Freedom...Legalism...Grace

I have a lot of friends who are non-believers…and I love it. I love that I am still living real life with real everyday people. I love how the Lord has called me to shine His light in the midst of darkness. And I love how it reminds me that we were all lost at one time.

I love these people for so many reasons. They challenge me in my walk with the Lord; they hold me true to seeking God’s Word and studying for myself the living Truth. It keeps me from basing my whole relationship with Jesus on some emotion or feeling and instead it encourages me to seek the substance and to expand the limitations of my faith.  

These relationships hold my feet to the fire and keep me sensitive to the gentle breeze of sweet grace blowing ever so lightly against me. They make me cling onto the fresh, living Word of God that speaks to my heart like no other. I am mesmerized and in love with humanity even more. And I am encouraged by the challenge and the purpose that God gives me through each of them.

I often wonder what it is that turn people away from wanting a real relationship with Jesus. I see so many wonderful and amazing things that are being done today amongst the world and within our churches. I experience so many things first hand that leave me with no other explanation other than God himself. But then I turn on the news or TV show or a movie then it isn’t hard to see why things are going so wrong.

Tolerant…we are all expected to be absolutely tolerant of whatever goes. And don’t even think about disagreeing, for if you do you must be hateful or judgmental or insensitive and wrong. I heard a friend speak the other night and she said, “Not liking the sin usually has nothing to do with not loving the individual. We can still love you and hate the sin.” That isn’t hate that is freewill.     

I have really talked with God a lot about this lately trying to discern where we as Christians may be going wrong. This isn’t going to be a bash session over where I see our shortcomings as believers. This is more of me asking God what we can be doing to be more effective. How can we draw people closer to the Lord and not push them further away.

Sunday, during our worship time we sang Chris Tomilns, “Amazing Grace”. As I listened to the chorus I became greatly aware of a few things.

Chorus:
My chains are gone
I've been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace

As we sang those words something came over me. I grabbed my notebook and jotted down these 3 words.

Freedom…Legalism…Grace

I may or may not be onto something here but I can’t help but wonder if these three things may be the culprit of what turns non-believers away.

Freedom: We as Christians sometimes take advantage of it. We are free because of what Christ has done for us by the Cross and because we are children of God. However, we are wrong to abuse it. I saw this sign the other day, “You are FREE to choose but you are not FREE from the CONSEQUENCES of your CHOICE.” Wow, consequences have no favoritism do they… and show no mercy.

Legalism: Man, this one is easier to fall into than what you think. It steams a belief system that says we are saved by our works and our deeds. WRONG... Legalism is one of the ugliest things a non-believer can witness in the life of a believer. It also shows no mercy for failure and is quick to condemn the faults and short comings of others. Umm hello…it’s mirror time people. We don’t have it all together either.

Is there godly discernment and concern? Of course there is, who would we be to stand back and silently watch a train wreck unfold and not give loving advice and warning. But to judge just to judge and to condemn because we think we are better, than that is wrong.

Grace: Oh sweet grace. The most precious, costly gift and it is ours for the taken. It is free and irreversible and all you have to do is accept Jesus as your Savior. There is not a single thing that you can do to earn it and not a single thing you can do to lose it. It was paid for on the cross and we are covered by the blood that was shed. This is one of the very first things that you learn about and yet at times we are so flippant about it.  

We don’t deserve the grace that is poured out on us and we certainly should repent anytime we abuse it. It is not a free ticket to live life as we did before. Along with salvation comes the decision to live within the will of God, and no longer your own. I don’t know if it takes living so far on the opposite end of the spectrum to really grasp the significance of grace or not. Maybe it is by the power of the Holy Spirit within us that it becomes evident and clear. I do know that I cringe to see those who claim to follow Christ but choose to live a life that reads so differently. Sometimes, I wonder how God doesn’t kill us (myself included) dead in our tracks when we act in such a way. It must be because God loves people.

