pSo, Old Testament laws and stuff. Romans 5:13 (NLT) says, ‘Yes, people sinned even before the law was given. But it was not counted as sin because there was not yet any law to break.’ That thinking’s also echoed in verse 20. It’s saying that God gave the law to the Hebrews as a gift. Because they didn’t know what they were doing wrong. God showed them how to see right from wrong, see where they were at, and realise their need to meet with God. That set of rules also told them *how* to meet with God: with worship and sacrifice in the Temple.br /
But God saw humans misunderstand and struggle with those laws, and He had a plan. He spoke about it as far back as the time of Jeremiah (have a read of Jeremiah 31:31-34). That ‘brand-new covenant’ (Jeremiah 31:33 MSG) came in the form of Jesus. Matthew’s Gospel records Jesus saying that He ushered in that new covenant, by fulfilling the old laws (check it out in Matthew 5:17). So, now, because He became the ultimate sacrifice for us, we don’t have to live under the burden of that old law. Yes, we’re still called to live right (the law is a gift too, remember). But if we let God’s Holy Spirit fully run our lives, living right will come naturally, as He changes us from the inside out (Romans 12:2 styleee). Goodbye empty-obedience, hello heart-transformation./p
pem strongWhat Now? /strong/em br /
We’re feeling the hymns this week; have another. Look up the words to ‘Love Constraining to Obedience’, and read them a few times. (Again, YouTube knows a few versions.)/p