Legal Obedience And Gospel Obedience

There is a world of difference between legal obedience and Gospel obedience. It is the difference between "old wine" and "new wine" (Mark 2:21-22). The religion of the Pharisees was legalistic. The obedience of Jesus was truly spiritual. These men could not stand Jesus - "the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus" (Mark 3:6). Forget the mighty redemption of God (Exodus 20:1), and you are left with a whole lot of rules and regulations" (Exodus 21-22). If you become obsessed with the rules and regulations, you will have no real love for the Redeemer and His redemption. If our lives are to have real spiritual depth and not mere religious observance, we need to "pay attention to (God's) wisdom" and "listen well to (His) words of insight" (Proverbs 5:1).