Today, I just want to share about an issue that has been close to my heart for two years now, ever since I realised that it had affected me subconsciously. It’s a belief from an inaccurate human perspective that has led many Christians and non-believers to a wrong picture of who God is.
Though I may never have been to Bible school or been regarded as an authority on these deep waters of the faith, I shall attempt to discourse on this evil lie that I’ve seen through, with help from God.
It is rarely preached or even talked about, but is prevalent in so many Christians, including me in the past, that it hinders us from fully understanding how God works and becomes a big stumbling block.
MISREPRSENTED BY THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW HIM
John 8:43-47 says,
43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
46 Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you not believe Me?
47 He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”
The Father’s Love Letter translation of these verses simply summarises them as,
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me.
Though this translation may seem to be inaccurate or out of context, I had held this sentence as though it was from the Bible. And I believe that it holds a very great truth in ten words; that God was, is and will be misrepresented by those who either do not know Scripture enough or are afraid to stand up for what is right but not practiced in the Church.
Jesus was frustrated with the Pharisees because they had no spiritual foundation. Even though they kept the law of Moses, they did not understand the spirit of the law or recognize Jesus's righteousness.
They spoke from their own wells of worldly wisdom and did not listen to Jesus because they could not recognize that He was God and that He had godly righteousness and wisdom.
Over the four centuries when God was silent, they had misrepresented God in a legalistic way, coming up with ridiculous and exaggerated applications to the Mosaic laws and inventing new laws and doctrines.
They had played religion and came up with their own set of moral rules and ethics. Jesus Himself brings up this matter with them in Mark 7:2-13.
2 Now when they saw some of His disciples eat bread with defiled, that is, with unwashed hands, they found fault.
3 For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands in a special way, holding the tradition of the elders.
4 When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other things which they have received and hold, like the washing of cups, pitchers, copper vessels, and couches.
5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashed hands?”
6 He answered and said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘ This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
7 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 For laying aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men—the washing of pitchers and cups, and many other such things you do.”
9 He said to them, “All too well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your tradition.
10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’
11 But you say, ‘If a man says to his father or mother, “Whatever profit you might have received from me is Corban”—’ (that is, a gift to God),
12 then you no longer let him do anything for his father or his mother,
13 making the word of God of no effect through your tradition which you have handed down. And many such things you do.”
All He said was "Hallow the Sabbath day and rest on it, because God rested from all His work on the seventh day."
They began to put the law in focus, leaving their relationship with God out of focus. The law became their god. And they became legalistic, adding on burdens to the Jews that God had not told them to add.
And these burdens distracted the Jews from understanding our merciful and loving God or even pursuing a relationship with Him. That is why God said that they had worshipped Him in vain, because God was not pleased with their religious antics.
Some people just like to criticise the Pharisees without realising that we have the same weak, human potential to become like them. When we become Christians, we bring in our own set of resources of knowledge and wisdom inherited from our personal values, people around us and the society as a whole.
Syncretism is the name for this transference and melding of contradicting ideas and beliefs from two or more different schools of thought.
And because of this, we are sometimes unreceptive or even blind to what the Word says because we have already accepted what our culture or previous religion has taught us as true. It has been ingrained in our minds.
But we cannot afford to live life like this. Church history has been tainted with so many bad examples because Christians allowed their own bias and wisdom to overrule the Word.
Just as American Christians were erroneous in their mindsets by being racist, we can make mistakes too. And I don't doubt their utter sincerity and devotion to God. I believe that they have good works too. But it took one white man who saw Scripture and people through the right lenses to abolish the slave laws.
Another man called Martin Luther Sr. protested against against legalism and all the rubbish human teachings of the Roman Catholic Church because he realised the Bible talked about grace and it brought comfort to his soul, instead of the chains of laws. Legalism has not totally been eradicated; nor have other issues that we are unaware of been exposed.
It is thus important that we know the truth about legalism because we will represent God in a legalistic way if we don’t.
The Father’s Love Letter translation of 1 John 4:16 says that God is not distant and angry, but is the complete expression of love.
To let you know, Jesus was not against the whole sect of the Pharisees. To a certain Pharisee lawyer, Jesus spoke kind words because he truly understood the essence of the Mosaic law. Mark 12:32-34 shows their conversation.
