Is the below what you are talking about?
It seems you take this to mean license where the rest of the law is concerned... How do you justify that against this:
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
People seem to always forget that the Christian has the Spirit of God living in them...A teacher, a guide...And there is a constant battle going on with the flesh...
But wouldn't the first evidence of having obtained that Spirit be a tendency to keep the laws of YHWH? After all, He has said the law is 'written on our hearts'... The natural tendency (what is in the heart overfloweth) would be to keep the law... to WANT to keep the law...
The law has become spiritual instead of legal...
Right - But if one studies what that means, it is a more strict application of the law (the mere thought of lust is the same thing as the act of adultery).
As I see it, the Torah was our schoolmaster...
Right - How then is it a schoolmaster to those who have never read it (not to mention understand it)? How can the Holy Days teach those who have never kept them? And as an example, even if one does learn, say... math, in school... Once one has learned math, and no longer needs schooling,, do the laws and dynamics of math fail to be important?
[...] While we are encouraged to follow the Torah in our heart/spirit by Christ who lives in us, the Torah is no longer our judge and executioner...
TRUE. But John says we know we love the Father (and our brothers) when we are walking in His commandments... So one can determine the quality of one's walk according to how closely one is following the Torah, no? How then does one disregard the Torah completely and claim to love the Father? It cannot be so.
The catlicks have a point in that there IS law - where they go wrong is in following the laws of their church rather than the Law of YHWH... But Protestants, having rightly discarded the law of the catlicks (as it is false), have failed to recognize any law at all - The dichotomy in that position is in that without law, there is no more a definition of sin, nor is there a measurement of righteousness (right living).
Folks are quick to haul out 2Tim 3:16 when they are verse-slinging, while failing to understand that the scripture defined therein was only the Tanakh, as the NT had not yet been written. Folks are quick to point out sin, without understanding that it must be the Torah that defines sin. Folks are quick to say they want to please YHWH, without admitting that it is the Torah that teaches one HOW to please YHWH.
All y'all are spending way too much time in Paul, and discounting John... and ignoring Moses.
Is the below what you are talking about?
It seems you take this to mean license where the rest of the law is concerned...
No, that is the whole law...If we love God and love our neighbor, we will have fulfilled the whole law...Unfortunately, none of us has ever committed to that law 100% of the time...Because our flesh is weak...
It is not a matter of license, it's a matter of liberty...And again, it's not a matter of the law, it's a matter of love...
Under the Torah we HAD to keep the law...Under the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we WANT to keep the law...
It is not that we have license but when we fail, and we all do, we have an advocate with the Father...Our sin is not counted against us...Jesus however will give us a quick kick in the hind end from time to time...
Can we sin willfully and still be a Christian??? Yes...We ALL do whether we will admit it or not...
How do you justify that against this:
Mat 5:17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
Mat 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
Mat 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
This is some heavy stuff...
One might notice that there isn't a Christian within the context...It is Jesus teaching Jews... I believe since the context is the Kingdom of Heaven, it is speaking of the Kingdom that was offered to the Jewish audience right there who were under the law but ultimately rejected Jesus as the Messiah...
Prophetically, it applies to the Millennial reign of Jesus Christ on Earth...AFTER the Rapture of the church...The church is gone, the Wedding has taken place and those in the Kingdom with it's Head in Jerusalem are those who come out of the Great Tribulation, who, again, will be under Faith and works/the law...
As the scriptures here show, they will again be under the authority of the Torah...And during that thousand year reign, every jot and tittle of the law will be fulfilled, literally...
As for vs. 20, my righteousness as a Christian does exceed that of the scribes and pharisees because I have the righteousness of Jesus who fulfilled the law...But that's a scary thought for those going thru the Tribulation...
But wouldn't the first evidence of having obtained that Spirit be a tendency to keep the laws of YHWH? After all, He has said the law is 'written on our hearts'... The natural tendency (what is in the heart overfloweth) would be to keep the law... to WANT to keep the law...
Exactly...
TRUE. But John says we know we love the Father (and our brothers) when we are walking in His commandments... So one can determine the quality of one's walk according to how closely one is following the Torah, no? How then does one disregard the Torah completely and claim to love the Father? It cannot be so.
I dont' think any Christians disregard the Torah...That where we learned what sin was amongst many other things...It's just that we are not under the penalty of the law when we fail...
With that I agee...Catholics sin so little they have only to go to confession once a year...Can you imagine??? Taking the Ten Commandments out of our schools was one of the worst things that could happen to Christianity...What should be black and white is now a shade of gray...
Folks are quick to haul out 2Tim 3:16 when they are verse-slinging, while failing to understand that the scripture defined therein was only the Tanakh, as the NT had not yet been written.
While that historically can be true, I believe it can and should be applied to all scripture since I believe the bible was not written for those only back in the first Century and before...
There is plenty of scripture written yet for the future...
Folks are quick to point out sin, without understanding that it must be the Torah that defines sin. Folks are quick to say they want to please YHWH, without admitting that it is the Torah that teaches one HOW to please YHWH.
I agree with that completely...The Torah was our schoolmaster...