by Steve Brown
For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
Galatians 5:1

One problem Pharisees have is they’re always looking for sin. But you don’t really have to look for sin. It’s everywhere. Looking for sin, even in your church, is like being a mosquito at a nudist colony—you know where to look; the real problem is knowing where to start!
Norm Evans, my professional football player friend, told a story about a college lineman who came to the coach and said, “The opposing lineman keeps pulling my helmet down over my eyes. What should I do?” And his coach said, “Son, don’t let him.” Pharisees are looking for sin in you, and they’re going to pull a “Gotcha!” on you all the time. Don’t let them. That’s what it means to live in the freedom of grace.
Another thing we notice about the Pharisees of the Bible is that not only were they looking for sin but when they found it, they couldn’t be consistent with it. In Matthew 12 when they tried to play gotcha over the disciples eating grain on the Sabbath, Jesus essentially said, “We’re eating because we’re hungry. Don’t you remember David and the priests who broke the law all the time? What’s wrong with you guys?” Pharisees are never consistent. They only play gotcha with others when it’s in their own best interest.
And we have our equivalent in the evangelical Christian subculture. We’re so uptight about our rules. Some of us don’t dance because we think it’ll always lead to sex. Or we warn people off movies because we think if someone goes to a PG-rated movie one week, they’ll be going to an R-rated movie the next week and eventually engaging in pornography. So we put rules on everything because we think rules will stop us from sinning.
Don’t let the Pharisees multiply rules in your life. Don’t let them convince you that rules will keep you from sinning. You’ll never be able to keep everything together like they tell you to, and trying certainly won’t help you live a holy life. Own your sin and hand it to Jesus. He will set you free from both sin and the rules that don’t help you but actually condemn you.

Thought to Remember for Today

Even though it seems counterintuitive, multiplying rules so that we fence off the possibility of sin is actually the greatest deterrent to holy living there is. If our goal is a holy life, then we need to press into the truths of the gospel—that we are already loved and forgiven and that the law no longer has the power to condemn us.

Fitzpatrick, E. (2016). Grace untamed: a 60-day devotional. Colorado Springs, CO: David C Cook.