43. “Rules” Alone are Not the Answer
It should be stressed once again, as at the first
of this manual, that our faith is not one of rules and regulations, nor of
bondage, nor of any presumed “salvation by works”. Our faith, not
our works, is reckoned by God for righteousness. We have become “a new
creation” in Christ through the mercy and forgiveness that his sacrifice
made possible.
“Rules”, no matter how rigidly
enforced, will not make us pleasing to God. Surely the example of the Pharisees
as to their keeping of the law will teach us this:
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices — mint, dill
and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law —
justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without
neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a
camel. Woe to you.... you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,
but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First
clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
Woe to you.... you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look
beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones
and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as
righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness”
(Matt. 23:23-28).
The points discussed in this manual —
matters like money, entertainment, smoking, drinking, dress, and the like
— are not to be understood as so many Christadelphian/Pharisaical laws.
They are only (and we are repeating) guidelines by which every individual should
test his or her own thoughts and deeds. It may be very well for a believer to
make rules for himself — and as rigid and uncompromising as he pleases;
but it is quite another thing to make such rules in non-essential matters for
his brethren. In essential things there must be unity; in doubtful things,
however, there must be liberty. And in all things there must be
love!
