Colossions 2: 13 - 15 NKJV
I heard a phrase the other day which got me pretty upset. This statement came from a man who I've known as a christian for some time. He was describing his beliefs of what christians should be adhering to. Now, I might not have agreed with a few of his points, but I kept a open mind nonetheless. I was doing just fine until IT happened. There on the screen in front of me were those words..."christians need to." Really? So, forget all about that freedom in Christ crap we see in the scriptures, now we simply need to follow the marching orders of some pulpit pounder? Sorry, I'm not that guy. In fact, I've walked out of church services where they've felt more like a military exercise on following orders than a message from scripture. See, I'm all about the freedom which we are promised in the scriptures, our freedom in Christ Jesus. For it was Jesus who wiped away the requirements which were against us and nailed them to the cross with Him {Colossions 2:14}. I believe that this was the death of the law. What was the law? That's right, that law which so many christians continue to adhere to was nothing but a list of requirements to be followed. In it we were instructed how to live, pray and eat in a christian fashion. A good friend of mine has the thought that the Isrealites themselves asked to be given the very law which they could never uphold. This occured after the flight out of Egypt as the Isrealite people stood before that mountain in fear of the Lord {Exodus 20:19}. Enter the ten commandments, which led to so many more requirements which we could never uphold. Knowing that we could never possibly uphold Gods requirements, the Isrealites simply added more to the list. In essence, these were the marching orders of the Isrealites. Structured, precise and doomed to failure. Think the law is a good way to live? When was the last time that you yourself violated one of its statutes? Driving above that speed limit? Ignoring that stop sign when you were in a hurry. Pocketing that dollar you find on the floor. Still think the law is meant to keep us holy? Well, the first thought of many people when faced with a law is how they can get around it, it's what we do. I suggest that Jesus did us all a huge favor by putting it to death.
18Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.”20And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”21So the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was.
Exodus 20: 18 - 21 NKJV
My best friend in high school came from a family who was devoutly catholic. There were many rules to follow, which I didn't really realize at the time. There were the sunday morning mass services, the yearly starvation practices and the constant confessions of wrongdoings. Even back then, this all seemed a bit too structured for my taste. In my world, sunday morning meant going to church and sunday school no matter what. Yeah, we christians weren't like those dutiful catholics. So I thought. I have another dear christian friend who came within a whisker of becoming a rabbi in his younger years. What changed his mind? Well, it seems that while a young rabbi in training, my friend noticed one of his Jewish teachers about town practicing something which he instructed my friend not to do himself. This opened his eyes to the hypocracy of religious law. So, still think that those marching orders are a good thing? My friend might disagree. So would I. With each requiement we pile onto the original, we create one more link in that chain of bondage. Bondage to our old sin nature which has been put to death by Christ. Bondage to our own guilt and shame. I suggest that if we are going to go down that road of forced christianity that we do away with all but the original ten laws given to Moses. If we cannot keep those then we cannot obey the law, period. Well, we already know how that story played out. There is a very good reason why our heavenly Father created us with that freedom to choose on our own. See, I believe that God never wanted a creation that followed His directions without question. Gods own desire is that His children will have a desire to come to know Him on a more personal level. He does not desire a relationship with us based upon fear, but on love. The call of Christ Jesus has always been "come and see," not "you need to come and see!"
37The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. 38Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?”They said to Him, “Rabbi”(which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?”39He said to them, “Come and see.”They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).
John 1: 37 - 39
~Scott~
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