'It was for freedom that Christ has set us free (from the law) ... You who are trying to be justified by the law (Hebrew : תּוֹרָה transliterated in English as Tôrâ or Torah) have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace ...' (Galatians 5:1, 4) 'For what the law (Torah) was powerless to do, it was weakened by the sinful nature.' ( Romans 8:3) 'For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said, "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel ... I will put my law in their minds and write them on their hearts ..." - (Jeremiah 31:31-34) By calling this covenant "new", he has made the first one obsolete..' ( Hebrews 8:7-13) 'What, then, was the purpose of the law (Torah) ? It was added because of transgressions until "the Seed" to whom the promise referred had come ... Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law (Torah), locked up until faith should be revealed ... Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law (Torah)' (Galatians 3:19-25) but under the supervision of the Spirit because 'if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law (Torah).' (Galatians 5:18) Only Christ, "the Seed" to whom the promise referred, was able to live by the Torah because he alone had the Spirit of God in him to be able to obey the Torah. Having fulfilled the Torah ( Matthew 5:17,John 19:28-30) he 'canceled the written code, with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.' (Colossians 2:14) In short, 'the righteous requirements of the law (Torah) are fully met in us who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.' (Romans 8:4) Hallelujah!
'You, my brothers, were called to be free ( from the law). But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love ... So, I say, live by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.' (Galatians 5:13-16) To live by the Spirit therefore means to be controlled by the Spirit and not by the letter of the law 'for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life.' ( 2 Corinthians 3:6) 'But now, by dying to what once bound us , we have been released from the law (Torah) so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.' ( Romans 7:6) 'Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.' (Galatians 5:25) Amen.
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