365 Days with God - Day 74: A Book of Laws?

I'm giving myself a challenge. Read the Bible each day for a whole year, following the ESV Study Guide 1-year plan. Each day, I will post whatever God has revealed to me in His Word, and how it is changing me. A friend of mine once said that nothing has changed her life as much as reading the bible each day - and I'm excited for how this will change me. Join me on an adventure into the heart of God - and day by day, we can learn more about who He is and what that means to us!

- Andy Catts

Day 74, March 4, 2014

Readings: Psalm 74, Exodus 20:1-17, Ezra 10, Romans 9:30-33, Romans 10:1-21

 A most common statement about the Bible - "It's just a big book of rules. Do's and do-nots." But what would that imply?

A book of rules as the basis for belief requires that your belief hinges on your maintenance of the rules. Your performance hinges on your adherence to the rules. Nay, your very salvation may hinge on your ability to maintain the rules.

What level does one have to maintain the rules to be saved? And if the equation is this:

"maintain X rules = Y salvation"

 Then God owes us our salvation. God is indebted to us. Can an infinite God be indebted to finite people? Or do we merely have the wrong idea about the rules?

What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. (Romans 9:30-32a)

Our righteousness has nothing to do with our actions. It is by faith. This is how an unrighteous people can get to God. Not because we're owed it. Not because we earned it. Because God gives it through His grace. The Bible isn't a list of rules. It is God's promise that we can accept through faith. Do you have faith? Or do you have faith in rules?