Lie # 30 “God gave the Law to Moses to fix our sinfulness.”
No because the law arouses sin rather than fixes it. One main purpose of the Law was to reveal mankind’s sin nature which came from Adam. External rules or guilt or condemnation can only show that deeper problem but can’t fix it. Only by being reborn of God by grace through faith, which automatically provides a new nature in Christ, can we be “fixed” – from the inside out. It makes right believing and true living possible (see John 3:3). See Chapter Eight in the Elephant book for a full explanation of God’s purpose for the Mosaic Law.
Lie # 31 “Believers must balance grace with the Mosaic law.”
The Mosaic Law was given only to the Jews and is now obsolete for them since the Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. It was never given to the Gentiles by God. Mixing or “balancing” the two opposing covenants of Law and Grace is the heresy of Galatianism – which became entrenched in the early Jerusalem church. But in the New Covenant, there is now “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus” – the higher law of faith, love and liberty – which is the means of radical, grace-based living for everyone born again by faith alone. (See Romans 8:1-2.) You can find much more about that, in Chapter Four and Chapter Nineteen and in Endnote # 13 of the Elephant book.
Coming Next Week: Lies # 32 and #33 that often confuse many Christians. REMEMBER: Wrong believing which leads to wrong living. Conversely, right believing leads to right and prosperous living in Christ. Contact me (below) with any comments or questions about the content of this Blog. Lenny
We know from scripture that Jesus was crucified, died and was buried, then He arose from the grave and later, ascended to heaven to sit at the right hand of Father-God.
We now also know, through the Fifth Gospel that Jesus revealed directly to Paul, that the same process happens spiritually, by grace through faith, to every in Adam person who becomes ”saved” by being reborn of God through agreeing with Romans 10:9-13.
By doing so, one’s core being – the spirit-self that is dead to God in Adam – is made alive as a New creation, who never existed before, and is now spiritually compatible –“one spirit” with God in Christ. Paul referred to this transformation happening in one’s “inner man.”