The "law of faith."

[Gerr]

Yes, Gerry, you explained it. Unfortunately your explanation is incorrect. As the context points out, John does not say that Cain killing Abel is a violation of the Commandment to not kill. He says it was a violation of the commandment to love:

And how does anyone know what is loving/not loving behavior? The decalogue defines what what is not a loving behavior.

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In fact, no one knows just what "laws" existed at that time in history. I doubt that the Decalogue was known then.

Are you saying the principles of the 10c were not known before Sinai? In Gen 4, Cain was guilty of murder, yet there is no explicit mention of any law against murder. Unless the commandment against murder was known, he would not have been guilty of sin! In Genesis, there is no mention of the law of love either, but Cain was guilty of murder. So this much of the 10c was known. Therefore, for you to say that John merely had in mind the violation of the law of love and not the decalogue is totally without merit!

In Gen 6:11, it says, "Now the earth was corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with violence." What is violence if not the transgression of the last six commandments? Again, unless they knew the principles of the last six, they would not have been charged with the crime of violence.

And what was the sin of Sodom? And how did Joseph know that it was wrong to have sex with his master's wife? This was 400 years before Sinai.

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Gerry, Do you agree with the explanation I offered which defines

'lawlessness" as violating the words of Christ? It may be easier to understand than John. Do you see the relationship between

'lawlessness" and "the will of the Father" in Matthew? Do you recognize the parallelism which correlates the "things I say" in Luke with the "will of the Father" in Matthew?

Do you agree that we will ultimately be judged by the teachings of Christ, not the Decalogue?

It is totally absurd to separate the decalogue from the words or teachings of Jesus. The same Jesus who taught the sermon on the mount was the same Jehovah that taught them the decalogue on Mt. Sinai! And look at Mt 5-7, He was simply amplifying how extensive the principles of the law are.

James, the Lord's brother, who wrote the epistle bearing his name explicitly points out that we will be judged by the "royal law", the "law of liberty." There is no question that he is referring to the decalogue since he quotes two of the 10.

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Since the teachings of Christ nullify the Decalogue, why do you cling to it?

Where does it say in Holy Writ that the teachings of Jesus nullified the decalogue? On the contrary, He said - ESV | ‎Mt 5:17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

And Paul: NASB95 | ‎Ro 3:31 Do we then nullify the Law through faith? May it never be! On the contrary, we establish the Law.

And John: ESV | ‎Re 11:19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.

What is in that ark in God's temple in heaven?

In the New Covenant, what does God promise to write in the heart?

ESV | ‎Mal 3:6 “For I the LORD do not change

ESV | ‎Heb 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

The law that He gave his people to obey in the OT is the same law that He writes in the heart for people to obey.

[Hansen]

Gerry, The law and the prophets are not the Decalogue. The law contains the Decalogue. They predicted and taught that Christ would come as the Messiah. That's how Jesus fulfilled them.

The law is established by faith when we believe it. The law of faith is not referring to the Decalogue. The law of faith refers to the teachings of the OT which we believe.

The significance of seeing the ark of the covenant in the temple? Not sure what to make of it. It poses an interesting question, considering the following:

Jer. 3:16 "it shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land," declares the LORD, "they will no longer say, ‘the ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ and it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again.