Why Legalism Is So Attractive
Many Christians have a tendency to think they need to do something on their own to obtain God's favor and salvation. The purpose of this lesson is to encourage those who have chosen to come out of the mind-set which originates from ignorance, distortions, and misunderstandings of God's Word; incorrect teachings and concepts in childhood; and/or religious organizations which emphasize external behavior and worship through rituals and self-made good works. It is easy to adopt various forms of Christianity and at the same time deny the power of a genuine Godly life, with the inclusion of the love, joy and gladness that it brings. Unbecoming as they are - yokes, bondages, and psychological prisons are the order of the day (fashionableness of the times) and the practice of mythological dialect leads multitudes to, and the end result of, emptiness and illusion - thus double-yoking the false-believer-follower.
"Which things have indeed a show of wisdom in will worship, and humility, and neglecting of the body; not in any honour to the satisfying of the flesh." Colossians 2:23.
"To the Colossians, the discipline demanded by the false teachers seemed good, and legalism still attracts many people today. Following a long list of religious rules requires strong self-discipline and can make a person appear moral, but religious rules cannot change a person's heart. Only the Holy Spirit can do that." - Life Application Bible, p. 2103.
Original Purpose Of God's Law
"Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Matthew 5:17.
"God's moral and ceremonial laws were given to help people love God with all their hearts and minds. Throughout Israel's history, however, these laws were often misquoted and misapplied. By Jesus' time, religious leaders had turned the laws into a confusing mass of rules. When Jesus talked about a new way to understand God's Law, he was actually trying to bring people back to its original purpose. He did not speak against the Law itself, but against the abuses and excesses to which it had been subjected." - Life Application Bible, p. 1562.
"For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17.
"Law and grace are both aspects of God's nature that he uses in dealing with us. Moses emphasized God's Law and justice, while Jesus Christ came to highlight God's mercy, love, and forgiveness. Moses could only be the giver of the Law, while Christ came to fulfill it. The nature and will of God were revealed in the Law; now the nature and will of God are revealed in Jesus Christ. Rather than coming through cold stone tables, God's revelation ('truth') now comes through a person's life. As we get to know Christ better, our understanding of God will increase." - Life Application Bible, p. 1792.
The modality of fulfilling Christ's two laws: love of God and love of fellowman (Mark 12:30, 31); is not accomplished by any human attempt to keep the "moral code"; but the law is fulfilled completely by expending "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5). Throughout this mature Christian Attic faith (unshakeable) and attentive reason is the Holy Spirit's undenying two-fold administration. First, it sets bold preservational sealing against outside negative influences (Ephesians 4:30). Secondly, it carries outwardly, an invitation with an understandable inflection, the capabilities to accept the Spirit in Truth's accommodation of accomplishments rather than one's own abilities to make good come to pass (Romans 8:37-39). Thus, an active faith and attentive reason are the fountain springs of the more Abundant Life through refined Love (John 10:10).
Everyone is born in God's image as "a diamond in the rough"; how much "whosoever" shines of God's character is the extent to which such a one allows God to polish him/her by His Grace.
Legalism Destroys Joy
"But now, after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain. Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am; for I am as ye are: ye have not injured me at all. Ye know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? For I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me." Galatians 4:9-15.
"Paul sensed that the Galatians had lost the joy of their salvation because of legalism. Legalism can take away joy because (1) it makes people feel guilty rather than loved; (2) it produces self-hatred rather than humility; (3) it stresses performance over relationship; (4) it points out how far short we fall rather than how far we've come because of what Christ did for us. If you feel guilty and inadequate, check your focus. Are you putting your faith in Christ or in rule-keeping?" - Life Application Bible, p. 2060.
