Galatians 3:12
12 And [de] the law [nomos] is [esti] not [ou] of [ek] faith: [pistis] but, [alla] The man [anthropos] that doeth [poieo] them [autos] shall live [zao] in [en] them. [autos] KJV-Interlinear
12 However, the Law is not of
faith; on the contrary, "He who practices them shall live by them." NASB
And again, Paul quotes from the Old Testament. This time from Lev. 18:5, wherein Moses
states that, you are to live by the statutes and judgments of God, and keep
them.
Moses is referring to all of the moral and
ceremonial requirements of the Law, and therefore if you live perfectly by the
Law and keep the Law without exception, then you are entitled to the rewards of
such a life.
The basic requirement of the Law is that you are
innocent until proven guilty, and if proven guilty then you are condemned and
then sentenced.
The sentence is the Lake of Fire.
No one in history has ever lived a complete life in
perfect compliance with the Law, except one person, who is Jesus Christ.
All have fallen short of this glory and therefore
all are condemned by their own actions, by their own testimony in thought as
well as in action.
There are only two methods with which you can live
your life. The first is by faith and the
second is through works. The Law is the
second method of works.
To believe that you can live a perfect life, is a
fool who is delusional and in total rejection of the truth concerning himself.
To reject Gods mandate to study in order to be
approved, which is to say that you have to learn doctrine through a legitimate
and authorized study process, while in fellowship, and then utilize what you
have learned within your life, and do it day after day after day, every day of
your life. And this is living by faith, not works.
Your study is your spiritual meal. And everyone eats their meals every day of
their life. Skip a meal or skip a day of
eating and what happens? You get hungry
of course. Skip many days of eating and
you become unhealthy, sick, and eventually die of malnutrition. Continue a diet of the wrong foods and your
health will suffer.
Eat properly and regularly and you have a healthy
and fulfilling life. You are strong, healthy,
and energetic. You can think clearer and
function better in life.
And so it is with your spiritual life. Study doctrine as it is supposed to be
studied, and your spiritual life will be phenomenal.
Reject Gods study mandates and you are doing what
Moses commanded, living by the Law, doing things your own way, rejecting Gods
mandates and defining your own path through life.
Works demands unwavering and perpetual obedience to
its requirements. No one can do
this. Certainly you cannot.
Faith demands unwavering and perpetual obedience to
Gods mandates, which is faith. Everyone
can do this.
But which do you choose?
