My five year old Chloe is starting to get interested in board games. She's starting to play them enough that she can tell when she's losing and can become quite frustrated in this realization. Suddenly, she remembers! The rules that we'd somehow forgotten. She devises these rules that aren't actually "new," but we just forgot that's how to play. Of course, these new rules help her to get ahead in the game.
What would a game be without rules? Complete chaos!
Eek, what would a road be like without stop signs, speed limits, or traffic lights? I'd start riding a bike.. but probably still wouldn't be very safe.
Rules protect us and others from getting hurt.
Even the Bible has a list that could be classified as "rules."
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments were given to Moses at Mt. Sinai. You can read more about them in Exodus 20. Israel also received other laws and commandments.
1. Moral laws - God has already instilled inside each person some type of moral code. We feel "guilty" when we do something we know as wrong. Even though the extreme wicked may not feel guilt for murdering dozen, hundreds, even thousands of live, they probably did at one point. God gives His universal "moral standards." All moral standards branch from God, whether people want to admit it or not.
2. Civil laws - The people of Israel in the Old Testament had a theocracy as their government. Nothing no other people group has had since. Every ruling body has some type of rules or standards. They must keep order and hand out discipline when necessary. If anyone could pick whatever speed limit they wanted on any road, there'd be accidents all the time from people either going too fast or too slow. What if there weren't any stop signs? God created order for this group of two million and more (at this time in their history).
3. Ceremonial laws - God gave specific laws to this people group on how they should worship Him. All these laws pointed to Christ as the Messiah and were symbolic pictures of the ultimate sacrifice of the Lamb of God. Jewish individuals still practice these laws.
What about the laws in the New Testament?
After all, we are New Testament Christians. We're not "under the law but under grace." (Romans 6:14) Yet, we still see "lists" in the New Testament.
"You shall love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37, ESV)
"You shall love your neighbor has yourself" (Mark 12:31, ESV)
"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you." (Ephesians 4:32, ESV)
"Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire," (1 Timothy 2:9, ESV)
"And do not get drunk with win, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit," (Ephesians 5:18, ESV)
There's many more...
So what's the point of all the "do this" and "be this" if it's not necessary for salvation? (Ephesians 2:9)
Let's see what Jesus says to a young man who thought he had it all together... (Matthew 19:16-22, ESV)
16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 He said to Him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, “‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Jesus' answer to the young ruler was exactly what he was looking for! He'd kept all those commandments (so he thought...)! But how confusing, the young man thought there must have been a catch.
This rich young ruler had hit every mark of perfect, hypothetically speaking. But the most important qualification he hadn't obtained - He hadn't given God his heart.
The commands were of no value to get him to heaven without being willing to follow Jesus. The commands have never been there as a quest to receive eternal life; they've only been there as an arrow toward the only One Who would ever fulfill them.
Same in the New Testament - the commands aren't a way to approve favor with God, they're His explanations of how we can show the world we love Him. They're His plan for a believer to live a totally satisfying Christian life, honoring and glorifying Christ. When followed, they give peace to the child of God, unification in the church, and a light to the world.
Christ Rules
Honestly, we like rules. We like knowing expectations for us and for others. We like to be able to praise ourselves when we do a good job and judge others who aren't as good as us. We like to know what we can do better and what we've already done well.
We like to fix people's problems with "do this" and "do that," and you'll be good.
God's commands are not a measuring stick - If you do enough of them, you're closer to God; and if you do fewer of them, God doesn't like you just as much.
If that were true, Christ's death on the cross wasn't sufficient. When God looks His children, He sees the perfection of Jesus.
I really want you to get this because it's life changing. You are everything you need to be because of what Christ has done in and through you.
- How many times you go church doesn't change your worth.
- What you wear doesn't change your value.
- The number of Bible verses you've memorized doesn't give you more props with God.
- The amount of times you mess up doesn't shake your standing as a child of the Heavenly Father.
If you're still stuck...
Come to Christ
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