Plus, or Minus?
Living in liberty means releasing our grip on law and resting in what Christ has already fulfilled.
📘 Devotional Credit: Abide Above
📷 Photo Credit: Unsplash
Today’s reflection from Miles Stanford confronts one of the most persistent misunderstandings in the Christian life—confusing law with grace, mixing old covenants with new life, adding the minus back into what Christ has already made whole.
Legalism always sneaks in with noble intentions—honor God, pursue holiness, stay disciplined—but once we try to earn through the law what Christ has already secured through grace, we’ve stepped off the path of life and into the realm of death. As Galatians 5:6 reminds us, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything—it is faith, energized by love, that marks the life of the believer.
Some theological traditions unintentionally return believers to Mount Sinai, emphasizing the law as the believer’s rule of life, even after the Spirit has declared us free. But Scripture points us instead to Mount Zion, to the freedom found in Christ, where life flows from union with Him, not from adherence to a written code. Living fruit does not grow on the tree of legality. It blossoms from abiding in Christ.
🖊️ Personalized Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit
You were never meant to carry what I already fulfilled. I did not redeem you to watch you bind yourself again with cords of self-effort and obligation. The law had a purpose—to expose sin and point to Me. But now that I live in you, you are under a new covenant, one of life, not law.
The works born from law are lifeless—they may appear moral, but they are not Mine. The works born of faith, animated by love, reflect My presence in you. Stand in the liberty I gave you. I have not asked you to maintain your salvation with effort, nor to grow through fear. I draw you forward through love, not compulsion.
Walk with Me, moment by moment, trusting My life within you to express what is pleasing to the Father. That is holiness. That is fruit. And that is freedom.
(Scripture references: Galatians 5:1, 5:6; Romans 7:4–6; Hebrews 10:1–2; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Colossians 2:13–17)
🔍 Real-Life Analogy
It's like plugging in a fully charged phone only to try and power it with your own breath instead. The source is already inside—wired, flowing, sufficient. Yet legalism puffs and pants, thinking it adds life, when in truth it blocks what’s already been provided.
🙏 Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that I no longer live under the weight of a system I could never fulfill. In Christ, I’ve been made alive, clean, and free. I rest today not on my rule-keeping, but on the righteous life of Jesus within me. I trust You to express that life through me—not by adding law to grace, but by walking in love, led by Your Spirit. This is my liberty. This is my joy.