Title: Law, Gospel, and the Holy Spirit
Content The law is the law of life that God gave to the Israelites through Moses. The people of Israel had sin before the law was given, but after the law was given, what they did without knowing it before as a sin became more clearly revealed as a sin after the law came (Romans 7:7). The purpose of God giving the Law to the people of Israel was not to make the people righteous, but rather to help them realize how deeply human beings are living in sin through the Law and to humble themselves before God and lead a humble life. The people who realized their sins through the law lead a humble life, so the prophet sent by God at that time guided them on the right path and told the Israelites living in their sins, 'May the Messiah come to save you from their sins in the future. will be So, even if it is difficult, be patient until then!’ (Isaiah 53:6; Micah 5:3)
However, despite the cry of the prophets, those who did not realize their sin through the law were arrogant and disrespectful, arguing that they kept the law as righteousness (in fact, no one could keep the law completely), and refused to listen to the cry of the true prophets. Rather, they wanted to hear only the voices of false prophets, 'Peace' and 'Safety'. All of these results led to their own destruction.
The Messiah, whom the prophets had been crying out for for hundreds of years, has finally come to the land of Israel. Jesus came to fulfill the law's request to release the innocent person required by the law. However, for the Israelites who had already forsaken the true meaning of the law and fell into the temptations of false prophets, Jesus was no longer their savior. They have been oppressed by Rome for their sins, but rather than repenting, they say to Jesus, 'If you are the Messiah, save us from the oppression of Rome, and we will believe in you as our Savior.' . When they lost the good meaning of the law, they were so corrupted. Without thinking of being saved from sin, he focused only on taking off the chains of the flesh, the lump of sin, in the middle of the day, saying, ‘If you free us from the oppression of Rome, then I will believe in you as the savior.’ It’s ridiculous.
Nevertheless, God sent a Savior, and Jesus came as promised. Jesus comes and says, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have not come to abolish, but to fulfill.” As explained above, these words mean, “I have come to bring salvation to those who have humbled themselves after hearing the words of the Prophet and who have realized their sins through the Law.” Therefore, it is said, “I did not come to abolish the law or the prophets, but to fulfill it.” Then, in a stronger tone, Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one jot or tittle of the law will pass away, but every one of them will be fulfilled.” . In the end, it means that the gospel can be revealed as valuable only when human beings realize their sin. It explains that the gospel is good, but the gospel alone cannot work without the law.
Also, those who have accepted the Gospel (Jesus died on the cross) must not lose the meaning of the Gospel. If you have known and believed the gospel as a good thing that gives you eternal life, you must live by the Holy Spirit to perfect Jesus in you. If you say you believe in Jesus and call only on the name of Jesus, it is the result of having only the law. For the Gospel (Jesus) to succeed, we must live by the Holy Spirit and Jesus must be preserved in him. It is said that the Holy Spirit shuns sin and makes the saved soul whole. However, if you ignore the Holy Spirit and live your own life, the soul saved through Jesus will eventually die in sin again.
That is, without the law, the gospel cannot succeed, and without the gospel, nothing can be accomplished by the law alone. Also, to the Gentiles, nothing can be accomplished by the Holy Spirit alone without the Gospel (except Jesus died on the cross), and the Gospel (Jesus died on the cross) can never be completed without the work of the Holy Spirit. In this way, the law and the gospel are inseparable from each other, and in the same way, the gospel and the Holy Spirit are fulfilling God's will in a mutually complementary relationship. This is the Triune God. It is God's will for the Father to reveal the final will of God to the Son and the Son to the Holy Spirit.
As we shed light on this today, we desperately realize that if we Gentiles have accepted the Gospel and have been saved, we must live by the Holy Spirit in order for Jesus to be fully preserved in us. If we ignore this and only exalt the name of the gospel and ignore the voice of the Holy Spirit, we will never be able to achieve the perfection of salvation. This is similar to the principle that the Israelites valued only the law and turned away from the voice of the gospel. The Lord has established gifts of the Holy Spirit to guide the Gentiles who have received the Gospel so that they can live according to the Spirit of truth. It is as if the Old Testament prophets were raised and led the people of Israel. But behind the prophets, Jesus came and saved them.
Now the Spirit of truth will come personally to the Gentiles as well. When the Spirit of truth comes, the image of Christ will be clearly revealed in the soul who has believed in Jesus and has been saved. The Holy Spirit, who came personally, will now turn us away from sin and lead us into the truth. When we receive the word of truth, the gospel (Jesus) will blossom within us as well. We must not reject the truth spoken by the Holy Spirit. You must realize that it is the last grace that the Lord has given to the Gentiles and receive it with gratitude and obey it. Those who hear and obey the words of the Holy Spirit will have eternal life. -Amen-