Rules Can Restrain a Man. Only the Spirit Can Change Him.

You can't see the Holy Spirit. Neither can I. And that's exactly why so many Christians would rather live under a rule than trust a Spirit they can't see. Give me a list. Give me something to be accountable to. It's easier than faith.

But look at the man Jesus healed in John 5. Nobody handed him a checklist. Nobody stood over him and told him where to go next. He got up, went to the temple, and told the Jews what Jesus had done for him — all on his own. Gratitude did what a command never could.

I've been a pastor, a father, and a boss long enough to learn this: strict, dictatorial control doesn't produce Christianity. It produces dead religion. You can force behavior with rules and threats, but you can't force love — and love is what actually moves a man to obey.

Rules can restrain a man from the outside. Only the Spirit of God can compel a man from the inside — and that's a far stronger force than anything I could ever lay on you.

If you're saved, you don't need me standing over your shoulder telling you where to go and what to do. You have the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 6:6 speaks of the servant "doing the will of God from the heart."

Quit looking for a rulebook to hand your people, your children, or yourself. Ask the Lord to move the heart, and let obedience flow from love, not fear.

Want the full message this post came from?

This is just a glimpse of what the Spirit taught us in John 5. Give the whole sermon a listen — no rules required, just come as you are.

Pastor Fortunato
Founding Pastor & Preacher of the Word.
Pilgrim Baptist Church — Cookeville, Tennessee
https://pilgrimbaptist.church/
https://www.sermonaudio.com/solo/pilgrimbaptist/