1. You CANT keep the law. If you think you can. You are in trouble
2. The law was not given to show you HOW to be righteous. It was given to show you how UNRIGHTEOUS you really are. (If you think you are keeping the law. then the law is not doing what it is supposed to do in your life. at this point, I would question if the law has led you to christ at all)
3. Keep Gods commands.. A person who is doing what I suggested will by practice keep his commands. A non believer can follow the law and keep Gods commands. Yet they are still in sin.. So trying to keep the law. as the pharisees did. and teaching others to do the same is religion. Not christian growth or the gospel.
4. Salvation is By grace. As paul said numerous times, If it is of grace, it is not of works. otherwise grace is no longer grace. If we have to do something to EARN salvation,. or to keep from losing salvation. we are trying to earn a reward. not a gift. and we BOAST of our salvation just as many people are doing here.
5. Earning rewards and blessing here on earth, That is of works. And what you posted about the requirements, this is about sanctification. Not justification/salvation.
To many people mix sanctification with salvation. These people are trusting in self. Not God and do not understand what being justified by Grace through faith is.
Paul made it clear. It is NOT by any work of righteousness (good deed) we have done. but it is by GODS mercy he saved us.
If your gonna add works to earning eternal life. You are preaching a different gospel. plain and simple
1. It is not about "keeping" the law how we view the word today. Although we all fall short, its about guarding it, protecting it and doing our best to follow it..... definitely not disregarding it and teaching others to do the same. (Mat 5:19 again)
2. How do you define righteousness? Is it not righteous to follow gods instructions... aka follow law?
3. A non-believer can not follow the law. That is the whole point of us needing The Messiah. The Pharisees were not following the law. either. Some may have been trying, but they ended up taking away and adding to it.... Like washing your hands before you eat. Again, we needed the Messiah to show us how we are REALLY supposed to keep law.
4. I agree... The question is what did this grace provide? 1. It provided freedom from the penalties for sin (breaking the law) under the first covenant... E.G. animal sacrifice, stoning. 2. It provided a role model for us to learn how to follow God's instructions (law) how they were meant to be followed.... these two things gave us a second chance at life.
5. We follow the law because we respect, honor and love our creator and believe he knows what's best, not because we want to get something out of it. Our hearts being in the right place prevents us from going astray from the law like the Pharisees. Regardless of our reasons though, the Father still makes it clear that there have been and still are benefits for doing what He says and consequences for not.
What you said Paul made clear is about "grace"... Yes, when we do receive grace it is free. We don't deserve it and its nothing that we did to get it. However grace does not apply to all of the blessings we receive from the Father. There are still conditional benefits and consequences.