Compromising With Legalism

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Compromising With Legalism

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Repentance Without Legalism

The question is asked, "How do we preach repentance without sounding like we're preaching law [or legalism]?"

A really good question.

1. The answer lies partly in the core meaning of "repentance".

Contrary to popular but incorrect teaching, "repent" does not mean "180-degree turnaround" or "putting away sin" or any other ACTION.

It simply means "change your mind". This comes from both the literal Greek word metanoia (meta..., "change", and ...noia, "mind"), as well as biblical context.

True, when we change our MIND it logically will result in changing our ACTIONS as well, but the repentance is in the mind and prior to the action.

2. Although "repentance" is usually used in regard to one's sins, it actually applies to any change from a false belief to a true one.

For example, one can "repent" from unitarianism to trinitarianism, or from legalism to grace. (So ironically, in regards to our original question, we can see that "legalism" itself is something to be "repented of", that is, to change one's mind about.)

3. As far as "repenting of one's sins", contrary to popular but incorrect teaching, "repentance" is not "turning from one's sins", as most gospel tracts admonish. It's actually "changing one's mind" about their sins.

In what way?

Well, the sinner is not really *against* his sins. He either defends them as "not that bad", or even goes so far as to glory in them, as in, "I'm evil, I know I'm evil, and I intend to stay evil, and I want to go to Hell because that's where my friends will all be."

When one "changes his mind" about his sins, he comes to see the truth that his sins are not only bad and wrong, but are sins against the Holy God Who created him. He now is *against* his sins, and coincidentally has "changed his mind" about Jesus Christ in Whom he now believes, as Lord and Savior and Forgiver of his sins.

This profound "change of mind" will certainly result in a profound "change of actions" (contrary to the Ryrie/Hodges folks who teach that one can "believe" with no change in their lives), but such change in actions may be drastic, somewhat gradual, or up and down like an EKG chart -- depending on how well the newer believer is taught to walk by the Spirit.

4. All repentance is ultimately a gift from God, "granted" by God initially through being born again, aka "regeneration" or "a new heart".

Although preaching, "Repent!" ("Change your mind!") is certainly legitimate, the idea that one can change their own mind as an act of their will apart from the Holy Spirit is unbiblical. Thus our preaching/witnessing should always be accompanied by prayer.

5. All repentance is in regards to TRUTH. Biblical repentance is nothing more than "changing our mind" about what is true.

Examples for born-again believers:

If we think God "condemns" believers on the basis of their newest sins, we need to repent and believe the Scripture which says there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, and that all our sins have already been forgiven.

If we think we are "just like the lost person except we're saved", we need to repent and recognize that we have been given a new heart, a new spirit that hates sin and loves righteousness because we love Jesus.

If we think that God loves and favors us on the basis of our performance (that we are "under law"), we need to repent and believe that God loves and favors us because He chose to, sovereignly, and on the basis of the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ (we are "under grace", Rom. 6:14).

If we believe that He might leave us and forsake us if we ACT bad enough, we need to repent and believe that He will never leave us nor forsake us, having bought us by the blood of Jesus.

6. Finally, believers are often temporarily deceived by the world, the flesh and the devil. When this happens, we sin, blinded for a moment (or hour or day, etc.) to the truth we have already learned about our sins.

When this happens, we are called upon to once again "repent", "change our mind", about such sins, and return to the truth and to walking by the Spirit.

We thus should be "quick repenters", not running FROM the Lord to hide our foolish sins, but running TO Him, confessing our sins and thanking Him for His already-done forgiveness.

Thankfully, if we remain in our deceived state, and continue in these sins, the Lord will lovingly chastise us, with the purpose of bringing us back into the truth and in communion with Him.

His chastisement is never punitive, that is, it is not designed as tit-for-tat punishment, but is loving correction, no matter how "rough", and is part of working all things together for our good.

THe Subtle Legalism Of Dominionism

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The Subtle Legalism of Dominionism

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Keep Your Mind Stayed On Him

By Michele Rayburn

When Christians say that they are against Legalism, sometimes I wonder if they even know what that entails.

The tentacles of Legalism reach deep down into our lives, producing false guilt, self-abasement, and an unhealthy obsession with sin, which results in saying and believing things that indicate that we feel worthless, unloved, unforgiven, and unacceptable to God.

As I said in a previous post, what Christians need to realize and need to appropriate in their lives is who they are in Christ, how to "be" in Christ, and how to "walk by the Spirit". The alternative is to "walk in the flesh".

We need to focus on Him, not focus on our sin.

You've probably heard it said that if you're told to not think of pink elephants, the next thing you know...you're thinking of pink elephants.

So when we are taught about sin, somehow we just can't stop thinking about that sin, and about continuing in that sin, and then about how we are going to resist that sin.

But it's going to be in our own strength, if we're not being told, straight from the Word of God, how to depend on God to deliver us from a particular sin, and if we're not being told how to "walk by the Spirit".

Because these teachings are so neglected, it leaves a spiritual void in people's lives. And that is the reason that I believe we have so many legalistic churches, which sometimes leads to false churches, "movements" and cults.

All of them have one thing in common. In a subtle, man-centered way, they are seeking to earn God's love and favor by what they think they can do for Him, not realizing that they already have His love and favor.

All of the false religions have no risen Savior. But the true Church has a risen Savior. And if we truly want to exalt Him in our lives, then we should be looking to Him, focusing on Him, walking in Him, depending on Him for everything, including the strength to overcome our weaknesses.

Try thinking about your sin and focusing on the Lord at the same time. I think you will find that you can't do that. And yet that is what I think Christians are taught to do.

But the result, I believe, is that we will become "the double-minded man, unstable in all his ways".

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:5-6, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace..."

In Romans 7:25, Paul says, "So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."

Paul knew the struggle against sin like all of us, and how he could not "serve in the newness of the Spirit" and "in the oldness of the letter [of the law]" at the same time. But he proclaimed that we have been delivered from the law, having died to it. (Romans 7:6)

And so we should continue to proclaim these truths in the Church today.

Humility, Legalism & Self-Abasement

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Humility, Legalism & Self-Abasement

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The Bewitching of the Galatians (Transcript)

Sounds like some Hollywood science fiction movie.

But we're not talking about the Martians or the Venutians, here. We are talking about some aliens, though, who seem to never stop invading the Church, and bewitching people who really should know better.

The Galatians were not the invaders, they were the ones invaded. They were invaded by the aliens we call the Judaizers or the Circumcision Party.

Here's how it happened. Paul the Apostle, in his missionary journeys, had been to the area called Galatia and preached the gospel. By the grace of God, a good number believed the gospel and were saved. They became the churches of Galatia.

This would include some towns you may have heard of, such towns as Lystra, Derbe, Pisidia and Iconium.

But after Paul had preached the gospel to these folks and, you might say, founded these churches, along came some alien false teachers who sort of went behind Paul's back and told the people that Paul was not really the Apostle he claimed to be.

They said that he was leaving part of the gospel out. They said things that the people began to believe. Things that were so outrageous that Paul was not only a good bit peeved with the Galatians, calling them foolish, but he even went so far as to ask them, “Who has bewitched you?”

But you know what's alarming? The errors that the Galatians fell into are still alive and well in churches today. The evil false teachings that the Galatians were lured by are still luring unsuspecting believers today.

Well, what are these false teachings?

I want to talk about nine of them, which are distinct, yet related to each other.

1. They were bewitched to turn away from the true gospel.

We read in Chapter 1, verse 6, "I'm amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel." "Which is really not another gospel", he says in verse 2.

First of all, what is the gospel? You know, many believers are unable to clearly say what the gospel is. They know they're born again, they know they're saved, they know they believe in Jesus Christ, but when it comes to saying what the gospel is, or explaining the gospel, they really have to think.

Well, here's the gospel in a capsule version:

First of all, the gospel is Jesus Christ Himself. That's the good news. But the other good news ("gospel" means "good news") is that Jesus Christ died for our sins on the cross, was buried and rose again from the dead, and ascended to the right hand of the Father, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.

