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IV. THE SPIRITUAL LAW

The question that arises is whether or not the idea that "all things done in faith are permissible" is an act of defining good and bad for ourselves. The answer would certainly be "yes," if we had understood the law of God to have been telling us of individual actions, and not of higher principles. Meaning, it's not our faith that something is good that we can be confident in, but our faith that we're adhering to the higher principles stated by God. These higher principles are stated throughout the New Testament. Paul tells us in the letter to the Galatians how the law is fulfilled:

For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Galatians 5:14)

When asked what the greatest Commandment is, Christ responds with two Commandments:

And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these. (Mark 12:29-31)

The rules of faith are to love your neighbor as yourself, and love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength. In the Book of Deuteronomy, we find the first of these Commandments:

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God [is] one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

The second of the great Commandments is found in the Book of Leviticus:

Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD. (Leviticus 19:18)

If we apply these principles to Paul's designation that anything we do, we must do through faith, we can understand why he's not having us define our own morality, he's binding us to the highest morality: the true fulfillment of the law. He's telling us that there's no physical act we can do that in itself is a fulfillment or violation of the higher law, but any act we do can be either one. That being said, again, don't test the waters, there's a reason that the Mosaic Law was given as a set of actions: those actions were meant to lead us to this higher law.

So, theoretically, we could walk in perfect faith, performing any actions we see fit, but this would be unwise. As Paul tells us, all things may be lawful for us, but not all things are going to be good for us (1 Corinthians 6:12). If you're constantly seeking sensual pleasures, you're likely not acting from a pure motivation of loving God and neighbor. You might be able to argue with someone, and make a case for spreading the Gospel through your actions, and thus you're serving the greater good, but examine your heart very carefully. It's likely not going to be a debate you're engaging in on judgment day, and your heart's true motivations will be made manifest before you. The most beneficial thing that we could do for ourselves seems to be to constantly question our heart's desires every time we perform an action.

To be perfectly honest, a good place to start would likely be in regulating our actions by using Commandments from the Old Testament, but with the caution in our hearts not to assume that performing actions is sufficient to avoid sin. Think of Christ's lessons during the Sermon on the Mount; he takes concepts from Mosaic Law and elevates them to the highest value. He reminds us that the law tells us not to kill, but then expands the accountability to apply to being angry without cause, saying to our brother 'Raca' (that is something like useless), or calling them a fool (Matthew 5:22). He reminds us that we can't commit adultery, as written in the law, but then expands adultery to be defined as looking on any woman with lust (Matthew 5:28). Christ is elevating the law to a higher standard, that is, he's taking it from actions (works) to matters of the heart. He's taking the physical law and telling us that what's behind it is a spiritual law.