2) it sounds like you are saying, if we love god we will follow the law and it will not be a burden. yet if we do not love god then we will follow the law and it will be a burden. either way we follow the law. which law? all 613 commands around which the pharisees ordered their lives?

3) your focus seems to be here not so much on the relationship one has with others, but on following commands in order to get one's self right with god as a means to receive god's grace. my question is how that gift of grace god has given us is given by us to others. do you believe that as those who follow god we ought to impart grace and mercy to others? or are we limited to the law in that process?

4) i am not sure what you mean by "libertine" since i no where suggests a "do whatever you want" ethic. however, both paul and jesus are very clear that grace grants freedom. it is freedom from the burden of sin and freedom from the burden of the law that reveals sin to us. the law of grace requires a great deal of work on our part since it requires us to be unselfish and self-giving. both paul and jesus were aware that self-interest drives people to behave. god calls us to be the opposite. that is the transformation that grace begins to work in us.

The PC USA's Brief Statement of Faith says,

"In life and in death we belong to God
Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God,
and the communion of the Holy Spirit,
we trust in the one triune God, the Holy One of Israel,
whom alone we worship and serve.

With a God like that why would I fear (not following) the law?

A while back I heard Christine Yoder, of Columbia Theological Seminary, talk about Proverbs at Montreat. Proverbs is her specialty. Anyways, that reminded me of Proverbs 10:24 "What the wicked dreads will overtake him; what the righteous desire will be granted." and Proverb 10:27 "The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short."

Obviously those Proverbs are kind of talking about what pastorboy brought up.

My point , however, is that God is still active in this world through the Holy Spirit. Therefore just as God took a shepherd boy, David, and made him a king, God still uses each of us and works through us today. So while I have a healthy fear of God, see my Proverbs references, I don't fear going down "a departure from the truths" path.

I will choose to follow the path of the Greatest Commandment, even if it is to a fault. Churches using fear is driving people away. I hope at my church and all churches/communities of faith that we will always focus on love to help grow the church. I believe this is the point that Drew, and others, has been driving home for some time now at this blog.

Drew, I sent you an email through Disquis. That thing is new to me so please let me know that you got it. My kids were torturing me as I wrote it and I really want to hear your responses. When you have time of course. Thanks.

This is not a libertine Gospel, however. Grace is transformational. The Grace of God given to us does not mean a departure from the truths found in the scripture. Your friends call out grace! grace! tolerance! Yet, the grace of God changes us into His image, restoring the imago dei if you will to its redeemed and restored standing in Christ.

So, yes to grace, no to law, for the law can bring us only to the cross and no further. But should I go on sinning that grace should increase? May it never be!! If we love God, we keep his commands, and these commands are not burdensome to us.