Under the law, the rules are well defined, the laws and precepts are clearly visible, and although it depends on how much power, influence, and money one has, the laws are generally enforced.
The children of Israel had laws placed before them by the Lord, written down and expected to be obeyed, no excuses, no matter your position in life, “For there is no respect of persons with God.” (Romans 2:11) One difference was that these laws were only explicitly for the nation of Israel, the direct descendants of Jacob and Rachel, with inclusions for those that desired to become a part of that nation who were not direct descendants of these two. Obey the laws, and be blessed, disobey and suffer the consequences, not only individually, but as a nation as a whole, sometimes even unto the next generations born. These are the wife of God. (Isaiah 54:5)
The born-again believers, those who are crucified with Christ, the bride of Christ, do not live under the law, we are under grace, the unmerited favor of God without it being necessary to accomplish any singular work to obtain that salvation. (Eph. 2:8-9) There is no nation of Christians, there is no singular banner or flag that we stand under, we are not even recognizable by our outward features as some tribes are. There is no singular work or groupings of works that can release us from the bondage of sin and place us into a right relationship with God, it is a gift from God and is only available through faith in Jesus Christ His Son.
Any works that proceed from this new birth, (John 15:5) from the gift of salvation that would exhibit the truth of that work of God within us, are done by the Holy Spirit of God through us. We become vessels of His grace and mercy to those who are still lost. We are slaves from this point on, and are expected to obey the will and Word of God by allowing Him to use us to reach others. We are under no law but the law of love, (Mark 12:30-31) yet God has given us the choice as to the amount of service that we would willingly offer of ourselves, we are, in the only terminology that makes any even casual sense, slaves with a choice.
The works that we allow the Holy Spirit to do through us is the proof of our salvation, any that we attempt on our own are seen as filthy rags, (Isaiah 64:6) yet we are to submit with our own initiative, only willing servants are profitable, all others who fulfill only the letter of the law of love are seen as unprofitable. (Luke 17:10)
The person who has been crucified with Christ is expected to hate everything that this world stands for, (1 John 2:15) while still living in it, he is expected to hate even those the world says we are to hold the dearest to our hearts, (Luke 14:26) the born-again believer is not even to love their own life, but to hold fast onto the faith in Christ that they have been blessed with, no matter the circumstances, no matter the personal cost to themselves, no matter the consequences, even if it means their death. Such is the personal cost of the free gift of salvation.
There is not one law, one deed, one work that any person can do to obtain this greatest of blessings, it is completely free, but requires everything we are once it is bestowed upon us.
