On the subject of the law and grace. Part 4

Part of an investigation subtitled: : Should a follower of Christ ever get a tattoo? - an investigation for the Christian alternative.

This article was orginally released under the Adullam Limited document numbering system as Document #49. It was distributed to a few trusted friends and family for thier feed back which by and large was extreamly positive. As such I want to share this with a wider audience now.

Over the last three parts we looked at the difference between The Spirit of the Law and the letter of the law. We saw how we are free from the heavy burdon of the law (sometimes called the curse of the law) and we looked at if a Christian should have a tattoo.

There remained one issue unresolved: the law was given to mark the people of God as different from all others. It is clear we are called to Holiness and Holy means set aside for a special purpose.

How are we now marked as different?

In Matthew 21: 43 Jesus says the Kingdom of Heaven will be taken and given to those that will bear fruit (quoted earlier). Would it not be safe to assume that we might identify these new recipients by the fruit they produce?

Back in Matthew chapter 7 Jesus is teaching and in verse 15 he talks of false prophets and says “you will know them by their fruits” he goes on to say that Good trees produce Good fruit and bad trees produce bad fruit.

You do not gather figs from thistles nor grapes from thorns we are told. Even today this is a self evident truth. Chickens produce eggs cows produce milk.

This simple truth Jesus uses to teach how to tell the good from the bad and in verse 20 he reminds us:

“Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

What is the fruit of a follower of Jesus?

“By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love one for another”
--John 13:35

Jesus tells his follows that the sign to everyone will be (the dead giveaway) that you care deeply for each other.

Here is a key that will answer the earlier riddle of the legalistic person. Do they have love for their fellow Christian? This will tell you if they are a disciple of Jesus.

Tattoos, laws, clothes and food are nothing when identifying a follower of Jesus, only the love they show tells us clearly something has changed in their lives. From this you should fully expect to see a greater hunger for justice, mercy, and a deeper understanding of God.

No matter what they say any other person is just playing games.