No More Rules

For the law was given through Moses,

but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:17

In Eden, God gave Adam and Eve one rule to follow--don't eat the fruit. They ate the fruit, thereby causing the fall of mankind from perfection to imperfection, from sinlessness to sinfulness. Through their sin, all became sinful; and through that sinfulness, all proved themselves sinners.

Skip ahead 2500 years.

At Sinai, God gave Moses ten commandments for Israel to follow--pretty simple stuff like:

• Don't Worship Other Gods,
• Don't Worship Idols,
• Don't Work on the Sabbath,
• Don't Blaspheme,
• Don't Disobey Your Parents,
• Don't Steal,
• Don't Kill,
• Don't Commit Adultery,
• Don't Lie,
• Don't Covet

The Children of Israel spent the next forty years demonstrating their ability to break each and every one of those simple commandments and dying as a result. The Bible says all those who passed through the Red Sea and walked under the Cloud and the Fire died and their bodies littered the wilderness. Successive generations were little better, living under a Law they could not possibly live up to because of their sinful nature that turned all of them into sinners. They spent lifetimes offering endless sacrifices to make up for the sins, appeasing God with the blood of bulls and goats and rams and lambs and heifers and doves. And that was just for their secret sins, the ones no one knew about. The public sins were supposed to result in death, though I can't think of a single Old Testament story of people being put to death for breaking the Law after they entered Canaan. If I'm wrong on that, please correct me.


We can only assume that people were actually put to death according to the Law. It's not really until we get to the New Testament where we see capital punishment being inflicted (or at least attempted) for breaking the commandments. At least twice the Jews tried to stone Jesus for blasphemy. A sinful woman was almost stoned in the presence of Jesus for adultery. Stephen and Paul were both stoned to death for blasphemy. And Jesus was tried and crucified for it.


So skip forward from the Law 1500 years.


The Law was given through Moses, and it condemned people for their sins. They proved they could not live up to its high standard of holiness and they were apparently giving their lives for their own sin, or spending their lives in continual sacrifice for them. They needed help; we needed help. So God sent Jesus Christ. No more rules and regulations to follow for salvation; only one instruction--Only Believe.


This simple invitation fulfilled all the requirements of 2500 years of lawlessness and 1500 years of futility in following the Law. For though the Law was given through Moses, the truth that gave eternal life came through Jesus Christ. The Law was given through Moses and brought death, but the grace that gave eternal life came through Jesus Christ. It is that truth in which we are to believe, that grace in which we are to trust. And it is that same grace that gives us the power and ability to live by the truth.