In Christian society there is divide among those who live by the letter of the law and those who live the spirit of law. The letterites as I shall coin them, are people who look at Scripture and decide to use it as a code of behavior and they are characterized by harshness and a zeal to obey the Word. While obedience is not a sin, the motives of their hearts matter more than their hard work. For King David said, "Create a clean heart in me, O God, see if and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10, ESV). David was concerned with the state of his heart, because what dwells In the heart Jesus says is wicked: "But those things that proceed out of mouth come from the heart. For out of the heart evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, lying, and slander" (Matthew 15:18, cross references with Jeremiah 17:9)
The Apostle Paul wrote the verse, "He (Jesus) has made us competent ministers of the New Covenant- not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life." (1 Corinthians 3:6). St. Paul knew the Law (Torah) better than anyone. He was Pharisees of Pharisees (Acts 23:6, Philippians 3:1-6 ) and He denounced following the Old Tutor of the Law in Galatians 3:24, "Therefore the law was a tutor to lead us to Christ, but now we are justified by faith." (Paraphrased). Paul echoes this in Romans, Ephesians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, and most of the Epistles.
The Pharisees are a prime example of the letter of the law. When Jesus was going to heal a lame man, they watched to see if he would break the Sabbath law, which says you cannot do any work on the Sabbath. The Pharisees held so strictly to this command (Fourth Commandment) that they would do nothing on the Sabbath and to this day in Israel there are Shabbat elevators where the elevator stops at every floor in a hotel so that a Jew does not have to work by pressing the button! This is the letter of the law, when the Spirit of God's Law about keeping the Sabbath, really meant to rest. For those who have to work on Saturdays or Sundays, then make Monday the Sabbath, for Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27).
Those who follow the letter of the law end up with hearts of stone. These Letterites become to obsessed with not breaking rules and being religious that they become "no earthly good." A prime example of the contrast between Letter of the Law and the Spirit of the Law is lying. The Commandment says, "Thou Shalt not Lie." (which actually translates "Thou shalt not give false testimony," Exodus 20:16) The letter of the law adds, "in all circumstances you may not lie!" But what about when Christians lied to save Law followers such as Jews from Nazis? During the Holocaust which is being remembered today around the world, Christians lied to the Nazis when asked if they knew any Jews or were hiding them. Often the Christian would open the door and profess that they are not hiding Jews when in truth, below the floor boards behind the Christian was a Jewish family. The Spirit of the Law condones lying in this case, because it was to save life and to deceive evil men who wanted to do horrible things to innocent people, including children.
Jesus constantly was having to combat the letter of the law in form of the teachers of the law (Pharisees and Sadducees). At one point the Pharisees asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment. They wanted to trip up Jesus so they could condemn Him with their laws (you see, once you become Letterite you want to box in people and condemn them, and in this case condemn God!). Jesus responded with the Spirit of the Law, he said, "The greatest commandment is to Love the Lord Your God with all your heart, soul and mind." (Matthew 23:37, Mark 12:30). This fulfilled the criteria of the Letterite Pharisees (legalists), but it detailed the first four commandments. In the Ten Commandments we are told not to have any gods before the Lord (Exodus 20:3) and so on. But Jesus makes this a focus of love, rather than just, "don't worship other gods or else!" Jesus phrases it with love, because if you really love the Lord God you will not cheat on Him with other gods (mistresses and marriage breakers). Jesus actually made it clear that the command is actually a marriage or wedding vow, something that is of the Spirit of the Law.
You can approach the "have no other gods before me," as a letterite, legalist and Pharisee where you scrutinize every painting and statue or you can approach it as Jesus said, through love and thus you will not erect other idols before Him because you love the Lord and see it as cheating on him, like cheating on a spouse (husband or wife). The detail is important! Jesus is going from inside out, that because you love God, you do not worship other gods, but the Pharisee is going from outside in and making rules about art, and saying that just because you have picture of a man in your house, you are committing idolatry. Jesus is looking at the heart, the Pharisee at performance and anal-retentive details that aren't necessary.
Those who follow the Spirit of the Law are Spirit Filled Followers. They end up fulfilling the Laws anyway, but their motivation is not strict codes, laws, and fear, but instead a deep love and connection to Christ! For the spirit filled ones, it is easy to obey the commands and keep God's character because they are so in love with Him! When you are in love, you naturally do and want to do what pleases the object of your love! But if you do it out of fear and resentment, that person will know it, and God will know if you are obeying just to look pious, be perfect, and feel more special.
We have to remember as Christians that if we become Letterites, that we lose that close connection to Christ, because now we are focused on codes rather than Jesus Christ. Jesus did it all at the cross, he fulfilled all the Law () on our behalf! Now we can believe in Him and be saved! (John 3:16). Jesus who now dwells in the believer changes the character of the person to the point that they start fulfilling the law and this happens more as a Christian connects and follows Jesus. But the focus is not fulfilling the law, but loving the Lord God! Then from there we love our neighbor and it spreads! But legalism or letterism only makes people feel like they are under the lash of a harsh taskmaster. These religious legalists lay "heavy loads on others, that they themselves will not lift." (Matthew 23:4). Eventually the letterist fall into hypocrisy because they cannot be perfect enough for their codes and laws, and ultimately they begin to disobey and even rebel privately to the laws they seek to enforce.
May we as Christians be guided by Spirit of the Law (Holy Spirit) and start living by loving Jesus Christ. The closer we get to God, the more we become like Him in character and are perfected as so many strive to be. But love, not legalism is the door to living up to the commandments. The focus cannot be tablets, the focus must be Trinity. When your heart, eyes, and passion is focused on the Lord God, you will end up living the good character of the codes and laws of God.
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