our minds' means? what does written on our hearts actually mean? we willingly embrace it instead of .. instead of what, being skeptical about whether to believe that's what it actually says?
why do people quote the law at each other if it's already memorized and embraced/accepted in the heart of the one it's being 'quoted at' ? is that contradictory?
but it's more than 'memorized' or 'accepted' ain't it? because you know, there is no more blood sacrifice. and the reason isn't, because you've memorized the laws concerning sacrifices. and you know, accepting physical circumcision can mean spitting on Christ. but physical circumcision is clearly written in the law. and you'll say, sacrifices are done away with by the Lamb of God given -- and physical circumcision is supplanted by the circumcision of the heart, done without hands. so this isn't 'circumcision and sacrifices are memorized and accepted' -- this is, those physical things in the law of Moses are transformed and fulfilled in a new way spiritually when they are found in the law of Christ. are they not?
what does this mean about clothes of mixed fabric?
what does this mean about trimming your beard?
what does this mean about sabbaths?
what does this mean about free-will & thanks offerings? shewbread?
what are the spiritual realities of those shadows?
