Faith, Not Law

Galatians 3:23-25
Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.

Ah, the law. A difficult one this can be. (Oh man, I’m beginning to sound like Yoda – yikes!) We like knowing the rules, our boundaries, and we like the thought that as long as we stay within them we’ll be OK. Following the rules, obedience, that’s what this Christian life is about, right??
I don’t think it is.
I think God is more interested in our heart than our obedience. He is looking for love and a relationship, and that relationship is experienced and expressed through faith.
The law was put into place to “lead us to Christ,” to let us know that we fall terribly short and need help. It is not to show us that we need Christ, and then show us what we need to do to maintain that relationship. We do not have to follow a list of things “to do” in order to stay in relationship with Christ. Isn’t that a freeing thought?
I think the best way to look at it is to think about a parent’s relationship with a child, as that is often how our relationship with God is described. A child is a child, whether they are rebellious or obedient, and generally they are loved either way, as well. However, parents do ask certain things of their children. Sometimes they obey because they know they need to, “or else,” and so it is with us. There are just some rules we’d better not break, or the consequences could send us reeling. However, the times a parent delights in their child the most are the times when the child does something not because they were asked a hundred times (or more – UGH!), not because the parent stood over them and forced them, but because they knew the gesture would delight the parent. And so it does. It is delightful when a child does the right thing because they love their mom or dad, because they want to make them happy, make them smile.
So, I believe, it is with God. He is delighted when our obedience is an expression of our love for Him. And as we focus on Christ and follow Him each day, He will teach us His discipline, not our own, after all that is what it means to be a “disciple.” We are disciples of Christ, because we place ourselves under His teaching to learn His disciplines, the way He does things. This is much more delightful than following a set of rules, isn’t it?
Do your disciplines – Bible reading and study, prayer, fasting, etc. – result from following a list of things to do, or are they an expression of your relationship with Christ, a natural extension of all that He is teaching you? That’s a pretty tough question to answer isn’t it? I find that even I am having trouble knowing, for sure. Let’s spend some time talking to God about it today, and discover where each of us needs to go from here.