As Christians, many of us like to think of ourselves as being rather "liberated" people. After all, when we believe in the Lord, Jesus came to set us free from our sins and past hangups. However, salvation is not a one-time event. Genuine salvation is a process. Yes, we are born again at an instant, but to grow up spiritually in God, is going to take a lifelong walk with Him.

A baby may be born into the world at the time of delivery, but the process of maturation is going to take many, many more years to come. Similarly, the Holy Spirit births us into the kingdom when we put our faith in Jesus—instantaneously. But the same Holy Spirit needs to work in us to help us grow up into maturity.

"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are [mature, grown up] sons of God." Romans 8:14

This is where it can get a little "tricky" for us believers. In order to be led by the Spirit, we must walk in an atmosphere of freedom and liberty. And this is where our understanding about "law" and "grace" is absolutely crucial. This is where many Christians stumble and fall short of the freedom God wants us to embrace.

As I survey the ecclesiastical landscape around me, I notice many churches that preach strongly against the legalism of the law are themselves, extremely legalistic! Yet at the other end of the spectrum, those that espouse the doctrine of grace often find terrible licentiousness within their pews. The truth is, most Christians do not fully understand what "law" and "grace" really are.

So, should we just ignore these conflicting concepts since they sound too "theological" for the common believer? No we can't, because the Bible talks so much about them within its pages. The failure to correctly understand them will hinder our ability to be led by the Holy Spirit. Besides, whether we like it or not, we Asian Christians are so much affected by them that it shows forth very loudly in our daily behaviors and conversations.

WHAT IS THE LAW?

What is the difference between "law" and "grace?" They are the agencies through which a person seeks to become righteous with God. Some people try to live an upright life by upholding the law, others do it by grace. The "confused" would do it partly by law and partly by grace, just to play it safe!

Now, what is the law? The most basic definition of the law is this: it is a set of rules and regulations that you have to keep in your pursuit of righteousness. That is the fundamental concept of what righteousness through the law is—to be found blameless in keeping the rules.

Hey, what's wrong with that, you ask. There is only one catch: you can only be considered "righteous" if you keep all the rules all the time! The sad truth is, no one has ever achieved that in the history of mankind. According to the Bible, no one has and no one will!

The difficulty here is that to be righteous by the law, you've got to keep the whole law all the time. You can't pick and choose which regulation you'd like to keep, or when it is convenient for you to keep them. It is either every rule all the time, or you'll disqualify yourself!

In the Old Testament, when the law was given, it was a frightening thing to live by. If the children of Israel deviated ever so slightly from the law, they would come under a curse.

"Cursed is the one who does not confirm all the words of this law ..." Deut. 27:26

This is a fact repeated in the New Testament too:

"For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." Gal. 3:10

"Well, Kong, I don't drink, smoke, gamble, or womanize, I guess I am a good man!" Well, are you really that good? Were there ever occasions when you had pride? Were you ever selfish or rude? Have you ever entertained an evil or immoral thought in your mind? If you have, then you are a lawbreaker and you are a "transgressor of the law."

"For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all." James 2:10

So, understand that the Bible is not against you wanting to keep the law. The only thing you must do is to keep the whole law all the time. You either do that or all your efforts to live a blameless life would be in vain. Unfortunately, nobody has ever succeeded in doing that. Nobody has managed to break the power of sin by trying to keep the law!

WHAT IS GRACE?

Grace, on the other hand, is the total opposite. Grace is the unmerited favor of God over our lives. It is something we can never earn for ourselves. If you can earn or work for it, it is no longer grace! So, how does a person receive grace? Only one way:

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God." Eph. 2:8

Do you see that? Grace comes only through faith! It is a free gift from God and all you need to do is to receive it by believing for it.

So, do you want to be righteous before God? Do you want to grow into spiritual maturity, to be led by the Holy Spirit every day? If your answer is 'Yes,' then you've got to decide right now: Am I going to do it by law or by grace?

LAW AND GRACE ARE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE!

You can't mix law and grace, they are mutually exclusive, they are on the opposite ends of the spectrum.

"For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Rom. 6:14

Paul makes it very obvious in Romans 6. If you are under the law, you are not under grace. If you are under grace, you are not under law. The point is, you can't be under both!