32 So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He.
33 And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
34 Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.
What I am about to reveal may be contrary to what you believe or what you think Christians should believe. But I pray that you would even be receptive to what I believe is from the heart of God.
Visit http://www.fathersloveletter.com/fllpreviewlarge.html for a great flash video of God’s words in the Bible that has been translated in a personal manner that always moves me to tears when I watch it. It touches me because it represents God in the right light through Scripture.
It moves me to tears because it teaches me to accept the unconditional grace and love of God and reject the condemning doubts, half-truths and pure lies that have been formed in my mind, with help from the devil and my own foolish fears inherited from my ancestors Adam and Eve who hid from God when they first disobeyed Him.
This wrong belief causes a person to shun God, be angry at Him or be unable to forgive himself and others. It makes a person a proud perfectionist and foolish elitist.
It teaches him to become unprofitable in his walk with God by teaching him to focus on obeying laws for the sake of obeying the laws itself, and not the Lawgiver.
ABRAHAM, THE ROLE MODEL OF RIGHTEOUSNESS?
Lessons that could have been learnt are also lost because we will think that biblical characters are perfect and thus should be imitated in every way.
But if you have read any part of the Old Testament, you’ll realize that there are many notable characters who were clearly imperfect men who still sinned, sometimes gravely. If you’re not ready to accept that fact, you’ll be in serious denial and disillusion.
Today, I just want to bring some biblical verses and characters to show you that this faith was never about following laws. It is about obedience to the Lawgiver. And I shall start with the first father of our faith, the unrighteous man Abraham.
I bet I got you there. Here I am, someone so imperfect and immensely tiny in my exploits for God, calling this patriarch of the faith an unrighteous man. But permit me to say this for now as I prove to you that what I have said is true.
Genesis 12:1-3 says,
1 Now the LORD had said to Abram:
“Get out of your country,
From your family
And from your father’s house,
To a land that I will show you.
2 I will make you a great nation;
I will bless you
And make your name great;
And you shall be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
You must understand that before Abraham, there was no such thing as Jews or Israelites or even a particular chosen people of the Lord. The whole world was worldly, sinful and disobedient to the Lord. Abraham, likewise, was born to his father Terah in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans, an environment that can only be aptly described as worldly and sinful.
But God decided to consecrate(set apart) the Jews from the other races and nations of this world for one purpose; that He might show unusual favour on Israel to glorify His name and prove that the God of Israel is the God of all the universe. And God started with this man Abraham.
Abraham was called the ‘father of faith’ because he believed in a God that he had not initially known. His fathers worshipped other gods and he followed their traditions. But Abraham believed the words of a God foreign to him when he obeyed the Voice that told him to leave his country and family.
You may think it was easy for Abraham to leave his comfort zone but it was not. He was just like any of us. He must have felt insecure when he left his kin and familiar territory. And I’m not even talking about the opposition he must have received from his family.
I bet Terah his father was scolding him for being foolish. Can you imagine Abraham being rebuked when he told his father that he’s leaving the country and his household because he heard a voice which he believes is the Voice of God?
I can. Because according to Terah’s experience, a god is just a statue that doesn’t speak personally to anyone. It is just a block of wood, stone or gold you pray to when you’re in trouble or want blessings.
If your trouble goes away or sudden blessings come, then the statue is already considered to have acted on behalf of the prayer made to it.
They don’t respond verbally or ask you to leave your family and country. He was probably telling Abraham, “My god never told me to leave my country and my family. You are getting too old for an imaginary friend”
Or you may think that it was easy to follow God because he had so many blessings promised.
But I want to ask you a question. If you were now given the same exact promises of Abraham, without knowing your future, would you obey this Voice that suddenly out of nowhere tells you to leave Singapore and your family behind? Would you even believe that a small tribe, not mentioning a great nation, can come from your body?
I would discredit this new imaginary friend immediately out of doubt and fear. I would be asking many questions, like “Who will provide finances, food and safety for my journey?” I will be asking this new god on the block to prove his credibility. He had better show me a few miracles or I won’t move my foot one step.
And you’ll realise too that God never gave Abraham a promise or blessing that was directly beneficial to him. God was blessing him with many descendants and promising him that his name will be great. But he would not know if the Voice was of God or just a deceiving spirit because he would be dead by the time His words are fulfilled.
