Devo 4: No More Rules!

(I have been asked to write a couple of devotionals for our church and thought I'd include them on this site. Enjoy!)

“Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules…” (Col. 2:20)

Do you ever feel like you’re only “holy” if you do something “holy”? You know; you’re only a “Good Christian” if:

1) You pray 3 hours a day (brownie points if you do it in one sitting)
2) You memorize 12 verses a week
3) You read the whole Bible in a year…

Such rules are fine; but do they really make us good Christians? Not according to Colossians 2:20.

What else happened when Christ died on the cross? He took the penalty for our sins; but is that all that He did? No! He not only took the punishment of sin[1], but He also fulfilled the Law.[2] The Law is the set of “religious” rules that requires us to perform sacrifices and rituals so that God would consider us “holy”. However, when Christ was crucified as the Perfect Sacrifice, He completely satisfied all of the religious rules and regulations, and we are released from having to worry about them. In Christ, we not only die to our sins, but also to the curse of the Law![3]

Even so, we still feel like we have to perform some rules in order to at least look holy, right?

Imagine a group of boarding school students all dressed up in their cute little uniforms. The boys have on their suit coats and ties with shirts neatly tucked in. The girls are wearing their pretty dresses with panty hose. They all look so nice from the outside. But in reality, they are all extremely uncomfortable. The coats are stuffy, the ties are choking, the hose is scratchy, and the dresses are tight. They are children, known for playfulness and freedom, but they are trapped in their outerwear for the sake of “looking” sharp.

It’s the same with us when we try to “look” holy. We get bogged down trying to be “good Christians”. We feel like we have to pray an hour a day; we have to read seven chapters a night; we have to do this or that...but this is not what Christ meant for us! He died so we could have and enjoy our lives![4] He already fulfilled the requirements of holiness! We don’t have to do things to be holy. We are holy because Christ made us holy.[5]

Put the rulebooks away. Lose the tie. Relax and enjoy the good life the Lord has given to you in Christ.

[1] ref. Isa. 53:5 & Rom. 8:2
[2] Matt. 5:17
[3] Gal. 3:13
[4] Jn. 10:10 (AMP)
[5] Heb. 10:10