Galatians
2:15-16 We
ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person
is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we
also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ
and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be
justified.
The “works of the Law” are many. They comprise the
commandments found in the first five books of the Old Testament. In Leviticus
you will find detailed instructions on how to live your daily life, discipline
children, moral codes of conduct, how to live good civic lives and more. Worship
was guided by rules outlining the types of animals required for sacrifice in
order for sin to be atoned, and special days of worship.
Several years ago a young woman came to me wanting to be
married to a young man whom I had not yet met. I arranged for us to get
together and in the course of the resulting conversation discovered that
neither the young woman nor the young man were Christians.
The man was quite open about
it and regarded the church service as merely a public ceremony. The young woman
thought she was a Christian, largely because she had come from a family of
churchgoers and had been baptized in her infancy by a bishop. When I pointed
out that baptism never made anyone a Christian this woman was greatly offended.
She was even more offended when later I declined to perform the ceremony.
The Church has
specific practices for worship and guidelines for living in ways that will
please our God. Much of what we find in the New Testament begins with the
teaching that our inner heart and mind are first transformed by the Holy
Spirit. As a result, our lives begin to reflect a life of obedience to God
through the practice of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Never think that you can put the
practice of obedience before the inner transformation that enables our
obedience.
