For this second post on Luther and lawlessness, let’s adhere to Luther’s plea and stick to Romans:

 CHAPTER TWO

vv6-11: “God will repay each person according to his works; ⁷ to those who by perseverance in doing good seek glory, honor, and immortality, He will give eternal life; ⁸ but to those who are self-serving and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, He will give wrath and indignation. ⁹ There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of mankind who practices evil, for the Jew first and also for the Greek, ¹⁰ but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who practices what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹¹ For there is no partiality with God (Rom2:6-11)

& CHAPTER SEVEN

 vv21-25: I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. ²² For I joyfully agree with the law of God in the inner person, ²³ but I see a different law in the parts of my body waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my body’s parts. ²⁴ Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, it is through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

& CHAPTER EIGHT

Vv3b-4: “(Jesus) condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the spirit” (not “Spirit” – see Textus Receptus – link below)

v9: “However, you are not in the flesh but in the spirit (not “Spirit” – see Textus Receptus), if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him”

Notes on “Luther and Lawlessness”

Textus Receptus (Rom8) – note distinction between πνεῦμα (i.e. the human spirit e.g. vv4+5) and Πνεῦμα (i.e. the Holy Spirit e.g. v9). It should be pointed out that the original New Testament text was written entirely in capital letters with no spaces or punctuation. So, whether the Greek word for spirit was a capital or lower case Pi is a scribe-based rather than genuinely textually based issue. But the point is that in ALL cases throughout the New Testament my interpretation is in line with that of the earliest scribes with regard to whether Paul is referring to the Holy Spirit, the human spirit or the spirit in the sense of fulfilling an aim or purpose (i.e. the spirit of the law).

The Little Book of Providence:

Unlike most Protestant bible translations (KJV sometimes excepted), always faithful to the Textus Receptus’ distinction between the Holy Spirit, the human spirit or the spirit of the Law – crucial for a right understanding of Paul’s writings, the true nature of the human condition, the role of God’s Law, natural law and the scope of God’s benign providence:

The LITTLE BOOK OF PROVIDENCE: a seven-part synopsis of the bible: Download a free PDF of e-book suitable for desktop computers HERE[updated September 2023] Large-print version for mobiles HERE [565 pages]

Author’s FACEBOOK page HERE

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