(16-09-2024, 10:27 AM)Ali Imran Wrote: We Muslims can be 100% obedient to the statutes, to the best of our ability. We will indeed fall short at times like we may fall sick and could not fast when commanded, but we make up for it. But yes, all of God's commandments are doable.
It is the same in the Jewish religion, even as it may be much tougher. For example, our "Sabbath" is only a few hours on Friday while theirs is 24 hours on Saturday. (Contrary to your understanding of Sabbath, it is not a day of rest. It is a day reserved for God, a worship day. On that day, they must abandon any worldly pursuit) The point is, that the law is not a curse. The law is guidance for us. The law is sacred, not accursed.
Have you properly reflected upon Jesus's words saying anybody who teach people to put aside the law will be in hell?
I agree with you up to a point. The law is there to guide us through our spiritual odysseys. It's good and useful as far as it goes, but it's powerless to prevent us from transgressing the rules. When the New Testament says man cannot keep the law of God, it's not because he lacks a will or a mind and cannot understand what God requires, but rather because man doesn't have a proper disposition toward God. Man, in his fallenness, is in a state of enmity and estrangement from God.
The Scriptures tell us that the desires of man's heart are wicked continually, and acknowledge that man has a will, but that will is 'under the power' of sin and in 'bondage' to sin. The NT makes it abundantly clear that our noblest efforts at self-reformation or human virtue fall short of what God's holiness requires. Paul states it succinctly, "No flesh shall be justified by the works of the law" (Rom 3:20). Not only does the NT make it crystal clear that all our efforts at righteousness do not measure up to the demands of the law, it also adds the radical notion that we're morally incapable of doing what God requires.
Again, let's consider the most important moral duty there is. God tells us that the great commandment is to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength and to love others as much as we love ourselves. This commandment fills me with awe, and I straightaway know I haven't loved God with my whole heart and all of my mind for even 60 seconds in my life. None of us, I'm sure, loves every person in the world as much as we love ourselves. Just look at the way we argued with each other about theological issues over the past few months. We didn't have kindly feeling towards one another - only feelings of resentment bore by you, me and the others, including by Oyk who readily admitted to not being an exemplary Christian.
Really, nobody keeps the great commandment. So what's the big deal? If nobody abides by that particular law, it can't be that important, can it? Yet God calls it the great commandment. What if He considers the breaking of that law as the great transgression? What if we're judged ultimately by that law? The number of things one would have to do to keep the law is staggering. None of us can do it successfully.
If God deals with us ultimately on the basis of justice alone, we'll perish. We know that God is a God of love and wouldn't let any of us perish in the end. Now we're talking about grace. We need grace for liberation and reconciliation with God. For without grace we're left with our fallenness and must face the judgement of God on the basis of our own performance. The secret of the cross is that Jesus removed the law as a requirement for achieving righteousness with God Thank You, Lord.
Christianity places so much emphasis on grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It is precisely at this point that grace is on a collision course with Islamic philosophy of being 'law-abiding.' You're a 'law' man. You submit yourself to Allah and His laws in trying to earn His favor and hopefully earn your way to heaven. Do your best and hope for the best. Well, good luck to you. You need large doses of it.