Our covenant is entirely based on the work of Jesus. He is the fulfillment of the law. Once we believe in our hearts that he was raised from the dead and actually say out loud that Jesus is Lord (Romans 10:9-10) then we get Jesus’ righteousness put in our account. It’s as if we are constantly fulfilling all the points of the law just like Jesus did, regardless of our actions.

Our faith in Jesus entitles us to all the blessings and exempts us from every curse under the law. However, if we go back to the “Egypt” of keeping rules, such as the Sabbath, looking for a blessing then we fall back under the Old Covenant of the Law. (Galatians 2:18-20)

All that to say it’s not about keeping the Sabbath so much as it is resting in the Lord. Rest is a good thing for sure. We have this overwhelming tendency towards striving. Jesus said his yoke is easy and his burden light. We forget that and make it way harder than it needs to be. Sometimes though it can almost be an effort to stop striving and rest in Christ.

Many recognize God as God (even the devil himself) but salvation requires admission of my sin, belief in the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and confession that He is Lord of all and my life.

My default position is that God will do what He will, in His time, in His way – that He reveals Himself us to us in a manner of His own choosing. 

I don’t like to insist that others accept my personal path as the only correct path into the House of God. I tend to believe that if we are willing to believe in Him, that He will find a way to pull us along.

Additionally, doubt is an essential part of my personal faith – it’s what keeps me seeking a closer relationship with Him. Doubt fuels my curiosity and curiosity keeps me interested in finding a personal deeper truth. I think the day that I believe I have it all figured out is the day that my faith becomes something less than actual Faith.

I think that God calls us to accept Him as creator and be of service to others. That’s pretty much it, as embodied in the “Love God and Love your Neighbors” commandments of Jesus in Matthew 22. Anything beyond that is open to our individual interpretation, and insisting that others accept my interpretation limits the ways that we connect with God.

If I genuinely love my neighbor as I love myself, I have to accept that he will find his path just as I have found my own for the simple and logical reason that I want him to accept my path as a valid one.

I know that for me, when I am told by someone “you must believe what I believe or you are in error” that a wall is erected between he and I (just as surely as I know that is a sin of Pride) that makes it more difficult for me to accept what is being offered. But when someone says “this is what I believe and this is *my* path” then I am invited to explore the idea without a wall between us. I also know that because that’s the way I react that it isn’t the way everyone reacts so I can’t insist that my way is the only correct way. God gave us individuality and a path to Him is not a one-size-fits-all proposition.

In John 14, Jesus says “My Father’s house has many mansions”. I believe there are many doors into that mansion.

Thanks Amy

You’re right, it’s not a feeling. Rather, it’s the little things we see, touch, smell, taste every day that keep us plugging along, even when we think things are going to hell in a handbasket around us.

If one seeker’s path to the Holy is by feelings first, I know that God will accept him.