There are 2 things that we can think about when we are trying to live a life for God: one is following the Law and one is following the Spirit.
God gave the Law, or Laws, to the Israelite people when they were in the desert. This happened on a place called the Sinai Mountain. God saved the people from Egypt and Moses was leading them to the promised land. During the walk from Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan God stopped the Israelites at the Sinai Mountain where Moses was given the 10 commandments and all the other rules and regulations that the Israelties had to follow in order to be the people of God.
Why would God give the Israelites Laws that they were not able to follow? God gave these Laws to the Israelites but they were not able to follow them all; and when they sinned against God by breaking these Laws the Israelites were commanded to take a goat, or another type of animal and kill it as a sacrifice to the Lord. Then the Lord would forgive the sins of people and would not destroy them. So the Law was given to help the Israelites live a godly and holy life for God but it was also given so that Israelites would see that they were sinners and that they had to put their faith.
Even though the Israelites killed the animals as a sacrifice to the Lord; they still need to put their faith in God for eternal life because following the Law only meant that God would not kill the Israelites as punishment for their sins and disobedience towards Him.
The Law shows us that we are sinners
In Romans 3:20 Paul says it this way:
“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” – Romans 3:20.
You will never become right with God if you try to do it by following the Law. You will never receive eternal life or forgiveness of your sins if you try to do it by following the Law. The Law was given to show sinners how they should live their lives, the Law was not given to give you eternal life. The Law just shows us how sinful we are, because without the Law we would not be breaking the Law, and without the Law we not know that we are sinners.
Paul says it this way:
“Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. At one time I lived without understanding the law. But when I learned the command not to covet, for instance, the power of sin came to life, and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But still, the law itself is holy, and its commands are holy and right and good.
But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death. So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.
So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.” – Romans 7.
Jesus frees us from the power of the Law
So the Law has power to condemn us as sinners; the Law is used to show that we are sinners and to make us afraid that God is going to destroy us because we are such sinners. The Law is not our friend, the Law is our enemy.
We can be free from the power of the Law by living by the Holy Spirit of God. Instead of trying to follow all the Laws that God made we can live by following what the Spirit of God wants us to do; and by following the Spirit we will live a righteous life for God and automatically not break the Law that God gave. If we live by the Spirit we will not break the Law; we cannot live a pure and Holy life without the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is our friend. The Holy Spirit gives us peace and gives us the power to live a life for God. If you are trying to make God happy by following the Law – it won’t happen. Do you feel at peace with God? Do your feel like God is accepting you because you are following the Law? Do you feel like God is going to allow you to go into heaven?
You can only feel peace with God what you have your sins forgiven. It is our sins that separate us from God and keep us from having a wonderful relationship with God.
The Bible says:
“It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.” – Isaiah 59:2
Free from sin
God wants you to be free from sin; God wants you to know that He loves you and that He wants to give you eternal life. God wants to forgive you of your sins and make you feel peace in your soul and in your life. God always planned to send Jesus to the earth.
Here is what it says in Hebrews 8:7:
“But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.
If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. But when God found fault with the people, he said:
“The day is coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and Judah.
This covenant will not be like the one
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to my covenant,
so I turned my back on them, says the Lord.
But this is the new covenant I will make
with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their minds,
and I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
And they will not need to teach their neighbors,
nor will they need to teach their relatives,
saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’
For everyone, from the least to the greatest,
will know me already.
And I will forgive their wickedness,
and I will never again remember their sins.”
When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
God will give you peace because He will give you His Spirit. Jesus said that He would send us the Spirit after He rose from the dead and went to heaven. He promised that He would send the Spirit.
This is what Jesus said:
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” – John 14.
So the way to have peace with God is not by trying to follow all the Laws that God gave us to live by; the way to find peace with God is to ask Him to forgive you of all your sins and to wait for Him to give you the Holy Spirit. Once you have the Holy Spirit in your life you will feel the peace of God, you will know that you have eternal life, and you will have the power to live a Spirit filled life for God.