Questions & Answers

Keeping the Law

Faith Q&A › Metropolitan Youssef › Holy Scripture › Keeping the Law

The question

When can one take comfort he is keeping the law or when does it ever end? If I say piracy is sin. I have to pay for every movie I want to watch. I want to watch Joan of arc for memories sake. Then, if I work I will refuse getting paid a lot if I do not do great work. I could say I do not deserve to graduate for some work I got my tutor to do and learned it later. Surely no man can keep the law. I feel I am wasting my father’s money if it is on movies but I cannot only spend my time doing religious things. I need time out for social purposes. Even religious things, I need to pay for them. My father wants me to succeed in the world and to mingle well with others—not just go to church.

The answer

The law is very important, but salvation can never be obtained through it. God's grace is the only real avenue to obtaining salvation. Clearly, we do not deserve His mercy, forgiveness, or love. Though we are unworthy and repeatedly fall into sins, it is by His grace that we can be revived and restored.

Real success in the world does not mean alienation from God. Real success is illustrated by struggling through worldly ambition, hypocrisy, and corruption. God is the ultimate goal of your life. The verse below applies to all Christians, married and single, those that are in the world, but not of the world, for their hearts belong to God.

"I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth" (John 17:14-17).

Answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab)

Questions answered by His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef (opens in a new tab) of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. Question 2041 on the Diocese’s Q&A site. Questions and answers © Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern United States. All rights reserved.