Keeping the Law of Moses will not bring righteousness to us, because God no longer is pleased with this. God wants us to hear and obey His Son, and only by doing this can we be counted righteous.

Believing in Christ and then continuing to live according to our fleshly nature will not bring righteousness to us, because God insists that we, through the Spirit of God, put to death the actions of our sinful nature.

The first way, keeping the Law of Moses, will not bring righteousness to us.

The second way, believing in Christ but then not obeying the Spirit of God each day will not bring righteousness to us.

There is a third way.

The third way is the "rest of God," mentioned in the Book of Hebrews. It is the continual abiding in Christ, following the Spirit of God, praying, meditating in the Scriptures, presenting our body a living sacrifice, taking up our cross and following Jesus, bringing every decision to Jesus for His wisdom, gathering together with fervent saints, turning away from the spirit of the world, remaining in the prison where God places us, that brings righteousness to us.

Are we saying that we do these things to earn our salvation? Not at all! We are stating, rather, that the Divine salvation is a program that must be worked out each day. If we do not attend to our salvation at all times, working it out with fear and trembling, we are unrighteous in God's sight even though we have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

It is not at all true that we can gain righteousness by keeping the Law of Moses, now that God has given His Son and His Spirit to us.

It is not at all true that we can gain righteousness by making a profession of belief in Christ, and then continuing on in our way in the world, not seeking the Lord at all times.

There is a third way. It is the way of continual cross-carrying obedience, following the Master each day.

If we are faithful in following Christ as described above, the time will come when we are at rest in God's will. Our greatest delight will be to do God's will perfectly. We will want to do what God wants us to do. Then, and only then, are we free.

It requires a good deal of faithfulness to press through to such eternal life. But to live in the eternal Sabbath of God, to have Him live His Life through us, is worth all the pain, fear, and delayed gratification we endure as we seek to cease from our own striving, secular and religious, and just dance along with the Lord.

There are many pitfalls along the way to the rest of God. One of these dangers is passivity. Another is deception. A third is religious ambition.

It is the responsibility of the elders of the church to guide the new converts until they successfully make the transition from the self-life to the life of Jesus Christ. We must pay careful attention to all of the commandments of Christ until finally the Day Star, Jesus Christ, arises in our heart and we enter the eternal romance.

"It will be worth it all when we see Jesus," the old song says. This certainly is true, but there is far, far more to salvation than seeing Jesus in Heaven. The highest point, our ultimate goal, is to live in Christ and Christ in us until it no longer is we who are living but Christ who is living in us. This is the rest of God.

The Apostle Paul has been grievously misunderstood to mean there is nothing more of critical significance we are to do after we make a profession of faith in Christ. So many believers have not been pointed toward the fullness of life in Christ as a result of our misunderstanding of Paul's teaching of grace, and the dim moral light that terms itself the Christian churches is the result. (from A Scribe for the Lord)