The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. (2 Cor. 3:6)
The law of God is holy and just and good; it is inexorable, and we have fallen under its just condemnation. That is at the bottom what Paul means by the “the letter killeth.’ He does not mean that attention to pedantic details shrivels and deadens the soul. No doubt that is true, within certain spheres; it is a useful thought. But it is trivial indeed compared with what Paul means. Something far more majestic, far more terrible, is meant by the Pauline phrase. The letter that Paul means is the dreadful handwriting of ordinances that was against us, and the death with which it kills is the eternal death of those who are forever separated from God.
But that is not all of the text. The letter killeth, Paul says, but the Spirit maketh alive. There is no doubt about what he means by ‘the Spirit.’ He does not mean that spirit of the law as contrasted with the letter; he certainly does not mean the lax interpretation of God’s commands which is dictated by human lust or pride; he certainly does not mean the spirit of man. No real student of Paul has doubted, so far as I know, but that he means the Spirit of God. God’s law brings eternal death because of sin; but God’s Spirit, shed abroad in the heart, brings life. The thing that is written killeth, but the Holy Spirit in the heart gives life.
The contrast runs all through the New Testament. Hopelessness under the law is described in the seventh chapter of Romans. “Oh wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” But this hopelessness is transcended by the gospel. “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord… For the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death.’ The law’s sentence of condemnation was borne for us by Christ who suffered in our stead; The handwriting of ordinances which was against us—the dreadful ‘letter’ of which Paul speaks in our text—was nailed to the cross.
-J. Gresham Machen-
Neiswonger
Doug
Josh Hicks
Clay
(1) in your teaching ‘LETTER KILLETH BUT THE SPIRIT GIVETH’ now my question is this what is the meaning of the word LETTER KILLETH
(2) is there any difference between LETTER KILLETH AND SPIRIT GIVETH LIFE
{3) Are we still under the ten commandment
Comment by daisi ojo — April 14, 2008 @ 3:42 pm |
Thanks Daisi,
Machen was homing in on his point when he wrote, “God’s law brings eternal death because of sin; but God’s Spirit, shed abroad in the heart, brings life. The thing that is written killeth, but the Holy Spirit in the heart gives life.” I know his English usage can be a little archaic, even though he was writing less than a hundred years ago. But what a hundred years it has been. As for being “under” the Ten Commandments, I guess the is yes and no. Yes, the one who is apart from Christ as the one intercessor between God and man is still under the Law as the measurement of their righteousness before God. Yes, even for the Christian, the Law is the perfect example of good and evil, right and wrong, and so still an example of the right way to live. You know, love God and love your neighbor as yourself, in this you fulfill the Law and the Prophets. But the Christian, will not be judged by God on the last day so as to be found wanting in a perfect righteousness, because they have been robed, so to speak, in the righteousness of Christ. He is our substitute. A vicarious sacrifice. We receive the imputation of a perfect life. Baptism is a type of this; we fall down into the waters of death to sin, and arise from the flood into newness of life. What is old has gone; what is new has come.
Neiswonger
Comment by Neiswonger — April 14, 2008 @ 4:48 pm |
God did not doze off and allowed the Snake to creep into the Garden.It appears that fundamental Christianity seem to believe that God got real upset at Adam & Eve for fouling up and thus began the horrible jouney of mankind.
God planned for man to fall, giving man a choice to choose between the 2 trees, does not imply man has an uninterruped free will.
The Bible makes it clear that man has free will and dosent have it at the same time. read PHILIPPEANS 2:12-13. Being saved isent a 15 second task of saying
“Call upon the name of the lord and thou shalt be saved”. Being saved is hard. Its progressive, and no one will achieve it until he is perfected and Godlike.
God does the calling & the Saving, not man. If anyone thinks that they are totally saved in this liftime is delusional.Whatever circumstances God places man in after thier birth, What country, what kind of homelife they are having, what exposure they are having, such as Religious background, etc, etc will all have a bearing on how far this person will have progressed in this lifetime. Someone said “Christ is OUR substitute, but substitute for what? Who is OUR.
Most people think that OUR is only meant as Christians. My Binble sals it the whole human race. Mankind will be saved whether they like it or not.
The Bible says in…1 Timothy 4:10
For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of ALL MEN, SPECIALLY of those that believe.
Comment by Dennis — June 7, 2009 @ 7:22 am |
The book of Romans is the MAGNA CARTA of the Christian faith. All the other epistles are reinforced teachings of it. A clear understanding of all the 16 chapters of the book of Romans gives the believer a firm foundation of his/her faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
#1
Comment by Aaron Khoo — June 12, 2009 @ 7:12 pm |
Did not complete my comments when I accidentally pressed the “enter” button when I was making a statement about the book of Romans.
#1 No one not on earth has any ability to change his/her sinful nature -
the sin nature is inherent as a result of Adam’s disobedience.
BUT by one man’s obedience i.e. jesus of nazareth (God who came to be
living as man on earth) and through His finished work at the cross (Jn 19:30) all of humanity have been made righteous _ YES, ALL OF HUMANITY have been made righteous. “Who would believe this good report” This is the good news. This TRUTH is NOT contingent on whether humanity believes it or not.
BUT upon believing this good news, the believers will enter into a NEW LIFE IN CHRIST.
eMPHASIS IS MINE: if people believe the sun moves round the earth they will
fight a person who says contrary to what they have always been believing i.e. the sun moves round the earth. Their wrong belief does not change the TRUTH that the earth is the one which actually moves around the sun.
So the truth that we have all been made the righteousness of God in Christ is not contingent upon our belief that we must live holy in order to be made righteous. The truth is: We have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus.
How do we become righteous? By believing and receiving Jesus as our Lord and Saviour not by trying to act good, talk good think good.
This truth about faith righteousness has not been properly taught in churchdom, if I may use this word.
We have all received righteous nature instead of sinful nature. This is the toogoodtobetrue and it is definitely N E W S!
Comment by Aaron Khoo — June 12, 2009 @ 7:31 pm |