He is Lord. And when someone believes in Him as Savior and Lord, they are saved by God. And it's by grace, which means it's a totally free gift, through faith, through believing in Him. Through faith alone without works adding to that salvation at all. That's the gospel.

Well, what were the Galatians turning to? It's what Paul called a "different gospel" and here's what that different gospel was: Grace plus works.

Now, I should explain, when we're born again, when we become a new creation, when we're saved, we will have good works. God works in us, He tells the Philippians, both to will and to do for His good pleasure. We are His poiema, His "poetry". He's built good works into us, and they will come out, in one form or another.

But those works don't add to our salvation. They don't gain our salvation, and they don't keep our salvation. Our salvation is gained and kept entirely by grace...through faith.

What does it mean, then, that they had a "different gospel"? Well, it was being perverted or distorted to the opposite of the true gospel. The true gospel is by grace alone, and they were being taught a gospel by grace plus works.

Don't be bewitched by that. If anybody ever tells you that you need to DO something in order to keep your salvation, or to get your salvation, don't believe them. That's another gospel, which is not a gospel at all.

2. They were bewitched to turn away from Christ Himself.

Look again at Verse 6, Chapter 1. "I'm amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel."

See, they were turning... when you turn away from grace, you turn away from the Grace Giver. This takes away the relationship that causes our lives to flourish.

When we understand grace, and walk in unity with Jesus Christ, by grace, our lives flourish. We have the fruit of the Spirit. We have an ability to live the Christian life that we don't have when we turn it into a series of laws and rules, and think that we're gaining something in our salvation by following those laws.

Doctrine is important. But it's important because it reinforces a close relationship to God. It's not a matter of academics. Doctrine should reinforce a close relationship to Jesus Christ. And of that doctrine, grace is foundational.

Don't be bewitched to turn away from Christ Himself, and make your Christian life just a matter of following "do's" and "don't's". Those will come by the fruit of the Spirit as we walk closely with Him.

3. They were bewitched to reject the authority of the Word of God.

Paul was an Apostle, after all. We read in Chapter 1, verse 11 and 12, "For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it. But I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Now, as the saying goes, don't try this at home. Paul was in a very unique position as an Apostle, to receive direct revelation. And that revelation has ultimately been put down in the written Word of God. And that's all the revelation that we need.

The Word of God is sufficient for life and godliness. You don't need to go look for direct revelation from the Lord. Because you're not going to get it.

Paul had been given the gospel directly from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. And he spends a lot of time in Chapters 1 and 2 defending his apostleship. Because that became important for the Galatians to understand, that when he spoke to them the gospel, and when he wrote them, in this case the letter to the Galatians, that this is the Word of God.

You may remember the salvation of Paul, when he was miraculously saved on the road to Damascus....from there he went into the wilderness of Arabia, alone. He didn't go meet with the other Apostles. He went alone with God, in the desert of Arabia, and met with the Lord directly for years. And during that time he, by direct revelation, received the gospel from Jesus Christ Himself.

And He preached that gospel to the Galatians. And they were bewitched to reject the authority of the Word of God. Don't you be bewitched by that thought, that the Word of God is not sufficient. That you need something more. That a false teacher has something that's revelation from God. If you have anybody that says "I have new revelation from God," [or] that contradicts the Bible, you can immediately know that that's a false teacher.

4. They were bewitched to forget what else happened on the Cross.

Let me read Galatians Chapter 2, Verse 20. This is one of the most important verses in the Scripture. "I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and delivered Himself up for me."

You see, when Jesus was crucified on the cross, something else happened on the cross. We who are Christians were crucified with Him, in a mysterious way, but nevertheless an actual crucifixion of our old self. Our old man is dead now because we were crucified with Christ, and we were made a new creation.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says you've been made "a new creation...old things have passed away, behold all things have become new." And that's why Paul was asking the Galatians, what could works or law add to what had already been accomplished?

He says in Chapter 3, Verse 1, "You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?" And he says that right after Galatians 2:20, "I have been crucified with Christ..."

At the same time, we have been justified, that is, declared righteous by God. Totally righteous, in right standing with God, as though we had never sinned. And so he's saying, you foolish Galatians, what can you add to that? Having begun by the Spirit, are you going to be made perfect by the flesh? By following the Law? By doing something to complete your salvation, to gain your salvation, or to keep your salvation?

No, and don't you be bewitched by whoever who would tell you that you need to do something in addition to believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, for your salvation.

5. They were bewitched to forget what the Law was for.

You see, they thought that the Law could give life. That's what the Judaizers taught them. "Oh yeah, grace is fine. But you need to add these works to gain life, or to maintain life."

Well, in Chapter 3, Verse 21, he says this, "Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? May it never be! For if a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteous would indeed have been based on law."

You see, the law couldn't give life. If it could, then righteousness would be by the law. We would be made righteous, in right standing with God, by the law. But he goes on in that chapter, where Verse 22 says that the law confines all under sin. In other words, the law shows us that we were under sin.

And so the law is a tutor, Verse 24, a tutor that leads us to Christ. Shows us that we need a Savior who will save by grace. Because we're not going to cut it if we need to gain or keep our salvation by the law.

But after faith, after believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, after we're made a new creation, we're no longer under a tutor, Verse 25. The law has fulfilled its purpose in leading us to Christ, that we might be saved by grace through faith.

Don't be bewitched and think that we need to go back to that law in order to maintain or gain that salvation.

6. They were bewitched to forget that the Old Covenant was made obsolete.

This is really made clear in Hebrew 8, which would be great for you to read. The Old Covenant was done away with precisely because we can't keep the law perfectly, and that's the only way that the law would gain anything.

And because we can't keep it perfectly, God gave a New Covenant in Jesus Christ, which is unilateral. He totally did it on His part, and then gave us the gift of salvation and righteousness through this New Covenant.

Don't be bewitched by going back to the Old Covenant and thinking that the following of those laws will gain or keep your salvation.

7. They were bewitched such that they didn’t stand fast or stand firm.

Chapter 5 of Galatians, Verse 1 says, "It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, keep standing firm, and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery."

Don't fall back into that. Stand firm in the fact that you are saved entirely by grace.

And then in Verse 4, he says that the Galatians had "fallen from grace". Falling from grace doesn't mean that they lost their salvation. It means that they got off of the ground of grace, and got onto the ground of law. And that quenches the Holy Spirit and actually hurts their relationship to Jesus Christ.

They forgot about faith and love, which is the fulfillment of the law.

Don't be bewitched by that. Stand fast. When anybody tries to lure you away from grace, you stand fast and stick with the Word of God.

8. They were bewitched to forget to walk by the Spirit.

Chapter 5, Verse 16, "But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." "You will not fulfill the lust of the flesh," one translation says.

They were bewitched to forget about walking by the Spirit. They went back to the law, and began to say that we're going to complete our salvation by these laws.

When you walk by the Spirit, it leads to the fruit of the Spirit, and leads away from the works of the flesh. So our life is actually more abundant when we walk by the Spirit and not by the law.

Don't be bewitched by that. You stand firm and walk by the Spirit.

9. They were bewitched so that they forgot to bear one another’s burdens in grace.

You see, not only are we saved by grace, and kept by grace, but when we do sin, or when we find another who sinned, we need to treat that with grace. It needs to be corrected, but it needs to be done so by grace.

Grace is not self-righteous. Grace doesn't say, "I'm wonderful, and you're not, and you better get your act together."

No, look at Chapter 6, Verse 1. "Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual [See that? You who are filled with the Spirit, walking by the Spirit, you who are spiritual] restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, each one looking to yourself lest you too be tempted."

See, grace is not self-righteous. It's gracious.

And grace keeps us going. Verse 9, "And let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we shall reap, if we do not grow weary." And it's grace that keeps us from not growing weary, as we walk in grace and the Spirit of God.

Grace glories in the Cross. It doesn't glory in our own successes, like self-righteousness does ("Oh, now I'm doing really well. You're not, so you have to get it together, buddy!") No, it's not that attitude at all. It's the attitude that we're all under grace, now let's walk by the Spirit together.

Don't be bewitched. Don't be like the Galatians who fell from grace and forgot these things that they had been taught by the Apostle Paul.

