In part one, I had mentioned that the Law works beautifully for those whom it was intended. It was intended for those who refused to see God as a God who can. Anyone who still wants to try and adhere to it completely, feel free.
Newsflash: No one can!
God’s miracles and divine protection before and during the Exodus aimed to show His people that the Lord was for them. It was His purpose to help the Israelites see that He was a God who could be completely trusted. And they did—sort of. It was very short-lived, in other words.
When the people of Israel saw the mighty power that the Lord had unleashed against the Egyptians, they were filled with awe before him. They put their faith in the Lord and in his servant Moses (Exodus 14:31 NLT).
When the Law was eventually passed down to the people, the very first commandment delivered began with I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me (Exodus 20:2-3 NKJV).
This should have been received with a hearty Amen from the people!
They just witnessed God’s omnipotence against the Egyptians. He demonstrated His love by and through His delivering power! The first commandment essentially was saying: Look to me, I will protect you. What fabricated god will ever be able to fight for you? What I did in Egypt is how I will always defend and take care of you. You only need to put your faith and trust in Me. Find your security in Me.
Instead, they requested and got the Law. If the people just remembered His saving power, the Law might’ve been seen as the building blocks for faith because relying on human will (they later discovered) was a heavy burden and their works never produced a right standing with God.
Surety in the one true God who can and will deliver would’ve preempted any motivation for stealing, coveting, killing, etc. There wouldn’t have been a need to worry about striving because their security would have been rock solid in the one and only God who delivers on time, every time.
There wouldn’t have been a need to worry about rigid rule keeping to be in right standing. Right standing would have come as a by-product of their faith.
But God knew the heart of Israel and knew that she would still not have full confidence; so, they pursued the Law by works instead (Romans 3:31; Matthew 23:23 TPT).
This is how some Christians are pursuing righteousness today. And for the same reason: their security isn’t in the finished work of Jesus. Like the Israelites of the Old Testament, righteousness needs a little of their intervention.
And this leads us to the Trojan horse of legalistic discipleship.
Let’s say a man named Bob comes to brother Jim to seek out this salvation “thing” he has just heard about. Jim reassures him that all the sins that Bob had been participating in had been forgiven—Bob just needed to believe that Christ forgives. Bob didn’t need to clean up his act, clean up his language before Christ would be willing to forgive. He is told that there is nothing he could do that would get Christ to save Him. Jesus took all of his sins and hung them on the cross. It’s a done deal. Christ has taken care of it all on Bob’s behalf.
Bob is convinced and becomes a believer.
Before all the angels in heaven finish their hallelujah dance, brother Jim proceeds to tell Bob the step-by-step process to get started on the new-believer’s journey.
Jim: Congratulations, Bob! Let me give you a little insight into your journey; just a couple of steps you probably should take into consideration:
- You must go to church and let the pastor know you got saved.
- Be baptized right away and join the church.
- Attend all services on Sundays and Wednesdays, to include every bible study and men’s events.
- You will want to participate in your church’s outreach efforts.
- You will need to know the Word like the back of your hand so read three chapters a day in the Old Testament and two in the New. Before you know it, you will have read through the entire bible in a year! Isn’t that amazing, Bob?
- You should pray without ceasing. Start out praying 30minutes every morning and add on from there.
- Tithing—did I mention tithing?
“Teach a man who he is in Christ and he can’t be stopped from godly activity. Try to control him through rules and you set him up for spiritual ruin.”
Is it any wonder that all the “Bobs” we reach eventually go running out the back door of the church when nobody is watching?
We say that we understand that the Christian walk is by grace, but our approach to discipleship reveals a not-so-subtle legalism that ultimately sucks the life out of every new convert.
After years of ministry, I’ve witnessed many people disappear from church a short time after receiving Christ. Others who stayed went through the motions of Christian living but had no joy and didn’t experience the abundant life that Christ came to give (John 10:10).
And unfruitful activity eventually became a frustration.
When grace rules a believer’s life, he won’t need a religious Gestapo to police his actions or dictate his behavior. This indoctrination of religious rules is legalistic discipleship and is probably what gives Christianity a sour image.
Biblical discipleship is strengthening the understanding of what it means to be in Christ. Teach a man who he is in Christ and he can’t be stopped from godly activity. Try to control him through rules and you set him up for spiritual ruin.
We weren’t called to a spiritual list, but rather to a spiritual rest. Jesus said that those who would come to Him will receive rest (Matthew 11:28).
Rest is a word that scares the legalist. He becomes afraid that if a person embraces a position of rest, he may become passive.
And the Trojan horses keep trotting along.
Does grace produce passivity? We will dissect this mindset next time.