Living on Mission in Relationship with God by Faith

Living on Mission in Relationship with God by Faith

In our passage in Matthew 5 this week, Jesus is talking about the Law. Basically He said “I’m not saying there aren’t any rules anymore.” It’s just that even if we could follow all of the rules perfectly, we still wouldn’t suddenly be in a right relationship with God. Truth is, it never has been about that. God declared Abraham in right relationship because of his faith. It’s always been about faith.

The following passage from Galatians explains how crucial our faith really is when it comes to relationship with God:

“So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: ‘Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law.’ The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: ‘The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that’s the real life.’ Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: ‘The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.’”

(Galatians 3:9-12 MSG)

Let’s practice Living on Mission by faith—trusting and relying on Jesus alone for right relationship!

Pastor Angela