Many Christians have labored hard to be holy under the false assumption that it can be accomplished through self-denial and strict discipline. Though they might achieve a level of behavior that would not allow obvious vices, they never seem to produce the living passion for life that Jesus expressed.

Jesus defined righteousness in terms of relationships. He said that all of the Old Testament, which contains many laws and requirements, could be summed up in two relationships: "Love God with all your being and love your neighbor as yourself." Love is a greater force than law and will always produce a higher form of practical righteousness.

Because God loved us, He made us new creatures with desires and abilities to correspond to our new nature. Because He made us sons, we have the desire and ability to fellowship with the Father and to carry on His work. Because we are saints by His creation, we want to be holy, and we can be holy.

We as believers find our hearts wanting to believe, and we’re frustrated when they don’t. We are servants, soldiers, priests, ambassadors, etc., by creation. As we become familiar with our new species, we have a clue to our abilities and desires.

Because God knows who we are, His commands are challenges for us to step out and discover the capacities of our new nature that we have not yet known. His commands are not grievous, but instead they are clues to the glory of what He made us when we were born from above.

The purpose of ministry, therefore, is to help one another to see the value of choosing God’s ways since they protect and release this new life we have through our relationship with Him. Biblical values are not thrust on unwilling people in order to bring them in line with a standard of behavior but are presented as the path of discovery in this "new creation" life we have received.

Matthew 5                                       Romans 2:25-29

Matthew 22                                     Galatians 3:10-29

Matthew 23                                     Galatians 3:1-5