If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

“Go talk to the priests, Aaron's sons, and tell them that I don't want any priest to make himself ritually impure...” (Lev 21:1)

“Anything that an unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches it becomes unclean till evening." (Numbers 19:22)

When Jesus tells the parable about the Good Samaritan in Luke 10:25-37, He makes a point to give an example of a priest who passed by a man lying on the road who had been attacked by robbers. We assume that he was afraid of ritually defiling himself and chose a path according to the letter of the law. In the parable, it was a Samaritan who was typically looked down upon by the Jews who stopped and help..

In Luke 10:36 Jesus asks, “'Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?' The expert in the law replied, 'The one who had mercy on him.' Jesus told him, 'Go and do likewise.'”

It was the one who did not follow the letter of the law but the heart of the law in reaching out and helping others who was actually living the gospel.

In another example, In Acts 10, Peter was sitting on his roof and shown unclean animals in a vision. He was told to get up, kill and eat them. He responded, “Surely not, Lord! I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” The voice then spoke to him, “ “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

Later he was taken to Cornelius’s house where many Gentiles gathered, he told them, “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with or visit a Gentile. But God has shown me that I should not call anyone impure or unclean.” He then preached the gospel to them and the Spirit of God fell powerfully.

There are also examples where Jesus rebuked the Jews who were offended that God was healing on the Sabbath. The point was that even though they were 'right' by the letter of the law, they were wrong because they missed the whole essence of the bible to help, have mercy, and lift others up out of love.

Ever get in an argument because you know you are right, only to find that you are totally wrong (in not seeking first to understand the other person and meet them where they are at.) I think Christians sometimes go wrong with good intentions because they are following the letter of the law rather than the heart of the gospel. As a result, people are deeply hurt.

Pastors with the best intentions write blogs about why women theologically should be kept from preaching or having an elder role when there are some that are clearly called and the Holy Spirit witnesses. People are hurt and limited as a result.   In other instances, people are judged, signs are held up, and people draw lines that exclude others. Some come with their stones in the name of God ready to throw them... yet He is not in it.

Lord, have mercy. Sometimes I see where I clearly follow the letter of the law and totally miss the mark. Help me to be more merciful, following Your heart and ways. Open our eyes to see where we may be wrong and help us to cross the lines from places of legalism to love.