I am not a theologian or Bible expert. However, I do know that Jesus taught there are only two commandments we need to concern ourselves with: Love God with all your heart, soul and mind, and Love your neighbor as yourself. When you follow these two rules 100%, by default you won’t break the others. It’s easier to keep your mind focused on two than on ten, or worry about breaking 1 of 100 different “religious laws” because it is inevitable you will break one trying to keep another. We know this because of how difficult it is to honor two, nevermind a hundred or more.

But then a Church comes along and says “follow all these rules in our book of rules to be a better Christian.”

Who do you listen to? Jesus, or the Church?

I follow Jesus. When He died and then rose from the dead, He fulfilled the Law. Meaning, we no longer need to worry about all the “religious rules and laws” numerous Churches try to impose on followers.

Yes, we will fail… We will not Love God as we should sometimes, we will not Love Others as we should sometimes. We need forgiveness for failing every day, and He provides it through His grace.

Think about it. We do not need pages and pages of religious instruction that Churches will guilt you into believing and following. In my opinion, any Church who has a book of rules is not authentic. It’s manipulative.

If you love God with all your heart, soul and mind you WILL want to obey Him, or do everything in your power to try. And He commands us to love our neighbors, meaning our fellow man and woman, not just the person in the house next to us. If we love our fellow man and woman, we would not want to do harm to them. We would not steal from, cheat or abuse them in any way. We would even be courteous and considerate when driving! Because none of us deserve to get where we are going more than the other, unless in an ambulance (or are a first responder).

Because we are flawed humans, we will fail at loving God the way we should and love one another as we should. But that does not mean we should be imposed with books that have pages and pages of rules to follow. People will become obsessed with making sure they are not drinking the wrong drink instead of simply honoring God’s first two and most important commandments. Religious rules and laws complicate, convolute and obscure Jesus’ purpose. 

This opinion has nothing to do with following Government imposed laws like “littering”, “speeding”, “noise ordinances” or any other numerous laws our Government imposes that purports to make us all criminals in one way or another. It is the religious laws that Jesus did away with.

Let’s take stealing for example. “Thou Shalt Not Steal” is one of the Ten Commandments. Jesus’ death and resurrection have done away with that law. Sound crazy? Think of it this way: As a Christ follower, when you love God and you honor God’s commandment to love your neighbor, you will not steal. It is simply common sense. It is the golden rule: do unto others as you would have done to you. But we are flawed, and sometimes sin, and stealing may be one of them. Have you ever taken a pen home from work and not returned it? That is stealing. Thankfully, God provides forgiveness for our sin when we ask.

But not everyone is a Christian and loves God or their neighbors. That is where the Government comes in and enforces lawfulness. In the United States, we are a nation of laws. We have come together under an agreement, a Constitution, to all follow a set of principles, laws, that maintain civility so that we each can exist with certain rights that are equal to all. And God tells us to follow our government’s laws as long as they are not in conflict with Him. So we should know and obey our Government laws. Ignorance is not a defense for not knowing your nation’s laws.

Ignorance is not a defense for not knowing God’s laws either. How can you become secure in your salvation and come into God’s grace? It is simple. Tell Him you believe in Him, you believe Jesus died on the cross and was resurrected three days later, and that you welcome the Holy Spirit into your heart. Tell Him you want Him to be your Savior and you want to follow Him. You may also wish to find a Bible-only principled Church to join. If you have said this prayer, send me an email and I will pray for your journey with Christ and send you recommendations and resources to help you.