Is the law a blessing or a curse?

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Dino246

Senior Member
Jun 30, 2015
25,369
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#21
WoW! I have never heard any other Christian saying that scripture is not scripture
And you still haven't because that is not what he said.

but it is up to us to determine what is to be believed and what is not to be believed, based on that Paul sometimes wrote something that wasn't given him by the lord.
It's called interpretation. Understanding context, genre, and authorial intent are all necessary to arrive at a sound interpretation.
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,412
6,698
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#22
Perhaps Ps. 119 will help understand.

Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet
Psa 119:1 ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the LORD.
Psa 119:2 Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
Psa 119:3 They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways.
Psa 119:4 Thou hast commanded us to keep thy precepts diligently.
Psa 119:5 O that my ways were directed to keep thy statutes!
Psa 119:6 Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.
Psa 119:7 I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned thy righteous judgments.
Psa 119:8 I will keep thy statutes: O forsake me not utterly.
Psa 119:9 BETH. Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Psa 119:10 With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.
Psa 119:11 Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.
Psa 119:12 Blessed art thou, O LORD: teach me thy statutes.
Psa 119:13 With my lips have I declared all the judgments of thy mouth.
Psa 119:14 I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.
Psa 119:15 I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.
Psa 119:16 I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.
Psa 119:17 GIMEL. Deal bountifully with thy servant, that I may live, and keep thy word.
Psa 119:18 Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
Psa 119:19 I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me.
Psa 119:20 My soul breaketh for the longing that it hath unto thy judgments at all times.
Psa 119:21 Thou hast rebuked the proud that are cursed, which do err from thy commandments.
Psa 119:22 Remove from me reproach and contempt; for I have kept thy testimonies.
Psa 119:23 Princes also did sit and speak against me: but thy servant did meditate in thy statutes.
Psa 119:24 Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.
Psa 119:25 DALETH. My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.
Psa 119:26 I have declared my ways, and thou heardest me: teach me thy statutes.
Psa 119:27 Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works.
Psa 119:28 My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.
Psa 119:29 Remove from me the way of lying: and grant me thy law graciously.
Psa 119:30 I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments have I laid before me.
Psa 119:31 I have stuck unto thy testimonies: O LORD, put me not to shame.
Psa 119:32 I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.
Psa 119:33 HE. Teach me, O LORD, the way of thy statutes; and I shall keep it unto the end.
Psa 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Psa 119:35 Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.
Psa 119:36 Incline my heart unto thy testimonies, and not to covetousness.
Psa 119:37 Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity; and quicken thou me in thy way.
Psa 119:38 Stablish thy word unto thy servant, who is devoted to thy fear.
Psa 119:39 Turn away my reproach which I fear: for thy judgments are good.
Psa 119:40 Behold, I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy righteousness.
Psa 119:41 VAU. Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.
Psa 119:42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word.
Psa 119:43 And take not the word of truth utterly out of my mouth; for I have hoped in thy judgments.
Psa 119:44 So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever.
Psa 119:45 And I will walk at liberty: for I seek thy precepts.
Psa 119:46 I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.
Psa 119:47 And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.
Psa 119:48 My hands also will I lift up unto thy commandments, which I have loved; and I will meditate in thy statutes.
Psa 119:49 ZAIN. Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.
Psa 119:50 This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me.
Psa 119:51 The proud have had me greatly in derision: yet have I not declined from thy law.
Psa 119:52 I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself.
Psa 119:53 Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law.
Psa 119:54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.
 

JaumeJ

Senior Member
Jul 2, 2011
21,412
6,698
113
#23
Please go to the Word for the rest of the Psalm if you are so inclined.
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,995
1,264
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#27
David was blessed, Solomon was blessed, Moses was blessed, Israel was blessed.
Again: Yet the law worketh wrath and is a curse that entangles with the yoke of bondage according to Paul. Is he wrong?
 
Aug 14, 2019
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#28
I think Simeon summed up this phenomenon concerning the Law.

Luke 2
Then Simeon[i] blessed them and said to his mother Mary, “This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be opposed
 
Jan 25, 2015
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#30
Again: Yet the law worketh wrath and is a curse that entangles with the yoke of bondage according to Paul. Is he wrong?
Jesus said He did not come to destroy the law... maybe He was wrong :)
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,995
1,264
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#32
Jesus said He did not come to destroy the law... maybe He was wrong :)
lol...he brought a new law and a new covenant. It's true he came not to destroy anything but the new did replace the old and the old rotted away:

Heb_8:13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
 
Jan 25, 2015
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#33
The law is not a rod to hit each other with. The law is a revelation of God's character for us to worship Him.
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,995
1,264
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#34
The law is not a rod to hit each other with. The law is a revelation of God's character for us to worship Him.
Scripture tells us that the first law was flawed and was replaced by a better law built upon better promises.
 