Now, notice another powerful implication here: If you are under the law, sin will have dominion over you. Can you see that in verse 14? Therefore, to be free from the stronghold of sin, we must be under grace. So, the choice is yours, what is it going to be? Are you going to live your Christian life by the law, where there is no hope to overcome sin? Or is it going to be by grace, where you have the chance to be really free from sin?

This is especially crucial as it affects our ability to be led by the Holy Spirit. A rule- and regulation-conscious Christian just cannot be led by the Holy Spirit.

"But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Gal. 5:18

THE GREATEST HINDRANCE TO THE HOLY SPIRIT

If it is so obvious why the Bible is against a law-driven lifestyle, why is it that so many professing Christians still want to live by a set of man-made rules? The reason is because people need a crutch. They are using the crutch of rules and regulations to limp on and support themselves! God is saying, "Throw away that crutch! Trust Me, lean on My Holy Spirit to guide you in life." But we wonder if that is really possible, can we really go on in life without that crutch?

The truth is, grace frightens people! To walk in grace means to really, really trust in God—by faith! But to many, faith seems so risky, so intangible, beyond human reasoning. On the other hand, the law seems more reasonable, rational and graspable.

Over the years of being a Spirit-filled believer, I am totally convinced that the single greatest hindrance to the Holy Spirit working in our lives is "legalism." This means to demand strict conformity to some man-made regulations and laws. And if we are not careful, we can create an environment where we start imposing requirements for righteousness which neither God Himself nor society itself has imposed. "Well, if you want to be a good Christian, you'd better do this and do that, and you had better not do this and not do that!"

Let me illustrate it like this. There are always two ways to reaching a goal, or a certain destination. One is through a personal guide, the other is by using a map. The personal guide is the Holy Spirit, the map is a set of rules we have put together to make us "good Christians." Churches that are legalistic basically say, "Don't trust the personal guide. Instead, rely on the map we have drawn out to find God."

So you set out with the map early in the morning toward your destination. Oh, it is a beautiful day and the sun is shining majestically in the sky. You feel so strong, confident and healthy. But when evening comes, it starts getting dark, very dark. A mist begins to set in and you can hear the howling of wolves in the not-too-distant valley. All of a sudden, you realize you are lost. You don't really know if you are facing north, south, east or west. You are disoriented!

While you sit in the woods feeling anxious and scared, a loving gentle voice comes along: "May I help you?" Oh, it is the Holy Spirit! "Yes, Holy Spirit, I really need you, I am really desperate." The Holy Spirit immediately says, "Well, just give Me your hand and I will lead you out of this situation." Sure enough, He leads you out of forest and back to the right path again.

The next day is another beautiful, sunny day. You are merrily walking along on the road, heading toward your destination. However, this time, you notice a companion by your side. Your Parakletos, the Holy Spirit, is moving right alongside you as your personal guide.

After a while, you start thinking, "Hey, isn't it a little demeaning to have a Person leading me by the hand all the time? I know how to make my way out of this mess, I don't need anybody to help me, I can do it all by myself—just me and my trusty map!"

Just as you are holding on to that thought, the Guide disappears! He is now nowhere to be seen. So, off you go again with your little map. A few hours later, you are in the middle of a fog again. You stumble around and fall into a ditch. Every step you take, you are sinking deeper and deeper. In desperation, you cry out aloud: "Holy Spirit, where are You? Help!" Immediately, the Holy Spirit comes along: "Give Me your hand, I'll lead you out of this!"

You are now back in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, until everything gets better. Then you push Him out of your life again, and you go back to square one!

My question for us all is this: How long do we intend to go on rejecting the Holy Spirit for some silly map which we don't even know how to use correctly anyway?

WHY WAS THE LAW GIVEN?

Now, why was the law given in the first place? Not to make us righteous ...

"Now do you see it? No one can ever be made right in God's sight by doing what the law commands. For the more we know of God's laws, the clearer it becomes that we aren't obeying them; His laws serve only to make us see that we are sinners." Rom. 3:20 (TLB)

The law never had and never will have the power to make us good! In fact, it was not given for the purpose of making us righteous!

Are there laws against lying, stealing, killing and coveting in the world? Yes, of course! But do they rid the world of liars, thieves, murderers and adulterers? No, they don't have the power to do that! Paul says in Romans 3 that the law was given to show us "how we are sinners" and why we need God's grace and help from the Holy Spirit.