justbyfaith
Well-Known Member
Jesus taught us that love is the fulfilling of the law...
In this, if I love my neighbor as myself, I am not going to break any of the commandments that teach me on how I am to treat my neighbor.
If I love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, I am not going to violate any of the commandments that pertain to my relationship with the Lord.
By the law is the knowledge of sin. That means that it gauges whether I am truly loving other people the way I am supposed to, or not.
It also defines for me the answer to the question, What is sin? The apostle John's reply, Sin is the transgression of the law, 1 John 3:4.
Therefore, when in 1 Corinthians 15:34 God says to me through Paul, Awake to righteousness, and sin not, I consider that He is telling me not to violate the law of the Lord.
Of course, the only way anyone can succeed at doing this is to have Christ dwelling in the heart. It is the love of Christ that fulfills the righteousness of the law within us; His love is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost who is given to us, Romans 5:5. We receive the love of the Lord when we believe in Him and in what He did for us on the Cross, appropriating His shed blood and applying it to our sins so that the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7.
He fills us with His love, and because of His love in our hearts (which is not in word or in tongue only but in deed and in truth, 1 John 3:18) there is no law that will condemn us for our behaviour, Galatians 5:22-23.
We must understand that we are forgiven of all of our wrongdoing in order to obtain this love. It is the forgiveness and the absolute assurance that we are going to heaven (because we called on the name of the Lord, Romans 10:13) that produces the gratitude that is the only proper motivation for obeying the Lord.
Of course, there is an immature Christian faith that is motivated by the fear of the Lord; and truly, it is a valid motivation, for it is indeed wisdom (Job 28:28); however when you are close to your Daddy, and are obedient, you do not have to fear being spanked by Him. If you obey Him out of love for Him, then you do not need fear as a motivation...nevertheless, when love is not in operation, it is always good to have fear as backup motivation for continuing on with the Lord! Your Daddy can and will spank you if you begin to have a rebellious heart that is in willful disobedience.
In this, if I love my neighbor as myself, I am not going to break any of the commandments that teach me on how I am to treat my neighbor.
If I love the Lord my God with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, I am not going to violate any of the commandments that pertain to my relationship with the Lord.
By the law is the knowledge of sin. That means that it gauges whether I am truly loving other people the way I am supposed to, or not.
It also defines for me the answer to the question, What is sin? The apostle John's reply, Sin is the transgression of the law, 1 John 3:4.
Therefore, when in 1 Corinthians 15:34 God says to me through Paul, Awake to righteousness, and sin not, I consider that He is telling me not to violate the law of the Lord.
Of course, the only way anyone can succeed at doing this is to have Christ dwelling in the heart. It is the love of Christ that fulfills the righteousness of the law within us; His love is shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy Ghost who is given to us, Romans 5:5. We receive the love of the Lord when we believe in Him and in what He did for us on the Cross, appropriating His shed blood and applying it to our sins so that the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. 1 John 1:7.
He fills us with His love, and because of His love in our hearts (which is not in word or in tongue only but in deed and in truth, 1 John 3:18) there is no law that will condemn us for our behaviour, Galatians 5:22-23.
We must understand that we are forgiven of all of our wrongdoing in order to obtain this love. It is the forgiveness and the absolute assurance that we are going to heaven (because we called on the name of the Lord, Romans 10:13) that produces the gratitude that is the only proper motivation for obeying the Lord.
Of course, there is an immature Christian faith that is motivated by the fear of the Lord; and truly, it is a valid motivation, for it is indeed wisdom (Job 28:28); however when you are close to your Daddy, and are obedient, you do not have to fear being spanked by Him. If you obey Him out of love for Him, then you do not need fear as a motivation...nevertheless, when love is not in operation, it is always good to have fear as backup motivation for continuing on with the Lord! Your Daddy can and will spank you if you begin to have a rebellious heart that is in willful disobedience.