Rules? Or Rules?

Deuteronomy 33:1–34:12, 2 Corinthians 8:16–24, Psalm 46, 2 Corinthians 10:3–4

One young woman said to me that she didn’t want to become a Christian because of the rules. She feared being so restricted that her life would never include anything that was fun.

The other end of that extreme are the people who think that once you are saved by grace (not by rule-keeping), you can do whatever you wish because God has already forgiven you in Christ Jesus.

Both ideas cannot be right. Or can they? Do the standards of God ever change? Is there a difference between the old covenant and the new covenant? Did the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ eradicate all the “rules” found in the OT Laws? Or are they still binding on us? If not, what are those NT rules that some people fear?

These questions came to mind as I read about the death of Moses. Moses received God’s law, gave it to the people, and led them through the wilderness, but he was not allowed into the Promised Land.

“Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, which is opposite Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land, Gilead as far as Dan, all Naphtali, the land of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the western sea, the Negeb, and the Plain, that is, the Valley of Jericho the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar. And the Lord said to him, ‘This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, “I will give it to your offspring.” I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.’ So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 34:1–5)

The Promised Land points to new life. They were led into this new life by Joshua, whose name in Greek is Jesus. This is not a coincidence. The analogy is easy to see. The people of God had a new life but they had to battle powerful enemies to take possession of it. This seems analogous to the spiritual battle against sin that Christians experience, a battle that goes on for the rest of our lives. We are to fight that battle, not with law-keeping, but with NT strategy. As the Bible says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds.” (2 Corinthians 10:3–4)

In my experience, law-keeping does not cut it. I need divine power, the power that comes from Jesus Christ. This is not about ignoring the godliness Moses describes in the OT, but realizing Jesus Christ fulfilled the law. Because He lives in me, I have His grace and power to not only be the person God wants me to be, but to defeat the evil powers that try to destroy me or render my life ineffective in glorifying God. This can be an intense battle, but because of Jesus (not law or rules), I am “more than a conqueror through Him who loved me.”

To answer the young woman, Christians are blessed with new hearts and changed “I-wants.” That means some of the things we thought would be fun are not nearly so important or precious, because Jesus gives us such great joy. As for the other extreme of being able to do what we please, the answer is the same. A genuine Christian has a different set of I-wants. We are pleased to obey God, and will gladly sacrifice those old desires so we can live out that new value system.

In today’s NT reading, Paul surprises some readers by saying that he cares what people think. “We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that is being administered by us, for we aim at what is honorable not only in the Lord’s sight but also in the sight of man.” (2 Corinthians 8:20–21)

For me, fearing opinions was a snare for many years. Instead of doing what God wanted and risk offending others, I waffled and did what I thought would win friends and influence people. Eventually God brought me through that fear so that I would not be concerned what others think of me as much as I am concerned to obey Him. Yet in that place of fearing God instead of people, He asks me to consider others, doing what I do so God is glorified. This is the way of Jesus; my life is not about me.

Today I had some junk to confess and as I did, the Lord assured me of forgiveness and gave me these verses that I might not beat myself up with guilt or shame. I am to remember His goals for me. He is with me in my efforts to follow Him.

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble . . . . ‘Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” Selah (Psalm 46:1, 10–11)

This is the way of Jesus – my life is incredibly blessed because of His grace.

Rules and misplaced faith

For anyone raised in a world of rules, the Gospel is difficult to understand. Rules say, if you do this, you will be acceptable. In the spiritual realm, if asked how to get to heaven, or how to please God, most people will say, Be a good person. Obey the rules.

The Bible does have rules, lots of them. God commands obedience to His rules too, but the Gospel comes along and says that no one is saved by keeping the rules. Not only that, it says no one is even able to keep the rules. We all fall short.

What is the point? Why would God give us a long list of shall’s and shall-nots that we cannot obey anyway? Paul answers that question in Romans 7. He says that the impossibility of keeping the rules shows him an important truth about himself: “I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have know covetousness unless the law had said, ‘you shall not covet.’”

