The Holy Spirit takes the place of the Mosaic Law in the believer's life, becoming the indwelling guide and power that leads, directs, and keeps the believer from sin.
According to Les Feldick, the moment a person believes the gospel, the Holy Spirit comes in and indwells him, becoming God's brand and His power within (Clips 5, 6). From that point the Spirit becomes the believer's guideline for Christian living — warm and loving where the Law was cold and condemning — giving the believer both the desire and the power to live pleasing in God's sight (Clip 1). The Spirit never leads a believer contrary to the Law; instead He leads, guides, and directs so that the believer fulfills the Law through love (Clips 2, 4).
Romans 8:2 — The 'law of the Spirit of life' has freed the believer from the law of sin and death — the passage behind Les's teaching that the Spirit becomes the believer's governing law.
1 Corinthians 3:16 — States plainly that every believer is the temple of God because the Spirit of God dwells in him — the foundation of the Spirit's indwelling role.
Romans 7:6 — Declares believers serve in newness of spirit rather than the oldness of the letter — the scriptural basis for the Spirit replacing the written code.
Romans 8:2 declares, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death." The Bible describes the believer as released from the Law's demands: Romans 7:4 says the believer is "become dead to the law by the body of Christ" and is "married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." Romans 7:6 adds that believers are "delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." The New Testament also reveals the Spirit's indwelling presence in every believer. 1 Corinthians 3:16 asks, "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" Likewise 1 Corinthians 6:19 states the believer's body is "the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you." Romans 13:8-10 shows the believer's ethical direction: "he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law" and "love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
Les Feldick teaches that the Holy Spirit replaces the Mosaic Law as the believer's governing authority and guideline for Christian living. Whereas the Law was "cold stone" that condemned and gave no help, the indwelling Holy Spirit is warm, loving, and gives the believer the desire to live pleasing in God's sight (Clip 1). The moment a person believes the gospel, the Holy Spirit comes in, indwells the body as God's temple, becomes God's brand upon the believer, and provides the very power of God within (Clips 3, 5, 6). Les emphasizes that being delivered from the Law is not license to sin — grace is never licensed (Clip 5). The Spirit provides what the Law could not: the power to keep a person from wanting to steal, speak falsely, covet, and commit immorality (Clip 3). The Holy Spirit will never lead a believer into adultery, idolatry, or anything contrary to the Law; rather, He leads, guides, and directs believers in a new way of serving — in newness of spirit (Clips 2, 7). In this Spirit-directed walk, love operating in the believer fulfills the Law (Romans 13:8, 10). Les also pictures the believer as married to the risen Christ — a union meant to produce fruit (Clip 0).
Les Feldick teaches that the Holy Spirit in actuality becomes the believer's law — not a set of rules and regulations, but the Spirit's influence and power. Where the Law sat in cold stone and was severe, condemning, and unable to help the person keep it, the indwelling Holy Spirit is warm, loving, and gives the believer the desire to live pleasing in God's sight. The Mosaic Law had no power to keep a man from stealing or committing adultery; all it could do was condemn him (Clip 7). Under the law of the Spirit, the Spirit indwells the believer, and the believer is no longer under the demands of the Ten Commandments but under the control of the Holy Spirit — serving in newness of spirit, not in the oldness of the letter (Clips 1, 2).
No. Les Feldick teaches that the Holy Spirit will never lead a believer to do something contrary to the law. He calls it logical: the Holy Spirit will never lead someone into adultery, and the Holy Spirit will never lead someone into idolatry. Instead, without the burden of the law and the fear of breaking it, believers now have grace, and the Holy Spirit is the one who leads, guides, and directs them so that they keep the law.
Absolutely not. Les is emphatic that being free from the Law does not mean license. Believers are not free to steal or do whatever they wish. Quite the opposite: they are under the power of a person of the Godhead — the indwelling Holy Spirit — who keeps them from wanting to steal, from speaking falsely, from coveting, and from immoral doings. These are the very things the Law commanded against, but the Law could not prevent them; the Spirit provides the power the Law lacked. As Les puts it, "grace is never licensed."