Almost from the beginning there were forces at work within Christianity that could have destroyed or sidetracked the movement. Of these, three created many problems then and have continued to reappear in other forms even today. The three aberrations are contrasted to true Christianity:
| Group | Their definition of a Christian | Their genuine concern | The danger | Application question |
|
Judaized Christianity |
Christians are Jews who have recognized Jesus as the promised Savior. Therefore any Gentile desiring to become a Christian must first become a Jew | Having a high regard for God's word and his choice of Jews as his people, they did not want to see God's commands over-looked or broken. | Tends to add human traditions and standards to God's Law. Also subtracts from the Scriptures God's clear concern for all nations. | Do you appreciate God's choice of a unique people through which he offered forgiveness and eternal life to all peoples? |
| Legalized Christianity | Christians are those who live by a long list of "don'ts." God's favor is earned by good behavior. | Recognized that real change brought about by God should lead to changes in behavior. | Tends to make God's love something to earn rather than to accept freely. Would reduce Christianity to a set of impossible rules and transform the Good News into bad news. | As important as change in action is, can you see that God may be desiring different changes in you than in others? |
| Law-less Christianity | Christians live above the Law. They need no guidelines. God's word is not as important as our personal sense of God's guidance. | Recognized that forgiveness from God cannot be based on our ability to live up to his perfect standards. It must be received by faith as a gift made possible by Christ's death on the cross. | Forgets that Christians are still human and fail consistently when trying to live only by what they "feel" God wants. | Do you recognize the ongoing need for God's expressed commands as you live out your gratitude for his great salvation? |
| True Christianity | Christians are those who believe inwardly and outwardly that Jesus' death has allowed God to offer them forgiveness and eternal life as a gift. They have accepted that gift by faith and are seeking to live a life of obedient gratitude for what God has done for them | Christianity is both private and public; heart-belief and mouth-confession. Our relationship to God and the power he provides result in obedience. Having received the gift of forgiveness and eternal life, we are now daily challenged to live that life with his help. | Avoids the above dangers | How would those closest to you describe your Christianity? Do they think you live so that God will accept you or do they know that you live because God has accepted you in Christ? |
Freedom From Bondage
"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Revelation 18:4.
"But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy." 1 Peter 2:9, 10.
"People often base their self-concept on their accomplishments, but our relationship with Christ is far more important than our jobs, our successes, our wealth, or our knowledge. We have been chosen by God as his very own, and we have been called to represent him to others. Remember that your value comes from being one of God's children, not from what you can achieve. You have worth because of what God does, not because of what you do." - Life Application Bible, p. 2198.
For an undiluted metaphoric (change of old law-keeping to new grace-abiding) exemplification and positive polarization, we here include C. H. Spurgeon's theological and spiritual notes upon this subject:
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us." Romans 8:37.
We go to Christ for forgiveness, and then too often look to the law for power to fight our sins. Paul thus rebukes us, "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" Take your sins to Christ's cross, for the old man can only be crucified there: we are crucified with Him. The only weapon to fight sin with is the spear which pierced the side of Jesus. To give an illustration - you want to overcome an angry temper, how do you go to work? It is very possible you have never tried the right way of going to Jesus with it. How did I get salvation? I came to Jesus just as I was, and I trusted Him to save me. I must go to the cross with it, and say to Jesus, "Lord, I trust Thee to deliver me from it." This is the only way to give it a death-blow. Are you covetous? Do you feel the world entangle you? You may struggle against this evil so long as you please, but if it be your besetting sin, you will never be delivered from it in any way but by the blood of Jesus. Take it to Christ. Tell Him, "Lord, I have trusted Thee, and Thy name is Jesus, for Thou dost save Thy people from their sins; Lord, this is one of my sins; save me from it!" Ordinances are nothing without Christ as a means of mortifiction. Your prayers, and your repentances, and your tears - the whole of them put together - are worth nothing apart from Him. "None but Jesus can do helpless sinners good;" or helpless saints either. You must be conquerors through Him who hath loved you, if conquerors at all. Our laurels must grow among His olives in Gethsemane.
Ponder This
The Law of the Spirit is Jesus - therefore anyone who puts the Law of the Spirit before the letter of the Law will find themselves coming out of all man-made darknesses into His marvelous light to be liberated - no longer victims under the control of others - but forever abiding within the power of the gracious Law of the Spirit - as it is in Jesus Christ - the joy giver.
It is a weakness of the human tendency to prefer known bondages to unknown (unrealized) freedom - especially if those who prefer being in those yokes consider themselves too unworthy of being set free. This is seen throughout society within the prison system - as a type of revolving-door; whereas when prisoners are released on probation or set free, a high percentage of those who could be free in deed put themselves back into prison where they feel that society can take better care of them - than they themselves can. In reality - this is a double yoke. "Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people" (Isaiah 60:2).
With God All Things Are Possible
"And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." Mark 10:27. Why is this? Because spiritual things are understood spiritually! The spiritual bonding with God through Christ gives the believer/doer a sixth-sense (supernatural or super-sense) to overview, override, overrule, and guide within and throughout the five-natural-senses which all men/women have; thereof, therefore, and therewith making spiritual things as more meaningful for making a more-abundant, God-centered life!
