You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
12 And [de] the law [nomos] is [esti] not [ou] of [ek] faith: [pistis] but, [alla] The man [anthropos] that doeth [poieo] them [autos] shall live [zao] in [en] them. [autos] KJV-Interlinear
12 However,
the Law is not of faith; on the contrary, "He who practices them shall
live by them." NASB
And again, Paul quotes from the Old Testament. This time from Lev. 18:5, wherein Moses states that, you are to live by the statutes and judgments of God, and keep them.
Moses is referring to all of the moral and ceremonial requirements of the Law, and therefore if you live perfectly by the Law and keep the Law without exception, then you are entitled to the rewards of such a life.
The basic requirement of the Law is that you are innocent until proven guilty, and if proven guilty then you are condemned and then sentenced.
The sentence is the Lake of Fire.
No one in history has ever lived a complete life in perfect compliance with the Law, except one person, who is Jesus Christ.
All have fallen short of this glory and therefore all are condemned by their own actions, by their own testimony in thought as well as in action.
There are only two methods with which you can live your life. The first is by faith and the second is through works. The Law is the second method of works.
To believe that you can live a perfect life, is a fool who is delusional and in total rejection of the truth concerning himself.
To reject Gods mandate to study in order to be approved, which is to say that you have to learn doctrine through a legitimate and authorized study process, while in fellowship, and then utilize what you have learned within your life, and do it day after day after day, every day of your life. And this is living by faith, not works.
Your study is your spiritual meal. And everyone eats their meals every day of their life. Skip a meal or skip a day of eating and what happens? You get hungry of course. Skip many days of eating and you become unhealthy, sick, and eventually die of malnutrition. Continue a diet of the wrong foods and your health will suffer.
Eat properly and regularly and you have a healthy and fulfilling life. You are strong, healthy, and energetic. You can think clearer and function better in life.
And so it is with your spiritual life. Study doctrine as it is supposed to be studied, and your spiritual life will be phenomenal.
Reject Gods study mandates and you are doing what Moses commanded, living by the Law, doing things your own way, rejecting Gods mandates and defining your own path through life.
Works demands unwavering and perpetual obedience to its requirements. No one can do this. Certainly you cannot.
Faith demands unwavering and perpetual obedience to Gods mandates, which is faith. Everyone can do this.
