Legalism or Sanctification
My wife and I were shopping for a new stove this weekend and we learned about a stove they said was made specifically for Jews. I don't know if this is true, but we were told that this stove has a timer that does not display the time setting showing when it will turn on. This allows, for example, the stove to be setup on Friday so that it turns on a burner on Saturday to heat up a kettle of water for tea. If the timer had a display, then using that timer is considered working on the Sabbath. Since the timer does not have a display, then using the timer is not considered working on the Sabbath.
Some people point to our web sites and call them "legalistic" because we focus on discussing what it means to obey God. (See evangelical.us for example). That means we talk a lot about God's laws.
Is this legalism? Jesus condemned legalism when he was talking with the Pharasees.
Not at all.
When Jesus condemned legalism he was condemning trusting in your own abilities for your salvation. For example, the Jews felt that by not working on the Sabbath they were doing something that would help then have eternal life. Jesus showed us that this is not true. Thus relying on obeying God's laws for your salvation is legalism--and it will not result in your salvation.
Our salvation is a free gift of God, given to us through His grace. There is nothing you can do to earn your salvation.
So why do we talk about obeying God's laws.
Because there is more to "life" than our salvation. John chapter 14 tells us repeatedly that if we love Jesus, we are to obey Jesus. Not because it results in our salvation, but because we love Jesus and WANT TO obey him.
In America today many churches have taken on the attitude of not teaching about God's law. On the other hand Satan continually pushes disobedience to God's law at us through our culture, media, schools and any other way he can find. We have gotten to the point where we do not know God's law--we do not know what God wants. In fact, we've gone so far that we believe Satan's lies are God's law!
That's why we talk about God's law so much on our web sites. His law leads us away from Satan and toward growing more like Jesus Christ. That process is called sanctification. It's a good thing--and God's law, which helps us in the process of sanctification is good thing. So let's embrace these good things of God and turn our backs on the lies of Satan.
Some people point to our web sites and call them "legalistic" because we focus on discussing what it means to obey God. (See evangelical.us for example). That means we talk a lot about God's laws.
Is this legalism? Jesus condemned legalism when he was talking with the Pharasees.
Not at all.
When Jesus condemned legalism he was condemning trusting in your own abilities for your salvation. For example, the Jews felt that by not working on the Sabbath they were doing something that would help then have eternal life. Jesus showed us that this is not true. Thus relying on obeying God's laws for your salvation is legalism--and it will not result in your salvation.
Our salvation is a free gift of God, given to us through His grace. There is nothing you can do to earn your salvation.
So why do we talk about obeying God's laws.
Because there is more to "life" than our salvation. John chapter 14 tells us repeatedly that if we love Jesus, we are to obey Jesus. Not because it results in our salvation, but because we love Jesus and WANT TO obey him.
In America today many churches have taken on the attitude of not teaching about God's law. On the other hand Satan continually pushes disobedience to God's law at us through our culture, media, schools and any other way he can find. We have gotten to the point where we do not know God's law--we do not know what God wants. In fact, we've gone so far that we believe Satan's lies are God's law!
That's why we talk about God's law so much on our web sites. His law leads us away from Satan and toward growing more like Jesus Christ. That process is called sanctification. It's a good thing--and God's law, which helps us in the process of sanctification is good thing. So let's embrace these good things of God and turn our backs on the lies of Satan.
posted by BrickBalloon
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