The Bewitching of the Galatians

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The Bewitching of the Galatians

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Reservation Legalism (Transcript)

There is a form of legalism which is so subtle that most people wouldn't even notice that it's legalism at all. And yet it is extremely powerful.

I mean “extremely powerful” in the sense that it is causes Christians to be fake, phony and stifled.

Now when a Christian is fake, phony and stifled, something happens. They quench the Holy Spirit, and live as though they were of the world.

You may be asking at this point, “Terry, what in the world are you talking about?” Okay, let me jump into this subject.

Off The Reservation

You may be familiar with the phrase “off the reservation”. It is a sort of politically incorrect statement originally referring to a Native American, otherwise known as an Indian, who has left the reservation and has become rebellious to one degree or another.

The “reservation”, of course, is the piece of land that was reserved for the Native American to live on. Having usually been kicked off of his original land, but that's another story.

He was given a place to live, which was often not the best place, and which could even be considered a form of incarceration. For him to travel off of the “reservation” was considered an act of disobedience or rebellion against the Government, and he could be punished, or even engaged in battle.

Anyway, the term has come to refer to anyone who has a different view from some sort of group. He is an oddball. One who doesn't go along with the crowd. Theoretically, he may be right or wrong, but the point is that he doesn't go along with the majority, and so he is considered at least a rebel or maverick, if not an outright enemy.

A Cultic Form of Legalism

I say all that to say this. There is a form of legalism that is not just unfortunate, but cultic. It is a form of legalism that keeps a Christian from being able to dig into the Scriptures and think.

It keeps a Christian from exploring the meaning of Scripture to see if it really means what the group has always thought it meant, because if he questions whether it means what the group has always thought it meant, he will be thought of as “off the reservation”.

End of thought.
End of inquiry.
End of exploration.
End of being a Berean.

You remember the Bereans were applauded by Paul the Apostle, because they not only welcomed the preaching of the Word, but they also searched the Word to see if the preaching really was accurate. To see if the preaching matched up to the Word of God.

This Berean attitude is often applauded today by those who teach the Word. They exhort us to be Bereans. To not just accept anything we hear preached, but to examine the Scriptures to see if what is preached is really true. The term “Berean” is typically used as a compliment. “He is a Berean”, or “she is a Berean”, meaning that they are discerning, and not easily fooled by a false teacher, because they check it out against the Scriptures.

However, when that ugly spirit of Reservation Legalism rears its head, the Berean spirit is quenched. If you are a part of a certain group, and you even begin to question the way that something is usually taught, you are likely to be considered an oddball, if not an outright heretic. Not for teaching false teaching, but for even questioning the way it's always been taught.

An Example

I hesitate to give examples, but I feel like I must, in order to really get the point across. So here's one example:

Suppose you are a Covenant Theologian. And so you have been taught that the Ten Commandments are not only operative for today, but that they are the “rule of life” for the believer. And that the Fourth Commandment, to keep the Sabbath, is one of these rules that the believer is to follow even today.

And suppose that you are reading some Scripture that seems to indicate that the Sabbath is no longer binding on Christians under the New Covenant, but that the Sabbath in the Old Covenant was symbolic of our rest in Jesus. That is, our rest from our works as a means of earning God's salvation, or His love and favor.

And suppose that you want to discuss this question with someone from your group. Are you free to examine this Scripture? Are you free to question whether a Christian today is to follow the Sabbath, and cease from working on Sunday? Or are you free to question whether the Sabbath was ever changed from Saturday (the seventh day) to Sunday in the first place?

The answer is “no”, you are not free to question the group's belief.

Of course you may question it, but you are not really "free" to do so, because you will be thought of as “off the reservation”, and the group pressure to stay “on the reservation” is fierce. To even attempt to discuss it is to mark you.

You are not free, because you know in your heart that if you even bring the subject up, you will be thought of as “weak” in some way. You will be thought of as someone who is not strong on doctrine, someone who is not discerning. Someone who may even be a troublemaker, who is not “one of us”. Someone who is “off the reservation”.

I hope that gives you a feel for the concept I'm talking about. It's very subtle, yet I believe it is one of the most prevalent forms of legalism, and one of the most destructive.

If you are not free to go before the Lord and study His Word, and question whether your group is right or wrong, without your group thinking you are not “one of them”, then you may hurt your own spiritual growth by suppressing the truth in some way, or outright denying what you see as true, according to the Scriptures.

Many years ago, I heard Dallas Theological Seminary professor Howard Hendricks define “friendship”. He said a real friend is someone you can share your worst heresies with. Think about that. That's pretty good.

We all have questions or thoughts from time to time, that make us question whether our most cherished doctrines are true. And it's good that we ideally have others who can correct us when we're clearly wrong, or at least sharpen some iron with us by discussing it.

But when that same person subtly or not-so-subtly makes us feel like we would be somehow a traitor or an undiscerning fool if we brought up an opposing view for consideration – well, we just don't bring it up. And so we lose not only the chance to hash it out together and see if it might be true or false, but we lose the courage that it takes to question the way it's always been.

The loss of courage in these things is a very serious thing, because when we cower from examining the Scripture and questioning the group, because we want to fit in with the group, error often takes hold, a cultic attitude develops, and we think more of the group's opinion of us than we do of God's truth.

When we fear going “off the reservation”, even if we think the reservation is wrong, truth suffers, we suffer, and those whom we might have helped suffer. And the guardians of the reservation are puffed up and proud, having saved another soul from drifting off the reservation.

But hopefully you are different. You don't want to be obnoxious, but you want to be courageous. You don't want to be someone's thorn in the side, but you want to be truthful. You don't want to go off the reservation just to be a troublemaker, but you don't fear going off the reservation if you think it is right and true, either.

Which brings me to the subject of reservation legalism and grace.

Reservation Legalism & Grace

See, when you really begin to get a handle on grace; when you really begin to understand the Scriptural principle that we are no longer under law, but under grace; when you really begin to understand that your performance isn't the basis of God's love for you, then you are veering off the reservation of most churches, who desperately need to be set free from their bondage of performance-based Christianity.

And when you begin to realize that you are no longer a sinner as far as your biblical identity, but that you are a new creation who loves Jesus and hates sin;

when you begin to realize that you are righteous because God declared you to be righteous when you believed in Jesus Christ;

and that you are righteous apart from your performance or your obedience;

then you are wandering off the reservation of most churches, who are so focused on their sin that they can't really see their Savior.

And when you come to realize that, although doctrine is important, without love doctrine is empty;

without the life of Jesus living through us, doctrine is cold and dead;

without the fullness of the Spirit, doctrine is an academic graveyard;

without a warm fellowship with Christ, doctrine kills; and

without seeing Jesus in every part of the Word of God, even the Word of God is just a bunch of facts, and history, and rules;

when you come to realize that, [then] you are so far off the reservation that those cold sterile pushers of what they consider perfect doctrine, think there is no help for you.

Yet it is they who need help. It is they who need to understand Galatians 2:20 when it says that we have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer we who live, but Christ lives in us.

At worst, you will be called a heretic, one way or another. At best, you might be looked at with suspicion, and you might not be understood. But what they will understand is that you're different. What they will understand is that you are not on the reservation. That you have wandered over the line to another land that doesn't fit with their group-think. That you don't line up with their Christian guru or their cultic Seminary culture.

Unlike Howard Hendricks, they don't think that a friend is someone you can share your worst heresies with. They think a friend is someone who will be so horrified if you even mention the possibility of another view, that he will pounce on you and do his best to herd you back onto the reservation.

That, friends, is reservation legalism.

How To Fight Reservation Legalism

Here are three things to do in order to combat Reservation Legalism:

1. First, walk in the Spirit.

You be in fellowship with Jesus. You be filled with the Spirit. You commune with the Lord and practice His presence day by day. Without Him you can do nothing. But with Him nothing is impossible, including shaking off reservation legalism. This close fellowship with Christ is the foundation for the next two points.

