Legalism vs. Grace
I was thinking a little bit about legalism today. It ties into my testimony I posted recently, so I think I'll share my thoughts.
Legalism kind of gets the short end of the stick... in a way. Really, Christian legalism on it's best days is mankinds' greatest achievement. Its man doing his best to be righteous and obedient to the Lord. The problem is, man's righteousness is like filthy rags to the Lord. Even though it may have the best intentions possible, it's ugly, disgusting, and completely detestable to YHWH. That's because man can only fix his outward sin. Even though he may look quite pious and upright, on the inside he is still sinful.
Luther said that the law can't be obeyed just by doing what it says. We must obey from the heart! Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. What YHWH desires is a heart of obedience, and of this no man is capable. That's why Psalm 14 says "there is no one who does good, no, not one." We are incapable of true heart obedience!
The Pharisees are kind of the poster boys of legalism. They probably had good intentions. They followed the law to the very letter. But Jesus saw through their outward obedience and saw a heart full of pride. That's why He said they were like white washed tombs. On the outside, they looked quite righteous, but on the inside, they were rotting and disgusting, full of death. Their problem was they understand God's grace.
So what's the answer? How can a man be good? How do we crawl out of this disgusting legalism? The grace of God! When we have faith that God forgives us of our sins, He sees our faith and counts us as righteous. He looks at us, sees faith, and by His grace decides there never was any sin at all. And when we have faith to believe He can make us truly good, that He can actually free us from sin so that we obey outwardly and inwardly, He changes our hearts and makes us clean inside. Then we are holy! It's a matter of faith, believing God can/is/has made us good and whole.
Here's another thought- Legalists can't recognize they are legalistic. Why? They are obeying as best as they can! As far as they understand, they are doing what it right. The problem with people stuck in legalism is that they don't understand that inside, they are full of pride and lust and rebellion and etc. It's not until they are confronted with the reality of God's grace and goodness that they can possibly see the sinful state of their own heart. I couldn't get out of my legalism until I realized that in my heart, I didn't want to obey. I didn't really even love God. I saw that my obedience was empty, but God could make me good. God saw that bit of faith and changed my heart forever.
Are you like me? Are you obeying God simply because you know it's right? Check the condition of your heart. God can change you. Jesus' blood can make you good, inside and out. Just believe on Christ. Have faith, and the One who is faithful and true will do it!
Legalism kind of gets the short end of the stick... in a way. Really, Christian legalism on it's best days is mankinds' greatest achievement. Its man doing his best to be righteous and obedient to the Lord. The problem is, man's righteousness is like filthy rags to the Lord. Even though it may have the best intentions possible, it's ugly, disgusting, and completely detestable to YHWH. That's because man can only fix his outward sin. Even though he may look quite pious and upright, on the inside he is still sinful.
Luther said that the law can't be obeyed just by doing what it says. We must obey from the heart! Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. What YHWH desires is a heart of obedience, and of this no man is capable. That's why Psalm 14 says "there is no one who does good, no, not one." We are incapable of true heart obedience!
The Pharisees are kind of the poster boys of legalism. They probably had good intentions. They followed the law to the very letter. But Jesus saw through their outward obedience and saw a heart full of pride. That's why He said they were like white washed tombs. On the outside, they looked quite righteous, but on the inside, they were rotting and disgusting, full of death. Their problem was they understand God's grace.
So what's the answer? How can a man be good? How do we crawl out of this disgusting legalism? The grace of God! When we have faith that God forgives us of our sins, He sees our faith and counts us as righteous. He looks at us, sees faith, and by His grace decides there never was any sin at all. And when we have faith to believe He can make us truly good, that He can actually free us from sin so that we obey outwardly and inwardly, He changes our hearts and makes us clean inside. Then we are holy! It's a matter of faith, believing God can/is/has made us good and whole.
Here's another thought- Legalists can't recognize they are legalistic. Why? They are obeying as best as they can! As far as they understand, they are doing what it right. The problem with people stuck in legalism is that they don't understand that inside, they are full of pride and lust and rebellion and etc. It's not until they are confronted with the reality of God's grace and goodness that they can possibly see the sinful state of their own heart. I couldn't get out of my legalism until I realized that in my heart, I didn't want to obey. I didn't really even love God. I saw that my obedience was empty, but God could make me good. God saw that bit of faith and changed my heart forever.
Are you like me? Are you obeying God simply because you know it's right? Check the condition of your heart. God can change you. Jesus' blood can make you good, inside and out. Just believe on Christ. Have faith, and the One who is faithful and true will do it!
posted by I Believe We Shall Win at 7:21 PM
3 Comments:
hey joel try making it shorter so i can read it out loud to everyone man... lol jkjk well ill see u later...
Hey Joel good thoughts. I think this is an important lesson for us in the Army. Too often we judge people by how they are following Salvation Army tradition. If someone stops wearing their uniform, there must be something wrong with their Christianity, or if they choose not to play a horn, or if they sing praise & worship songs instead of songs out of the song book. These are just silly examples, but I see it all the time. God loves a red, yellow, and blue traditionalist as much as he loves a more liberal or charismatic worshipper. What matters is what's in our hearts. It's ironic that our church came out of a need for not so traditional people needing a place to worship, and yet today we sometimes use traditionalism as a measuring stick for other people's spiritual lives. Praise God that He loves us all, and that we are free to express our love to Him in so many ways.
I can't wait to hear your thoughts about legalism after our prayer session today . . . ;)
Post a Comment
<< Home