Tag: laws

Posted in Through the Bible Devotions

Rules: we need them and we don’t

Posted on by William Douthwaite

Some “through the bible” thoughts from Galatians 3.

“Why then the law?” (Galatians 3:19)

Why indeed? If we receive the Spirit of God through faith, why have the law at all? (Gal. 3:2) If we are justified by faith, just like Abraham, why bother with the law? (Gal. 3:8)

“It was added because of transgressions” (Gal. 3:19). It’s because without the law, we’d do a lot of foolish things. We’d self-destruct.

I recoil at the printed warnings, cautions, and instructions that wallpaper my world. From desiccated silica packs labeled, “Do not eat” to “warning hot surface” on my 3D printer, I wonder, “Are all these warnings necessary?” Then I remember, if there’s a rule, it’s because someone ate or touched something, opened something, or broke something.

Someone let their kid play in a big plastic tote. So we’re warned, “Not a toy.” Someone poked their finger on a pod coffee maker needle, so I’m reminded, “Caution: sharp metal.” Someone messed up a yard with an excavator, so the Benadryl label reminds me not to operate heavy machinery. Someone stuffed a towel down the toilet, so now there’s a sign forbidding that. An ugly “Don’t poop in our yard” ruins a beautiful lawn because a dog dropped a deuce.

I never responded well to the abundance of signs adorning the walls of church buildings. (If you noticed one missing, chances are I tore it down and threw the paper away.) Turn off lights, throw away your trash, clean up the kitchen, wash your hands, flush the toilet. None of those signs should would exist. But they do. Human nature means we need lots of rules just so we can live together.

However – Paul really drives home this point in Galatians – living together with God isn’t about the rules. It’s about faith in Christ.

(Sunday, January 11 update) Sure enough, this greeted me in the church bathroom this morning:

Posted in Advent devotions

The rules of the game

Posted on by William Douthwaite

“Want to play a game?”

“Sure!”

“Great. I got this new game for Christmas.”

After unboxing a game board and a variety of cards and pieces, it’s time to read the rules. They’ll be printed in a little folder, inside the box lid, or even on the back of the box. Until you know the rules, you can’t play the game.

When God powerfully brought his people out of slavery in Egypt, he declared, “I am the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:2). God then gives his people a list of “you shalls” and “you shall nots” that we call the Ten Commandments. They are not numbered in the Hebrew text, but later we read, “[The Lord your God] declared to you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and he wrote them on two tablets of stone” (Deuteronomy 4:13). That’s how we know they are ten.

These commandments (and many more) were not just rules for a game. They were rules for life. These commandments outline what God means when he says, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2).

Think about it. The descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had emerged from 350 years of slavery. Every day someone told them what to do and how to do it. They never had to make a decision. They never had to make a choice. They never had a day off. And they always knew exactly what was expected of them.

Now, they are on their own. For the first time in their lives. For the first time in generations. Someone better find a way to reign in the natural selfishness, greed, and jealously that brings self-destruction to any group of people, from kids to grown-ups.

God loves his people enough to put up some guard rails for their life together. He loves them enough to show them they can’t do this on their own. They need him to save and preserve their lives. He loves them enough to show them the kind of life he has in mind for them, one that has an amazing future.

God gives his people the law. It is a gift that not only preserves their lives but draws them to him when they don’t get it right. It is a gift that shows them how much he loves them, even when they break the rules. It is a gift to remind them that their God is unlike any other so-called God in the world. He is the one who comes to give them life. It is a gift that holds God’s people together until that day when the Messiah is born.

The Ten Commandments get an ornament on the Jesse Tree, for they are God’s gracious curb, mirror, and guide for our lives.