Paul uses relationship as the measurement of true spiritual maturity. During this time, many of the believers in Rome had not fully grasped the complete message of the gospel of grace; so they measured a person’s spiritual depth by their morals, their external behavior, and their ability to follow a list of religious rules.
Paul was fully aware that there were many rule followers who had successfully changed many of their external behaviors…but had never been transformed in their hearts. Religion is dominated by rules and focuses on the external changes…“behavior modification”…but Jesus is focused on changing you from the inside out. The exterior will take care of itself when the soul of a person is supernaturally transformed.