Les describes the believer's union with Christ in marriage terms: when old Adam is crucified and the believer is reckoned dead to the Law, God reckons the believer married to Christ — a new relationship under the love, grace, and mercy of Christ Himself. This union is meant to produce fruit — a productive result. In practical terms, walking after the Spirit means the Spirit becomes the believer's guideline for living, and when the love of God is operating in that believer, he or she has fulfilled the Law. As Romans 13:8 says, "he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law," and Romans 13:10 adds, "love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law."
Married to Christ
Les explains the believer's new relationship — dead to the Law and married to the risen Christ — which is the relational setting in which the Spirit-led life bears fruit.
The Spirit Becomes Our Law
Les teaches that the Holy Spirit becomes the believer's guideline for Christian living — warm, loving, and giving the desire to please God — in direct contrast to the cold, condemning Law.
The Spirit Never Leads Into Sin
Les argues it is logical that the Holy Spirit never leads a believer into adultery, idolatry, or anything contrary to the Law; instead the Spirit leads, guides, and directs believers so that they keep the Law.
The Spirit's Power Over Sin
Les reveals that the indwelling Holy Spirit — a person of the Godhead — keeps the believer from wanting to steal, lie, covet, and commit immorality, which the Law demanded but could not produce.
Walking in the Spirit Fulfills the Law
Les shows that walking after the Spirit makes the Spirit the believer's guideline for living, and that love operating in the believer fulfills the Law (Romans 13:8, 10).
The Spirit Comes In at the Moment of Belief
Les explains that the moment a person believes the gospel, the Holy Spirit comes in, becomes God's brand and His power within, leading and guiding the believer under grace — which is never license.
The Body Is the Spirit's Temple
Les teaches that every believer is indwelt at the moment of belief, so the believer cannot leave God at the door — the body is the temple of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
The Law's Weakness vs. the Spirit's Power
Les contrasts the Law — which had no power to help anyone keep it and could only condemn — with living under the law of the Spirit, where the Spirit indwells the believer.
Romans 7:4: Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
The basis for the believer's new marriage to Christ — dead to the Law to bear fruit unto God.
Romans 7:6: But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
Scripture's statement that believers serve in newness of spirit rather than in the oldness of the letter.
Romans 8:2: For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
The 'law of the Spirit of life' frees the believer — the passage behind the Spirit's role as the believer's governing law.
Romans 13:8: Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Les quotes this to show that love toward a neighbor fulfills the Law.
Romans 13:10: Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Confirms that love works no ill to a neighbor and so is the fulfilling of the Law.
1 Corinthians 3:16: Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
States plainly that the believer's body is the temple of God because the Spirit dwells in him.
1 Corinthians 6:19: What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
Shows the believer's body is the temple of the Holy Ghost — the indwelling Spirit the believer cannot leave behind.
Yes. Les Feldick teaches that the Holy Spirit becomes the believer's guideline for Christian living — not a set of rules and regulations, but the Spirit's influence and power. The believer is no longer under the demands of the Ten Commandments, but under the control and guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
No. Les teaches that the Holy Spirit will never lead a believer into anything contrary to the law — never into adultery, idolatry, or any wrongdoing. Instead, the Spirit leads, guides, and directs the believer so that the believer keeps the law.
The moment a person believes the gospel. As soon as the Holy Spirit opens the understanding and the person believes, the Spirit comes in, indwells the body, becomes God's brand upon the believer, and becomes the very power of God within.
No. Les is clear that grace is never license. Being delivered from the Law means the believer is now under the power of the Holy Spirit, who keeps him from wanting to steal, lie, covet, and commit immorality — things the Law demanded but had no power to prevent.
Watch the Teaching: Dead to the Law, Married to Christ — What Romans 7 Really Means