“But now, by dying to what once bound us,
we have been released from the law
so that
we serve in the new way of the spirit,
and not in the old way of the written code.”
Romans 7:6
Trying to keep the law is exhausting — and impossible!
Just ask the older brother in the parable of the prodigal son … or any reformed legalist in your life. (That might be you, in fact!)
Even if we do manage to buckle down and do a decent job of keeping the law on the outside, we most likely become self-righteous prigs (a word I am borrowing from C.S. Lewis, which is defined by the Oxford dictionary as, “a self-righteously moralistic person who behaves as if superior to others”). Maintaining the outward appearance of keeping the law makes us arrogant, prideful, and — let’s just admit it! — insufferable.
But eventually, keeping the law is unsustainable. The pressure leads to self-condemnation and shame and even more hyperactivity as we attempt to compensate for our failure.
Letting go of the pressure to perform brings sweet freedom.
Relinquishing the “have to” frees us to live it in the beautiful place of “want to” and even “delight to” as we serve our Lord.
Keeping the law was never intended to save us. It can only show us our need to be saved. The law underscores our deep need for a Savior. Functioning as a spiritual mirror, the law reveals our flaws … but just as a physical mirror cannot reach out and correct our smudged mascara, neither can the law fix what is broken in our lives. Only Jesus can do that.
And here’s the thing: the Savior that saved us is the Savior who sustains us!
As followers of Christ, we know our salvation is only received through Christ. Why, then, do we think we can live the Christian life on our own? We need His Spirit to be saved and we need His Spirit to live saved!
Are you ready to give up on the pressure of rule keeping? Why not let 2021 be the year you kick legalism out the door for good and begin living like the free-in-Christ woman you are?
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