Are we liberated in Christ, or slaves to righteousness?
Do we live by a code of thou shalt not, or by the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus?
Be careful before you answer too quickly. For those who are all law and no grace, Christianity isn't just a checklist of items to get us to heaven. We need to be cautious that we are not like the Pharisee who says, "'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get." (Luke 18:11, 12). Remember, this was not the man who left the temple justified that day.
On the other side of the equation, our umbrella of grace shouldn't be so large that we disregard our obligation to follow the commands of God. "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?" (Romans 6:1, 2). Disregard for the commands of God should be a fearful thing.
We live in an interesting era when old standards are being questioned and a new generation of believers are trying to find God in a biblical context. I hear a lot of my peers chastising this next generation because they don't automatically accept everything they hear from the pulpit. That is not a bad thing if their questions are raised from a biblical context. "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11)
I can see the positive and negatives of this "seeker" generation. They don't want to play by the old rules, some have issues with authority (a personal struggle of mine), and there are always those who just want change for change sakes. BUT, let's look at the upside for just a minute. Like any body of believers, we can cling to our traditions so tightly that we begin to bind them as law. We protect them like a lioness guards her newborn cub.
Challenges to our long held beliefs is a good thing. 1) It forces us to study and re-examine what we believe. While my core beliefs have not changed, I have had some significant paradigm shifts over the past decade. 2) We are strengthed when our faith is exercised. Resistance builds spiritual muscle mass. 3) We come to understand that some of our traditions are just that - traditions!!! That revelation and "AHA" moment allows us to move past archaic ideas that fail to reach the next generation.