Love
"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." John 13:35.
"Love is not simply warm feelings; it is instead an attitude that reveals itself in action. How can we love others as Jesus loves us? By helping when it's not convenient, by giving when it hurts, by devoting energy to others' welfare rather than our own, by absorbing hurts from others without complaining or fighting back. This kind of loving is hard to do. That is why people notice when you do it and know you are empowered by a supernatural source." - Life Application Bible, p. 1836.
Joy
"Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." 1 Peter 1:8, 9.
Gladness
"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness." Psalm 97:11, 12.
Then Ponder This
As a more comprehensive introspection of the bondages outside of Spirit and Truth of Authentic Christianity, the following are explanatory notes of Matthew 5:3-24 taken from Life Application Bible p. 1562 - 1563 exemplifying full truth above and beyond partials, portions or half-truths in one's search to become likened to Jesus."There are at least four ways to understand the beatitudes: (1) They are a code of ethics for the disciples and a standard of conduct for all believers. (2) They contrast Kingdom values (what is eternal)with worldly values (what is temporary). (3) They contrast the superficial 'faith' of the Pharisees with the real faith Christ wants. (4) They show how the Old Testament expectations will be fulfilled in the new Kingdom. These beatitudes are not multiple choice - pick what you like and leave the rest. They must be taken as a whole. They describe what we should be like as Christ's followers."
"Each beatitude tells how to be blessed. Other translations use the words fortunate or happy. [We associate the word blessed with benefits]. These words don't promise laughter, pleasure, or earthly prosperity. Jesus turns the world's idea of happiness upside down. To Jesus, happiness means hope and joy, independent of outward circumstances. To find hope and joy, the deepest form of happiness, follow Jesus no matter what the cost."
"With Jesus' announcement that the Kingdom was at hand (Matthew 4:17), people were naturally asking, 'How do I qualify to be in God's Kingdom?" Jesus said that God's Kingdom is organized differently from worldly kingdoms. In the Kingdom of heaven, wealth and power and authority are unimportant. Kingdom people seek different blessings and benefits, and they have different attitudes. Are your attitudes a carbon copy of the world's selfishness, pride, and lust for power, or do they reflect the humility and self-sacrifice of Jesus, your King?"
"Jesus began his sermon with words that seem to contradict each other. But God's way of living usually contradicts the world's. If you want to live for God you must be ready to say and do what seems strange to the world. You must be willing to give when others take, to love when others hate, to help when others abuse. By giving up your own rights in order to serve others, you will one day receive everything God has in store for you."
"Jesus said to rejoice when we're persecuted. Persecution can be good because (1) it takes our eyes off earthly rewards, (2) it strips away superficial believers, (3) it strengthens the faith of those who endure, and (4) it serves as an example to others who follow. We can be comforted to know that God's greatest prophets were persecuted (Elijah, Jeremiah, Daniel). Our persecution means we have shown ourselves faithful. In the future God will reward the faithful by letting them enter his eternal Kingdom where there is no more persecution."
"If a seasoning has no flavor, it has no value. If Christians make no effort to affect the world around them, they are of little value to God. If we are too much like the world, we are worthless. Christians should not blend in with everyone else. Instead, we should affect them positively, just as seasoning brings out the best flavor in food."
"Can you hide a city that is sitting on top of a hill? Its light at night can be seen for miles. If we live for Christ, we will glow like lights, showing others what Christ is like. We hide our light by (1) being quiet when we should speak, (2) going along with the crowd, (3) denying the light, (4) letting sin dim our light, (5) not explaining our light to others, or (6) ignoring the needs of others. Be a beacon of truth - don't shut your light off from the rest of the world."
"If Jesus did not come to cancel the Law, does that mean all the Old Testament laws still apply to us today? In the Old Testament, there were three categories of law: ceremonial, civil, and moral."
"(1) The ceremonial law related specifically to Israel's worship (see Leviticus 1:2, 3, for example). Its primary purpose was to point forward to Jesus Christ; these laws, therefore, were no longer necessary after Jesus' death and resurrection. While we are no longer bound by ceremonial laws, the principles behind them - to worship and love a holy God - still apply. Jesus was often accused by the Pharisees of violating ceremonial law."
"(2) The civil law applied to daily living in Israel (see Deuteronomy 24:10, 11, for example). Because modern society and culture are so radically different from that time, all of these guidelines cannot be followed specifically. But the principles behind the commands are timeless and should guide our conduct. Jesus fulfilled these by example."
