We like guarantees. We like to know that if we have made a bad decision, it won't hurt us too badly. We want to be sure that we won't fall victim to "buyer's remorse." So a guarantee can be a good thing.
But wanting a guarantee is evidence either that we're not really sure that we are making a good decision or that we don't have total faith in the promises made by the product or service we are purchasing or the commitment we are entering into. And since we are not sure, we look for a guarantee to mitigate our lossesto hedge our bets.
But God is not in the habit of giving us guarantees. If we truly know God's character, we will have complete and total trust in his ability to provide the things he has promised. The Jewish term Jehovah Jireh expresses this aspect of God's characterhis ability to provide.
And yet we look for guarantees with God. I have discussed Christianity with some people who say that they will try all the different faiths in order to make sure that they're okay with God when they die. "One of these religions must be right, so if I have tried them all I'll be assured of going to heaven when I die."
That's not the way to handle it. In fact, that's a good way to ensure a trip to a different destination after death.
In conservative Evangelical circles we hedge our bets a bit differently. Rather than trying out Christianity and Judaism and Taoism and Buddhism, we try to earn God's favor by following a strict set of rules. We try to work hard in the church. We hold to strict standards of dress. We make sure our hair is cut just so. And then, in an effort to leverage the favor we are seeking from God, we force those standards on everyone else around us and indicate by our actions and our speech that if others do not hold to these standards they are not as righteous as we are.
When we do this, we reveal that we don't fully believe or trust in the blood of Jesus Christ. It is evident (even to the lost) that we are seeking a guarantee by working to curry God's favor. We don't truly believe that simply turning to God on the basis of the shed blood of Jesus Christ will get us into heaven. No matter how loudly we proclaim it with our words, our actions are preaching a different gospel.
But Paul directly addressed this in Galatians 5. And he didn't like it. Paul said: "Indeed I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit you nothing. And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law. You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace."
Paul is saying here that if you try to "hedge your bets with God," that you have fallen from grace and must keep the whole law. In other words, if you follow man made rules in order to attain righteousness, you will not gain heaven when you die. We have five thousand years of history in the Bible laid out to show us that we are not capable of following the law of God. Man is not able to attain the standard of holiness and righteousness that God has set out. That is the whole reason that Christ had to diewe couldn't do it on our own.
So if we try to attain righteousness by using a particular Bible version, or by dressing in a certain way, or by doing acts of charity we will be required to fulfill the entire law or else we're hell bound.
But Titus 2:15 says that God is preparing a people for himselfa people "zealous for good works." How can we know whether we are doing our works in order to attain righteousness or we are doing them because we are zealous for good works"? The answer is in our attitude. If we do our good works because we are driven to them out of love for God and love for others, we are zealous for good works. But if we look at others and say, "that person is not worthy" because they are not living up to the standard we have set in dress, in action, or in anything else other than faith in Jesus Christ, then we are trying to attain righteousness by our good works. And that, according to the Apostle Paul, means we are not Christians.
Do we sometimes look at another person and say, "She's probably not a Christian because she wears halter tops"? Do we say, "Because he listens to secular rock music he is not a Christian"? Do we say, "she needs to stop watching the TV shows she watches in order to have a good testimony to her neighbors"? Do we say, "His desire for more and more money shows that he is not Godly"? If we say any of those things, we are responsible for the whole law and have "fallen from grace."
God does not view legalism lightly. It is a terribly dangerous thing. We must be ruthless in our efforts to root our own legalism out of us.
Richard,
ReplyDeleteHow hard you hit me with this post! It's amazing that it seems no matter how hard I've been trying to run away form legalism, I still find little pockets on legalistic beliefs and attitudes lurking inside. For those of us who are perfomrance driven, it is a difficult process. But you are so right in that we need to just trust in the character of God, knowing He is awlays trustworthy adn He will complete the work He bagan.
Well said, Sandy. I think we all fall prey to this problem. We like to think we're better than others and when we master something, we demand it from others in order to make us feel better about ourselves. (Psychiatric diagonosis free of charge) :-)
ReplyDeleteA well-thought out article, Rich. I'd like to put out a warning to all your readers that there is a necessary balance but a difficult-to-find balance between libertarianism and legalism. We must neither live our lives without any reference to God's Word nor live our lives bound to laws of our own creation. By the way, in passing, let me comment on your "guarantees" from God. I know where you were going in the article but there is an amazing statement in Heb. 6:13-20 where God is so interested in our having "strong encouragement, we who have fled for refuge in laying hold of the hope set before us." His assurance is a guarantee based on both His promise and His oath. What a great God!
