As Christians, we are saved by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9) and we understand that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation. Yet, we often wrestle with how we ought to live our lives in order to please God and it seems like there is a fine line between being pharisaical (wanting to observe the biblical laws) and freely expressing our faith in a world of constantly shifting moral values.
In today’s society there are Christian church denominations that practice observing Saturday as the Sabbath and condemn Sunday worship as a violation of the fourth commandment. There are also churches that identify as Christian that reside in the polar extreme to this position, and ordain gay and lesbian pastors while approving of homosexuality as part of the Christian life. Both are extreme examples of erroneous interpretations of the gospel.
It may seem like Christians ought to observe the moral standard of the ten commandments and refrain from sins such as sexual immorality, stealing and murder. But how can we not be construed as hypocritical when we condemn these actions while ignoring the Sabbath, biblical laws regarding the foods we eat or remaining silent regarding premarital sex.
At the risk of sounding “holier than thou,” true believers are called to live in a manner that glorifies God, recognizing that how they portray themselves in public is a testimony to their core beliefs and level of commitment to their Lord and Savior. And equally important, what they do in private must be acceptable in God’s sight, along with their very thoughts.
God’s Perspective
Jesus drew a stark picture of how sin is perceived in God’s sight when he gave the Sermon on the Mount. He said that men who even look at a woman lustfully are guilty of adultery and someone who is angry with their brother is guilty of murder in God’s eyes (Matthew 5:22; 27-28). In addition, Jesus said that anyone who divorces except for marital unfaithfulness must never marry again or it would be considered adultery. No human could ever live up to these standards.
Many believers justify their failure to abstain from premarital sex with the logic: “it’s ok in God’s eyes if it happens in a committed relationship,” or “since Jesus conquered sin, it is no longer sinful for believers to commit these acts.” However, the Bible also says that God does not change (Malachi 3:6), therefore, sin is still sin in His sight.
Jesus put sin into perspective in this way: “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’? For it doesn’t go into his heart but into his stomach, and then out of his body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean).
He went on: “What comes out of a man is what makes him ‘unclean.’ For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man ‘unclean.’ (Mark 7:18-23). Here, Jesus exerted His authority over the laws of Moses in one of his many “mic drop” moments.
In essence, Jesus illustrated that observing the Mosaic laws simply addressed the symptoms of sin and that the root cause of sin was much deeper than outward actions. This is where Jesus separated Himself from the laws of Moses and established a new covenant with everyone who would believe in Him. A new covenant that required purity of heart (Hebrews 10:16).
A New Covenant in Spirit And Truth
Jesus told the woman at the well in John 4:23, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the worshippers the Father seeks.” Under Christ’s new covenant the old covenant was fulfilled and a new interpretation was offered upon its foundation.
Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18). Further, in Luke 24:44, “He said to them, ‘This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”
Jesus established and ratified the new covenant at the last supper (Luke 22:19-20) in similar fashion to a first century Jewish wedding contract (see The Bride of Christ, February 9, 2021). The writer of Hebrews explains, “Then He said, ‘Here I am, I have come to do your will.’ He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”(Hebrews 10:9-10).
The apostle Paul wrote in Colossians 2:13-14, “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross.”
Not Under The Law But Under Grace
It is crucial to recognize that God never contradicts Himself and even though believers are not under law but under grace, their freedom from the Mosaic law is not the freedom to sin. Under the new covenant we function through faith and it is in faith that we are to abide in Christ. We are to surrender to the Holy Spirit and be loyal to Jesus as our bridegroom, forsaking all others (worldly values, i.e. sin).
Paul advises us to live in obedience to the Holy Spirit. “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.” (Galatians 5:16-18).
Paul continues, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:19-24).
Ultimately, Christians cannot mock God (Galatians 6:7-8). Those who do not repent of sin cannot be true believers and churches that sanctify sin by conducting homosexual marriages and ordaining gay and lesbian pastors are simply outside of the body of Christ.
Believers are not obligated to observe Saturday Sabbath worship or any of the Old Testament restrictions regarding social, political and economic practices. We return to Colossians 2, where Paul instructs, “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.” (Colossians 2:16-17). Jesus as Lord of the Sabbath is our Sabbath. In Him we find rest (Hebrews 4:1-11).
There Is No Law Against Producing Good Fruit
When the Spirit leads Christians to attend Sunday church services, there is no law against it. Saturday worship is acceptable and so is Sunday worship. God accepts worship on any day of the week. Believers who attend bible studies and prayer groups on week nights do so in obedience to the Holy Spirit within them. Again, there is no law against this. When Christians donate to charities, help the poor and needy, their sacrifice is an act of worship. They worship in truth and in spirit and these are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.
Those who attempt to keep the ten commandments as a religious practice, such as Saturday Sabbath worship while condemning worship on other days, honor God with their lips but their hearts are far from him. James, the brother of Jesus wrote, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:8-10). Rather than obeying laws, we submit to the Spirit and produce the fruit of the Spirit, which returns exceedingly more goodness than laws could ever elicit.
As Christians, we are no longer under law but under grace, however, we must not willingly continue to sin since we have crucified our sinful nature and now live with circumcised hearts. By submitting ourselves to the righteousness of Christ, we are empowered to imitate Jesus and live holy lives, not because we have to, but because we want to. In reverence and love for Christ we can walk the walk and not just talk the talk.
