Relationships or Rules

Today much is said of relationships. There is a book out that claims God is not about rules or authority, but He wants a relationship with people. It is true that real Christianity is not about religion, but it is a relationship with Jesus the Messiah. However we must not allow our thinking to be warped by what others say, not matter how profound or beautiful it may sound. The Scriptures must always be our final authority. Actually it would be a good idea to read the Bible through several times. I have made this a practice over the past couple decades now, reading the Bible every 14-15 months (I am a slow reader). I think it helps you to know a little of the mind of God.

First let’s cut to the chase concerning authority. If we believe the Bible, we must believe that God rules with authority. When there were only two people and a wonderful garden, God made only one rule – don’t eat from one tree. Man failed the test and so because He ruled with authority, God passed judgment on those involved. After that there were the 10 Commandments – first placed in the conscience of man, and then given to Moses. We have all been rebels against the rule of God and subsequently come under His judgment and will eventually be condemned if we don’t seek His mercy. Suffice it say, God believes in authority.

Okay, so why did God restrict us with the 10 Commandments? Good question. I venture to answer that with: because He loved us. You see, if we keep the Commandments, we will have a good relationship with God since the first 4 commandments have to do with our standing before God. The remaining 6 have to do with our fellow man. Think about it, the messes we get ourselves into are primarily because we fail to keep one or more of the commandments.

So actually rules are good for us. We don’t need to be legalistic and add rules that the Bible doesn’t have. Some churches do this and they are following in the footsteps of the Pharisees who also added rules that Jesus never intended. Christians must be sensible about the lives they live before the World. On one hand, we don’t have a license to sin, and one the other, we must not be restrictive where the Bible is not.

One final point: if you are not a believer, you must first come to Jesus and repent before any of the rest of this makes sense. And if you are a believer, you need to remember, we don’t have the victory over sin in our own strength, but by relying on the strong arm of our Savior.