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VI. Legalism - Stolen Treasures


GoldenEagle

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This is not the OP. Here’s all 7 threads relating to Legalism I’ve started…

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This is the OP and subject/topic of this thread.

Found this today. Wow.

Stolen Treasures

A recent article on Recovering Grace, entitled “Moving On,” prompted me to think about the reason it is so difficult to move forward after being victimized by legalism. As I have worked with those hurt by legalism over the years, I have often heard stories about what happened five, ten, maybe thirty years ago. These folks still struggle against the lies they were told and the anger they continue to feel toward those who misused them. I have come to the conclusion that a great deal of the difficulty of moving on has to do with the treasures that were stolen.

Each of the following could be an article in itself, but let me just introduce the problems legalism created by stealing these treasures. You may think of more precious things that were stolen, but these are the ones that have come up most often as I have communicated with victims.

The character of God. Legalism presents an angry and vengeful God who wants to see us fail and then will punish us when we do. He rejects us when we sin and puts us into situations to test our faithfulness. He even punishes us for the things our great-grandparents did. But this is not the God of the Bible. Yes, I know the Bible speaks of the wrath against sin, but the message of love—forgotten by the Legalist—is the primary message of Scripture. God loves us and draws us by love. When the love of God is set aside and His anger becomes the focus, where do we go when we are afraid? The Lord may be a strong tower for His people, but the victims of legalism can’t run to Him and feel safe because they think He is angry with them. I have often asked parents this: “When your children sin, and they will, do you want them to run to God or away from God?” The character of the God you introduce is important. Stealing away the love of God and substituting an angry or vindictive spirit is damaging.

The message of the Bible. So many times people have told me that they simply cannot read the Bible anymore because all they see in it is condemnation. The message of love and peace the Bible brings was stolen from them and replaced by a system that almost always forced them to see shame in its pages. Not only was the Bible blamed for bringing the challenges of the legalistic lifestyle, it was a constant killjoy. “Because the Bible says,” was the refrain that supported every legalistic action, no matter how cruel. But the Bible tells us of the love of God. It was given to proclaim the message of His heart toward us—which is very good. Stealing the real message of the Bible is a great sin against both the believer and the seeker.

The new heart of the believer. How many times did we hear, “The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked”? Victims of legalism are told never to trust their hearts, which meant never to trust their own judgment. Sadly that meant that they were only to trust the judgment of those above them, which opened them to all kinds of abuse. How can anyone go through life successfully and joyfully without the ability to trust their hearts? I remember, when I first understood the great error of this, asking why we should delight in the Lord. The Scripture says that if we delight in the Lord He will give us the desires of our hearts. But if our hearts were as wicked as we were taught, why would God give us those desires? Of course, we were told that He would change the desires of our hearts to the right thing, but that didn’t really help much. The truth is that the believer has a new heart, one which the Lord uses to communicate with us. When He connects to the new spirit in us, He connects to the new heart (See Ezekiel 11:19). But when legalism stole away our ability to look within and trust our hearts, it took away our opportunity to hear the voice of our Lord.

The love and joy of others. Legalism is a system of condemnation and comparison. It sets us up to put others down. If I can’t ever be good enough, I can at least be better than you. We learned to judge and condemn others, rather than to understand them. We learned to compare ourselves with them, rather than to listen and care. We learned to keep them at a distance just in case, rather than to love them. In legalism, we learned to mistrust God, others, and ourselves. But the Lord gave us each other for good. We learn love from each other and others give us an outlet for our love. Relationships are good. Yes, they can be difficult, but they are meant to teach us about ourselves and how to trust God. The message from the beginning, according to John (1 Jn 3:11) was that we should love one another. But legalism pushes us away from each other.

I have come to believe that those who leave legalism must rediscover these treasures. Some will seek them outside the faith. Others will stumble around trying to find them within different legalistic systems. But they know, in every part of their being, that the treasures are worth seeking.

So let me summarize what I have found.

God loves you. He has never not loved you and He has never stopped loving you. Nothing you have done has changed His love for you. All that He has done, through Jesus, has been because of His love for you.

The Bible consistently tells of this love, if you can look past the old legalist system to see the truth. I have suggested that people read through the book of John just for one purpose–to see the love of God. The message is very clear. From beginning to end, the Bible tells of God’s love.

Those who have come to Jesus have received from Him a new heart. It’s true! The old has passed away and the new has come. If you listen for God’s voice, you will hear words of love and affirmation. Never will He condemn or shame you; that’s another voice. Always He calls with a kind voice of acceptance. And you can trust that He will lead you, through your heart, because of His love.

Others are good for you. Yes, they struggle and stumble through life just like you do. They sin and they hurt people. But you don’t have to trust them in order to enjoy them or even love them. You are called to trust the Lord. He may lead you to people who are very different from you and you will learn from them. We were meant to live in relationship with many people and God expresses His creativity in the styles of their lives. Put away your expectations and let others fail. Then you will begin to see how God loves you even through others.

Whatever time it takes, seek the treasures. They are still yours.

What do you think?

God bless,

GE

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How to spot a legalist...also useful for those who are tired of approving themselves in their own eyes

2.) Divisive: You spend concerted effort trying to convince other people that your interpretation of God’s Word is correct, often leading to quarrels over words or disputing. You love to stir up controversy, accuse other people of sin, and paint people with a broad brush of condemnation. You believe that divisions must exist in order to show who is approved by God.