God only said that He’ll bless him once but He said that Abraham will be a blessing to others twice. So if I was dear Abraham, I would be thinking, “Does this mean I have to give out more than I receive? What am I supposed to bless all the families of the Earth with?”
And you know what makes the situation worse? Abraham didn’t know where he was going. You realize that God asked Abraham to leave his country and household but never mentioned where he was supposed to go.
All God said was, “A land I will show you”. The first answer that I would have given to this strange Voice would be “I will go if You tell me where You want me to go.”
So from these facts, I conclude that Abraham was not called by God to inherit these promises because he was a righteous, or the most, righteous man on Earth. And I have Scripture to support my stand. But rather, he was justified by his faith and obedience.
In Romans 4:2-8, Apostle Paul accuses the great man Abraham himself.
2If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.
3What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
4Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.
5However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.
6David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7"Blessed are they
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
8Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will never count against him.
I'm not saying that we should have a sin fest and then hope to be forgiven. That will not happen in a million years because you are not truly repentant when you have that kind of attitude.
God forgave the sins and weaknesses of Abraham and David because they were people trying to please God in everything they do; but were unable to hit the bullseye mark.
What I hope you see is that Abraham was not justified by works. His faith and obedience in the things God had called him to saved him. He was not at all righteous in his deeds. If he was a righteous man, the Bible would have labeled him so like It labeled Noah as a ‘preacher of righteousness’ in 2 Peter 2:5.
Rather, he had no righteous deeds that the Bible wanted to showcase. He is only known for his faith in going out from his country and sacrificing his son(but God stopped him from killing his son as it was only a test of his obedience).
If you read Genesis, you’ll see that he committed polygamy(having more than one wife), committed incest(marrying the daughter of the same father but not the same mother) and lied to two kings about his wife being his sister(bringing upon them the wrath of God when they tried to marry her).
His descendants were no better. Jacob was a liar and deceiver who stole his elder brother’s birthright and blessing. The ten sons of
The Israelites were rebellious and sinful. Samson loved a non-Jewish woman more than he loved God. Saul disobeyed God’s direct command to destroy the Amalekites and their possessions totally. David committed adultery and murder. Solomon married non-Jewish women and worshipped their gods.
Three quarters of the kings of
GOD TAKES ME AS I AM
But as I read through Genesis, I realized that there were no laws that God had set for people prior to Abraham to obey. For Abraham, only circumcision was instituted as a sign to set himself apart from other people in the world.
The Mosaic law, comprising of the ten commandments and the Jewish legal system, was only given by God through Moses. That means from Abraham’s generation to four generations after Joseph, the Jews had no law except circumcision.
So the next logical question is, “How come God is so unfair, imposing no laws before Abraham, one law on Abraham but so many laws on us?” And you might say, “Does that mean that God therefore has triple standards?”
My answer is that faith and salvation does not come from perfect obedience to the law.
One good Christian phrase is that “God takes me as I am.” That means God accepts us initially for who we are, molded by our culture, sin and past.
That is because He knows that we are not able to change ourselves immediately because of the weakness of our flesh. And He knows that we will never be able to reach the level of perfection that He is on.
Do you know that when you became a Christian, God was not grousing to His angels, “Look, another horrible sinner has come into My Kingdom again. You angels had better teach him to follow the Ten Commandments quickly before I get angry and strike him with My fast and furious lightning bolt.”?
The Bible says He rejoices and the angels with Him, when a sinner stops cashing in sin for death and starts calling on His name. I want you to know something; that all God expects of us is to be willing to adjust accordingly to become who He wants us to be and what He wants us to do.
And for each person, the grace and time to be given for that adjustment is different as well. If you have ever learnt ethics, one of the principles says that “Treating unequals equally is unequal treatment.”
What this means is that if you expect someone who has a quick temperament to change his character as quickly or to the same extent as someone who a slight temperament, you’re being legalistic, judgmental and unfair.
All I will expect of every Christian is to realise and admit that he has a problem in a particular area of his life. He also has to take steps in improving in this area, with much help from the Holy Spirit. But if he still fails to change to the extent or in the time I expect, it is not because he is unrepentant.
