“All that passing laws against sin did was
produce more lawbreakers.” Romans 5:20a (TM)

I
spent one horrific semester at a Bible college that was very big on rules and
miserly in grace. There were rules for everything from haircuts to
relationships and everything in between. Every word and action was legislated
by the administration’s imaginative list of sins the students might possibly
commit.

I
learned a lot that semester before running as fast as I could from the place.
Romans makes it very clear that excessive laws only promotes excessive
lawbreaking. The students I witnessed that semester were immature, petty and
judgmental – so inwardly focused on adhering to every jot and tittle of the
code of conduct and proving their “goodness” that there was no time or energy
left for loving the lost or fulfilling our mission of taking the Message to a
dark world.  What a far cry from our
Lord’s admonishment to be “wise as serpents and gentle as doves”.

It’s not about rules. It’s about the relationship.