2. Be courageous.

Always strive to be true to Scripture, but always have the courage to put your honest understanding of Scripture above what any person or group has established as politically correct. Even if they shun you. Even if they look at you funny. Even if they wonder about your faith. Die to self, and follow Jesus. Now there's someone who was off the reservation.

3. Err on the side of love.

You won't do this thing perfectly. Love one another, in Christ. Be humble off the reservation. Don't flaunt your freedom. Don't be a rebel for rebellion's sake. Don't scoff at those who have not come to understand what you have.

Don't be a grace Pharisee, pouncing on everyone for every single statement that could be seen as legalistic. Even though they may be wrong, graciously give them line upon line, precept upon precept, gently leading them toward the truth, as best you can.

Perhaps the day may come when they join you "off the reservation".

Reservation Legalism

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Reservation Legalism

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The Subtle Legalism Of Dominionism (Transcript)

Before we get rolling today, I want to stress that this is a very introductory talk about Dominionism.

Dominionism itself, which I consider a false teaching, is a very large subject. Much has been written on it, and I don’t mean to get to heavily into the many tentacles of Dominionism itself.

I want to confine my comments to the legalism that is inherent in Dominionism. And so I’d like to start with two definitions. The definition of Legalism, as I’ll be using it today, and the definition of Dominionism, as I’ll be using it today.

Defining Legalism As Used Here

First, legalism. Legalism can have many meanings, and usually, in the Church, simply means requiring something or forbidding something that the Bible doesn’t require or forbid. For example, requiring a suit and tie for men, or forbidding jewelry for women. Those kinds of things that some churches delight in burdening their people with, and some churches cry, “Legalism!”

But that’s not the kind of legalism I want to talk about here. I want to talk about the kind of legalism that imposes laws and commands of Scripture, or (and get this please) SUPPOSED laws and commands of Scripture, on Christians, as a means of gaining God’s acceptance, or favor, or love.

In other words, God won’t really love you, or accept you, or favor you, even if you’re a born-again Christian, unless you do this and this, and don’t do this or this.

That’s the kind of legalism which I call Performance-based Christianity. And considering the size of the audience listening to this, I know there are some of you who are thinking, “Well of course! Isn’t that what the Christian life is all about is the do’s and don’t of the Bible? After all, isn’t our ultimate goal in the Christian life to obey and not sin? What’s wrong with Performance-based Christianity?”

Two Problems With Performance-Based Living

Well, there are two problems with Performance-based Christianity:

1. First, it’s simply not Biblical. The Bible continuously points us to the Lord Jesus and His New Covenant, in which He has not only paid the price for our sins, all of them, but has given us the gift of His righteousness, has made us new creatures in Christ, and has freed us from the condemnation of laws and rules.

So now we are free to get close to Jesus, without condemnation, and fellowship with Him, and commune with Him, and thus be filled with His Spirit, and so follow and obey Him, not in order to gain is love and favor, but because we love Him and desire to follow and obey Him.

We treasure His commands, because they reveal His beautiful heart to us, and let us know when we are veering off and walking by the flesh, so that we can get back in close communion with Him, where we belong are really satisfied.

Do you see the difference between Performance-based living, and Spiritual living?

So the first problem with Performance-based living, again, is it’s not Biblical.

2. The second problem with Performance-based living is that it just doesn’t work.

If we focus on our Performance to gain God’s love and favor, we will invariably fail. Because we are relying on what we DO, instead of on what He has already done. We are relying on Law, instead of Grace. This quenches the Holy Spirit, who wants us to live by faith in what Christ has already done, and when we quench the Holy Spirit, we lose the very power and internal motivation to follow the Lord’s ways, and we fall on our face.

And if we love the Lord, when we fall on our face, we shy away from Him, because we’re ashamed, and we doubt His love, and when we shy away from Him, we are even more prone to walk by the flesh, and the bad cycle continues.

So the second problem with Performance-based living is that it just doesn’t work.

Defining Dominionism As Used Here

Now, having defined legalism for our purpose today, let’s define Dominionism or Dominion theology:

Dominion theology basically stems from three basic beliefs:

1.Satan, through the fall of Adam, has taken over man’s rightful dominion over the earth.

2.The Church is God’s instrument to take back dominion from Satan.

3.Jesus can’t return until we, the Church, has regained control of the earth, having dominion in every area of worldly life, including social institutions, and government. This has been called such things as “reigning over” or “ruling over” the nations, in the name of Christ.

Now many people think this is a new movement. And with the amazing communication tools we have today – first the printing press, then radio, then TV, and now the Internet – with the amazing communication tools we have today, we are seeing a spread of this false doctrine at an amazing pace.

Contrasting Dominionism With The Bible

Now let’s contrast this dominionism with Biblical teaching about the true kingdom of God, and then we’ll address the legalism involved.

Jesus said in John 18:36, “My kingdom is not of this world”. You may remember that Jesus said this to Pontius Pilate, after Pilate asked Him if He was the King of the Jews. And when Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” the emphasis was on “MY”.

In other words, He distinguished His kingdom from all earthly kingdoms, and we know from many Scriptures that the biggest difference is simply that His kingdom is a spiritual one. Or to put it another way, it’s a kingdom which reigns in the hearts of those who have been born again.

That’s why Jesus said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed the kingdom of God is within you.”

In other words, the kingdom of God is internal. Now, I am aware that there are some who say that what Jesus meant was that the kingdom of God is AMONG you, or IN YOUR MIDST – in other words that it’s sort of “all over the place”. But this is a ridiculous interpretation, which takes the simple point out of context and twists it to mean what it doesn’t mean. The whole point of Jesus is that the kingdom of God in this age is an invisible kingdom.

Now let me be quick to say that this spiritual kingdom of God in the hearts of believers WILL have visible effects from time to time. When a true believer has God in him working to will and to do His good pleasure, as the Scripture says – in other words, as Christ lives out His life through us, there will be things coming from our lives that can be seen. But do you see how far that is from the Dominionist idea that we will take dominion over the earth?

If the way is narrow, and few there be that find it, as Jesus said, then the future for the Church is surely a kingdom within many kingdoms, a spiritual kingdom operating in the midst of worldly kingdoms.

We are not destined to take dominion over the earth and all its institutions. But this is not bad news, or pessimism. This is the optimism of the spiritual kingdom of God.

When we realize that God IS working in us believers, that we ARE His workmanship, that He is CAUSING us to walk in His ways, as the prophesies of the New Covenant had promised, that He IS building His church, and the gates of hell cannot prevail against it, we have a great confidence in the plan of God.

But the plan of God is not to subdue the nations in the physical absence of Christ Himself. When He returns the nations will be subdued, but until then, we are sojourners and pilgrims (as Peter says in 1 Pet. 2:11), temporary residents, even while we are “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people...”.

So Where's The Legalism?

OK, now what about the legalism.

Dominionists always divide the Church into those who are active in the takeover of the earth, and those who are not.

It's About Power

And they are very active, though often under the radar, in recruiting whoever they can to accomplish the purpose. It may be government, business, educational institutions, think tanks, even other religions, but with one common theme: power!,.

Whereas God said, “not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,” the theme of Dominionism over and over is, “gain the power”. I don’t have the time now to develop this theme, but the result is this:

Dominionism will always have authoritative leaders, often calling themselves Apostles, sometimes Prophets, but always exercising strong authority over the churches and people whom they continuously drive to “expand the kingdom”.

Sometimes it’s in the form of evangelism, sometimes in the form of social good deeds such as fighting poverty or disease, sometimes it’s in the form of the grasping of raw power, through political affiliations and unscriptural yoking with unbelievers.

Invariably, the importance of Biblical truth takes a back seat, and the emphasis is on “expanding the kingdom”, that is, the visible takeover of every aspect of society and power structures like government and other organizations.

In many ways, this is a repeat of the medieval Roman Catholic Church, but without the centralization of power in a single city.

But the results in legalism are very similar. Christianity is often redefined as those who are part of the movement.

Great emphasis is placed on "discipleship", but a form of discipleship that conforms to the authority of the so-called Apostles and Prophets. These self-proclaimed Apostles and Prophets regularly seek control over the lives of their congregations and organizations, sometimes actually choosing whom they should marry or where they should give their money, other times exercising cult-like mind control through various forms of “shepherding” or “discipling”, which puts these members on a constant guilt trip of “expanding the kingdom”.