"(3) The moral law (such as the Ten Commandments) is the direct command of God, and it requires strict obedience (see Exodus 20:13, for example). It reveals the nature and will of God, and it still applies today. Jesus obeyed the moral law completely.""Some of those in the crowd were expert at telling others what to do, but they missed the central point of God's laws themselves. Jesus made it clear, however, that obeying God's Law is more important than explaining it. It's much easier to study God's laws and tell others to obey them than to put them into practice. How are you doing at obeying God yourself?"
"The Pharisees were exacting and scrupulous in their attempts to follow their laws. So how could Jesus reasonably call us to a greater righteousness than theirs? The Pharisees' weakness was that they were content to obey the laws outwardly without allowing God to change their hearts (or attitudes). Jesus was saying, therefore, that the quality of our goodness should be greater than that of the Pharisees. They looked pious, but they were far from the Kingdom of God. God judges our hearts as well as our deeds, for it is in the heart where our real allegiance lies. Be just as concerned about your attitudes, which people don't see, as your actions, which are seen by all."
"Jesus was saying that his listeners needed a different kind of goodness altogether (love and obedience), not just a more intense version of the Pharisees' goodness (legal compliance). Our goodness must (1) come from what God does in us, not what we can do by ourselves, (2) be God-centered, not self-centered, (3) be based on reverence for God, not approval from people, and (4) go beyond keeping the Law to living by the principles behind it.""When Jesus said, 'But I say unto you,' he was not doing away with the Law or adding his own beliefs. Rather, he was giving a fuller understanding of why God made that Law in the first place. For example, when Moses said, 'Thou shalt not kill' (Exodus 20:13), Jesus taught, 'Don't even become angry enough to murder, for then you have already committed murder in your heart.' The Pharisees read this law and, not having murdered, felt righteous. Yet they were angry enough with Jesus that they would soon plot his murder, though they would not do the dirty work themselves. We miss the intent of God's Word when we read his rules for living without trying to understand why he made them. When do you keep God's rules but close your eyes to his intent?"
"Killing is a terrible sin, but anger is a great sin too because it also violates God's command to love. Anger in this case refers to a seething, brooding bitterness against someone. It is a dangerous emotion that always threatens to leap out of control, leading to violence, emotional hurt, increased mental stress, and spiritual damage. Anger keeps us from developing a spirit pleasing to God. Have you ever been proud that you didn't strike out and say what was really on your mind? Self-control is good, but Christ wants us to practice thought-control as well. Jesus said we will be held accountable even for our attitudes."
"Broken relationships can hinder our relationship with God. If we have a problem or grievance with a friend, we should resolve the problem as soon as possible. We are hypocrites if we claim to love God while we hate others. Our attitudes toward others reflect our relationship with God (1 John 4:20)."
The Bottom Line
The whole of the Old Covenant was about rituals and behaviorism. It was cumbersome in that the people of that time including the Levitical Priests couldn't jest (casually) walk-in upon God; whereas all New Covenant believers have within their "body temple" the presence of the Trinity of Holiness at all times, places and circumstances. Gifts and sacrifices could not assuage the conscience of the Old Testament people; for [it] only "affected" their affiliate association to be gathered in a like-manner of dead-endedness; that is, a substitutionary form, of folly and futility to make themselves respectable, NOT EFFECTUAL DIGNITY FROM THE LIVING HEART OF GOD, but between only one another. Essentially, the Old Testations were only a temporary arrangement until a complete overhaul of, by and for Christ was altruistically made.
The ancient Nation of Israel's ceremonial rituals were reduced to a mere religion; and Father God divorced all those who and which didn't accept themselves as being "The Bride of His Son"revealed first to them as the Messiah. Since then, salvation has been made available to anyone who accepts Jesus Christ thus becoming The Bride Of God's Son (Ephesians 5:23-32); "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8, 9.
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Life Application Bible Notes Used By Permission. Life Application Study Bible © 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1996 by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved. Life Application is a registered trademark of Tyndale Publishers, Inc.
Copyright 2008, 2009 Christianist Libertarian Fellowship. This article may be printed in its entirety for personal study and free distribution. Please include the following statement: "Permission granted by Christianist Libertarian Fellowship for Free Distribution Only - Never To Be Sold". "Buy [possess] the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding" (Proverbs 23:23). Jesus said: "The kingdom of heaven [He Himself] is at hand ... freely ye have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:7, 8).
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