We Are Not Saved By Law, But Do Christians Need It For Daily Living?
CORRECT / INCORRECT: Some say the law is not for salvation, but it is for living righteousness.
While it’s true, the law plays no role in our salvation, it’s not true to turn around and say it has a role in our daily lives. It does not. There’s not a single verse that teaches otherwise.
Free or Not Free? Partially?
Be it ‘the big 10’, or whatever, there’s no shortage of people telling us we’re still held accountable for keeping the law.
Some say it’s just the ‘moral’ law, and God disciplines us when we fall short. And if you ask them enough questions you’ll find by ‘discipline’, they actually mean ‘punish’.
Apparently, these heroes think they are doing a pretty good job at keeping the law. They must think God is pretty impressed with their human effort. After all, they rarely mess up. They are near perfect. I’m sure God will have their picture framed on a wall in heaven.
The reality is there is not a single verse that tells us we are free from the law for salvation but must observe it for daily living. The reality is there is not a single verse describing some kind of watered-down version of punishment (aka discipline) for breaking Gods law.
Not a Single Verse of Needing The Law For Daily Living
You are either fully under the law, or totally free from it. You will either experience the full wages of sin (DEATH), or won’t see so much as a smack on the hand (LIFE).
God does not judge on a curve. There’s no such thing as an A-, or a 99.9%. The wages of sin is death. One sin is all it takes. The law is an all-or-nothing deal. You pass or fail. One screw-up and you’re toast. This, my friends, is why you need to be TOTALLY apart from the law. ALL OF IT. You must be under grace, and not submit to this idea that you need a small piece of the law (old covenant) to guide you. Let Jesus do that.
It’s time we stop building a doctrine of being free from the law for salvation, but need it for dialing living. That’s 100% man-made garbage religion, and it leaves no room for trusting Jesus to lead us.
But, Doesn’t God Discipline us?
Regarding discipline. Yes, God does discipline us. But somewhere along the line we started turning discipline into a bad word. We wanted that word to scare people and fear that God was going to ‘get us’. Yet, we don’t see this anywhere in the new covenant.
- You discipline yourself to work out.
- You discipline yourself to eat healthy.
- You discipline yourself to get to work on time.
- You discipline yourself to read the bible, go to church, pray.
Discipline simply means disciple or to train. In other words, God’s discipline is not punishment for past sins, but rather training for future living. So, when you sin, and we all do, instead of God knocking you upside your head, He guides you and shows you the truth. He lives in you to train you. God’s discipline is always gentle, loving, and never something to be feared. Contrary to religious reaching, God’s discipline is NOT like that of a human father disciplining his child.
For those that chose to run to the law as their guide for daily living, well, James has this to say:
‘For whoever keeps the WHOLE LAW but fails in ONE POINT has become guilty of ALL of it’ – James 2:10
James is saying ‘your best effort isn’t enough’. If you fall short even once you will be charged is if you broke every law.
Take away? You need Jesus.
Your forgiveness is not being held hostage until you get into heaven. No. It’s here and now. Your sins have been nailed to the cross. Taken away. Gone.
The cross worked. Do you trust Jesus enough to believe it?
Author: Mike Cynar
Mike Cynar grew up in church and observed that countless people would go to church and then just stop. The church always referred to them as ‘fake Christians’ or ‘backsliders’ but Mike discovered the problem was deeper. The problem was the church message. The message was 90% behavior improvement and how bad you are, with a pinch of who you are in Christ, It was like every sermon was being preached to the church of Corinth. It’s in the Baptist church, Catholic, Pentecost, and most every other church. After discovering the true gospel message and how we are made right with God because of what ‘Jesus did’ (not what ‘we do’) Mike set out to free believers from behavior improvement programs and bring them back to Jesus. The Result – Jesus Without Religion was launched.
