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Some Christians react strongly when they hear someone talking about something we must do, saying that we must not go back under the Law! For them, grace is totally incompatible with any law we might talk about. But this is because they have not understood the difference between working for our salvation and working out our salvation. Working for our salvation is a way of following some rules or laws and hoping to qualify for salvation. This is what most religions teach, but no one can actually find salvation this way because our sins are irreconcilable before God (Ro.3:20). Salvation can only be a free gift from God that we can receive through faith (Ep.2:8,9).

When we come to God through faith in Jesus as our sin bearer, the Holy Spirit gives us a spiritual new birth. This places a new spiritual law within us (Ro.8:2). This is a shift from walking according to external laws to govern our behaviour, to walking according to the law of the Spirit within our heart and mind (v.4). So, we do not become without any law but under a superior law from the Holy Spirit who can now teach us higher and deeper aspects of life that are pleasing to God. For example, we move from merely avoiding adultery physically to becoming free even from lusting after someone in our mind (Mt.5:27,28).

As the Holy Spirit guides us, we find ourselves wanting to give up many things we used to do before, and having our mind set on newer and higher things (Co.3:1). We now work out through our behaviour what the Spirit is teaching us inside (Php.2:12,13). So, there are many things we ought to do now and other things we must stop doing. In no way are we without a law! We follow the law of the Spirit because we want to be pleasing to the Lord, and not because we want to earn His favour or because we are scared of His wrath. That is the difference between working for our salvation and working out our salvation.

There is another wrong way some Christians react against any mention of the laws of life or about things we must do. They imagine that all laws are restrictive to our freedom, and that Christ has set us free! But the freedom in Christ is from the bondage to the corruptions of our sinful nature and not a freedom to do whatever we like. We must not forget that we have a sinful flesh to overcome even after we are born again, and that if we just 'follow our heart' and do what we like, we are most likely to end up in sin which will certainly hit us back with its consequences (Ga.5:17;6:7). There are deceiving spirits at work these days that tell us to break out from under laws and become free. But the law of the Spirit is the law of life (Ro.8:2). The more we learn to come under this law, the more we can enjoy the fruit of the Spirit (Ga.5:22,23). In placing ourselves under obedience to the laws of God we become free from bondages and able to enjoy the highest level of life. That will give us the best and greatest form of pleasure and satisfaction.

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