Also for
@Hidden In Him
no I believe the commandments are the eternal moral law
The law of Moses is divided into ceremonial laws and moral laws!
We are sure that when we are in Christ, we don’t have to eat kosher food, get circumcised, keep the Sabbath etc.. These laws can be considered as ceremonial. (Col 3:14)
But Jesus and His apostles firmly opposed anything against moral laws such as murder, adultery, fornication, homosexuality etc. So is there really a division in the law of Moses between the ceremonial law and the moral law?
Why do you say "Jesus and His Apostles"? Jesus told the Jew to keep Sabbath if he wanted to enter the Kingdom of God--He spoke at a time the Law stood.
Also, what we're talking about is
justification--
right standing with God--and that is by "righteousness of faith", such that it is said "having been justified by righteousness of faith" Romans 5:1.
After this justification, the Jew has a
new method of service, not the
oldness of the Written Code, but the
newness of the Spirit, thus he is not performing the "works of Law" (weak through the sinful flesh Romans 8:3 Galatians 3:2-3), for he is in the Spirit not in the flesh Romans 8:9, but he is dead to the Law Galatians 2:19 Romans 7:1-6, and he has glorious liberty Romans 8:21 2 Corinthians 3:17, which false brothers want to try to spy on Galatians 2:4, and living the Law of Liberty written in his heart and mind Jeremiah 31:31-34 James 1:25 Romans 2:14-15 Romans 2:26-27 is not being "under Law" but "under Grace", so these are not "works of Law" but "not I but grace with me" which isn't "without strength" "through sinful flesh" but has "strength" of the Spirit of Grace 2 Corinthians 12:9 to do them.
A key difference (between being "free" and being "yoked" Galatians 5:1, "under Grace" and "under Law" Romans 6:14), a "symptom" whereby the slavery Galatians 4:21-31 of necessity produced by being "under Law" (the condition in which "works of Law" are performed) may be detected, is if a spirit of fear has been imparted to the ostensible "servant of God" (a master doesn't feel about his slave the way a father feels about his son--in fact, he may lawfully even beat his slave
to death as long as the slave survives at least a day and then dies Exodus 21:20-21--so, the slave is motivated to work for his master out of fear, thinking, "I hate this work, I'd rather be elsewhere, and be doing other things, but I'm forced to be here, and I'd better do this, because if I don't I will get a beating," and the only slave who is condemned to this "beating to death" is the one with this
insane (disconnected-from-reality), accusatory view of his Master Matthew 25:24-30) Romans 8:15, whereas the symptom whereby "glorious liberty", produced by being "under Grace", may be detected is if a spirit of hope has been imparted the "child of God" Romans 5:2-5 Galatians 5:5.
This would relate to justification because the
fear necessarily generated by the slavery is itself a sign the slave is not in right standing (why else be
afraid?)--the slave is always seeking, but never finding ("your life will hang in doubt" is "the curse of the Law" Deuteronomy 28:66) justification, right standing, by his deeds whereby he "goes about to establish [the lie] that he himself is good and righteous" Romans 10:3 (Jesus says "only God is good" so this is idolatry) as if this could result in God accepting them, whereas under God's Kindness (Grace), it was His Kindness that established your rightness with, and nearness to, Him 1 Corinthians 1:30, when you had nothing but sin Romans 3 Romans 4, and it is by His Kindness (Grace) you are remaining right with Him through righteousness (ie, He Himself being your righteousness Jeremiah 23:6 Philippians 2:12-13, not a righteousness of your own generated through sinful flesh working the works of the Law Philippians 3:9) Romans 5:21. The life comes first, as a gift, then the life produces the righteousness--a law of righteousness could never result in life.
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear--fear involves torment, like the fear slaves have of receiving a beating which is why they do what they do (their motivation and inspiration).
I think "works of Law" can only correspond with being "under Law"--which failure to apprehend grace results in a slavery which results in an
attitude, a
view, of fear (remembering "service", going from "beginning" to "perfection", is the issue in the Epistle to the Galatians Galatians 3:1-5) Galatians 5:4 Hebrews 12:15--and that even though "works of Law"
can deal with the content of the work, because it does not
always deal with the content of the work itself (eg, Paul has Timothy circumcised Acts of the Apostles 16:3, yet is not condemned as an "accursed preacher of a false Gospel" Galatians 1:6-9), "works of Law" refers to work someone who is not "under Grace" but "under Law" (neither dead to Law nor alive to God Galatians 2:19 but estranged from Christ and not benefiting from His saving grace) does, the significance of which is
who is doing the work (the weak sinful flesh Romans 8:3 Galatians 3:1-5 or the Spirit 2 Corinthians 12:9), which, in turn, is about "inspiration"/"motivation" (determined by the message the person believed--"persuasion" they are under Galatians 5:8), and the resulting spirit and expectation (
slavery which leads to crying out in fear of a beating from the master or
adoption which leads to crying out to Abba father in hope of His glory).
Being "under Law" is something
specific, but I think the problem with it (what it insinuates, promotes and produces) is also something
abstract--a view of God that engenders fear.