The Problem of Rules - Audio

Big Idea - We are called to be holy as God is holy. The Jews strived to accomplish this by a very strict observance of the commandments as interpreted and applied according to their own traditions. But Jesus points out the flaws of this approach and makes it clear you cannot achieve holiness through the law. The law is not wrong, but their understanding and application of the law were deeply flawed. Christians are at risk of making the same exact mistake when it comes to understanding God's moral code and how we are to walk in it by creating an ethical system very similar to that of the Pharisees - different rules but the same method. So then what is the ethical system Jesus taught and how are we to be holy as God is holy? Jesus criticized the Pharisees because they had made the law itself the highest ideal and the main goal of ethical observance. Jesus taught instead that loving God and loving your neighbor was the highest value. The law is simply a tool to help know how to love. Our lack of holiness is not caused by our contact with the material world, not from external causes, but as a result of our own evil heart. The only cure is the blood of Jesus and the power of the resurrection to transform our heart from one that is in every way self-serving into a heart that truly loves God and loves others.