Jan 25, 2015
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#35
Scripture tells us that the first law was flawed and was replaced by a better law built upon better promises.
David said the law is perfect and he oved the law. He also said to consider the law day and night (meditate on it). Don't you think it is our understanding that is flawed and not the law?
 

Tararose

Well-known member
Sep 30, 2020
753
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Uk
www.101christiansocialnetwork.com
#36
Godly people from the Old Testament has NO alternative to the law. Nothing beyond it. Nothing greater. When they wrote what they wrote about how glorious the law was, indeed they were right. For they had not been given the gift of clinging to Christ and allowing God to work in them to will and to do His good pleasure.

The law kept them restrained from their sinful desires. The punishments for disobeying restricted them.
They were like children needing supervision and boundaries because they were not born again.

They were given a shadow.... that is all. And it was glorious. It was perfect. It was the best. It restrained people from sin.

Like a very protective nanny making sure the kids are restrained so they don’t hurt themselves or others despite what they may wish to do. The parents know the kids are safe with the nanny, but that stage cannot last forever.

Just because the Nanny was good, doesn’t mean she has to live with you your entire life.

The maker of the law lives in us as believers, His love is the motivator now, and His principles live in you. We do not require the rudimentary rules and regulations of the law to prevent us from fulfilling the lists of the flesh. We instead die to ourselves and let Christ live.

You don’t need to keep looking for His shadow to follow Him. He is the way and He is within you.

The law was like a towering wall keeping people on the path that led into the kingdom at a time when they continually seemed to do all they could to get off that path time and time again. It was necessary and a blessing.

But now the kingdom is within us and so is the way. Whole different ball game.

You don’t need a nanny Now to keep reminding you what is naughty and what is good. You have been born again and have Christ leading and guiding you Himself.

You have the freedom to say, hmm someone’s life is at stake here, I will lie to protect them from wrongful slaughter - yep you just deliberately broke the law of Moses, so that you could put your life on the line and observe the law of Christ. Good for you!

The law of Moses was given to the unrighteous, a people who were not born again. The messiah hadn’t come yet, no new covenant was available, God was not writing anything on their hearts... it was there in stone because It had to be.

They had no Christ to be their righteousness for them and to dwell in them and to change them from one degree of glory to another, conforming them to the image of Christ.

God was not working in them to will and to do His good pleasure. They couldn’t say the one who began a good work in them would complete it. They needed a restrainer. They needed the fear of the Lord to keep them in check.

But now we can say perfect love casts out all fear. We can say it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

The quotes from the ot are not contradictory or wrong. They are contextually spot on. So are all the quotes about us not being under law etc.

You don’t say that the book of world records from 1988 is wrong because it states someone was the best at doing something, just because today someone does it better. It was true and remains true for the time it was written in. Just as it is true someone does it better today.

Common sense must prevail. The scriptures live in harmony with one another! Let’s not battle one against the other please. Christ is the word of God made flesh. It is a precious thing and we should use it correctly and handle it with great care.

Job was speaking about how he felt. It was an accurate and true account. And God rebuked him for it. Also an accurate and true account. In this sense it remains scripture and it remains true.

Records in the bible of peoples sins are still truth, they aren’t examples to follow but they are true records.

Context and common sense are gifts some seem to lack. Let’s not beat them up for it. Accept the one who is weaker in faith but let’s not engage in doubtful disputes and endless debates.

If one wants to keep Those towering walls up to make sure they stay in the way, that is up to them. If they cannot Comprehend that it is God who will keep them in the way yet, then let them have their walls. It’s ok. It really is. Let it be.
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,995
1,264
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#37
David said the law is perfect and he oved the law. He also said to consider the law day and night (meditate on it). Don't you think it is our understanding that is flawed and not the law?
Paul doesn't agree with you. Who is right?
 

ewq1938

Well-known member
Oct 18, 2018
4,995
1,264
113
#39
It is a blessing for the unrighteousness, it keeps them restrained. And they need restraining. They are not born again.
The law is not a blessing to the unrighteous and not a blessing to the righteous. Let it rot and be replaced by the better promises of the new law.