ReplyDeleteRichard, I have been pondering this article throughout the day. I guess my mind is dull, but the thing that keeps niggling at me is this: is the legalism that we want to impose our standards on others, or is that we have standards for ourselves? for example, I freely admit that there are clothes I don't where, movies I would feel uncomfortable seeing, language I don't want to use, etc. I am fully aware that abstaining from these things has nothing to do with my eternal salvation. But as I seek to walk ever closer to my Lord, and to become more like him, it is revealed to me that some things just don't feel right. That, surely is not legalism, is it? Is the problem that I sometimes cringe when I hear or see these things from others I know to be Christians? Is it wrong to be mindful of how unbelievers see me as a Christian lady?
ReplyDeleteI think this comment is too long! Blessings to you, Peggy
Thanks, Dad, for your comments on this post. I agree with both of your points of potential disagreement here.
ReplyDeleteWhen I said that God is not in the habit of giving guarantees, it is with the understanding that God is gracious and merciful and there are quite a few things in the Bible that come close to being a guarantee. Many of them are almost deals: If you do this; I will do that. And many others are simply promises, which could be looked at as a guarantee.
But in our culture, a guarantee is something you receive if the product does not live up to its promise. God does not ever work that way. He always lives up to his promises.
And regarding Paul's warning against legalism-he didn't actually address libertarianism. And my paragraph about if we say such things as she's probably not a Christian because she wears halter tops and because he listens to secular rock music he is not a Christian and she needs to stop watching the TV shows she watches in order to have a good testimony to her neighbors and his desire for more and more money shows that he is not Godly were meant to illustrate a fundamental principle I find in scripturethat we are to police our own hearts and incline our ownhearts toward God. We are not called to police other's heartswe can't possible know what is in the hearts of others. And if we say these types of things, we are setting ourselves up as God because only He can truly know what is in our hearts.
It is not a promotion of libertarianism but a promotion of the freedom to live for Christa freedom we cannot know outside of the individualized grace of God.
Peggy - Your comments are always welcome. And they can't be too long.
ReplyDeleteWhat I see presented in scripture is that we are to demand from ourselves and from others exactly what is clearly laid out in scripture. We know that we should not lie, that we should not engage in extramarital sex, that we should not steal.
But we are not given exact directives about most things. In these areas, we are to submit to the conviction of the Holy Spirit as we study scripture and seek to become more Christlike. But we are not to demand these personal convictions from others. If we try to demand these things from others, we are taking the place of the Godan activity that Satan tried and it got him thrown out of heaven.
So, yes we should seek to have high standards and to work on our sanctification, but we should never mistake our own personal standards for the Word of God. What is sin for me may not be sin for another when it comes to the personal conviction of the Holy Spirit. Those who struggle with lustful thoughts may be convicted that they should not be involved in mixed swimming, but that would not be a sin for someone who is not susceptible to that form of lust. The alcoholic would be sinning if he were to drink a small glass of wine with dinner as this is an area of sinfulness for him, but it would not necessarily be sinful for someone who does not have an issue with overindulgence in alcohol to drink a glass of wine with dinner.
Those are my thoughts on the matter. Feel free to leave your thoughts as well. I'd love to get other's to join a full discussion of this. Iron sharpens iron.
I agree that there is a balance between legalism and license to sin. It's important to find that balance. I see legalism as being "extra-biblical" instructions and an emphasis on working for God's favor instead of understanding grace. I believe we are to strive towards holiness daily and work out our salvation with fear and trembling but I don't believe that if I wear pants or not, if I wear a head covering or not, if I listen to music with drums or not, etc. are matters pertaining to explicit instructions from the Lord. I do believe I am to dress modestly for my culture (not drawing undue attention to myself), remember that Christ is my head, and listen to music that glorifies God. Those are biblical.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'm still working my way out of strict legalistic teachings. I did wear only long dresses, a head covering, and you can believe there was nary a drum sound in our house ever. Of course, I now enjoy a great variety of music and wear modest pants and actually color my hair (if you can believe it :) ). The hard part for me is to remember that I can't earn God's favor. There's nothing I can do that will make me better in His eyes. Jesus has done it all. I'm working on doing the right things out of love for Him and not fear, if you know what I mean. It's all in the attitude.