The message of salvation in Christ by God’s grace has been attacked and discredited ever since it was first proclaimed. The Apostle Paul’s fiercest opponents, just like Christ, were the Jewish religious leaders of his day. Even those who believed and embraced his message of salvation in Christ were more than reluctant to abandon the things pertaining to the old Mosaic Law. Wherever Paul established a new church, new teachers would appear once he left that would insist that new believers keep many of the rituals of the law, even asserting that they could not be right in God’s sight without them. Paul said some of these were false believers who had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. (see Galatians 2:4) In other words, they wanted to subject new believers to continue adhering to some of the features in the law of Moses which clearly was never intended to save anybody in the first place. That is why Paul also wrote: “Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.”(Romans 3:20)
Two thousand years have transpired since the message of the gospel was introduced, yet we still have many “believers” today who sincerely believe we should still be bound by the old law, in particular worshipping on Saturday. (Sabbath) Referring to this, Paul also wrote: “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.” (Colossians 2:16) The truth is that, in Christ, we have the liberty to choose to gather for worship in any or on all days of the week. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that the time has come when all that the Father wants is that believers worship Him in Spirit and in Truth, no matter where or when. (See John 4:23)
One of the reasons I felt compelled to write on this subject is that I have been reminded lately of how often Christians get “schooled” or corrected by those who still believe in complying with many of the mandates of the old law. Their church has convinced them that Christians who don’t believe the way they do are dishonoring God. They often succeed in making them think that they are also out of God’s will or are missing out on many of His blessings because of it. They did that to new believers in Paul’s day and they are still doing it today. Dear child of God, please keep this in mind: If you are in Christ, you are complete; you’re not missing out on anything and the only way you can dishonor God is by willfully choosing to do so. You are also free in Him to serve or honor Him as His Spirit leads you, and not in the way that others choose. To me, law says “I have to” and grace says “I want to.” I bet you’re in the “I want to” group.
God’s word for today: (Galatians 5:1) “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
