Laws matter
Romans 8:6
“6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.”

We have laws for a reason – without them there are no constraints and things get ugly in a heartbeat. Ever wonder why things go south? Could it be that we become who we really are, that it’s been our experience over time that without law, we self destruct? Is there an cogent argument that goes the other way? Isn’t lawlessness pretty quickly anarchy? That’s a rhetorical question. Is there peace and joy in anarchy? Not to my knowledge, or in my life. Why not? If humans are so awesome that we don’t need God, then why is lawlessness anarchy and not love and peace? Why do we even need laws? If we’re so awesome, shouldn’t we be able to live without the need of law?

But we have laws. We have lawbreakers. We have so many laws and law breakers. The truth is that we have too many laws to follow, not enough laws to protect us,  to many lawbreakers on the street, and to many people in prison. We have to many and not enough all at the same time. What a mess. This is who we are today in America. That’s the human side, that’s what we do on our own when we walk away from God and do it ourselves.

Then, there’s God’s plan for law. You haters out there, before you go down the path of throwing old testament law up as an example of God’s law, do some study and understand the context, especially in the light of the end game, Christ. You can’t understand the old testament without understanding Christ and vice versa. So for the sake of argument, assume Christ is who he says he is and that the law (not the meting of consequences) is the important thing here.

What are God’s laws? Love. A plan for what is wrong and right. Order. Service. More love. Love your neighbor as you love yourself. The story of the good Samaritan included a question that frames it up well – who’s your neighbor? Everything done out of love to everyone. Is that so hard to understand? Is there a problem with that? Of course not. Yes, there are some do’s and don’take. There is right and wrong.

Why do we have such a mess on our hands? If we a followed God’s laws, we shouldn’t be here. But we’re here. Why? Could there be some truth to the statement that without God we become survival of the fittest animals who lose their moral compass? Could it be that that our original sin is such an important part of us that without God we are self centered beasts intent on getting more of everything? Could it be that when we turn our backs on God we lose touch with the laws God writes on our heart from conception? Could it be we allow ourselves to be swayed by the world and it’s ruler, Satan? Could it be true there is a God, and Satan is real?  That’s the only thing that makes sense because if humans are innately good, we would need laws, but we need laws because we aren’t; since we aren’t, we need to ask why. God gives us the answer, though we try to reject it.

So why does the world hate God’s laws? Why does the world hate peace? Why does the world hate love?

God’s laws are impossible to follow and put constraints on our behaviors. God’s laws force us to be other centered, first on God, then everyone else, not centered on self. In order to remain self centered we have to reject being God centered because the two can’t coexist. We don’t like laws we can’t, or don’t want to follow, so we find reasons to ignore them. The only reason we follow them us because the fear of the consequences is greater than the dislike of obeying them.

Hers a reality check: The world doesn’t want us to fear the consequences of breaking God’s laws and God lets us go down that path. He wants us on the right path, His path, but He gives us a choice. After our last breath, we are judged according to His laws whether we believe in them or not. At that point, we are past choice, we are answering for what we’ve chosen. I can’t think of a worse hell than being separated from God because He cut the link, only left with, and surrounded by, a world full of the same as we have today. Lawless and moral-less. Warfare and hatred, the laws people live by, not love. Self first in all things and all cost. Mine, mine, mine.

I can think of a much better place. It’s called heaven. It’s a place where self isn’t because it doesn’t have to be. It’s a place where God’s pure love makes everything else unnecessary. It’s a place of peace and joy. Love, peace, joy. Who wouldn’t want that?

So, we’re at the choice thing again. God’s laws, whether we like them or not, are God’s laws. There is a right and wrong. There is a reason for the laws and those reasons matter. The laws aren’t open to interpretation, they are what they are. We have to choose to follow them or not. We will be judged by then no matter what we think, by where our intentions lie. Did we pursue God’s laws or not?

That (finally) brings us to Christ and how to move forward. We can’t follow God’s laws. None but Christ are, or ever have been, perfect. Christ atones for our law breaking when we give our life to Him, when we start living our life to serve Him, when we sell out to try and be like Him in right, word and deed.

Can you imagine a world where we all acted like Christ? All of us? Everywhere in the world? Everyone? What a beautiful, joyful, wonderful, peaceful place that would be. That is the war we’re in.

God’s laws make sense. Christ is the embodiment of those laws. God’s laws being order, joy and peace. Choose to follow God, choose to follow Christ, choose to be bold and bring others with you.

Imagine what it’ll be like when everyone is on board.