I had a dream last night, and in it I was struck by the thought that to believe you have a contract with God you most likely believe yourself his equal in some way.
Why would you need a contract with God if he loves us?
edit: Perhaps I should clarify that I'm referring to a group of people who view God's love as some kind of business deal, a singling out from the rest of humanity for special treatment.
PS I also don't think it's the same God that I percieve.
A covenant. A promise. God loves us, and He is promising our salvation in exchange for us trying to uphold His law.
Wrong - that was the first covenant - and man specifically Israel demonstrated over and over they they could not keep their part of the covenant.
So a New Covenant was required, an unconditional covenant, of which Jesus is the mediator and we do NOTHING! Why because if we had to then we too would fail, just as Israel did.
Spelling edit
However I think it's still fair to say God wants us to follow His laws even WITH Jesus; we don't really get to do "nothing," and God still wants us trying our best to obey
Yes that is right but John 3:16 'whosoever believes ...' and when we stumble in seeking to follow in His ways He has provided the solution.
1 John 1:9-10 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.