TRUE REPENTANCE AND OBEDIENCE TO GOD’S WILL
Repentance is a change of mindset that agrees with God that your sin is sin and that you are a sinner. It is a confession that you need God to make you holy because your own efforts are so limited.
And do you know that He does not expect you to become perfect, but to have an obedient attitude? An attitude that motivates you to want to get things right because you want to please God.
That is what He has been doing throughout the Earth in all peoples in different times and cultures. For Adam and Eve, it was just not eating a fruit. For Cain, it was just to give Him his firstfruits. For Noah, it was to build an enormous ark. It was a different act of obedience for each of them but they needed to have the same attitude if they wanted to please God.
There is no actual or exact standard to prove a person’s obedience to God. Sin is defined as disobedience to what God commands you to do. It is more about a certain rebellious attitude than a particular act itself.
God just wants every corner of your heart so that He truly knows that you love Him with all your heart from your obedient attitude. Cultural, generational and other differences give rise to a rather broad definition of obedience.
One example of cultural differences playing a part in making the line unclear when it comes to obedience of laws is polygamy. Though I believe strictly that God made one Eve for one Adam, I also believe that you could still be a good Christian testimony when you’re in a polygamous relationship in a country where polygamy is accepted.
With that said, being a monogamous Christian in that country would be an even better testimony. People will see the holiness in you that has helped you overcome the lust for women that other men had not been able to defeat.
However, we should not put our standards on people as long as what they do is acceptable in their culture. We cannot definitely accuse the Jews as being sinful because they committed polygamy. Polygamy might have been a way to preserve their lineage as mortality rates were high and healthcare standards were low.
Also, biblical female characters have a tendency to be barren. The eleven sons of
And God, before creation, had already planned for the twelve tribes of
You will not learn obedience by asking another person because what God has spoken to him specifically may differ from what God is saying to you.
He just wants you to surrender your sovereignty that was declared the day Adam and Eve ate the cursed fruit because they believed they could be the god of their lives.
You will be surprised to know that though David committed a heinous sin, God called him a man after His own heart who fulfilled His purpose in his generation. May I suggest that you find out and fulfill God’s purpose in your generation.
Because God bestowed honour, not shame, on a sinner as grave as David. God never called David a hypocrite because a hypocrite is not necessarily a person who fails to obey laws, even obvious and important ones.
A hypocrite is someone whose heart was never near God. He was never interested in obeying God, but in obeying laws that he might boast and be justified by them.
He is just like the Pharisees who went to John the Baptist’s baptism of repentance but w rebuked as a ‘brood of vipers who had no fruits worthy of repentance.” They were people who did the right things but did not have righteousness in their hearts.
To these people, God says in Matthew 7:21-23 that,
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
22 Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’
23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’
LAWS AND LEGAL SYSTEMS
My point is not to discredit the law of righteousness as I believe that the law is good. Or undermine the need for reformation(change brought about by yourself) and not just transformation(change brought about by God).
In the case of biblical laws, though there is a rather definite standard of right and wrong, there are many gray areas in which we have no instruction.
And God is not as stupid or absent-minded to leave out any punishment for the new ways of disobedience that sinful men are always coming up with.
But if He were to put them all in, the Bible would probably be bigger and thicker than a house. I hope that you can see that the Bible is not a rulebook containing every Do’s and Don’ts.
If the faith was about following laws, then the Bible should be a law gazette containing every rule and precedent and skipping all the long, detailed and irrelevant stories of the patriarchs. They weren’t even good model examples in the
Rom 7:7, 12 -13 says,
7What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, "Do not covet."
12So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
13Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! But in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it produced death in me through what was good, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.
Galatians 3:23-25 also says,
23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed.
24 Therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
God set the law as a standard that we should be moving closer towards. The law was a tutor to teach us what is sin and what is righteousness.
Because without law, there is no right or wrong clearly defined. The law also produced death as wages for our sins so that we may know from the bad consequences of our sin that our sin is bad.
But laws were not given for us to enforce them strictly on each other. David ate the showbread from the
But the God of the Old Testament did not kill him as He did to some people in Moses’s time who tried to be funny and disrespectful towards the
The Sabbath was to be kept as a day in worship of God, not just a day of rest from physical activities. The Pharisees were so spiritually blind(Jesus labelled them blind leaders of the blind in Matt 15:13) that they accused Jesus of profaning the Sabbath when He healed a woman of a withered hand. They thought Jesus was openly defying God when He was actually obeying Him.
THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW
C. S. Lewis says in 'Mere Christianity' that he expects every good Christian soldier to kill his enemy on the battlefield. He said that we interpreted the Bible wrongly as “Do not kill” when It says “Do not murder”.
His comment actually brought light to my eyes. In the past, I could never explain why God commanded the Jews in the Old Testament to participate in wars and to wipe out their enemies while those of the New Testament era were told that 'he who lives by the sword shall die by the sword'.
But if you examine this issue closely, you will realise that God's will regarding this matter has not changed at all. Jesus was telling his disciple not to fight with the guards sent by the chief priests because it was His will to surrender and die an excruciating death for our souls' redemption.
He was telling him, "Don't try to solve everything by the sword." But Jesus would not blame him for defending his country. Or conquering land He has given to them in His time. We cannot look at incidents in the Bible as one and the same sometimes.
To kill a person by accident or duty is not a sin but to kill a person by premeditation and hatred is a sin. God defended those who had accidentally killed someone, with no premeditation or hatred against the other party. Let's see what the Bible says in Exodus 21:12-14.
12 “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death.
13 However, if he did not lie in wait, but God delivered him into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
14 “But if a man acts with premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.
Why is the punishment for murder death and the punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder(ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment) different?
Why are some soldiers punished for war crimes and other soldiers honoured with awards? The fault is not in the act itself, but the individual’s intentions behind the act.
OBEYING THE LAWGIVER, NOT THE LAW ITSELF
Galatians 3:1-3, 5-6, 10-14, 21 says,
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?
2 This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—
6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.”
11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.”
12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”),
14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.
The law only shows the full extent of God’s goodness and perfection and the utter evil and imperfection in us. It illuminates the fact that God is not tempted by what we are tempted by. But the law, on its own, cannot save us or give us the power to obey itself.
What Paul was telling the Galatians in the previous verses was, "Don't go back full circle to the place where you were at before becoming Christians. If you had accepted Jesus and received grace for your sins, why are you trying to remove your sins, Jesus and His grace too from the picture?"
Many Christians are stuck with this wrong concept of book-by-book, law-by-law and letter-by-letter obedience to display goodness, works and fruit in their lives.
They say they believe in God's unconditional love and grace but they are afraid to hope for forgiveness of their owns sins or offer unto others mercy from God.
The Law was given to make us humble to accept Christ as the Solution when we realize we are unable to fulfill even a few simple rules. It is not supposed to be evoking the 'fear of the Lord' in you.
The Bible makes wise the simple by giving us a simple principle. Obey the Lawgiver, not the law. I believe that when you truly love God, you’ll obey Him naturally to please and thank Him.
Romans 13:8-10 talks about this natural obedience to God when we love Him and others.
8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Matthew 22:36-40 echoes this principle.36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and great commandment.
40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Jesus said that He had not come to destroy even a small part of the law, but to become the Power that helps us fulfils the law. When you have a relationship with Jesus, your love for Him and His power in You fulfills the righteousness that you did not have.
He came to sum up all the commandments into just two; to love God and people with all we've got. Obedience is fulfilled naturally when love is our motto in life.
When we have a loving attitude, we don't have to follow all the detailed laws. If we truly love, we will naturally not covet or murder or steal or lie or commit adultery.
We can still examine ourselves to see if we have been disobedient to God's commands. We don't want to throw out the law. But what we want to do is grow in love and thus fulfill the law, not obeying laws that we may grow in love.
Obeying laws can be done without love for our Saviour. We are missing the point if we follow the law, but not the Lawgiver. We should not obey in expectance of rewards or honour or in fear of punishment.
Rewards and honour are by-products of obedience but our love for God and others should be the reason for obedience. Another motivating factor for obedience should be gratitude for Christ’s forgiveness, not because God is counting our sins and we should fear His wrath which is about to be poured unto us.
This is why Paul says in Romans 12:1,
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
LEGALISM DEFINED
Legalism is an ideology that promotes strict observance of laws to try to gain favour with God, as if one can make God love him more by doing so. Sometimes, people turn to legalism when they are suffering or waiting without any rhyme or reason.