This seems a human principle. A rules is just there for the breaking, sort of like I’m not thirsty until the water is turned off. I don’t want chocolate cake until my scales tell me I should not have it. Make a rule, and something in me says I should break it. The rules show me that I am a rebel. That rebel response does not make God’s rules wrong. They are good, as Paul also said, but their purpose is not to give me life and a right relationship with God, but to show me how badly I need Him. I cannot be what He wants me to be all by myself. The Gospel offers freedom, and that death-to-self and a new life that is rightly-related to God by grace, not rules.

But I’ve noticed how easy it is to slip back into thinking that I must do this and I must do that in order to please God. Keep the rules. Such effort is frustrating, to say the least. First of all, I’m deciding which rules to keep (God-playing), and then I can’t keep them anyway. I get this sense that I’ve never done enough.

God says anyone who wants to please God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. "Without faith, it is impossible to please God."

Faith sees God as the supplier of all that I need, not a demander that I produce. When I am trying to please Him, I don’t bring my self-effort, my list of do’s and don’ts. Instead, I come to Him with a desire to love and obey Him, asking Him for whatever I need to fulfill that.

Being a good person is impossible apart from the grace and gifts of God. Getting to heaven is impossible apart from faith and from the grace and gift of eternal life. Obeying the commands is also impossible, because when I try, my focus is on me and my faith is in me. Even though that old, sinful nature is dead and powerless, every time I try to live (an oxymoron) according to its power, I find out all over again that I don’t have what it takes. I should never trust myself, for trying to obey the rules clearly reveals to me that I don’t measure up to that kind of trust.

Holding up my cup

Becoming a Christian takes only a moment; living the Christian life is a long-term challenge. While Jesus gives us His power to overcome sin, we are actively involved in the struggle. We also engage in spiritual warfare as we battle the forces of evil in prayer for ourselves, others, and the world around us. Our lives are never predictable, yet sometimes we look for a formula, a rule that will be a sure-fire solution to each day’s issues and perplexities.

In a discussion about rejoicing, one person offered, “I discovered years ago that joy depends on serving Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last.” While this is true, this acrostic quickly becomes a platitude to anyone who does not seek God’s renewing power on a continual basis. I’ve never been able to meet daily challenges with platitudes.

My verse today again reminds me how true that is. 1 Chronicles 4:10 says, “And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested.”

This verse is the foundation for the best-selling book, The Prayer of Jabez. It became a formula for thousands of people who looked for just one basic rule for life that would insure victory over sin and and bring them continual blessing. Does it work?

Watchman Nee, who wrote my devotional book, says that it is God’s intention to continually bless His people. If that blessing is absent, there is a reason. Instead of asking God to bless us, we need to find out what we have done to stop its flow into our lives.

Someone once illustrated this using a cup. He said if our lives are right with God, we are like a cup standing upright and He is pouring blessing into it. However, if we sin, the cup tips over and all is spilled out. The only way to be restored to our upright position is to “confess our sin and He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Then this man repeatedly tipped and righted the cup and said, “Just realize that you will go through your Christian life tipping over and getting up. The best you can hope for is that the length of time becomes longer between tip-overs.”

This is the closest pat answer or formulas that I know of for a successful walk with God. While the prayer of Jabez is a good attitude to have, yet the prayer Jesus taught His disciples (commonly called the Lord’s Prayer), is just as good, and so also are the prayers of Paul. More important is praying according to the will of God in regard to the need of the moment and the desires of my heart, and even more important than that is keeping short accounts with Him so He can bless me.

Walking with Jesus is hard work, a daily, even a moment-by-moment act of paying attention to Him. Hanging a verse on the wall, memorizing and repeating verses, learning acrostics and catchy sayings do help me remember what I am learning, but no one thing covers all.

Only the person and work Jesus Christ covers it all. His blood covers my sin and my need to be clean, and when I turn to Him for answers, His direction conforms to His Word, not just one verse, but all of it. Not only that, instead of giving me pat answers, His daily bread always has an element of “being new every morning” and a delightful surprise to my heart.