Love Vs. Legalism

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” ~Matthew 11:28 NKJV

In Greek mythology, Atlas (or Ἄτλας) was the primordial Titan who supported the heavens.  He was placed there as punishment after the Titans fell in a war against the Olympians called the Titanomachy.   Zeus condemned Atlas to stand at the western edge of Gaia (the Earth) and hold up Uranus (the Sky) on his shoulders, to prevent the two from resuming their primordial embrace. Thus, he was Atlas Telamon, “enduring Atlas,” and became a doublet of Koios, the embodiment of the celestial axis around which the heavens revolve.

The Pantheon of ”gods” in Greek and Roman Mythology were extremely cruel deities that toyed with mortals for their amusement and selfish ambition. The ideology of deities being cruel still exists in the minds of many Believers and unbelievers alike.  However,  the reality of the matter is  probably a lot farther from what many may believe to be true.  The popular notion is that God, that is The One True God, is floating around the earth on a cloud throwing lightning bolts at whatever human he finds in sin (That’s actually more along the lines of Thor from the Norse Pantheon, but lets not muddy the water).  Some Christians mistakenly perpetuate this line of thought by condemning everyone to Hell whom they believe is outside the will of God.  Truth be told, we ALL fall outside the will of God from time to time.  In fact, the big difference in character between God and the gods of Greek and Roman mythology is that Zeus forced Atlas to support the weight of the heavens for his transgressions, while God sent Jesus as a sacrifice to die for ours.

“But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.  God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—  he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” ~Romans 3:21-26 NIV

Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them”.  ~Luke 11:46 NIV

The Pharisees In Jesus’ day were mostly middle-class businessmen who held a minority number of positions as priests in the Sanhedrin.  The Sanhedrin was an assembly of twenty-three judges appointed in every city in the Biblical Land of Israel.   It was the supreme court of ancient Israel and was made up of 71 members composed of wealthy aristocrats known as the Sadducees along with the Pharisees who represented the “common man” (Yes, there were even political parties in the Bible).   Unlike their conservative rivals the Sadducees, the Pharisees accepted the written Word as inspired by God.  However, they gave oral tradition equal authority to the written Word of God.  They then attempted to defend this position by saying it went all the way back to Moses. Evolving over the centuries, these traditions added to God’s Word, which is forbidden (Deuteronomy 4:2), and the Pharisees sought to strictly obey these traditions along with the Old Testament. The Gospels abound with examples of the Pharisees treating these traditions as equal to God’s Word (Matthew 9:14; 15:1-9; 23:5; 23:16, 23, Mark 7:1-23; Luke 11:42).  Unlike the Pharisees, we are not to treat traditions as having equal authority as scripture, and we are not to allow our relationship with God to be reduced to a legalistic list of rules and rituals.

Like the Pharisees, Christians sometimes live a life of legalism.  Please don’t misunderstand me.  There is nothing wrong with the law, for it is the standard by which we measure our Christian walk by.  However, the law does not save us, it just shows us our flaws. The Bible teaches us that we are saved by grace through Faith (Ephesians 2:8-10).  That does not mean God overlooks sin, but that He shows us enough grace in His Love to save us from the consequences of sin if we so choose.

“know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.”  ~Galations 2:16 NIV

Be careful, though.  Here is my disclaimer.  As Believers, grace DOES NOT give us free reign to sin. The Bible says that the wages of sin are death (Romans 6:23).  Instead of giving ourselves over to the desires of the flesh, we are to uphold the law and live a life of righteousness.  For the weight of sin can be a burden to your soul as well.

“Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom.  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” ~James 4:7-10 NIV

“For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— because anyone who has died has been set free from sin. “ ~Romans 6:6, 7 NIV

“Church has too many policemen & not enough paramedics. So many anxious to point out faults of others & not enough to help bind up wounds”.  ~Pastor Mike Haman

I have three wonderful sons, a nine year old and twins that are four.  Each son is totally unique, varying in temperament, and each carrying his own unique disposition. I have found that one of the twins has a peculiar fondness for things.  Not that he is materialistic, but rather that he places a high value or preciousness on everything that he owns.  He collects bottle caps, string, rocks, lint balls…. you name it.  If it was in his possession at one time, he cherishes every moment he spends with it and is greatly saddened when it becomes lost, misplaced or disposed of.

