Maybe our default lens for reading the Bible is that every word is a command or a demand or a law on us. Law can be defined as what you do or what you don’t do.
If we define law as the 10 commandments or as love God and love others. Please note that the law given through Moses demands perfect obedience always, and it’s a task master. We cannot keep the law. Some are more aware of this than others. If you hear the law and think you can obey it, you are misreading it. “…the power of sin is the law…” 1 Corinthians 15:56. After the cross, the law becomes the wisdom of the world, and it’s necessary for civil government and justice in this world. Christians have permission to use the law for that purpose. Another use for the law is to bring unbelievers to Christ.
As far as our relationship with God is concerned, the law does not rule over us who are righteous by faith in Christ, for the forgiveness of sin. 1 Timothy 1:8 “But we know that the law is good, provided one uses it legitimately. 9 We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent,”. In other words for those who don’t believe in Jesus who died to take wrath, sin, the law, the power of sin, away from us at the cross. In Christ, we are forgiven and free, and the Spirit is in the process of untangling, or deconstructing, our spirit from the rule of law. We operate better in freedom.
One way that the Spirit puts sin to death in us is to renew our minds away from the fading glory of the law, and to the increasing glory of the Spirit. This is sanctification. From the glory of the law to the glory of Christ. From faith in the law to faith in Christ. To walk through this world, Christ-like as a gift.
Romans 7. We have been released from a relationship with the law through the body of Christ so that we can bear fruit for God. The fruit of faith, forgiveness, and freedom.
Christ and His merits are our wisdom now. 1 Corinthians 1:30 It is from him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom from God for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written: Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. We walk through this world righteous and holy as a gift apart from what we do or don’t do. We will receive many opportunities to help our neighbor out, and we have open permission to do so as we are willing and able to.
Reading Scripture Through the Lens of Freedom From the Law.
Mark Anderson teaches us to read scripture through the lens of appeals to a freed conscience. “These are the possibilities and opportunities of what life in Christ might look like as the Spirit is at work in you.” We can relax and expect to find ourselves doing some of these things, from time to time, as our spirit and the Holy Spirit are leading us.
I enjoy living my life spontaneously in the Spirit. Righteous and holy as a gift. Open to saying yes or no to opportunities that come my way to help my neighbor. Alexander McConnell’s book, “Small but Full: How to Experience Life to the Full by Guarding Your Heart.”, gives us permission to channel our time, energy, and activities into cultivating our spiritual gifts for the benefit of our neighbor. Maybe scheduling or perhaps having spontaneous times of rest and play. Not comparing ourselves to others, but setting boundaries around those who would judge, shame, and try to use law to control us. There are people who are not willing to receive our gifts, and we have permission to release them to God and invest in people who are willing to receive from us. Jesus has redeemed the time for us. Our days are not evil.
Some leaders think they are supposed to use their personal preferences to lead other people. And maybe some people are insecure in making their own decisions, or they just want others to make decisions for them. Good leaders will empower people to make their own decisions.
Freedom in Christ is about having a buffet of opportunities and possibilities before us. We get to decide what it is we are willing and able to do with the time we have on this earth to be of some benefit to our neighbor. Helping our neighbor out is not exclusive to Christianity.
When we read the Bible, on this side of the cross, we may read it as if these are the possibilities and opportunities available to us and we might find ourselves doing some of these things as our spirit and the Holy Spirit lead us.
As a side note regarding gender roles. When trying to put a finger on why egal men might be treating women so much better then comp men do. Comp men and women treat women as if they are children, meaning others have to make decisions for women. Egal men treat women as if they are adult humans who can make their own decisions. That’s one thing that I have observed and experienced anyway.
People might want to try to put limits on us, and this might be more true for women than for men. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17
What is it that you want to do with the opportunities and possibilities that are before you?
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Sarah Batdorf 
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