They think that God is somehow angry with them for a sin they committed but do not know what it is. I can safely say that whatever you do in confidence that you have not done anything against your conscience or the conviction of the Holy Spirit, you have not sinned.
Romans 14:14, 22-23 says,
14 I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean.
22 Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves.
23 But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.
But if you do the same thing in front of a brother who will be stumbled or a non-christian who will think of us as bad testimonies, you are openly defying God and destroying your brother.
Romans 14:15 says,
15 Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died.
16 Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil;
17 for the
18 For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.
19 Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.
20 Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense.
21 It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak.
Or they think He is still angry over a sin He supposedly forgiven. If you do not believe in the immediate and forgiveness of God when you repent, then I do not know if we are believing in the same Jesus.
Men may be demanding and judgmental but the Father will never turn away the prodigal son. Read my 23rd August 2006 entry to understand the full significance of the parable of the prodigal son.
6 And when He comes home, He calls together His friends and neighbors, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with Me, for I have found My sheep which was lost!’
7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.
Have you ever had a bad conflict with your friend? We all know that though the two parties may forgive each other totally, there is a period of time where both of them will feel awkward in the presence of each other. Then both of them will wonder if the other party had indeed really forgiven them totally.
The reason why they have these thoughts and feelings is because there is a natural consequence to sin. Sin breaks relationships and an apology only starts the restoration process. Because the trust between two friends have been breached, it takes time to develop that mutual trust again.However, the leftover guilt and fears you have is the cause why you feel as if your friend has not forgiven you totally. It is your inability to receive that forgiveness that causes the awkwardness, though your friend has already assured you that he has forgiven you. It is the same with us and God.
Do you know that the moment you went back to God, you brought a lot of joy to Him? He is more happy over you than over ninety-nine people who are walking well with Him. And He had already forgiven you totally when you came back.
Yet, restoration, unlike forgiveness, is not immediate. Your sin also has a natural consequence; it breaks your relationship with God, brings death to your spirit and confuses your views about God.
Though He has assured you of total forgiveness in His Word, the faith you have lost due to sin amplifies your unworthiness and make you unable to receive the forgiveness.
But over time, the trust that has been breached will be mended again, as He continues to love you. You will relearn things about His character that your sin had stolen from you.And you will begin to wonder, "What wasn't I able to see the merciful and loving nature of God then? It seems so obvious to me now."
But people who are ignorant of the grace and love of God don’t understand the spiritual dryness they are experiencing is not due to the sin which they don’t know they committed and is still trying to find out about.
They don’t realize that sometimes God loves them and yet subjects them to a life harder than non-Christians to test and mould them. They don't understand the simple reason why the Teacher keeps silent when He’s giving a test.
A CASE STUDY
Recently, I had a talk with an ex-disciple. I considered him my second best disciple to date. Yet, he was suffering from legalism. He told me that the Bible said we are to obey the law of the land and also our government.
Romans 13:1-7 states his view,
1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.
6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing.
7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
But I soon realized that he was on the wrong track in the faith and I counseled him for an hour or more. You will find it strange as if I am a lawless person but I shall explain my view shortly.
I had observed that he obeyed man-made laws to the letter and I asked him why out of curiousity. He had refused to jay-walk when it was safe, download MP3s and obeyed things like not eating on the MRT. Just to let you know, I agree with all these regulations as well.
My point is to obey the spirit(intention) of man-made laws and not the law itself. Because if we blindly obey imperfect law set by imperfect men(though they have some references, laws and principles from the Bible), we will gradually become blind to what is right or wrong.
Because if you can recall, Revelations talks about a time when we will have to reject the silicon chip(a.k.a the Mark of the Beast) that will give rise to a cashless financial system. But before that happens, we should go along with minor imperfections in the man-made laws.
I gave him a simple illustration. I asked him about the SMRT regulation about food and drinks and the $500 fine that punishes any offenders.
Firstly, is the regulation considered a law of the land? The answer is, legally, yes. SMRT has secondary legislative authority, given by the
Secondly, what is the spirit(or intent) of the law? The answer is to prevent people from dirtying the train carriages or filling them with smells that may be offensive or intrusive to other passengers.