One day while reading, I saw him running about the den flying a toy airplane with his outstretched arm.  It had seen better days.  The wheels were broken off, the paint was chipped, and the wings were missing.  Yet, he continued to play with the toy as if had just received it.  He blew his lips making propeller sounds and chatted quite candidly with the imaginary crew who were busily piloting the wilds of our living space.  In what I thought was a loving gesture, I politely took the small toy from him and disposed of it in the trash can.  “It’s broken, little guy.” I said with a smile and in my fatherly voice.  “I’ll buy you a brand new one today when we go shopping.  Wont that make you happy?”  His response was less than concerting.  His eyes quickly welled up with tears and his little face became flush.  “Whats wrong?  I said I would get you a new one that isn’t broken.”

In a quivering voice, my son looked up at me and said, “It may be broken, but its mine”.   My heart melted and I reached into the trash to retrieve his airplane.  I began to think about how people will often dispose of others simply because they are not measuring up to their standards.  I thought about how the world and sometimes even the Christian church will cast people away for falling short of the mark.  I began to think about how God saw me and my flaws.  I thought about how I struggle with sin and how I affect others with my short comings.  Never once has God thrown me away.  Instead, he reached down into the pit where I lay and said, ”You may be broken, but you are mine.”

God does not hate you because you made a mistake, have become lost, or even broken.  GOD LOVES YOU AND THAT WILL NEVER CHANGE.  In fact it is not only easy for him to Love you, but to forgive you as well.  Regardless of what others may say about you, He is always ready to forgive you.  What can sometimes be difficult, though is learning to forgive ourselves for our past deficiencies and transgressions.  This is what world renown author and poet Maya Angelou has to say about it.

“I don’t know if I continue, even today, always liking myself.  But what I learned to do many years ago was to forgive myself. It is very important for every human being to forgive herself or himself because if you live, you will make mistakes- it is inevitable. But once you do and you see the mistake, then you forgive yourself and say, ‘well, if I’d known better I’d have done better,’ that’s all. So you say to people who you think you may have injured, ‘I’m sorry,’ and then you say to yourself, ‘I’m sorry.’ If we all hold on to the mistake, we can’t see our own glory in the mirror because we have the mistake between our faces and the mirror; we can’t see what we’re capable of being. You can ask forgiveness of others, but in the end the real forgiveness is in one’s own self. I think that young men and women are so caught by the way they see themselves. Now mind you. When a larger society sees them as unattractive, as threats, as too black or too white or too poor or too fat or too thin or too sexual or too asexual, that’s rough. But you can overcome that. The real difficulty is to overcome how you think about yourself. If we don’t have that we never grow, we never learn, and sure as hell we should never teach.” ~Maya ANgelou

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” ~Matthew 5:17 NIV

Our God is a God of Love, but like any good parent, God does not always agree with what His children have chosen to do.  So we honor Him  by honoring His commandments (1 John 5:3), and gracefully bearing the burdens of others (Galatians 6:2).  For if we ask in faith, God will do the same for us, in spite of our transgressions against the law (Psalm 68:19, John 8:1-11, John 4:1-42, Luke 7:36-50, John 21:15-19).  Forgive others as you want to be forgiven (Luke 17:3,4 & Matthew 7:1-5) and remember to take time to forgive yourselves.  For when God forgives you, Love is victor over legalism (Jeremiah 31:33,34).  Be Blessed, My Friends.  Be an Overcomer!!!!!!!

~Bro. Jason Z. Hunt

Memory Verse: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” ~Matthew 5:17 NIV

Memory Word:  Pharisee: 1.a member of a Jewish sect that flourished during the 1st century b.c. and 1st century a.d. and that differed from the Sadducees chiefly in its strict observance of religious ceremonies and practices, adherence to oral laws and traditions, and belief in an afterlife and the coming of a Messiah. 2.( lowercase ) a sanctimonious, self-righteous, or hypocritical person

Inspiring Music:  “Come Unto Me” performed by Nicole C. Mullen and “Under Pressure” by S.H.O.C.K. Muzik Records