Posted by Ray Kidder on 6/4/2009, 7:26 pm, in reply to "Re: Spiritual Education"
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Hal,
I had written in my earlier post:
"One problem I see with merely trusting governmental legal systems to promote good societal behavior is that it is based too much on fear of punishment and the alluring hope for rewards. The Spirit of the law is based on love, and how the giving and receiving of love has rewards that are not so much material, but are spiritual."
You wrote:
"What we refer to when we say the spirit of the law relates to its intent."
I see the spirit of the law as something founded upon love of God and one's neighbor. If this intent is based on love, then I agree with you. OTOH, the enforcement of both Biblical and secular laws may be also founded upon the intent of limiting harm inflicted on others, with the motivation of fear and/or the hope of rewards. I do no think follwing laws with this intent is based on the Spirit.
If people follow such laws from something other than love, then how can they be serving in newness of spirit, as contrasted with the oldness of the letter. This passage from 1 Timothy 1 (NKJV) comes to mind:
5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,
6 from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk,
7 desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.
8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,
9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,
11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
Isn't it true that if a person needs a law to teach how to live properly, such actions may not founded upon love, but are founded on fear of punishment and/or the hope for rewards? If they truly loved their neighbor, why would they need a law to guide them into the proper treatment of their neighbor? Isn't their loving empathy and concern for their neighbor enough to keep them from hurting their neighbor? Aren't those with this loving empathy and concern for their neighbor the rightous persons mentioned by St. Paul in verse 9?
Ray Kidder
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