If we have experienced none of His love, we will see scripture as a bunch of rules and regulations given to us to win his love. It will be more of an owners manual than a love letter.
This results either in:
- Guilt, shame, and condemnation because it reminds us of our failure to live by (obey) His word(s) or
- Self-righteousness because we think superficial/external conformity is true obedience - hint, it is not.
If we have truly seen/experienced God's love to any degree, we will see scripture as his loving guidance and direction to the degree we have seen/experienced His love.
How we view scripture is more a matter of the heart than the mind.
The more of his love we experience, the more this will be true, and the more God's word/Commandments will bring us joy and be embraced with delight.
In short, legalism and the misunderstanding of God's Commandments/words/direction are nothing more than the fruit of not believing, knowing, and experiencing the goodness of God and the greatness of His personal and infinite love for us.
"For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." - John the apostle of Jesus 1Jn 5:3
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Grace to you
Jim Deal