We may have been doing it all wrong! But the problem is, it's too easy.

It's too easy to be motivated by what we should be doing. I have to go to church; I have to be nice to others; I have to be a better parent, child, student, employee, boss. That’s all true; God does want those things for us. But where does this pressure lead you?

Let’s say you do become a better person by obeying all these rules. What do you think of yourself, “Hey, I’m pretty good, aren’t I? I need to make sure I talk a lot about the good decisions I’ve made for God!” We can become arrogant and lose our humility. Or let’s say you don’t keep those laws. What do you think of yourself now? “I’m a horrible person. I’m not good enough, pretty enough, strong enough, smart enough, etc.” We can despair and lose hope. And the really bad part is when we start believing that, it becomes true. If we want to keep the whole law to make God happy, then we had better do it all.

But that’s too late for us, right? And that’s why God had to obliterate the law. Your record of sin was crucified with Christ. You were crucified with Christ. Your sins, your violations, your rule-breaking, it all died there on the cross. Can you hear those hammer blows pounding Christ to the cross? That was for you. Each blow of the hammer was your sin being pinned to a cross so it could be punished once and for all. There is no punishment for sin anymore. It’s been wiped away forever.

The condemnation of the law, which still tries to cry out against us, has been obliterated. And all those enemies of God have been drug through the streets of hell and proclaimed to be powerless in the face of Christ. You are not a victim of the law. You are not a victim of your own disobedience. Christ was the victim and you are set free. Free now to do it all for the right reasons, out of thanks to God.