Quote:
Originally Posted by Daniel Ritchie  Quote: |
But a believer does not need the 10 words in stone constantly presented to him in order for him to not murder or covet.
| So how do we know that murdering and coveting are wrong? We know because God commands us not to do these things. |
John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
As I read the above quotations, this scripture came to my mind.
One of the things I love about PB is these discussions force me to think more deeply about what I believe and to look at the Scriptures more closely.
Unless I'm missing something, I can only "amen" what Rich said above. At the same time, I do understand where Robert is coming from, and I share his enthusiasm for the freedom found in Christ.
I'm sure most of you have heard that the way they train banking people to find counterfeit money is to give them real money to work with. When someone puts counterfeit money in their hands, they detect it right away. In the same way, for those of us who spent years steeped in legalism, we can smell it a mile away. We know what it looks like, sounds like, smells like and yes, even tastes like. When we finally learn and experience love-for-God-driven obedience, rather than guilt-driven law keeping, we can hardly contain ourselves. We know the law, because as legalist pharisees, we studied it harder than many seminarians, but now we no longer worry about what we have forgotten to do or what we should have done, because the Spirit of God brings the law (that we've studied so hard) to our remembrance as we walk with Him day by day. We don't need lists and rules, because the law is engraved on our hearts, and we trust God's Spirit to bring it to our remembrance during the day.
Does this mean we do not pray? Does this mean we do not study the Word? Does this mean we go out and sin and be lawless? As Paul said, "May it never be!" It means every breath we breathe is a prayer to God. It means we study the Word with passion, because His Word is a delight to our souls, and we long to meditate on it day and night. It means we wouldn't want to do anything that would displease our Lord, and when we do, we fall on our faces in repentence.
As I see it, sanctification has everything to do joyously obeying Christ as His Spirit leads us moment by moment. Obedience is a pleasure rather than a burden. I found this to be true. May I never go back to jot and tittling again, and may I always live to please my Lord.
NOTE: I wrote this post with fear and trembling lest I be misunderstood or that someone thinks I am pointing fingers. Also, I am not an expert on the finer points of sanctification. I am only trying to point out what I see from my perspective.