Full article

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"Legalism is the search for innocence - not forgiveness. It's a systematic process of defending self, explaining self, exalting self, and justifying self. Legalists are obsessed with self - not God.

Legalism puts the fear of man in you. It... makes you approval-hungry. You become keenly aware of what others will say and think, and you do what it takes to please them. Conformity is not fun, but it's ...safe. The uniform doesn't fit, but it's approved, so you wear it. You don't know why you are marching or where you are going -- but who are you to ask questions? So you stay in step and plod down the path of least resistance.

And if you dare explore another trail, you must do so at night, like Nicodemus did.

We religious teachers like to control and manage. We like to define and outline. Structure and clarity are the friend of the preacher. But they aren't always the protocol of God.

Salvation is God's business. Grace is His idea, His work, and His expense." -Max Lucado

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What do you think?

Well let me tell you what I think about legalism and the excellent article you presented GE.

There are believers you just want to be around, the type of person we all know. The person that is full of Grace and Light and the Love of Jesus. We all know people like this, people who when you meet them you just feel comfortable, and it just feels right, and the conversation just feels easy. And when they leave they leave the fragrance of the Spirit behind them. They are not "light" Christians, they are Christians surrounded by light. And watching their walk makes you want to run alongside them.....

The sort of person I think Jesus would want us all to be.

And then you get the other believer. The one that you would rather avoid if you can, whether it is in church or on the street. The one with whom the conversation is stilted, or one sided, and always seems to make you feel disappointed somehow, like there was something missing in the day, or in the conversation, a hole that won't close, an itch that can't be scratched, a heaviness of heart. They feel "heavy" as Christians, weighted down by "stuff" that they delight in telling you is "scriptural" and "necessary". And just watching their walk makes you tired...

The sort of person I think Jesus would not want us to be.

Thats what I think......

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And if you dare explore another trail, you must do so at night, like Nicodemus did.

Insightful!~ I like that!

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Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecc 13:13,14

As a good Father, God will never visit evil upon us, but He will allow our idols to be crushed. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. We make idols of so many things, from relationships to money, and sometimes even scripture.

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What do you think?

Well let me tell you what I think about legalism and the excellent article you presented GE.

There are believers you just want to be around, the type of person we all know. The person that is full of Grace and Light and the Love of Jesus. We all know people like this, people who when you meet them you just feel comfortable, and it just feels right, and the conversation just feels easy. And when they leave they leave the fragrance of the Spirit behind them. They are not "light" Christians, they are Christians surrounded by light. And watching their walk makes you want to run alongside them.....

The sort of person I think Jesus would want us all to be.

And then you get the other believer. The one that you would rather avoid if you can, whether it is in church or on the street. The one with whom the conversation is stilted, or one sided, and always seems to make you feel disappointed somehow, like there was something missing in the day, or in the conversation, a hole that won't close, an itch that can't be scratched, a heaviness of heart. They feel "heavy" as Christians, weighted down by "stuff" that they delight in telling you is "scriptural" and "necessary". And just watching their walk makes you tired...

The sort of person I think Jesus would not want us to be.

Thats what I think......

Thanks for sharing brother :thumbsup:

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And if you dare explore another trail, you must do so at night, like Nicodemus did.

Insightful!~ I like that!

You caught that? Yeah, it was an interesting perspective.

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Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecc 13:13,14

As a good Father, God will never visit evil upon us, but He will allow our idols to be crushed. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference. We make idols of so many things, from relationships to money, and sometimes even scripture.

The scripture is the Word of God. We follow it because it tells us the right path to take. 2 timothy 4:1-5

1 I CHARGE thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

2 Preach the word, be instant in season, out of season, repove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine: but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears:

4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

When I was 17 years old, I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and shortly after that, while reading the Bible, I heard an audible voice speak to me and say, "Preach the Word." He didn't say preach what is in my heart or my personal opinions, but "Preach the Word." Unfortunately, while I did preach the Word, I never made good use of my time. I was slothful. I never dared to say anything intentionally false, and if I did discover an error, I would always admit it, out of fear of going contrary to God's Holy Word, but I could have done so much more had I been dilligent. There was still an open door. Today, that door is nearly shut. I am seeing a fulfillment of verse 3 in this day, and there is nothing I can do about it. I try my best to warn people, but most won't hear because they can't hear. It makes me sad. I am thankful that I didn't listen to the majority, and took the time to learn the Bible for myself, but I am still sad because I see what has happened. I regret the wasted time and lack of effort on my part, and I am sickened by what the false prophets and teachers have done to the church today. I am disgusted by how all of us, including me, have let the world influence us rather than us being a light to the world. The message being spread today is not what is in the Bible, but most care more about listening to what others say is in the Bible than actually looking for themselves, and anytime they have a question, rather than seeking the Holy Spirit, they open a commentary or read an article on-line. I pray that the scales come completely off everyone' eyes before it is too late, and I pray that I don't allow the false teachers or the enticements of this world to lead me into perdition.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine:

Amen!

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Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. Ecc 13:13,14

The greatest command is . . . love.

And love suffereth long, is kind, etc.

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