No Rules?

Galatians 3:25-27 Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law. 26 You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.
 
WE are no longer under supervision of the law. Does this mean we can ignore God’s commands and live in our own desires because we say, “Jesus is Lord of my life.” Some Christian teachers have advanced this thought. They have taught that as we are saved by grace and justified by faith, God does not require us to obey the law.  
    But let’s consider. When do you need a supervisor? When you are young, your parents must supervise your behavior and words. Good parents establish household rules to follow. And good parents supervise their children to live into those rules. When a child matures to learn the rules and to obey the rules, she no longer needs supervision. She still continues to live in those rules because she believes they guide her to a good, orderly life. The direct parental supervision has ended. Her heart supervises – guides – her life as she has learned.
    Believing in Jesus, we are no longer under the law’s supervision because we have the law written on our heart. Faith in Christ means we accept God’s law of the Old Testament. We understand the moral laws still are true today because our Father has taught them to us. We may break those laws occasionally, but we know when we do. And we repent and move forward to continue living in the moral laws.
    Saved into faith, we know the prophetic words of the Old Testament are true. We live in their promises that have come true in Jesus. And we rejoice in their promises that point to the world yet to come. The law of moral commands and prophetic words do not supervise us in the sense they closely watch our behavior to instruct us. Instead, they form the substance of our moral and spiritual lives.
    Paul emphasizes this further when he says you have clothed yourselves with Christ. As a Roman citizen, Paul may have been comparing the believers’ faith journey with a Roman rite of passage into adulthood. At an appropriate age, a Roman boy would lay aside his childhood clothes and put on a new toga that represented his move into adulthood. Wearing these clothes, he would have new responsibilities along with his new privileges as an adult.
    It is the same for our faith. When we confess we believe Jesus is Lord and Savior, we put on new faith clothes. We then must responsibly live in that faith, demonstrating a mature relationship with God and with his church. Wearing Christ’s clothes is a precious gift. Rejoice and wear them well. The world is watching you.