Tuesday, October 07, 2008

None do-able Law

It seems to me that when the Law is presented to be do-able, you will always find faith in the thing that helps you do it. It can never be a faith that cleaves to Christ. Once the Law is believed to be do-able, faith will be directed somewhere else, but not to Christ.

Of course, there is a view that what we are freed from is not the whole Law but only that part of the Law which is ceremonial, they say that this does not include the moral Law. That one you have to do by the grace of God, so they say.

I simply find that hard to believe, based on my reading of the Epistles and Acts.

The use of the term Law is collective, it includes all the laws of God - both ceremonial, dietary and moral. I find this true in Paul, for example.

I follow a simple logic, if say that the moral Law is not included in the term 'Law', meaning that is something you 'can do', then there is boasting, no matter how much one denies it. You can boast. You may not boast, but you 'can' boast - that possibility is there. Yet the principle of faith says there is no possibility of boasting. Want some Scripture? Let's discuss them.

This comes down to also making faith a work, i.e. if that faith allows you to boast - it is not faith as the Bible speaks of- that faith is mis-directed and cannot be the faith produced by the Holy Spirit from the Word. Faith in the Gospel is an I-less faith.

We got it right if that faith eliminates "you" in the equation.

6 comments:

Augustinian Successor said...

Dear Kuya,

How biblical and Lutheran!

LPC said...

Bro. A.S.

Where have you been? We missed you. I have been reading R. Preus' Justification and Rome, I will post some thoughts, see what you think of it, mainly on grace.

LPC

Augustinian Successor said...

Dear Kuya,

Been a bit busy ... have one paper coming up in November. After that is back to the break ;-) Am looking forward to getting my Law-Gospel Debate by Forde and Faith Alone (in honour of him). Kuya, i just love Lutheran theology ... used to be addicted to Reformed, but now it's Lutheranism! i believe Lutheranism can rightly claim to be the Mother of the Reformation. Luther was a genius, used by God to reform the catholic church.

it's my dream that someday there'll be a monument or something like that, an epitaph(?) like the one in Geneva where there are four figures all carved onto the massive wall with Luther and Calvin flanked by Cranmer and Martin Bucer (the irenicist) ...

LPC said...

A.S.

I would love to listen to the debate, is it going to be in KL.

Just posted on grace from a Lutheran angle.

re: Luther/Calvin, frankly I consider Calvin a green horn compared to Luther, I know some propaganda say otherwise. I do not believe them. Luther is absolute profitable reading. We are doing Large Cat in our home Bible Study and his insights are quite astounding, you can pick up helpful teaching.

LPC

Augustinian Successor said...

Dear Kuya,

It's a book i'm getting from AugsburgFortress and through Amazon on Faith Alone (essays in honour of the late Dr. Forde).

LPC said...

I am catching up on my reading too;-)

LPC