Having A Relationship With God Is Not About Just Following A Set Of Rules

A summary of Galatians 2:19-21, says, "I had tried keeping rules and working hard to follow just the law, however living for the law is not enough.  Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it, so I stopped with just trying to meet its requirements so that I might identify myself directly with God.  My old self has been crucified with Christ.  My own ego is no longer central, and it is no longer important that I appear righteous before others or trying to impress God.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  The life you see me living is not “mine,” I end up living in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  I do not treat the grace God has given to me as meaningless.  If just keeping the law could make us right with God, then there wouldn’t have been a need for Christ to die."

Bottom Line:
Just following and keeping laws is not enough to earn my way to salvation.  Christ’s life is an example of how to live a life for God alone.  With this I stopped just trying to meet the law's requirements (hoping that that would be all that I needed) and just identify myself directly with God through Christ.  I allowed my old self to be crucified with Christ. As a result I am not longer concerned about ego or what others think of me or trying to earn God’s favor with just being righteous.  It’s not about those former things at all, it’s about trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up for me.  It is no longer I who live, but now Christ who lives in me.  I don not treat this grace that God have given me as meaningless, it is of the utmost importance.  Besides, if just keeping the law could make us right with God, then there wouldn’t have been a need for Christ to die for us.

What this means for me:
God is not interested in us just following a known set of rules without having a direct relationship with him which is enabled by trusting in Christ, who shows us the truth and ultimately paid the penalty for us.  So I pursue this relationship and understanding of who God is.  I allow Christ and his character to take over control of my life.  I should no longer concern my life with trying to impress others and thinking that what I do will earn favor with God.  He has already provided a grace that I cannot fully comprehend, but I accept it.  This is difficult, as my natural tendencies always pull me into wanting to look good, prove my worth.  I need to realize that the law was given to help us in guidelines but was not a means in and of itself.  It is important to not use freedom God gives us to use it for my own pleasure.  Instead I need to commitment myself to spending time with him daily.