Maturity, in these groups, is not seen as a growing understanding of Christ Himself, and a deep spiritual relationship with Him, and an understanding and belief in the eternal heavenly things of Scripture.

Maturity is seen as being discipled to “expand the kingdom”, and discipling others to “expand the kingdom” in or to reach the nations in order to rule the nations. All in the name of Christ, of course.

And so we come full circle to Performance-based Christianity, the legalism that Dominionism imposes on its followers. “Good” Christians have their nose to the grindstone of “expanding the kingdom” and “bad” Christians don’t. God really loves and favors those who are “expanding the visible power-gaining kingdom”, and those who aren’t tithing to it, and working hard for it, and praying for it, and recruiting others to do the same, well...let’s just say, they better get on board.

And so while the Dominionism pushes on, there are the bodies of many, leaders and followers alike, who are scattered along the road, wounded and disillusioned, because they failed, fell into moral sin, or simply woke up to the unbiblical nature of “expanding an earthly kingdom of Christ” without Christ, instead of seeking first the spiritual kingdom of God and His righteousness.

Such is always the result of Legalism. Even if the legalist thinks he’s doing pretty well, it only results in pride. But more often it ends in failure, disillusionment, and discouragement.

Please, friends, steer clear of that. Seek first the internal spiritual kingdom of God, and understand the unconditional grace by which He has made you His beloved.

Draw near to Him, commune with Him, be continually filled with His Word, and His Spirit, walk by the Spirit, and God will do His work in and through you, and you don’t have to answer to the marching agenda of any so-called Apostles.

The Subtle Legalism Of Dominionism

This week's audio message:

The Subtle Legalism Of Dominionism

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The Phony Veil Between You And Christ (Transcript)

At the time of this message, I have been a Christian almost 32 years.

I say that only to lend some credibility to what I'm going to say as an opening to this message.

There Is A Veil

Here it an observation of mine:

Most Christians have a veil between them and Christ that keeps them from having a warm and intimate fellowship with Him.

They may love Him, they may pray to Him, they may love the Word of God, they may serve Him in Church and in sharing the Gospel with the lost.

Or...

They may truly be born again, yet wonder how much they really love Christ. Their private prayer lives may be lacking, because they have no real heart for personal prayer. They may file in and out of church, but afterwards pretty much go back to the world, not thinking much about the Lord until next Sunday. Inactive in spiritual things.

Either way, whether active or inactive, most Christians still have a veil between them and Christ that keeps them from having a warm and intimate fellowship with Him.

That's my observation, and I'm sticking to it.

But I haven't just arrived at that view by observation. Many many Christians I've spoken to have flat-out told me that this is their experience. Or at least have implied it.

And it takes many forms, when believers try to express their concern over their Christian walk.

What's The Problem?

But please listen to this important point:

When Christians try to articulate their disappointment with what I'm calling a veil between them and Christ, when they try to articulate what's wrong, they invariably give a clue as to what the problem really is.

In other words, there are many typical statements that I've heard believers say to indicate that they know something is wrong, but can't quite put their finger on it, or can't figure out quite what to do about it.

Seldom does what they say cast any bad light on the Lord Himself. And this is good.

The statements given by believers usually center on one basic theme that I would express like this:

“I've gone through cycles. I prayed and read my Bible and witnessed, but then I slacked off. I lost some of my desire for spiritual things. The Word wasn't as new and fresh and wonderful to me, and my prayers didn't seem to be answered. And so I drifted away from them, and grew colder and less interested. Then I came back to the Word, and prayed more, and things improved somewhat, but still not much, and now I've just kind of drifted into cruise control. I still love the Lord, but He just doesn't seem to love me, even though I know He does. But I've found other interests, and they've taken my time away from Him. I want the relationship that I had with Him, but I don't know what to do about it. I try to do my best, I try to read my Bible, but it's not like it used to be, and I feel like it can't be.”

I believe all of this leads to a basic theme, and the basic theme is, “What I DO, is what determines the intimacy of fellowship with the Lord, and I don't know what to DO, because I've tried everything, and nothing seems to bring that intimacy of fellowship.”

Now, it's important that I interject here a simple disclaimer. A sort of “if the shoe fits, wear it” disclaimer. If the above does not describe you at all, don't worry about it. If you do have a warm intimate relationship to Christ, and you can't identify with the common problem I'm desribing, then just soak this in to pass on to someone else. Don't worry about it. Or use it just as a tune-up to make sure you stay on the right track. Fair enough?

Three Points On "Doing" and The Veil

Okay, let me make three points about that theme of “What I DO is what determines the intimacy of fellowship with Christ”:

1. The veil between you and the Lord is a phony one. It's not a real veil at all. There is nothing real separating you from a close loving daily, moment-by-moment relationship to Jesus, our Beloved.

Whereas before you were born again, sin separated you from Him, now that sin is taken away. Not just covered, but taken away, as if thrown into the sea, as if put away as far as the East is from the West.

When Jesus said on the Cross, “It is finished”, He meant it. Your sin can no longer separate you, can no longer be a veil between you and Jesus. In fact, to think so is, I believe, to dishonor Him.

“But,” you say, “I've sinned again, now, today! How can I face Him? Of course my sin has to separate me from Him, even today. He has to be angry at me for this 1000th time I've committed this sin, doesn't He? Doesn't the Scripture say that He can't even look on sin? You bet there's a veil, Terry! How can a jerk like me have an intimate fellowship with a Holy God?”

Okay, good question. But there's a good answer. And the answer is simply this, “You are a forgiven Son or Daughter”. Forgiven. God know you are only dust, but He forgave you anyway.

“Yeah,” you say, “but doesn't it say that God will chastise us? That doesn't sound like warm intimate fellowship to me!”

Yes, but He only chastises those who a) are His children, b) Whom He loves, c) for purposes of restoring the intimate fellowship, and d) who are unrepentant at the time.

Look for a minute at “d”, unrepentant. God doesn't chastise those who confess their sin, and repent. He only chastises those who refuse. Simple solution: repent. Confess your sin. Then draw near to Him and He has promised to draw near to you.

You don't need to do penance, like Roman Catholicism teaches. You don't need a waiting period, or a trial period before you draw near to Jesus. Just admit your sin, thank Him for His forgiveness, and draw near, already! Believe me, no, believe the Word of God, He will welcome you with open arms.

Okay, so number one, the veil is a phony one.

2. It's not what you DO that determines the intimacy of fellowship, it's what you believe and know.

That's why it's so important to know that He loves you unconditionally and has already forgiven all of your sins, past, present and future.

It's not what you DO that determines the intimacy of fellowship, it's what you believe and know.

That's why it's so important to know that nothing stands between your and Jesus.

It's not what you DO that determines the intimacy of fellowship, it's what you believe and know.

That's why you need to know that He wants to fellowship with you, His beloved, at least as much as you want to fellowhip with Him, your Beloved. He desires your intimate fellowship, as amazing as that may sound. Not because you are flawless in your walk, but because He loves you!

It's not what you DO that determines the intimacy of fellowship, it's what you believe and know.

That's why it's so important to know that the veil is a phony one.

Which leads me to number three.

3. The phony veil has a name. It's "Legalism".

It's the kind of Legalism which says that if you perform well, then Jesus will love you, and like you and welcome you into His fellowship. But if you perform badly, He will keep His distance, He will not touch you with a ten-foot pole. He is angry at you, and He will stay that way until you get your act together. Until you are at least a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10. Or a 6, or a 9, or whatever nonsensical number you may have ingrained in you from your lessons in Legalistic thinking.

Listen, there is no scale of 1 to 10. On God's scale, you are a 10 already.

“What kind of sense does that make?” you ask.

Simply this. When you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, God gave you the gift of His righteousness. He declared you Righteous. You didn't earn it, you can't ever pay Him back enough to merit it, it's yours as a gift, wrapped in the paper of the Grace of God, and tied up with the ribbon of the Love of God, and bought with the blood of Jesus Christ.

