Perfect God, Perfect People

For as much as Jesus and the Pharisees were in conflict with each other, they did have one important thing in common--they both wanted to teach their followers how to live as children of God in a world that makes that a very difficult thing to do.  The problem with the Pharisees' approach is that they reduced following God to a list of dos and don'ts.  As Jesus pointed out, a person can follow the Pharisees' rules to the letter and still have a heart that is far from God.  

Being a child of God is about much more than just following a checklist; it's about loving God with all of our hearts, and loving our neighbours as ourselves.  We shouldn't obey God's laws in an effort to become his children.  Instead, we should obey God because we already are his children; our obedience should flow from our love for God.  And God, through the Holy Spirit, gives us the power to do this, transforming us from within into what he intends us to be--his children.

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