Freedom day2

 The entire letter to the church in Galatia is written with passion and anger, correcting the corruption of the Good News that was being spread by the Judaisers. Paul states his case as clearly as he can, “If righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing” (Gal 2.21). In other words, Christ’s work is sufficient. We dare not think that keeping the Law can add a thing to what He has done. What matters now is not whether or not you live your life according to the Jewish Law, but whether or not you live your life in Christ under the direction and guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

Later, Paul incorporated these same thoughts into his letter to the Christians in Rome. They were struggling with similar issues in both places, so he went to great lengths to demonstrate the futility of seeking to be declared righteous by keeping the Jewish Law (Rom 3.9-20). 

The Judaisers weren’t content to stay in Galatia and Rome, they spread their corruption into every area that the message of Jesus had reached. To the church in Ephesus, Paul states, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast” (Eph 2.8-9). He says that Jesus has destroyed the things that separated Jews from Gentiles “by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations” (2.15). In Philippi, Paul warned the church, “Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh” (Phil 3.2). In Colossae, Paul instructed the church, “Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day” (Col 2.16). 

Your standing with God is not determined by your ethnicity or your observance of Jewish Law, it is determined by your identification with the finished work of Jesus Christ and the life you now live under the influence of the Spirit. Sadly, legalism is still practiced in many churches today. Maybe it’s not about kosher foods or circumcision, but we’ve managed to create our own boundary markers. For some, it’s social drinking or smoking. In some circles, it’s going to movies, listening to certain kinds of music or dancing. 

Most of us have moved beyond those debates, but there are other, subtler forms of legalism still at work among us. For example, if you’ve made it this far in my posts, (coming on for a year now), you are to be commended. But I’m guessing at least some of you got behind somewhere along the line. You got busy and skipped a few days. Maybe you made it up by reading several days’ worth of material in one sitting, or maybe you just fast-forwarded to the next story. 

Here’s the thing. Sometimes people feel guilty about missing their daily devotional or “quiet time.” They feel distant from God — even unloved by Him for that day. They can’t wait to get back to their scheduled reading so that they can once again find themselves in God’s good graces. 

Guess what? That’s legalism. You are loved by God. Reading your Bible and saying your prayers doesn’t make you any more loveable to God than you already are. 

The discipline is important, but the discipline doesn’t make you acceptable to God. Jesus Christ makes you acceptable to God. Live life in Him, and you never need to feel the burden of Quiet Time guilt again!

 

Prayer 

 

Lord God, when Your kindness and love for the people You created appeared in the Person of Your Son, You saved us, not on the basis of deeds we have done in righteousness, but according to Your mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit. Now that we have been justified by Your grace, we have been made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. We have been justified by faith and not by the works of the Law, and only the righteousness of Your Son in us can make us acceptable before You. Teach us, Lord, with increasing clarity that not only is grace through faith in Christ the basis for our salvation, but that grace through faith in Christ is also the basis for our sanctification in the spiritual life. It is as we abide in Christ that His fruit of good works will become evident in and through us. 

In Jesus’s name, Amen