He has declared you to be a 10, and He will never take that back.

You can boldly draw near to Him, the writer of Hebrews tells us, not because of what your have done or not done, but because of what He has done.

We need to shout it to the whole Church, the veil is gone, and any veil that keeps us from a warm fellowship with the Lord now is simply phony Legalism, that favorite doctrine of demons who don't want you to have that fellowship that you so desperately crave in your heart of hearts. That fellowship that you so desperately crave with the Lord Jesus whom you passionately love in your heart of hearts, and Who so passionately loves you.

Where To Go From Here

Sweep away the phony veil.

Start with some quiet time with Jesus, with your Bible open. Then practice His presence throughout your day.

Speak to Him while you work, or study, or have fun, or wash dishes, or wash the car, or drive, or loaf. And listen to Him, as you read His Word, or as He brings His truth to your remembrance during the day.

He will be filling you with His Spirit, and you will have love, and joy, and peace, and patience, kindness, and goodness, and faithfulness, and gentleness, and self-control.

These are the fruits of His Spirit.

And when the world, the flesh and the devil deceive you, and you veer away from the fellowship with Jesus, just repent, change your mind, and don't walk, but run to Him and His open arms again.

Now. Not later. The veil is phony.

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The Phony Veil Between You And Christ

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The Phony Veil Between You And Christ

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Humility, Legalism, and Self-Abasement (Notes)

Humility Is (DUH) Good

Humility is one of the finest characteristics that a Christian can have.

I know you don’t need to be convinced about that, but pride is such a common thing that the world, the flesh and the devil pushes on us, it’s worth taking a quick look at a few verses from Scripture on humility:

Matthew 18:4 "Therefore whoever HUMBLES himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 23:11,12 "But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be HUMBLED, and he who HUMBLES himself will be exalted.

Luke 18:14 "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified [rather] than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be HUMBLED, and he who HUMBLES himself will be exalted."

Romans 12:16 Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the HUMBLE. Do not be wise in your own opinion.

Philipp 2:8 And being found in appearance as a man, He HUMBLED Himself and became obedient to [the point of] death, even the death of the cross.

James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the HUMBLE."

James 4:10 HUMBLE yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

1 Peter 5:5 Yes, all of [you] be submissive to one another, and be clothed with HUMILITY, for "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the HUMBLE."

1 Peter 5:6 Therefore HUMBLE yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,

2 Timothy 2:25 in HUMILITY correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,

Titus 3:2 to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all HUMILITY to all men.

OK, are you convinced that humility is a virtue? Are you convinced that God wants us to be humble?

I just want you to know that I know that humility is a wonderful thing. Because I want you to switch gears right now in a radical way and to see what humility really is and what it isn’t.

The Dark Side

I want you to open a curtain and to peer into the dark side. Not to go there. Not even to spend much time there, but to see the evil of something that LOOKS like humility, but leads only to legalism, pride, and self-righteousness.

Let’s start by taking a look at a passage of Scripture in Colossians chapter 2, beginning with verse 11. We’ll just go verse by verse and make a few observations.

[read Col. 2:11-23, commenting]

Comparing Humility & Self-Abasement

So let’s clarify what true humility is, and then make a few comparisons between true humility and self-abasement, or false humility.

Listen to 1 Cor. 4:7-- For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?

[1 Cor 4:7 on why humility is not “I’m nothing, I’m nothing”]

So true humility is understanding and walking in the truth that every single thing good about you, or every single thing you have, is a gift from God, through Jesus Christ.

Let’s close by noting some direct comparisons between true humility and self-abasement.

True Humility glorifies God for what He has done in us through the New Covenant.

Self-Abasement denies God’s work in us, and insults Him.

True Humility understands that God is at work in us both to will and to do His good pleasure.

Self-Abasement makes us the beginning and the end of our salvation, by making works and rituals the ground of God’s love and acceptance of us. That’s legalism.

True Humility can’t co-exist with pride, it pushes pride out.

Self-abasement encourages pride. It even makes apparent humility a cause for pride. Ever see anyone proud of their humility? That’s self-abasement.

Finally, True Humility is true wisdom and revelation. It’s an expression of truth revealed. The truth of what we were before Christ, and what we are now as New Creations. The truth of what God did for us and in us in Christ, and is now doing through us by His Spirit and His Word. The truth that it is ultimately all of grace, all of God, all of the Lord Jesus Christ. When we see that truth, we can’t help but be humble.

Self-abasement is on the other hand, the product of lies. Lies that when Jesus said “It is finished” on the cross, that it really wasn’t finished. Lies that God loves and favors us by how we perform. Lies that the Christian life is all about regulations and rules, instead of a warm relationship to our Lord and Savior, whom we love and want to follow in our heart of hearts. Self-abasement glorifies man and insults Christ, because self-abasement is lie-based, and Jesus Christ is the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.

Let’s glorify the Lord by recognizing that we are fearfully and wonderfully made, especially as New Creations in Christ, and thanking Him, because He did it all, and worshiping Him in humbleness of heart.

Humility, Legalism, and Self-Abasement

This week's audio message:

Humility, Legalism, and Self-Abasement

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

A Little Leaven From My Friends (Transcript)

I want to begin by reading from Galatians Chapter 5, beginning at verse 1.

"It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

"Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you.
  
"And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.

"You have been severed from Christ, you who are seeking to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
 
"For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.
 
"For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.
 
"You were running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth?
 
"This persuasion did not come from Him who calls you."

And our key verse, verse 9:
 
"A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough."

Legalism Even From Our Friends

Legalism comes at us from every direction. We read it in books, we see it online, we hear it from pulpits (of our own churches, or other churches we may visit or hear recordings of, or watch on TV).

And even if we have our antennae up to watch out for legalism, it seems to slip in.

Many times it comes from simple peer pressure, or what we would call our friends. And because they are our friends, we don't want to make a big deal out of it.

And it's true, we sure don't want to be Grace Pharisees, looking for a legalism demon behind every bush, and pouncing on anyone who encourages us to be obedient to the Lord, or to grow in holy behavior.

We want to be obedient and grow in holy behavior, if we're born again, don't we?

But I want to ask a question.

The Question

How much legalism is okay?

How much legalism should we entertain in our minds?

Not a lot, you may say, but how about just a little? Just a little legalism to keep us in line. Just a little legalism to remind us that we don't want to be like the world, or be too loose with our Christian faith.

But what does the word of God say? “A little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough.”

What Is Leaven?

Now in this day of store-bought Wonder Bread, you might not know what leaven is. When bread is made, it's made from dough, which is some combination of flour, water, and whatever.

But before you bake it, if you want it to “rise”, as the term goes, in other words to develop pockets of air, in other words, so that it's tender, and not just hard and flat, you put yeast, which the Bible calls leaven here, into the dough.

The yeast, or leaven, causes little gas pockets to form in the dough while it's being kneaded and baked, and you end up with bread with thousands of little air pockets in it.

But the interesting thing is that when you put leaven into the dough, it sort of multiplies. It “infects” the whole lump of dough. So a little leaven becomes a lot of leaven, and ends up completely dominating the lump of dough.

And so elsewhere in the Bible, sin is spoken of as leaven, because a little sin in our lives, if unchecked, can result in a lot of sin. Hence the leaven illustration.

But in our passage in Galatians, the leaven is referring to Legalism, that awful false teaching which says one way or another that God's love and favor, or even salvation, is dependent on our works, not grace alone.

What It's All About - The New Covenant

So back to our question, “how much legalism is okay?”

To answer that question, let's go back to the very foundation of what the Christian life is primarily about. When God promised the New Covenant, through the prophets, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, for example, when He promised the New Covenant He said that He would cause His people, that’s us, to walk in His statutes, to walk in His ways. (Ezek 36:27)

Now He has fulfilled that promise of the New Covenant by what the Bible calls being born again. Or what Theology calls regeneration.

In the New Birth, we are given a new heart, a new spirit, and the Holy Spirit of God Himself comes into us, and we becomes one spirit with Him. We are not God and He is not us, but we become one spirit with Him, and through His Holy Spirit, the very Spirit of Christ, we are to live our Christian lives.

