Romans 7/8

Romans 7/8

The Law consisted of three parts, Ceremonial (Sacrifices/offerings), social and moral. Jesus fulfilled the Ceremonial (Col 2:13-17) and the social laws have been passed onto governments (Rom 13?). The moral part of the Law (which Jesus expounded in the sermon on the mount) still apply to the believer. In itself it is just a set of rules that exposes sin.

Am I write in thinking that this is the point (among others) Paul is trying to make in these chapters. That the moral part of The (Mosaic) Law can only be truly served through the Holy Spirit, can only be written on our hearts after regeneration? In the old testament people could only obey the instructions out of duty?

I don't think I've made myself clear here, look forward to hearing anyone's opinions on this matter. Thanks for reading, Craig.
 
yes and no.

The law is already there. We don't live by the letter of it, but the spirit thereof. This means that it is not just "by your conscious live" but follow the spirit of the written revelations and "by the Spirit live"

you see, it is not by some specific 300 laws which we live. It is not simply by some government's hundreds of laws which we live. It is by the Spirit of God that we live; and the Word which has been passed down onto us.

Romans 8 reflects clearly what we are to do. It says that "if YOU by the Spirit put do death the deeds of the body you shall live" .. what this means is that YOU are responsible for changing the way you behave; killing the old self. God will not magically reach down and kill you. He will not make you stop lying. He will not make you stop stealing. It is up to you to stop... but you have to do it BY THE SPIRIT. When it is just you, you can't stop.. but by the Spirit God has given you the capacity and the ability.
 
Am I right in thinking then that living by the Spirit means;

Emptying ourselves, through love, through humility (the very definition of humility `is others before ourselves` through love! and not out of cold mechanical duty) so that God's Spirit can control our minds/actions? And to bring about this true reverence, humility and servitude to our Father we need to exhaustively study the scriptures, and in the true sense of the word faith obey them out of an utter sense of dependency?

It seems we cannot ourselves perform a righteous act, only the Holy Spirit within us. Our rewards (Crowns?) are handed back to the Lamb of God in Revelation. So as a true believer we can only allow the above to happen or quench God's Holy Spirit?

Thanks for taking the time to reply, your insights have given me a lot to meditate on.
 
It is God that causes us to will and to do His good pleasure- it is up to us to be in total dependance on and submission the leadiong of His Spirit- this is the source af all true " good works" and all the glory goes to God!
 
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