Don't Worry About the Rules - There Aren't Any!

Let us consider the game of football.

Football itself is pretty much just an abstract concept for me, really, so I'll fully admit that I might not really know what I'm talking about here, but I want you to think specifically about a friendly game of football played in the backyard with the types of people who actually play football in the backyard. I am not one of those types of people, so I may not know what I'm talking about.

But in a backyard football situation, isn't it kind of the norm that there aren't any "rules"? There's no play clock, there's no yellow flag for an offsides penalty, there's no league suspension for excessive TD celebration... It's just football.

So now that we've got this hypothetical "no-rules" game of football, how do the teams score?

Is the score derived from the number of times runners round all four bases? Or does the number of times players manage to get the ball into the basket matter? Or maybe it's how many times someone can get the puck past the goalie and into the net?

Or is it all still based on touchdowns?

Just because you're playing a game of football without any rules, that doesn't mean that the concept of football is suddenly an arbitrary, subjectively defined, nebulous idea of a game with no central understanding of how the game is played. Everybody knows how the game is played, everybody knows the mechanics of the game, everybody knows the scoring method of the game... there just aren't any rules. So all you do is play the game. Just play football.

But now I want us to imagine another type of football game. This time, all of the rules are in full effect, and all of the players on the field are also referees. So every time there's an attempt at a play, one player may see another player commit a minor infraction and will then call a penalty, which delays the game. Each penalty sets the offense back 5 yards or benches some player or in some other way just slows everything down. Again, I don't play football and never have, but I would imagine that it would be a good bit harder to just play some football in a game setting like this.

Now that I've pretty much exhausted every bit of football knowledge I have to construct that opening metaphor, let's get into some Bible, eh?

When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.

When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?

“We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.

“But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.

“For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!”

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, for each one should carry their own load. Nevertheless, the one who receives instruction in the word should share all good things with their instructor.

Those who want to impress people by means of the flesh are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Not even those who are circumcised keep the law, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast about your circumcision in the flesh. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is the new creation. Peace and mercy to all who follow this rule—to the Israel of God.

Galatians 2:11-3:14, 5, 6:2-6, 12-16 (emphases added)

I realize that 39.8% of the book of Galatians might be a bit to swallow all at once - and yes, I did the math - but I wanted to make sure that I got my point across, especially since it's not even my point. It's not like I came up with this whole idea of living by the Spirit. Pretty sure that was... wait, wait... don't tell me... oh, right! GOD.

Do you mind if I drop some more Bible down? Because here it comes.

The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders. When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles.)

So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”

He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:

“‘These people honor me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me.

They worship me in vain;

their teachings are merely human rules.’

You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”

Mark 7:1-8

Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you. Such a person also goes into great detail about what they have seen; they are puffed up with idle notions by their unspiritual mind. They have lost connection with the head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.

Colossians 2:16-23

I could go on (I Timothy 1:3-11, Philippians 3, I Corinthians 8-10, the entirety of Romans and Hebrews), but I hope that the point has been made.

And just in case it hasn't, here it is plain and simple: we are not meant to live our lives by a law, but by the Spirit.

There IS NO LAW in Christ - there is the Spirit.

The commands of Christ are simple - Love God and Love Others (Matthew 22:36-40, Galatians 5:6, 5:14). That's it. That's all it is. That's all we have to do.

Now... Does this mean that Christians can get away with anything, since there is no Law? Of course not. It means that a true Christian, one who has truly chosen to focus on a life dedicated to following in the footsteps of Christ, will live a life by the Spirit - a life that bears the fruits of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, a life that is above needing a law to illustrate the principles of right and wrong because those principles are now directly given to us by the Spirit of God! God lives in us! God is the one telling us what is right and wrong, in our own lives, every day!

And anything we try to set up that gets in the way of that is against the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

If we force rules on others, or even upon ourselves, then Christ died for nothing! If we live by a law, then we are judged by a law, and we have all fallen completely short of any law, even if it is an inferior law of our own making.

But if we live by the Spirit... it works out.

The only snag I see now is this: there are too many people in today's Christianity that don't even believe in the Spirit in the first place.

Is the Holy Spirit still real for you? Does God still come and take up residence in your soul and guide you along the paths He has set out for you? Or is God confined to the Bible?

If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see Me anymore, but you will see Me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. Whoever has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love them and show Myself to them.”

Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do You intend to show Yourself to us and not to the world?”

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves Me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love Me will not obey My teaching. These words you hear are not My own; they belong to the Father who sent Me.

“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 14:15-26

Wait, did Jesus say "forever"? Like, forever forever? FOR-EVER?

The Holy Spirit will be with us... forever?

SO WHY IN THE WORLD DON'T WE LIVE LIKE IT?