And so we see that the real purpose of our Christian life is to manifest, or exhibit, or live out the very life of Jesus Christ. We see in Gal 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it’s no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life I now live, I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and delivered himself up for me.”

You see, it’s Christ living through you and me. The bible even say that Christ is our life (Col 3:4)

Is this actually happening, though? Is Christ really living His life through the believer?

Well, let’s look at Philippians 2:13, “for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.” See, God does work in us to do good works or to show forth fruit, we may say.

Now I haven’t forgotten our subject today, a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. But first, let’s clarify something.

Rom 8:28 says that God is working all things together for good to those who love Him. If you love Him, there is a sense in which even when your life is not all it should be, even when you mess up, even when you quench the Holy Spirit, or grieve the Holy Spirit, even when you don’t manifest the life of Christ as you would like to --- God works it together for good.

That is so important to understand, as we discuss this next part. And here’s the next part:

Walking By The Spirit

You and I have a choice, in our day to day life, to walk by the Spirit, or to walk by the flesh. The world, the flesh and the devil are always trying to deceive us and to pull us in the direction of the flesh, and away from the Spirit.

And when we are deceived and walk by the flesh, even when we do something that LOOKS good, or loving or helpful, or whatever, it is not the life of Christ being manifested through us, it is our flesh.

And remember what our purpose is? To manifest the life of Christ, to live out the very life of Jesus Christ.

So, back to the Legalism.

When God instituted the New Covenant through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, He did it all by grace. He gave us new life, a new spirit, the faith to believe in Him, the faith to repent or change our minds about Christ and our sin; He gave us the Holy Spirit. He did it all.

He even paid for and forgave all of our sins that we ever committed, and even forgave us all of our sins that we will ever commit in the future. All by grace. He even put his laws in our minds and on our hearts, and He even causes us to walk in His ways, to will and do His good pleasure. All by grace.

In other words, His covenant with us is Unilateral, or unconditional. It’s all of Him.

And it’s a good thing that it is. The Old Covenant fell short, why? Because the people couldn’t keep their end of the covenant. And so God instituted the glorious New Covenant, and promised to keep it Himself.

Legalism messes everything up.

Now not utimately. God still works everything together for good to those who love Him. But in our heart of hearts, we want His ways. We want to express His life thorough us. We want to manifest His life, don’t we?

And that’s where the evil of Legalism comes in.

We want to walk by the Spirit, but legalism comes in and quenches the Spirit. In our heart of hearts, we want to avoid sin, but the Law as our rule of life inflames sin. “Thou shalt not” as our rule of life works in our flesh to make us want to do that which thou shalt not.

Even if we DO follow some law or rule outwardly, if done through the flesh, it’s sin. Why? Because that which is not of faith is sin. (Rom 14:23)

But the bible declares that sin shall no longer be master over us, because we are not under law, but under grace.

Falling From Grace

And when we compromise with legalism, we fall from grace, as Paul told the Galatians. Now that doesn't mean we lose our salvation, as some who don't understand grace teach.

When Paul says the Galatians had fallen from grace, he simply meant that they had gotten off of the ground of grace, and on to the ground of law, which quenches the Holy Spirit, and inflames sin, and thus we don’t manifest the life of Christ as we wish.

That was Paul’s problem in Rom 7, when he did the things he didn’t want to do, and couldn’t do the things he wanted to do, and was in a wretched state that all of us can identify with.

Don’t let people put condemnation on you. You are free. You are forgiven. As we just read in Galatians 5:1, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.”

Don’t let even your friends tell you that God is angry with you, that He withholds His love based on your performance.

Don’t let even your friends tell you that you should live in misery because you don’t measure up to some standard that they set, and can’t even meet themselves.

Rest in Christ’s grace. Commune with Him. Love Him and let him love you. Surrender to this lover of your soul. Walk in His spirit.

When we compromise with Legalism it messes us up. And just a little leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. When we are nice to Legalism, it is not nice back to us. It may make us feel superior for a while, puff us up with self-righteousness. But that’s a miserable way for a believer to live. How much better to manifest the life of Jesus.

How much better to live free in Christ. How much better to walk by the Spirit, and not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

We won’t do it perfectly. This isn’t a lesson in sinlessness or perfection. But try to recognize the little leaven when you see it creeping into your thinking. When it puts condemnation on you or some uneasy doubting of the love of God. Reject it.

Carpe Gratiam

Carpe Gratiam, seize the grace of God again. Seize the wonderful truth that He loves and accepts you in Christ, that He has given you His righteousness as a gift. That nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. That you are His forever, and that He lives in you, and that you can express His very life through your life.

Remember that just a little leaven of legalism leavens the whole lump of dough in your life. Walk in grace, free, to the glory of the Lord.

[Who knows, it might even rub off on your friends.]

A Little Leaven From My Friends

This week's audio message:

A Little Leaven From My Friends

Grace For Life audio archives are here.

Keep Your Mind Stayed On Him

By Michele Rayburn

When Christians say that they are against Legalism, sometimes I wonder if they even know what that entails.

The tentacles of Legalism reach deep down into our lives, producing false guilt, self-abasement, and an unhealthy obsession with sin, which results in saying and believing things that indicate that we feel worthless, unloved, unforgiven, and unacceptable to God.

As I said in a previous post, what Christians need to realize and need to appropriate in their lives is who they are in Christ, how to "be" in Christ, and how to "walk by the Spirit". The alternative is to "walk in the flesh".

We need to focus on Him, not focus on our sin.

You've probably heard it said that if you're told to not think of pink elephants, the next thing you know...you're thinking of pink elephants.

So when we are taught about sin, somehow we just can't stop thinking about that sin, and about continuing in that sin, and then about how we are going to resist that sin.

But it's going to be in our own strength, if we're not being told, straight from the Word of God, how to depend on God to deliver us from a particular sin, and if we're not being told how to "walk by the Spirit".

Because these teachings are so neglected, it leaves a spiritual void in people's lives. And that is the reason that I believe we have so many legalistic churches, which sometimes leads to false churches, "movements" and cults.

All of them have one thing in common. In a subtle, man-centered way, they are seeking to earn God's love and favor by what they think they can do for Him, not realizing that they already have His love and favor.

All of the false religions have no risen Savior. But the true Church has a risen Savior. And if we truly want to exalt Him in our lives, then we should be looking to Him, focusing on Him, walking in Him, depending on Him for everything, including the strength to overcome our weaknesses.

Try thinking about your sin and focusing on the Lord at the same time. I think you will find that you can't do that. And yet that is what I think Christians are taught to do.

But the result, I believe, is that we will become "the double-minded man, unstable in all his ways".

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 8:5-6, "For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace..."

In Romans 7:25, Paul says, "So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin."

Paul knew the struggle against sin like all of us, and how he could not "serve in the newness of the Spirit" and "in the oldness of the letter [of the law]" at the same time. But he proclaimed that we have been delivered from the law, having died to it. (Romans 7:6)

And so we should continue to proclaim these truths in the Church today.

The Undermining of God’s Gift Of Righteousness

This week's audio message:

The Undermining of God's Gift of Righteousness

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The Undermining of God’s Gift Of Righteousness

N.T. Wright

How A New Kind of Legalist Is Attempting To Bring The Church To "Works" Salvation

The Roman Catholic Church held an almost monopolistic grip on the hearts of millions of people for hundreds of years.

Through the Dark Ages and Middle Ages, the awful legalistic system of "salvation by works" nearly choked out the light of the Gospel of the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Only small pockets of true believers in Christ escaped the dark heavy blanket of Roman Catholicism.

Then around 500 years ago came what we call the Reformation.

Men like Luther and Zwingli and Calvin and Knox, imperfect men, but intense students of the Scriptures, rose up and shined the light of the Gospel into the darkness of European Catholicism.

These brave men brought an end to the monopoly of the Popes. They boldly proclaimed that salvation was...

By grace alone, not by merit;

By faith alone, not by works;

By faith in Christ alone, not in sacraments;

under the final authority of the Word of God alone, not the unscriptural teachings of the Bishop of Rome.

