Law and Faith

Justification by faith. We are no longer bound by law but by faith and love. Simply by knowing this is a release in itself.

How many people are being bound by law? How many people are frustrated by the can do's and the cannot do's? Children are frustrated of being curbed of their natural curiosity by laws set by parents. Adults are constantly frustrated by laws set by their bosses, of being forced to surrender their 'family time' to be seen as assets to companies. We bind ourselves by laws set by ourselves to comport ourselves with decorum fit for public eyes.

People go to church because going to church has become a routine in their lives, as it is the law to go to church on the Sabbath day. People give tithes because they 'have' to give 10 percent of their earnings to the church. With this mindset, these people are still bound by the law. But when you are free from the law, and walk by faith and love, we realise that we go to church every Sunday, not because the law decrees it to be so, but because we hunger for God's guidance, and that we want to use the pulpit messages as a guide for the entire week yet to come. We have the heart to die and resurrect with Christ because of love and faith. Because we believe. We give tithes not because we have to, but because of God's blessing, and to be free from financial bondage. Money will have no power, or less power over us if we can give 10 percent of our income freely to God every month.

The law is a cold light with a hardness that glints like cold steel. Faith and love exude a warm, rosy glow. To be bound by the law is to be shackled like a slave. Like Hagar the slave woman and her child. The child of Sarah the free woman enjoys the covenant of God. We are the children of Sarah. Though we are the gentiles, the day we welcome the perfect God into our hearts and willing to live our lives for Him, we cease to become slaves. We cease to be bound by the law. We have become the descendants of Abraham. By faith and love, we are free.

But this freedom does not give us an excuse to indulge in excess. It does not give us license to pander to the longings of our earthly flesh. The Holy Spirit will constantly fight with our wants and longings. To give in would have been too easy. The temptations of the world are great. Temptations of the eye, temptations of the heart, temptations of riches and glory, temptations of power. The temptations to judge, to appear superior, to command. The temptations to turn to philosophy and self intelligence to solve our problems instead of turning to God. The Holy Spirit within us battles against these temptations. So if we let the Holy Spirit control us, we will free ourselves from the law that shackles us, and are able live a life that is guided solely by the Truth, and by faith and love.

And to live by the Holy Spirit, and by faith and love, we will enjoy the true assurance of being the children of God. We are truly free.

Pondering on Paul's letter to the Galatians.