He literally says "the law kills", GD!
And then he contrasts that by saying "the Spirit gives life"!
That's rather explicit!
I've pointed out before, either in this thread or another, that the authors of the Bible were VERY careful in how they worded what they said.
Which is referring to those to whom "the Spirit [gave] life."
The law doesn't do that. That's Satan that does that. (1 Peter 5:8)
The law is what kills us, and Paul is rather emphatic about this:
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 6:23
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans6:23&version=NKJV
What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died.And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me.Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good. - Romans 7:7-12
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans7:7-12&version=NKJV
The law is what delivers the wages of sin (death) to us who have sinned, similar to how the law
And we have such trust through Christ toward God.Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God,who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. - 2 Corinthians 3:4-6
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2Corinthians3:4-6&version=NKJV
How do you deal with John 3:18, which says the world is condemned already simply because the world doesn't believe?
“He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. - John 3:18
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John3:18&version=NKJV
Paul then goes on to say this:
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. - Romans 8:1-3,9-11
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans8:1-3,9-11&version=NKJV
Because:
Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband.So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. - Romans 7:1-6
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans7:1-6&version=NKJV
And what point would that be?
Serves me right for giving you the benefit of the doubt.
John 3:16-18
Romans 10:9-15
I usually reserve [ COLOR=RED ] for the words of Christ.
If I'm highlighting something, I usually use [ YELLOW ]/[ /YELLOW].
The phrase does not exist in the Bible, to be sure.
However, I have repeatedly called the separation of man from God "spiritually dead," if for no other reason than ease of use, but mainly because that's how the Bible describes those who are separated from God in Revelation, "dead" on a spiritual level, and there are similarities between that and other instances where the Bible talks about those who do not have a relationship with God when they die physically being separated from Him.
I don't care if you agree with me or not. What I care about is whether you understand the argument presented.
This is called eisegesis, GD. Reading an
a priori belief into scripture to try and understand what scripture says is a bad idea.
Except that Paul never describes the law as "condemning" anything, at least not directly that I could find. You're more than welcome to prove me wrong by posting a scripture that has Paul saying that the law condemns, even if it's not verbatim.
Otherwise, I'm going to stick to what Paul said, that the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Supra.