There will be people who will tell you that we ought to be more concerned about the spirit of the Law than the Law itself.
The Law gives the rules as to the conduct of a godly person. It is the schoolmaster that leads a non-believer to Christ. Every human being who is not born-again is condemned by the Law because there is no way they can keep it. The Law shows us our sinfulness, even if someone thinks they have followed it they have not.
Someone may say "I have never committed adultery", believing they have kept that commandment, but Christ shows us they have not even if they have never committed the act of adultery. Christ said;
Matthew 5:27-28 "27 You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery.’ 28 But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman to lust after her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. "
God's standard was higher than the mere committing of the act, it is based on what our heart thinks even if we never commit an act.
No one can act separately from their thought life. It is the thoughts that determine the acts. Without the thought, the act does not occur, therefore if the act occurs then we know the heart came first.
I have had young Christian women tell me I didn't know their hearts when I chastised them for parading on the beach in string bikinis. I told them that modesty was commanded in the Bible by Christ and that violation of God's commands was rebellion against Him. Now that they know it is wrong to parade oneself immodestly they are responsible to repent and comply with God's Word.
Instead of being ashamed that they had been nearly naked on the beach while with men they were not married to, they became hostile enlisting their "youth leader" to also come against me for being "legalistic."
I attempted to explain that it is not legalism to rebuke someone for sin, the problem is that these young women were not being instructed in the ways of God from the Bible, so they felt empowered to spiritually and emotionally bludgeon anyone who would correct them for their sinful behavior.
I did know the heart of someone who dresses immodestly around young men on the beach, their heart was leaking out of them in their actions. If they didn't care about men looking at them lustfully they would not dress that way in front of men.
Even worse the tirade of angst that emerged from them when they were corrected tells me they didn't care what God thought and even became worse, a sort of in-your-face revolt against God and anyone else who would expose their indecency.
After this, I realized that I was probably dealing with pretenders who were not open to teaching and correction in holiness. If they had been open to truth and did love Jesus Christ they would have felt ashamed when confronted rather than to rage collectively.
James 2:17-19 "…17 So too, faith by itself, if it does not result in action, is dead. 18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have deeds.” Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. 19 You believe that God is one. Good for you! Even the demons believe that—and shudder."
Those who truly are seeking holiness and do love Christ with all their heart, soul and mind would never rage against a correction, they would welcome it and make changes to their behavior.
