As I read the following passage for "Come Follow Me" with my family last night, I experienced my usual confusion reading Paul's words:
Romans 9:31 But Israel, which followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of righteousness.
32 Wherefore? Because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumblingstone;
What??
After we discussed it, I think it means that even if we follow the law every day of our life and it doesn't change our hearts, it is of no use.
There's a quote by C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity that goes along the lines of: God didn't make up commandments to see if we would follow them and be obedient. Rather commandments embrace the very laws by which God himself lives. Following the commandments are intended to help us to become like Him.
So if we seek to honor the letter of the law but refuse to let the Spirit of the law touch our hearts, it does us no good. In the end, we attain nothing.
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