Rules Or Relationships?

For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:17

Bible scholars have attempted to count all the laws and commandments given by God in the Old Testament—635 is one such suggested total. Regardless of the exact number, life under the Law was a life of rules and regulations. Worship, food, sacrifices, clothing, diseases, marriage . . . every aspect of life was the subject of a rule.

God’s rules were given for a purpose—they paved the road to a relationship. Paul says that “the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ” (Galatians 3:24). God gave rules to show us our need for Jesus. When it became apparent over centuries of trying that Israel couldn’t keep God’s rules by herself, God unveiled a relationship with Jesus the Messiah. That relationship offered what rules never could: “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” Rules can establish boundaries for a relationship, but they cannot be the soul of it. If you tend to focus on rules, it might explain the absence of peace and joy.

Rules are like the skeleton, and relationships are like the heart. Both are important, but life depends on one more than the other.