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.”

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.  
Galatians 3:7-11; 14

“’Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it is to be put to death; those who do any work on that day must be cut off from their people.”
Exodus 31:14

Then Jesus asked them, “Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they remained silent.
Mark 3:4

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As parents of elementary and middle schoolers, we have lots of rules around screens. We limit the hours and the amount of time in front of the TV and create boundaries around video games. But, every once in a while, we like to have a Friday night family MarioKart battle, where we all join the same team for races and balloon battles and general Mario chaos. We stay up well after bedtime, cheer each other on, and laugh through some healthy competition. Why does it feel ok to set aside the rules sometimes?

Our game nights are about more than just screen time—they are a chance for our family to create shared memories and laugh together. While the letter of our screen rules are to establish healthy boundaries, the heart behind breaking them is to foster healthy relationships. 

When Paul wrote to the church of Galatia, he was admonishing a group of Jewish members of the church that were forcing the Gentile believers to live according to the Old Testament laws. This group of people, though they were claiming to be followers of Jesus, were stuck in the belief that the only way to experience righteousness was to follow every rule laid out for them. While those rules were designed with the heart to set apart the Israelites as the people of God, they had become a set of rules to keep people out of their community. The heart of the laws had been lost. 

Instead, Paul argued that long before the written laws existed, Abraham was found righteous because of his heart. His faith was what mattered to God.

During his ministry, Jesus contended with the Pharisees over the Sabbath. By the time Jesus was born, the rules around the Sabbath had expanded to include strict guidelines of how many steps you could take, what activities you could do, where you could go—even how you were allowed to wash your hands. The heart of the Sabbath—to rest and delight—had been lost for a list of rules. So when confronted with the choice to heal the hurting and bless others or follow a hollow rule, Jesus chose the heart. To bless. To delight. To bring rest to the hurting. To love well. 

As we look to the Bible for direction and insight, the heart of Jesus is always to love others and bring glory to God. Jesus has done the work of following the laws. Our job is to follow his heart by loving God, loving people, and, in doing those things—changing the world. 

Next Steps

Where are you letting rules get in the way of loving well? Spend some time in prayer, asking the Spirit to open your eyes to where you have let the letter of the law become more important than Jesus’ love.