A Pair of Two Edged Swords!

Perhaps you have heard the saying there is the letter of the law and the Spirit of the law. Maybe you have read the Bible and learned there is the ministration of death by the letter, and the Spirit gives life. Perhaps you have realized these both refer to the same pair of two-edged swords of practice and intention and written and implied in the context.
The law in practice is less severe as administered in the home by the parental representatives of authority. The children are relatively powerless in many ways in the vast world they have to call home. So parental discipline is far less afflictive in time and severity (contrasted with sentences and the death penalty by the state). A young god could have a laugh over a home or state punishments, but they are for the Heavenly Father's administration to handle. The home teaches the Spirit of the law that if you misbehave, you get punished.
The law, as practiced by nations and ruled areas, is more severe dealing with adult offenders of the ruler's prescribed acts. Rulers at times are very humane in the restrictions, forbidding only that harmful to anyone in their jurisdiction. Sometimes though, a ruler outlaws even businesses that he or she finds deplorable like prostitution or drugs to keep its people marrying for a steady partner and not escaping reality in all that strong a dose. Long sentences to a cell (remember being sent to your room?) or even the death penalty may be prescribed for some offenses. This is the letter of the law. It may be beneficial or prohibitive, lenient, or severe.
The text of Scripture has two stories. One is the literal textually contained words rendered scripture books accumulated tale. The other book is the inspired contained spiritual tale derived from the context of a living Holy God's inspired authors work over centuries composed texts. One has translators differences in the derived texts, contradictions, and traditional interpretations and taken meaning. The Spirit's story is, in the beginning, God, in the end, God will come again... The Spirit story is one that bears the gift of a living God if you can believe and all the great comfort that goes in addition to that.
Both the law and Scripture have both edges. Both are two-edged swords. It is up to each informed receiver of these swords to interpret and receive them intellectually and "spiritually"  or just be passive hearers that the words of either flow through with little thought. Now you have read they are "two-edged swords," so be careful, they can "cut" on either side.