(24-06-2025, 03:40 PM)Ali Imran Wrote: Whenever I ask Christians why they no longer keep the commandments, they will quote Paul everytime.
So, it was Paul who taught people to discard the Law. That is the opposite of Jesus's teachings. You cannot spin your way out of this.
(24-06-2025, 05:28 PM)pinkpanther Wrote: Who says Paul discarded the law? No one would agree with you
The Moslem still labors under the delusion that many Christians are discarding the law after being saved by grace, something that he thinks not only makes the law superfluous but also gives believers a licence to sin. Nothing could be further from the truth. God doesn't make exceptions for those who rejects His commandments willfully. Gal 5:19-21; 1 Cor 6:9-11. Paul says that anyone who practises these things without any repentance is not a Christian - they "will not inherit the Kingdom of God." The key phrase, in quotation marks, was used by him in all three letters.
Anyone who's a genuine prophet today must emphasize the word repent. The condition of the world and the condition of our churches demand repentance. We can speak nice words and prophecies about people's futures, but if there's no call for repentance, we question whether or not the one saying such niceties is a true prophet.
In the gospel, we're united with the One who's loving enough to save us and powerful enough to transform us. The most profound resource that we've as Christians is a personal relationship with God where we enjoy His favor and love. Because of Jesus's life, death, and resurrection, we've a totally new identity and perspective. This is what the Bible calls being "born again." The Spirit of God made us alive when we were spiritually dead in our sins and utterly helpless.
Because we're not made completely perfect when we become Christians, we'll see ongoing warfare and struggle in some areas of our lives. "The flesh" - or "the old nature" - is Paul's shorthand for the remaining presence of sin in our lives. While Christians are no longer slaves to sin, it still has a powerful pull in our lives. This is why the Scripture talks about the Christian life as a fight, because at the same time as feeling sin's pull, we "live by the Spirit" (Gal 5:25).
The Moslem has repeatedly misrepresented the truth about the gospel. When he said we're under a siege of lawlessness, we knew he wasn't agreeing with the Bible. Truth be known, lawlessness breeds lovelessness. Lawlessness and the love of God are opposites. Where lawlessness abounds, the love of God is squeezed out of people. So what are the responses to life that God desires? It's pretty simple. Jesus sums it up in one word: "Love."
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbour as yourself." All of the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matt 22:37-40)
Jesus showed perfect love when He forgave those who were responsible for sending Him to the Cross. He prayed, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Jesus was love personified. So, the idea to discard the law never occurred to Paul. All orthodox Christians would find common agreement on this, and would recoil at the dreaded word "lawlessness."