Thirdly, what is the consequence of disobedience to the law? That depends on the individual and the food items involved. Is it possible for me to eat without ever making the place dirty or spreading the smell across the carriages? Yes, we know that if we drink from a water bottle, there is less or no chance of spillage and diffusion of the liquid.
Finally, is it a morally wrong action? Will I be causing harm to myself or others? Answer is, not in a million years.
What I am trying to say is that this is a perfect example of the land’s law that doesn’t make sense. It’s broad sense of restriction actually violates our human rights. It doesn’t do any harm to anybody and can be done without any unpleasantness to any passenger.
There is no moral dilemma involved or a betrayal of conscience. But SMRT implemented this law out of fear of clumsy people or vandals, like those who had to stick chewing gum unto our MRT doors and cause it to be banned in Singapore. They are using punishment as the motivation for obedience, not logic or morals.
Following such a law does not commend you to God. Disobeying this law will not make the Lord displeased even one bit. But know this, that obeying this law is still better than disobeying this law.
We should follow the precedent that Jesus Himself set for us in Matthew 17:24-27, though He felt that it was an unjust law.
25 He said, “Yes.”
And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”
26 Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”
Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.
27 Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”
My choice would be to obey the SMRT regulation, even though it doesn’t make sense to me, because I yearn to earn the favour of non-Christians like Jesus did.
Because if a Christian is seen as anarchistic, then non-Christians might think that being anarchistic is the same as being a Christian.
I therefore try to display a good testimony though I am not bound by reason or conviction to abide by this law. I set apart myself from non-Christians by my different behaviour.
But my abiding of this law is coming not from an obedience to the law of the land, but a Commission from my Master who wants me to make disciples of all nations. I am obeying my Master, not the SMRT or the Government, when I abide by these regulations.
You may not see the difference because I arrived at the same actions as one who obeyed the law of the land. But strict observance of man-made or even spiritual laws will not bring you closer to understanding who God is or please Him even one more bit.
In fact, your spiritual life deteoriates as you heap so many burdens onto yourself that you are no longer carrying the light yoke that Christ has put on you. You will start to think of God as judgmental and merciless.
My ex-disciple told me legalism made him angry with God and proud at the same time. If he did not sin or disobey man-made laws, he would feel good and despise men who failed, especially non-Christians.
If he sinned, he would be angry, asking God why He did not enable him to run away from sin. He also feared that God would be angry if he violated any laws of the land.
He felt burdened by obeying so many spiritual and man-made laws, as if God was constantly demanding him to do the right thing like some wise guy who says “I told you so” every time he did something wrong and realized how foolish he was.
He was obeying laws out of fear and compulsion and that does not please God at all. God loves a cheerful giver and that person must obey God out of a willing heart and his own choice to be able to please God.
Likewise, we must not compel anyone to do even right things because they would obeying us out of fear, not obeying God out of love. Sometimes we get caught up with imposing our standards on others but God is not pleased by worship laced with reluctance or compulsion.
Besides, it was he, not God, who exacted these rules on himself. God wants us to adjust to the standard He has for each of us, not to become totally perfect like Him. This can happen to anyone with a misinterpretation of Scripture and a misunderstanding about who our Saviour is.
WHO OUR SAVIOUR IS
He forgot that this is the same God who sent His only Son, Jesus, who was crucified to bring forth forgiveness and redemption that is impossible any other way.
When a crime is found out, a criminal must be punished. Christ was our scapegoat. When a criminal or scapegoat is found as the culprit, the judge punishes the culprit and leave any other suspects alone.
We are not punished because Christ bore our punishments. And He did not do so reluctantly to give us a forgiveness that is limited, like that of men.
1 John 1:6-10 says,
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
You can see very clearly from this verse that the thin line between walking in darkness or in the light is not whether we commit sin.
It is rather whether we fall into sin or deliberately sin(for enjoyment or gain). And even John says that all men are not perfect, including himself, and need God’s grace to forgive and cleanse us of our sins.
God's grace is unlimited, for your whole lifetime, as long as you do not take it for granted. You are a liar and unreceptive to the Gospel if you claim that you have no sin or that Christians should have no sin.
