If there were no rules, anything you do is ok. Through the
Bible you can see this happen time and time again. If you look at the book of
Judges, it’s crazy how bad people were when there were no rules. The movies
about The Purge gives an example of this. When there is no rules, people do
whatever they want. Some things need to change in order to make the overall
result better.
Dick “Night Train” Lane was a person new rules were created
for. Lane was one of the great Lions football players of all time (Check out
the video below)…
He was scary and hit hard. There wasn’t a rule for facemask
or clothesline tackles, so this is how he hit people. It was hard, fast and
ruthless. When hall of fame players are saying you don’t go across the middle
on this man, you have to understand how dangerous of a person he was. Two NFL
rules were created because of this man and the way players were hurt because of
him.
No rules isn’t always just right. Try to walk into Outback Steakhouse
eat your meal and instead of paying your bill say “No rules, just right,” and
walk out. I am going to guess you would be in a little trouble if you did this.
No rules isn’t always the best. People were complaining about The Law and how
it was different then what Jesus brought. People were confused and using The
Law to trump what Jesus brought and was teaching. Paul responded to this in
Galatians 3:18 and some of 19…
“What
is the point, then, of the law, the attached addendum? It was a thoughtful
addition to the original covenant promises made to Abraham. The purpose of the
law was to keep a sinful people in the way of salvation until Christ (the
descendant) came, inheriting the promises and distributing them to us.”
People thought
by living by faith through The Law and paying attention to the law they would
find salvation. Paul was telling them that the promise of Jesus was given
before that and it trumps The Law that was given. As a result this allowed us
to be saved by grace through faith.
Faith in Jesus
is what gets us to heaven. You can’t do more good deeds then bad deeds and
expect to get there. It’s not who you know that will get you to heaven. It’s
faith in Jesus. People in the vicinity of where this letter to the Galatians
had trouble understanding this.
Rules are
created for a reason, but all the rules in God are trumped by one, eternal life
is only given to us by faith in Jesus. Lane was an amazing football but they
had to make rules in order so many people wouldn’t be hurt. God had laws
created because people weren’t living quality lives and doing messed up things.
Yet all the rules created didn’t trump the biggest one, Jesus. God promised
Abraham that his line would continue and it ended up in Jesus. Through Jesus we
can have faith and eternal life. All the rules can go along the wayside except
the one that says the way to eternal life and salvation is through Jesus. When
you truly believe that, it can and will change your life for the greater.
Have a great
day.
