tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29606082.post5373893486710120604..comments2023-10-03T06:25:41.357-05:00Comments on Grace Roots Blog: God's Law vs. ChristJoel Bruesekehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10395847887953875757noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29606082.post-80878597097664437562013-04-12T10:59:05.769-05:002013-04-12T10:59:05.769-05:00Gary, yep I think it's a new and different kin...Gary, yep I think it's a new and different kind of "law" that we are alive to now. The <i>legal</i> commandments are not alive and can't give life, and can't cause a person to love, but the "law of love" that is alive in us is indeed what flows out. It's different than a legal commandment, in a similar (but not exact) way in which the "law of gravity" isn't a legal commandment, but rather is simply a force that is naturally manifested.<br /><br />I've written about the "legal" commandments several times, such as a series I did called <a href="http://blog.graceroots.org/2007/07/that-love-thy-neighbor-thing-part-1.html" rel="nofollow">That 'Love Thy Neighbor' Thing...</a><br /><br />In short, I pointed out how the "top two" commandments - "You shall love the Lord your God with <b>all</b> your heart, with <b>all</b> your soul, and with <b>all</b> your strength" (Deut 6:5) and "You shall love your neighbor <b>as yourself</b>" (Lev 19:18) - are <i>impossible</i> to follow, and are the most legalistic statements in the Bible. :)<br /><br />But Jesus gave a new command that wasn't based upon law, but was based upon His own love for His disciples. "As I have loved you, so you love one another." I think John remembered this as he wrote years later, "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." 1 John 4:10-11<br /><br />So yeah, all that to say that I don't believe it's legal commandments that are written on our hearts, but rather this new "law of love."Joel Bruesekehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10395847887953875757noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29606082.post-62752603742895493612013-04-12T09:58:47.397-05:002013-04-12T09:58:47.397-05:00Christ spoke of "new commandments", whic...Christ spoke of "new commandments", which are, distilled down, "love God and love others". Do you think those are living laws in that they are brought about by being "alive to God in Christ"? The bible spoke of laws that are written on our hearts, maybe the two I mentioned are those. So, while we are dead to the OT law aren't we alive to a different law, love itself? Not disagreeing with you, just pondering.Gary Kirkhamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12870342469118915243noreply@blogger.com