Romans 8:3-4 says, "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."
I think it's awesome that Jesus says "If you love me, keep My commandments." Not if you fear Me, or if you trust me or if you believe in Me or even if you want to go to heaven, but if you love Me. I listen to Jesus because I love Him. And I know that He loves me. I know that He has given His commandments for a reason, not because He wants to rain on my parade or crash my party. He cares about me and doesn't want me to be separated from Him. He wants me to spend eternity in heaven. He desires the best for me. And so if I love Him, I will trust Him and keep His commandments. And He will pray to His Father and God will send His Helper, the Holy Spirit, to be with me. The Holy Spirit empowers me to follow the commandments. I can't be perfect but I can't even try to follow God's commandments on my own. I need the Holy Spirit.
People get frustrated because it feels like God is this mighty hateful Being sitting up on a cloud watching their every move and He gave these laws to keep them from having any fun and He's going to strike them down and ruin their lives when they mess up. They don't want to even try to know Him because this is the God they think they would be trying to know. I am so grateful that this is not my God. My Heavenly Father loves me. He is like a parent that tells His child not to touch a hot stove. The parent knows that the hot stove will harm their child and so out of love they tell them not to do something that will bring harm to them. All the child knows is that they were given a rule and they just want to know what will happen if they touch the stove. They think their parent is hiding a secret from them. They must not be letting them touch it because it's fun. I think this is how we are with God a lot of times. He must be trying to ruin our fun. In reality, He doesn't want us to get hurt. What He wants to give us will be so much better for us than what we could ever plan for ourselves anyways. We just have to trust Him.
Also, to clarify, we have been delivered from the law through Christ's sacrifice. We are to live by the law of grace and live according to the Spirit. We are to still keep the commandments because we aren't perfect and so we still need the law. But with the law of grace, we don't have to give sacrifices. We don't have to earn our salvation. We love God and because that we obey the commandments that He's given us. Even when we think that it's not a big deal this one time. Even when we think God doesn't know what He's talking about. I need to trust that He loves me and can see the full picture and has His rules set up for my best.
Application:
Today, I will pray for humility and obedience. Sometimes I know that I can think that I can handle a situation on my own without listening to God but I know that because I love Him, I am to keep His commandments.
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