Perfection is a perfect lie because it teaches us to depend on our own goodness, not on God's empowerment. The more you will to do good, the more you will realise that you cannot help but do what is bad. Only dependence and intimacy with Christ can make you more like Him.
We are only new creations, able to see clearly and resist sin more than we did without Christ. We are not perfect yet and not even close to it. And guess what? We will never be totally perfect.
Don't make obeying laws your confidence and boast. The rich man followed the Ten Commandments but was unable to give up his riches for heavenly riches. As a result, he missed out on the will and call of God, not to mention eternal life. He missed the point when he focused on the law.
When we are in Heaven, no one will be able to boast of perfection but every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Only and Holy One who was tempted but did not sin. He sees and emphatizes with our weaknesses.
And Jesus died once and for all for this very reason. To show us that He forgave, forgives and will forgive us of any sin we commit as long as we repent. If Jesus is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow, then it must mean that His forgiveness is unfading too.
We tend to see the sinner in the human and not the human in the sinner. We sometimes erroneously perceive others' weakness as self-willed and deliberate sin. We need to give more grace, room and time for others and ourselves to change.
People who are not able understand this has not been made perfect in God’s love, nor obtained the true knowledge about His love.
1 John 4:17-18 tells us that,
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
LEGALISM’S ANSWER TO CHRIST’S SACRIFICE
Yet, legalistic people think that they should not think of Christ’s sacrifice too much or they’ll use it as an excuse for sin. True enough, Paul does tell us that we must not sin that grace may abound.
But in every thing concerning our faith, God calls us not to judge others, but to judge ourselves. He tells us to take out the plank in our eyes before we accuse our brother of the dust in his.
James 4:11-12 says,
11 Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
12 There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?
So in all things of the faith, practice it at your level and try to get others to understand the truth. If they refuse to believe or obey, do not punish them by judgment. Give them grace and time that they may see that the Law is truly in our hearts, the Law of love.
And if we practice love and grace, they will know that we are truly disciples of Christ, not debaters trying to win an argument. They will agree with us that we are right without us having to defend our stand. And God will not hold us accountable if they do not listen.
Let go of them and let God deal with them. Even when we are unable to change someone, He is able to save the same person. Any person is in better hands when left to God.
James 2:12-13 says,
12 So speak and so do as those who will be judged by the law of liberty.
13 For judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.
Know that if you judge, God will definitely judge you by your own standards. And you will fail so miserably short of even your own standards. Give grace that you may receive grace when you fall short. And love is the higher law which covers a multitude of sins.
TRUE FAITH AND OBEDIENCE TO THE MASTER
Faith is believing that we’re moving on to perfection though we seem like perpetual backsliders and sinners. We’re closer, but never close. We can change only by grace and God’s enablement, not so much through our own efforts. We must reform but our hope is in the transformation by Christ.
Enough of all my views on grace. I also want you to know that I have a balanced view. What I am going to say below is for you to judge yourself.
Know that God will demand an account from you on that Day of Judgment. He is not mocked; you will reap what you sow. If you had not bore fruits worthy of repentance, you will not be justified by your faith; for it is dead.
James 2:14-18, 22-24 says
14 What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?
15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food,
16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit?
17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.
22 Do you see that faith was working together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect?
23 And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.” And he was called the friend of God.
24 You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.
But know also that if you attempt to build on your foundation of the faith with anything other than the true Gospel of Christ, your efforts are for nothing. Acts done out of fear and compulsion will not be merited because they do not endure the testing of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 3:10-15 says,
10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it.
11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw,
13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.
14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.
15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
Take heed of the thin lines and fine print in Scripture. They may seem unimportant but they make all the difference in our faith. The law was not given that punishment might be meted out, but that grace may be shown. Legalism teaches obedience based on fear or pride. Don't fall into that age-old trap.
2 comments:
Hi James
Chanced on your blog. Just want to tell you that your discourse on legalism showed maturity beyond your youth and though I'm not a biblcal scholar, I would encourage you to pursue a higher education in Biblical Studies so that you can plumb the depths of God's Word and teach others in return. God's people need to know the truth so that they can obey Him. Shalom.
Michael Ho
Hey, Michael. I'm not sure if you'll be back to see this but I'm grateful and encouraged by your comment.
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