Don’t Kill The Spirit Of The Law

The Savior called out the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees because they obeyed the letter of the law but destroyed the spirit of the law. The whole point of any law or commandment from the Lord is to attune our spirit with the Lord's. If we try to use obedience to some commandment as a shield against some prompting from the Spirit, then we have destroyed the whole reason that commandment was given. It's like when Saul didn't want to slaughter all of the animals to no purpose so he tried to sacrifice them instead. The commandments are given to us because when we follow them, we are more likely to have the Spirit to be with us. But the commandments don't cover every situation perfectly. Thou shalt not kill is a commandment that generally applies, but in the specific case of Nephi trying to get the brass plates, the Spirit prompted him to kill Laban. Doing no work on the Sabbath can help us draw closer to God generally, but in the specific case of Jesus healing a man born blind, doing work on the Sabbath was the right move. God has given us His spirit to help navigate situations where different commandments might compel us to do contradictory things, but if we always strive to follow the Spirit, then we'll be sure we're following the right commandments at the right time in the right place.