Relationship or legalism?

Christ has promised to be in us by giving us new life with eternal perspectives. Being in Christ means that He longs to live His life through us. Christ is our life and walking in Him can never be burdensome, otherwise Christianity would not make much sense. If life in Christ were a burden to live it. Do you think that Christ would have shed tears of blood in Gethsemane knowing that he was going to die on the cross so that we would walk through this world “toiled and burdened”? Death on the cross was for the opposite. God did not send his only son to die for us so that we would wander the world with a bulky bundle on our backs. It is we ourselves who often make schemes to comply with certain liturgies and rites that by dint of becoming customs tend to also become burdens that are difficult to carry: “I have to get up at 2 in the morning to pray”, “I must read 3 chapters of the Bible every day ”,“ every Tuesday will be a fast day ”, etc., etc.

We should not be Christians of religious precepts and routines that can become obstacles to living Christ with total victory and freedom. The spiritual disciplines that we are committed to exercising as Christians must flow naturally from our spirit as a consequence of our zeal and intimacy with the Lamb of God. When these disciplines (praying, searching the Word, preaching, fasting, ministering) become mechanical rituals and habits that do not emanate from a fluid communion with the King of Glory, the day that for some reason we cannot develop them, we see each other ourselves as inconsistent, frustrated, and incapable Christians. The legalistic trim that we often add to our spiritual journeys can rob us of joy, limit our weapons in spiritual warfare, and condemn us to self-indulgent religious actions that do not glorify God.

Christ calls us to a life where grace breaks down the walls of norms and standards that we impose on ourselves to try to win his favor. Christ does not need our favors, but the zeal to abide in Him, to live for Him and through Him. It is beautiful to think that Christ not only calls us to live a life in Him, but that He Himself lives it for us, sustains us and encourages, keeps us from evil and is wonderful to think that Christ will never leave us alone in the affairs of life.

Legalism burdens our minds and exhausts us physically. Legalism is doing things for God trying to seek his approval by following rules and protocols disguised in religious garb. God has not called us to grow spiritually at the cost of consuming physical wear and tear, but to focus on the intimacy of his presence allowing Christ to manifest his life through us. To live Christ is to learn to walk in the Spirit, to internalize that we are partakers of his divine nature since we receive him as Lord.

Unfortunately, many times we tend to seek that intimacy with Christ by becoming “all-terrain” Christians thus seeking, consciously or unconsciously, the acceptance of others and not that of the Lord. We must approach God with a perspective of His infinite and incomparable grace in order to feel the spiritual delights that flow from His presence. Romans 7: 6 tells us: "But now we are free from the law, ... so that we serve under the new regime of the Spirit ...". That is true grace.

The Lord wants your whole life, to live in you for his glory, to write His laws in your heart so that your Christian work flows from the inside out and your fruits burst visible in the formidable grace of salvation. His purpose is that He be the center of our lives, and not religious burdens centered on what we can do for Him. His greatest desire is that your life in His Spirit be your most precious delight.

God bless you!