We also need to learn how to offer Grace better. Boy, do I struggle with this one at times. My personality really struggles with this one. I was talking to a friend the other day and she said, “you know sometimes I have to bite my tongue until I choke on it.” Me too, sister, me too.  

As a non-believer looking in what a joke it must be at times. I have watched Christians, myself included, fall so many times. We give into pre-meditated (chosen) sin and make a complete fool out of ourselves. To the onlookers it must make them think that we serve a weak or unimportant God. I know that there isn’t a thing that we can do or not do to change who God is. He is who he says he is whether we chose to believe it or not. But we have to know what effects our actions have on the ones watching us. I promise you they are watching. The saying is true that to some we are the only Bible they have to read. Scary isn’t it?

As believers we all have had questions about salvation and the Bible. Just the other day my eight year old asked me why God sent Jesus to die on the cross, he didn’t understand why it could not have been done some other way. I hugged him and smiled, I did my best to explain the fulfillment of the prophecy and law. How God is Righteous and Sovereign and how the penalty of sin is death. I am so thankful that he has the mind and the freedom to ask those questions. Our society and the enemy plants so many pre-conceived notions of tolerance and things that are simply not truth.

Following Jesus isn’t something that we are persuaded to believe in without proof or purpose and we certainly aren’t bound by rituals like some cult. We are simply bound by His Grace.

Sunday, our Pastor preached on the Top 10 Questions people ask about the Bible. Question #4 asked this, Aren’t there a lot of contradictions in the Bible? The answer was this. The Bible has continually been affirmed as scientifically accurate, historically accurate and prophetically accurate, over and over and over again. So often science has to catch up and when it does there are always excuses being made.

Why any of us would believe something just because we were told to is beyond me. But when you are given so much evidence and substance that breeds so much accuracy and truth, how could you not? Believe me, this is why I spend so much of my time studying and sharing all of this.

My point in writing all of this today is this. We are all sinners and every single day we fall into some portion of sin. We have to make sure that we stand firm in the freedom that Christ has given us and at the same time not to abuse it.

We have to know that there are standards that we as Christians are to live by, but need to not get pulled into a thought process of legalism. This is beneficial not only in our life but in the life of others.  We have been given godly discernment and we need to utilize it correctly. If our goal is to always be right then we will more than likely not lead a soul to Jesus. But if our heart is to live the life that God has called us to live out, then by our actions and our love many will come forth.

We should daily ask God for the wisdom to fully understand Grace. God has given each of us the freewill of choice. We are free to choose how we are going to live out this life here on earth.  If we choose to abuse that choice, there will be consequences.  Just the same we must accept the Grace that Jesus paid for us, if not then how does that look like to God? What a precious gift given at a precious cost.

I thank you for jumping on here today and allowing me to pour out my daily struggles and triumphs that I experience. When I felt the Lord calling me into some type of writing/speaking ministry I knew right away that if I were not willing to be honest about my shortcomings, past and struggles then there would be no need for me to ever open my mouth. I think people want realness, I know I do. We are all an open book to others (believers and non-believers alike). Some seal chapters that no one will ever see, and others don’t care and reveal too much. Either way we are all in this together.

I want to be an open book at how my life is not perfect. I struggle so much at times and fall short so often. The beauty about it is that by the grace of God we are set free. We are to love others and we are to serve. We are to live out the experiences that the Lord has for us by His Grace and Mercy that he pours out over us. We are to press on and persevere, and when we get discouraged or fail then we are to get on our knees and repent and be ready to experience the redemption that He sets forth.  

I wish that in a snap of my finger I could lead everyone that I know to Christ. But then I remember my journey in finding Him. We need to be a part of that journey for others but not the guide. The Holy Spirit will go before us…be accountable in your walk and to the part you are entrusted with and always, always, always pray.

Philippians 1:3-11

³ I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, ⁴ always in every prayer of mine making request for you all with joy, ⁵ for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ; ⁷ just as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart, in as much as both in my chains and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers with me of grace. ⁸ For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with the affection of Jesus Christ.

⁹ And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, ¹⁰ that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, ¹¹ being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.