"Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light" (Matt. 11:28, ESV).
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you" (Isaiah 43:2, ESV, italics added).
Jesus invited all to pick up His yoke, which would not become overbearing and burdensome, like the yoke of the Pharisees had been (adding hundreds of laws to the Law of Moses and even making a fetish out of the Sabbath). Jesus did indeed announce His yoke would be easy and His burden light in Matt. 11:30. No one could bear the yoke of the Law, which was not meant as a way of salvation in the first place, but only to prove us sinners and make us realize our need for grace, (cf. Ex. 24:7: "...All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." ) though Israel had promised to obey it despite this. The rule-obsessed Pharisees had become legalistic and lost track of the concept of grace (for the Law came through Moses and grace and truth came through Jesus, per John 1:17). People who make up rules always decide on ones they think they can keep!
We don't need a Law to obey but grace and mercy because we cannot keep any law! God gave us the Law to show us we cannot keep it! When we have a law we are always wondering if we measure up and we end up comparing ourselves to others, as to how they keep the Law. We can be too hard on ourselves and not be merciful to others by the same token. The whole purpose of salvation is that we need a whole new heart, and this was no new concept to Israel (cf. Ezek. 36:26), not a code to keep or credo to believe. We need the heart to know and love the Lord, not to bind us and keep us from enjoying our freedom in Christ. Paul warned the Galatians that they were trying to finish with the Law what Christ had begun by grace, and they had insulted the Spirit of grace in the process.
So what is our yoke? Do we have any law to abide by ourselves, or are we antinomians (i.e., against the Law)? No, we are not under the Law, and it has no power to condemn us nor to enslave us, yet we are free to be under the yoke of God's will as believers, which is a far easier task and can only be accomplished because we have the resident Spirit to testify His will to us. We have a heart to delight in God's will as David did in Psalm 40:8, ESV, which says, "I desire [delight] to do your will, O my God..." In fact, if you don't have an inner supernatural yearning to do God's will, you have reason to doubt the reality of your profession, as to whether it's genuine or bogus.
God's "commands are not burdensome" (cf. 1 John 5:3) and our love for God is measured in obedience, not ecstasy, for some people can get overly emotional and sentimental, or even maudlin and all over the spectrum going overboard. We can be sure that when we go "through the fire" God will be with us (cf. Isaiah 43:2) and that He accompanies us along the way, even lifting and carrying us through the difficult trials, and we are never alone in our fight for His will in our lives: God's best plan is not overwhelming but can be accomplished when God is with us, as He promised.
The yoke of His will is perfectly custom designed, adjusted, and fitted to our needs and abilities and God will certainly use us to His glory as instruments of grace. In sum, it isn't some code of honor, creed, or ethic to learn, but a relationship to gain in Christ as we matriculate in the school of Christ and become learners, or students, that is, of Christ via the Word of God--His disciples at heart. Soli Deo Gloria!
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you" (Isaiah 43:2, ESV, italics added).
Jesus invited all to pick up His yoke, which would not become overbearing and burdensome, like the yoke of the Pharisees had been (adding hundreds of laws to the Law of Moses and even making a fetish out of the Sabbath). Jesus did indeed announce His yoke would be easy and His burden light in Matt. 11:30. No one could bear the yoke of the Law, which was not meant as a way of salvation in the first place, but only to prove us sinners and make us realize our need for grace, (cf. Ex. 24:7: "...All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient." ) though Israel had promised to obey it despite this. The rule-obsessed Pharisees had become legalistic and lost track of the concept of grace (for the Law came through Moses and grace and truth came through Jesus, per John 1:17). People who make up rules always decide on ones they think they can keep!
We don't need a Law to obey but grace and mercy because we cannot keep any law! God gave us the Law to show us we cannot keep it! When we have a law we are always wondering if we measure up and we end up comparing ourselves to others, as to how they keep the Law. We can be too hard on ourselves and not be merciful to others by the same token. The whole purpose of salvation is that we need a whole new heart, and this was no new concept to Israel (cf. Ezek. 36:26), not a code to keep or credo to believe. We need the heart to know and love the Lord, not to bind us and keep us from enjoying our freedom in Christ. Paul warned the Galatians that they were trying to finish with the Law what Christ had begun by grace, and they had insulted the Spirit of grace in the process.
So what is our yoke? Do we have any law to abide by ourselves, or are we antinomians (i.e., against the Law)? No, we are not under the Law, and it has no power to condemn us nor to enslave us, yet we are free to be under the yoke of God's will as believers, which is a far easier task and can only be accomplished because we have the resident Spirit to testify His will to us. We have a heart to delight in God's will as David did in Psalm 40:8, ESV, which says, "I desire [delight] to do your will, O my God..." In fact, if you don't have an inner supernatural yearning to do God's will, you have reason to doubt the reality of your profession, as to whether it's genuine or bogus.
God's "commands are not burdensome" (cf. 1 John 5:3) and our love for God is measured in obedience, not ecstasy, for some people can get overly emotional and sentimental, or even maudlin and all over the spectrum going overboard. We can be sure that when we go "through the fire" God will be with us (cf. Isaiah 43:2) and that He accompanies us along the way, even lifting and carrying us through the difficult trials, and we are never alone in our fight for His will in our lives: God's best plan is not overwhelming but can be accomplished when God is with us, as He promised.
The yoke of His will is perfectly custom designed, adjusted, and fitted to our needs and abilities and God will certainly use us to His glory as instruments of grace. In sum, it isn't some code of honor, creed, or ethic to learn, but a relationship to gain in Christ as we matriculate in the school of Christ and become learners, or students, that is, of Christ via the Word of God--His disciples at heart. Soli Deo Gloria!