Bad Religion (2)

Freedom from Legalism--Not freedom from law

Paul anticipated the question,

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? (Romans 6:1-2)

Jack Cottrell writes in his book Set Free: What the Bible Says about Grace (p.354),

Nothing, not even grace, can cancel a creature's obligation to obey his Creator. Grace does, however, change our motivation for obedience, freeing us from the necessity of absolute obedience as a condition for salvation and freeing us to obey out of love and gratitude. ... We need not sacrifice the full authority of the Bible in order to enjoy the full blessings of grace.

"to obey out of love and gratitude." Not only do I do what God says because God is God and as his creature I'm obigated to do so, but having been redeemed and reconciled to God by the blood of Christ, I have even more reason to obey--love and gratitude.

On more than one occasion, I've had someone confess to me that she or he has a problem with anxiety. With Christians, this anxiety is often related to their relationship with God. One dear Christian woman confessed that she had to stop driving and pull over on the side of the road to pray for forgiveness several times a day on her way to and from work. Her anxious thought was that she might get in a fatal automobile accident before having the chance to ask God to forgive her for all her many sins. Actually, her sins were not so "many" or "sinful." For instance, she might have a "Bad" thought (i.e., desiring a better car = the sin of materialism, or an angry thought about her mother = the sin of hate). She would drive along with these bad thoughts as long as she could. When she could bear it no longer, she would pull over and pray for forgiveness. This brought immediate relief that lasted as long as she could fight off more "bad" thoughts--which usually wasn't more than a few miles.

Clearly, this dear Christian woman suffered from an obsessive-compulsive disorder that fixated on her religiosity. Dealing with obsessive thoughts and the compulsive behavior of pulling over to pray was an important part of her recovery to a healthy spirituality. But, she also needs to restructure her theology. Instead of living under law, she needs to realize that she lives under grace. Yes, she needed to conform her thought-life to the image of Christ (Philippians 2:5; 4:6-9). But, she did not need to do this in order to secure her salvation and forgiveness! Conformity to Christ, including keeping the commandments of Christ, is something we do because we love and appreciate what Christ has done for us. And, we want to be pleasing to God, not to avoid hell, but to give God glory in our lives. This is FREEDOM IN CHRIST.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery ... For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. (Galatians 5:1, 13, ESV)

It is to recognize that I am not there yet (Philippians 3:12-16). I continue to grow and allow God to shape and form me into the image of His Son. Of course, this means keeping the commandments of Christ--as a slave to righteousness, set free from sin (Romans 6:18). If I fall short and sin, I don't worry about getting in a car accident before I have a chance to pray for forgiveness. I can wait to pray, at least, until I get home. I'm free.

Did you notice how this dear Christian woman had turned almost every negative thought into a sin? She even interpreted her negative emotions (i.e., anger) as sinful. Having a negative thought is not sinful. Feeling angry is not sinful (See Ephesians 4:26). Nevertheless, when we operate as though we live under law, the tendency is to see laws everywhere--even when there is no law.

Legalism seduces me into thinking that I CAN keep enough of God's laws well enough to get God off my back. As a legalist I will demand, "Just tell me what to do and I'll do it, God!" Then, it's a search for all the laws that must be kept, so God will stay off my back. Soon I am seeing laws everywhere. Some laws are erected to prevent me from breaking others (a hedge of protection). Since I must know what God's law says, I cannot tolerate difficult passages of Scripture, or passages that may find a culturally-limited application. And, because under law it's better to be safe than sorry, I may manufacture a law based on little or unclear biblical support. I may keep a culturally-limited law, just in case. Just in case of what? See, now my eternal salvation is dependent on "getting it right." Am I trusting Christ? Or, am I trusting my ability to interpret Scripture correctly and get all the laws right? There is no freedom here. There is no relationship with God that allows for growth and development.

Approaching Scripture from the position of freedom, without legalistic assumptions, allows me to see Scripture as a whole, a message to be lived out in my life in fresh and new ways. The Bible becomes alive to me. The legalistic approach to Scripture makes Scripture a dead law that can only condemn. Legalism misses the forest for the trees. As Wordsworth put it, we "murder to dissect."

Freedom in Christ does not mean freedom to do whatever we please. That's silly nonsense. Freedom in Christ means being free from the anxiety of guilt and shame, so that we may "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."