"7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." Phillippians 3:7-9 NIV
Isn't it funny how we are fighting the same battles that Christians have been fighting the past two thousand years. Jesus battled them, Paul battled them, and present day Christians still continue to struggle against them. In Paul and Jesus' day, they were called Pharisees, and they followed all of the rules, and made sure that everyone around them knew how holy and pious they were. They even made up extra rules for the Jews to follow (I guess they thought God left a few out and needed them to correct his omissions). Paul was even one of them, before he met Jesus. The funny thing is we face these same people today, their problem is legalism.
Many people think that Christianity is a list of do's and don'ts. They seem to believe if they do the right things, hang out with the right people, go to the right church services, sit in the right pew, give the right amount of money, then they can be proud because they have done all of the right things. There has only been one person who was able to follow all of the rules, and his name is Jesus. Because of his sacrificial death on the cross, we are free from the law and the heavy burdens that it imposes.
This does not mean that we have a license to sin, and should not be sorrowful when we sin. It does mean that our relationship should be considered more important than following a lifeless list of rules and regulations. Our pride should stem from how good God is to us, and how he has transformed our lives.
We all probably know someone who has said that they can't become a Christian, because they can't or won't follow all of the rules. Well, I have good news, Christianity is not about the rules, but about a relationship. Once we develop the relationship, we love, and because we love, we want to obey. The relationship is the main thing. Let's keep the main thing the main thing.
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