Paul railed against gentile attempts to adhere to Torah laws calling them disciplinary boundaries to keep children from straying too far. But the freedom in Jesus Christ that Paul preached bound Christians to a more difficult law, one harder to follow.
We are free to do as we will as long as it reflects in every word and deed love of God, loving respect for self, and loving respect for the other, whomever the other might be. It’s a far higher standard than anything in Torah. Without Torah’s well defined guidelines, it requires virtuous self discipline and reflective consideration of answers to questions about good and bad, right and wrong. In a complicated world of uncertainty Paul put it this way, you have to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. (Phil.2) He did not mean that you are the source of your salvation but that you have to work out how to live into the salvation that is yours through Christ Jesus.
We are not without guidance. The gospel records show how Jesus is our example. We aren’t perfect but we are able to follow Him with confidence because Jesus is God incarnate in whose word and deeds the way is made known to us. Scripture, Hebrew and Christian, tells the story of humanity’s introduction to God Almighty and the slow process of absorbing God’s way of living into daily life. Stiff necked people that we are, we share strengths and weaknesses like our ancestors. Yet, we are aided by the tradition of the church bequeathed to us by centuries of saints and scholars. Each generation must take its turn, learning from the past, discovering how to live as faithful Christians in today’s society, and preparing the way for future generations.
Frustrating as it is, there is no single way to understand the truth for all times. God’s truth may be eternal and unchanging but our ability to understand it is not. It changes from time to time and place to place, leaving us always seeking a deeper understanding yet never reaching a final conclusion because there is always more. That does not satisfy people who demand black and white answers in social settings that they believe should not change. Truth is that the only unchanging, solid policy to stand is trust in Jesus. Everything else, as the hymn says, is shifting sand. Society does not stay the same, nor can it. It’s always shifting and the church is always adjusting to influence it in a more godly direction while prayerfully listening with discerning hearts to what God is yet unveiling. I am sympathetic. Following Jesus into tomorrow’s unpredictable changes and chances is risky, uncertain, and exhausting. The good news in the Good News is that those who say this is it, I can go no farther, are not left behind. God’s grace will carry them. As for those who fearlessly forge ahead, they are prone to wander down blind alleys. God’s grace pursues them to bring them back. The rest of us are in the middle, walking in hope.
I would like to edit Paul’s admonition to work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, to say work out your understanding of salvation with fear and trembling. Share the good news with others and help them work out their own understanding, which will not be your understanding. You and others will be more mostly right than you were before but not as much as you will become. The way forward is filled with hope and doubt anchored in trust in Jesus.