As I see it

[BlackVelvet04]

Fundamentalists Christians want to live under the Law, and I have found that extremely confusing. I was basically a fundamentalist at one time but came to a point what the living under the law part didn't make sense. This is how I see it:

Jesus fulfilled the Law. Many fundamentalists seem to be confused by that word fulfilled....taking to to mean that Jesus put his stamp of approval on the law, but I don't see it that way. I think of the Law like a building contract. Jesus didn't nullify the contract but he fulfilled it by perfectly building the impossible building specified in the contract. When he was done building it he declared "IT IS FINISHED" and released those who believed he had built the building perfectly from the contract.

Fundamentalists proclaim that Jesus made a huge sacrifice for them by building the impossible building and fulfilling the contract BUT they keep showing up at the building site trying to improve the building.

Paul said that if you live by the law you have to live by ALL of the law, but as we know that's impossible...Paul couldn't do it so I'm pretty sure none of us can. The NT says "by grace your are saved through faith that not of works that any man should boast."

If Fundamentalists do in fact think they need to live by the law aren't they then negating what Jesus did? Are they really Christians if they don't believe the most basic tenet of the Christian faith which is acceptance of Jesus' sacrifice is sufficient for our salvation? If we need to live by the law then what purpose did Jesus' life, death and resurrection serve?

[shawn703]

1. I'll try to answer that

Where there is no law, there is no sin, as Paul noted. But John said that if we say we are without sin we are deceiving ourselves. So if we are still sinning on this side of Calvary, there has to be some laws that we are transgressing against. Because Christ atoned for our sins, we do not have to sacrifice anything at an altar anymore. But what was sin in God's eyes before Calvary is still sin in God's eyes now. As Christians we are forgiven of all our sins, but we also are not a slave to them either. So when you hear people say that being a Christian just means we have a license to sin, that's not true. The first step to salvation is to repent, to turn away from sin and break the hold it has on our lives. If you see "Christians" who are still living the way they were prior to being "saved", they are deceiving themselves because they have never repented. Jesus even warned these people that he would tell them to depart from Him. I think I wandered a bit, but my basic point is that if we don't try to live by the Law, we have not repented and turned away from our life of sin - the first step to Salvation.

[BlackVelvet04]

2. I disagree

in that I don't find anywhere in the NT that we are encouraged to "live by the law". I didn't say anything about having a license to sin, but we are not subject to the law according to Paul in the book of Galatians. Why in the world would we try to live by a law that Jesus fulfilled? If we have a relationship with God through Christ then we are subject to walking in the spirit who will convict us of OUR sin, but what may be a sin for you may not be for me.

As I said, I find nowhere where we are encouraged to live by the law.

[realisticphish]

3. im agreeing with you

ive always seen it to be thus: Christ died for us, ending the old testament covenant with god. From then on, our law, as such, is the teachings of jesus himself


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