The Central Point of the Reformation

The central point of the Reformation is what we call Justification by Faith. Don’t let the fancy phrase throw you. This is merely the sublime and simple truth that when we believe in Jesus Christ we are “justified” or “declared righteous” by God.

This means that we are fully in right standing with God, our sins forgiven and no longer held against us.

This is accomplished because God judged our sins in Christ on the Cross, and gave us the “gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:17) by imputing the righteousness of Christ to us, when we believe in Christ.

As 2 Corinthians 5:21 puts it, “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Romans Chapter 5:1,2 gives us the result of this wonderful act of the Lord:

“Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”

The Permanence of Justification

When we are justified, declared righteous by God, it is forever. It is permanent. And it occurs at the moment when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, when we believe the Gospel.

The “gift of righteousness” can never be taken away, because it is part of a "package deal", to put it crudely. This righteousness is given to us by grace through faith, and that is “not of yourselves” and “not of works” (Ephesians 2:8,9).

Even the very faith by which we believe in Jesus Christ is a gift given by God through the New Birth, regeneration.

This “imputed righteousness” contrasts starkly with the unbiblical Roman Catholic teaching that one is actually “made righteous” (“infused righteousness”) through the Sacraments like Baptism, and the Eucharistic Mass, and through meritorious good works.

And this false teaching goes on to say that this so-called righteousness sort of “leaks out” through sinning, or neglecting the Sacraments, and therefore can be lost, which damns the soul of the one who fails to maintain his “righteousness” by his works and attendance to the sacraments.

Let me put it another way. True biblical justification is when we are declared righteous by God when we believe in Jesus, and that puts us in right standing with God forever, all of our sins paid for and forgiven, past sins, and future sins.

The false teaching of Roman Catholicism says that through the Sacraments, like Baptism, and the sacrifice of the Mass, we are actually "made righteous" in our whole being, but not permanently. We must keep doing good works and going to the Mother Church for the Sacraments, or we will end up in Hell.

And the key word here is "works". This is legalism at it’s worst, and any thinking person who believes in this system will always live in fear, if they’re not doing their good works too well, or missing the sacraments.

Or they will be self-righteous and smug because they follow certain rules and rituals, at least better than the next guy.

In Come the Neo-Legalists

The Reformation did not, of course, abolish Roman Catholicism. This organization of works salvation has continued these many years, and still thrives today.

But until recently one could more or less count on Protestant, non-Catholic, Bible teachers to uphold Justification by Faith Alone. One could more or less count on Protestant Bible teachers to oppose the so-called Justification of Rome, where grace and works are mixed, making it “no longer grace” (Romans 11:6).

But back in the 1960’s and 1970’s there was a professor at Westminster Seminary named Norman Shepherd. In 1975 some of his former students were being questioned by committees for ordination, to be ordained to the Christian ministry, and when the question “How is a sinner justified?” was asked, these students of Shepherd answered, “By faith and works.” The questioners were shocked, and began digging in to why these students answered that way, and they traced their answers back to their professor, Norman Shepherd.

Shepherd was allowed to teach for six more years, which was a disgrace in itself. He should have been immediately thrown out. After all, this is the Gospel we’re tampering with here.

Shepherd was finally released in 1981, the dung having hit the fan hard enough. Even then, though, several professors who then agreed with Shepherd were allowed to remain, teaching hundreds of students who spread the cancer of this heresy yet today.

The big foot of undermining Justification by Faith had been stuck in the door, and the result has mushroomed into several full-blown ministries and movements, some directly from Westminster, and some relatively independent.

Allow me to name some names and then I will attempt to capsulize the kernel of the heresy.

Pioneering writers include E.P. Sanders, N.T. Wright, Steve Schlissel, Steve Wilkins, Douglas Wilson, and Peter Leithart.

They have been joined by a multitude of Pastors, bloggers and other writers, and teachers in Seminaries. Many in the Emerging/Emergent Church movement have gravitated toward these men, particularly toward N.T. Wright. And they have infiltrated otherwise orthodox places, including major denominations and seminaries, as well as theological magazines and websites.

Now some of you may say, “Oh you shouldn’t name names. That’s ungracious of you, Terry.”

Friends, this is too important. Those of you who know me know that I much prefer just teaching the wonderful grace of God, both for initial salvation, and for our ongoing lives. It’s all of grace, and that’s my passion. But when teachers and pastors and writers trample on that grace with a convoluted system of works salvation, we need to know about it.

They operate under names and ministries you may have heard:

Shepherdism, named after Norman Shepherd;

Auburn Avenue Theology, named after a church in Louisiana called Auburn Avenue Presbyterian Church;

Federal Vision;

The New Perspective on Paul, or NPP.

This last term is often associated with N.T. Wright, who has become practically a rock star among his followers. An engaging man, a Bishop in the Anglican Church of England, he is a scholar and writes books faster than most people can read them. But he writes for the masses, the common man, so to speak, and so has become more popular than some of the more stuffy academics. And this has made him all the more dangerous in spreading this New Legalism.

What They Have In Common

I won’t pretend the issues and sub-doctrines are not varied and even complicated, but they have one important thing in common -- a rejection of the biblical Justification by Faith.

Like most false teachers, their terminology is often the same as orthodox terminology. But the expression of their error can mostly be bunched under an important term: Covenant Nomism (sometimes called Covenantal Nomism). “Nomism” refers to “Law”.

Although their implementation of the doctrine varies (for example, some teach that one enters the “covenant” through water baptism, others through so-called “faith alone”), the basics are as follows:

1. One enters into a “covenant” of the “people of God”, through “faith” and/or baptism. This is a real covenant which makes one a real Christian, they say, as one follows Jesus as Lord.

2. Once in the “covenant” of the family of God, it is now one’s responsibility to stay in the covenant, and follow Jesus as Lord all the days of one’s life...or else! (more on the “or else” in just a moment). This is blatant Legalism.

3. IF one remains in the “covenant”, by assembling together and obeying the Law sufficiently, THEN, at the end of one’s life, or the end of the age, one will be “Justified”, or “declared righteous” on the basis of their life and works! Did you get that? They’re not justified by faith at the time they believe. They are justified at the end of their life, or the end of time, based on their works.

4. Here’s the “or else”: If one departs from sufficient obedience to the Law, or (in some cases) stops fellowshiping in the local assembly, they are deemed “out of the covenant”, and will never be “justified”, even though they truly believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, and were in His “covenant” and were true Christians. Their works, or lack of them, have ultimately damned them.

What Can Be Done?

Admittedly, this is an extremely brief introduction to Neo-Legalism, or Covenant Nomism.

The men teaching these things are not ignorant, and they’re not stupid. They are biblically classic false teachers.

What would I recommend?

1. I don’t recommend studying these men, except by the most discerning and biblically knowledgeable. Too many have been swayed by their false doctrines.

2. I do recommend studying the biblical doctrine of Justification by Faith, just as the FBI reputedly studies real money, in order to quickly identify the counterfeit.

There are many good books on the subject. A thorough classic is by James Buchanan, The Doctrine of Justification. Another good one, perhaps easier to read, is James White’s The God Who Justifies.

An excellent sermon by Charles Spurgeon can be read at:
http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/3392.htm

Scriptural support for Justification by Faith can be found at:
http://www.carm.org/doctrine/justification_verses.htm

3. If you accept true biblical Justification by Faith, have the courage to say so. And don’t be afraid to mention names. Too many Protestant believers and teachers have been returning to Roman Catholicism. While for some there may be an inherent attraction to the ancient religious trappings of Romanism, in many cases it’s simply an abandonment of the great truth that God justifies us, declares us righteous, forever, when we believe in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Having given an inch to the Legalism of salvation by works, they go the whole yard back into the darkness of Roman Catholicism.

Remember, the biblical truth is, we are declared righteous by faith, as a free gift, when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be all the glory.

Compromising With Legalism

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Compromising With Legalism

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The Harm of Performance-Based Christianity

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The Harm Of Performance-Based Christianity

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The Subtle Legalism of Dominionism

This week's message on Grace Walk Radio:

The Subtle Legalism of Dominionism

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