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That's great! Jesus was very vocal about the Pharisees to their face (Mt.23), and He warned His disciples to keep away from their wrong doctrines (Mt.16:6,12). The Pharisees were a group of religious Jews who started out with great zeal to keep all the laws of God. Their error was in missing the real intent of the law and focussing instead on the external. Their zeal was seen in their going on to tithe every garden herb they grew while missing out on heart issues like justice, mercy and faithfulness (Mt.23:23). They also devised ways to bypass the spirit of the law by finding clever escape routes. For example, when the law said they should not travel more than a certain distance from their house on the Sabbath, they redefined their house by removing the fences, so that they could consider the town as their home and walk around everywhere!

So, as Christians, we need to learn more and more to keep the laws of God from our heart, and not just externally. Putting this in another way, we need to be careful about keeping all the laws of God from our heart, and becoming pleasing to God because He has loved us and given Himself for us. We must not be happy with just keeping rules of external behaviour.

Isn't it possible that some of us are so scared of becoming a Pharisee that we have begun to think that wanting to keep the law is itself Pharisaical? Do we think that since it was not by keeping the law that we were saved, we should not have to keep the law now?

If we are truly born again Christians, we are no longer under the Old Testament laws which God gave to the people of Israel. But that does not mean that we are under no law at all! Jesus has brought us to a higher law under the new covenant which looks at obedience coming from the heart rather than merely externally. For example, if it was ok as long as we did not commit adultery physically, under the new standards we are not even to look lustfully at someone (Mt.5:27,28). Now we are under the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus which holds us to a higher and inner standard rather than the old laws.

Jesus said that if we loved Him, we would keep His commandments (Jn.14:21). He also said that He came to fulfil the law and that the law would stand in all its detail (Mt.5:17,18). Of course, for us, the laws related to sacrifices, rituals, festivals, etc., that were meant for Israel are not applicable because Jesus has fulfilled them in their true spirit (Co.2:16,17). But that does not mean that spiritual laws that stood behind them have no relevance to us. If we love Jesus, we will be zealous to keep all of His laws. We must not forget what Jesus said that the one who sought to keep even the least of His commandments would be considered great in His kingdom (Mt.5:19).

In trying to avoid being a Pharisee, let us not make a mistake in our approach towards the law. Let us make efforts to see what all God wants us to do and seek to do all of them, whether small or great.

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