I will put my laws on their hearts

[TonyChanYT]

There are more commandments in the New Testament than in the Old. Every day, I read some of them.

In practice, how do I know which to obey?

Paul gave us some guidelines in Colossians 2:

20 Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Further, the indwelling Spirit will show us, Hebrews 10:

16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds.

"my laws" refers to the Paraclete or Holy Spirit of God. It is fulfilled when the Spirit/Paraclete dwells in my conscience.

Rom 7:

5 For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were [aroused] by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death.

That was before. Now comes the after:

6 But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

Galatians 5:

18 if you are led by the Spirit [Paraclete], you are not under the law.

If you are under the law, you are not led by the Paraclete.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon for the Greek word paraclete:

1. "one who pleads another's cause before a judge, a pleader, counsel for defense, legal assistant; an advocate"

Study God's commandments daily. Grow in the Spirit. Let your conscience and the peace of the Paraclete guide you in your daily walk.

 

[Randy Kluth]

There are more commandments in the New Testament than in the Old. Every day, I read some of them.

In practice, how do I know which to obey?

Paul gave us some guidelines in Colossians 2:


Further, the indwelling Spirit will show us, Hebrews 10:


"my laws" refers to the Paraclete or Holy Spirit of God. It is fulfilled when the Spirit/Paraclete dwells in my conscience.

Rom 7:


That was before. Now comes the after:


Galatians 5:


If you are under the law, you are not led by the Paraclete.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon for the Greek word paraclete:


Study God's commandments daily. Grow in the Spirit. Let your conscience and the peace of the Paraclete guide you in your daily walk.

Well, this is a complex issue, and I've been trying to address it elsewhere. To say that a law is helpless in restraining sensuality, it is not saying that is true in all cases.

Paul could've been referring to a Gnostic system of rules that bore no connection to the Spirit of God. He could've been talking about Judaism in which religious rituals were being engaged without any internal reference to God's verbal word to their hearts.

Everything God had done under the Law was meant to be understood by faith, although it did not result in the *Christian Faith.* It did not produce eternal Salvation, but only temporary salvation.

Everything God meant by His requirement of rituals was designed to get Israel to pursue a continued covenant relationship with Himself so that the Jews would pay heed to His internal word to their hearts and produce virtue by the Spirit. External ceremony without this critical element of "faith" in His word was meaningless and had no virtue--no ability to restrain lust, covetousness, and hate. But used properly, the external ceremonies of the Law and obedience to God's moral commands from the heart did produce such restraint and genuine virtue, as I see it.

So yes, God always intended to in a sense "indwell our conscience" as well as our heart. He wished to live among us and actually in us. It's just that until Christ came and provided for eternal redemption, He could not be said to be residing *permanently* within us as an eternal possession. This is an important distinction when understanding Pauline theology and the precise language that he used to express this.

I will go back to the original proof of this truth, which really should be self-explanatory. It proves that God's word of command to our heart actually is designed to instill virtue within us through our conformity to that word, ie through our obedience. Here it is....

Deut 30.11 Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. 12 It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 13 Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” 14 No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.

 

[DJT_47]

There are more commandments in the New Testament than in the Old. Every day, I read some of them.

In practice, how do I know which to obey?

Paul gave us some guidelines in Colossians 2:


Further, the indwelling Spirit will show us, Hebrews 10:


"my laws" refers to the Paraclete or Holy Spirit of God. It is fulfilled when the Spirit/Paraclete dwells in my conscience.

Rom 7:


That was before. Now comes the after:


Galatians 5:


If you are under the law, you are not led by the Paraclete.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon for the Greek word paraclete:


Study God's commandments daily. Grow in the Spirit. Let your conscience and the peace of the Paraclete guide you in your daily walk.

Unlike the laws of the OT, the listing of things, remedies, and rituals, etc, there are no such things under the new covenant, hence, they're written in your heart, and not merely a ck-off of things to obey as was the old.

 

[Bob Estey]

There are more commandments in the New Testament than in the Old. Every day, I read some of them.

In practice, how do I know which to obey?

Paul gave us some guidelines in Colossians 2:


Further, the indwelling Spirit will show us, Hebrews 10:


"my laws" refers to the Paraclete or Holy Spirit of God. It is fulfilled when the Spirit/Paraclete dwells in my conscience.

Rom 7:


That was before. Now comes the after:


Galatians 5:


If you are under the law, you are not led by the Paraclete.

Thayer's Greek Lexicon for the Greek word paraclete:


Study God's commandments daily. Grow in the Spirit. Let your conscience and the peace of the Paraclete guide you in your daily walk.

One of my favorite scriptures (because it explains my experience):

But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Jeremiah 31:33 RSV