Romans 8:3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.This is one of my favorite truths from Paul. Those who get stuck on following the "rules" of Christianity are completing misunderstanding Jesus' death and resurrection and the new covenant this made. If following rules changed our sinful hearts, Jesus didn't need to come. God had already given us a set of rules in the ten commandments, to which the Pharisees added some 600 more. We had plenty of rules to follow before Jesus came, but our hearts weren't changing. All we did was focus on our sinful nature which then led us to do sinful things. Paul says it this way, "For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing." Exactly! When we focus on the things we shouldn't do, we do them. What is the solution then? If our goal is to do good, then we must focus on the One who can do good through us, Jesus. Focus on Jesus, the new covenant, and your heart will gravitate toward the good God requires of us. You will become righteous through Jesus' death and the Spirit will work in you to change your heart. The result will be that the good actions and thoughts you want to have, you will have. If we still needed to keep the commandments, then Jesus' death was in vain. His death was not in vain! Through Jesus' death "You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness."(Romans 6:18) Commandments cause us to focus on the sin in our lives. Jesus causes us to focus on the Spirit in our lives. That is freedom in Christ, brothers and sisters!
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