Discussion Jumpstarter
Study leader reference - not a definitive answer
Question 2
In Romans 7 Paul says, “the law is spiritual,” yet the speaker insists the Mosaic Law had “no power in it” to enable obedience; what does this teaching suggest about God’s purpose in giving a good/holy law that could expose sin but could not heal it?
Another way to ask: If the law is “spiritual” but can’t give people power to obey, why would God give a good law that shows sin but can’t fix it? What do you think God was trying to do through it?
Discussion Jumpstarter
Direct Answer
Based on the speaker’s teaching, God gave a spiritual and good law to reveal what pleases Him and to expose sin, but not as the final means of transformation. The law could diagnose and direct (“right and wrong”), yet it could not supply the inward power, forgiveness, or Spirit-help that comes through Christ.
- Paul’s statement is read plainly: “the law is spiritual,” and the speaker agrees “the law is good.”
- He says the problem is not the law’s standard but its inability to empower: “it had no power in it. It could tell you what was good and bad.”
- He explains the sacrificial system’s limits: animal sacrifices “couldn’t take away your sin…more a reminder of the fact of it.”
- He calls the Mosaic law “a big step up” from the period “before the law” because it clarified God’s will.
- He emphasizes what was missing: “There was no indwelling of the Holy Spirit…no true forgiveness of sins, no blood that could take away our sins.”
- Romans 7 then portrays the predictable result: “I want to do that, but I don’t have any power to do it.”