Spirit of the Law, Letter of the Law

I was in school early this morning, and I did my QT. During that time, God showed me Matt 5. The Beattitudes, followed by what murder and adultery is.

But as i prayed and read, God showed that the focus is not on what murder and adultery is, those were examples. And it was not examples of what sin was, i.e., thinking of something, but it was so much deeper.

The pharisees were famous for following it. They were literally living that life. But Jesus came to fulfill the law.

The pharisees followed the letter of the law. Jesus lived the spirit of the law.

God does not want us to live the letter of the law. The letter of the law allows us to justify sin, justify actions, permits us to lower the standards of right and wrong. It is the law that brings death. It is unachievable. But the same law, when viewed from the spirit of law, is different. It brings life. It brings joy and freedom.

The letter of the law reveals what we must or must not do. It focused entirely on the actions of a man. The spirit of the law reveals what the law intends to do, the purposes of the law. The direction of the righteousness of God. The spirit of the law reveals the intention of the creator of that same law. We do not live for the letter of the law, we live for the spirit of the law.

The Letter of the Law is Merciless in the execution of it's Gracious Standards.
The Spirit of the Law is Gracious in the execution of it's Merciless Standards.

The letter of the law means that people can wrap around it. Consider that the pharisees would see healing as bad on sabbath, consider that today we think it is ok if we have pre-marital sex as long as it is responsible pre-marital sex. We follow the letter of the law, finding ways to support our actions, or finding ways to defend our desires, or making sure that we do not get caught. The ultimate support of the letter of the law is that it says, if you are not caught, hooray!

But there is a price to pay. The letter of the law is merciless in it's execution. It is brutal, and there is no way out. If one is caught with another woman, there is no grace involved, only punishment by stoning. If one is caught speeding, there is no grace, only a ticket.

The spirit of the law on the other hand has an exacting standard. Perfection. It drives us to be like our Father in Heaven. Perfect in everyway. And once you have that standard, there is no way around it. It is perfect. It demands that in thought, action and breathe, we are like God. Perfect. Its standard is merciless.

But there is a price to pay. The spirit of the law is gracious in it's execution. Gracious, because someone thousands of years ago paid the price for us. He died that we may live. He died that we may be strengthened and cleanse by his blood. The spirit of the law is permitted to be gracious. It does not have to pass punishment. Even though judgement is swift, so is mercy.

The Letter of the Law is Merciless in the execution of it's Gracious Standards.
The Spirit of the Law is Gracious in the execution of it's Merciless Standards.

Today, life is about the spirit of the law. Yes, others live by the letter. But we Christians are called to be light, salt. We are called into a destiny with Christ. Lets live by the higher standards. Live by the spirit of the Law. Know the heart of the father, obey and love the cry of your God.