Month: December 2018

A Quick Comparison of Legalism vs. Liberty

Legalism (Religion)The Life in Liberty (Relationship)
I obey; therefore, I’m accepted.
I’m accepted and connected to the Vine; therefore, I obey as it is the fruit of the spirit 1.
Motivation is based in fear, punishment, insecurity and abject obedience to His commandments.
Motivation grows from a fruitful
relationship, and learning about His Nature.
I obey God in order to get things from God.
I obey God because it is within my nature to do so. 2
When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or I am angry at myself.

Like Job’s friends, I understand that anyone who is good deserves and receives good things from God – excluding the occasional smack-down from God for being bad.		When circumstances in my life go wrong, I may struggle, but I know that bad things3 are not from God because He is good4, and He will work all things together for good in my life.
When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated because it is essential for me to think of myself as a “good person,” or “as being right.”

Threats to qualities of self-image must be destroyed at all costs.		When I am criticized, I may struggle, but I do not think of myself as a “good person” because of what I do, nor because of my obedience.

My identity rests not upon my good works but upon who I am in Christ 5|6
My prayer life consists largely of petitions and begging and only heats up when I or others are in desperate need.

My main purpose in prayer is to ask God to control circumstances on my behalf or the behalf of others.		My prayer life consists of praise, adoration, and actions on the behalf of others and His Kingdom.

This because my primary purpose in life is to function as a Priest and a King in His kingdom. 7|8
My self-view swings between one pole and another.  If, and when I am living up to His standards, I feel confident – but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to people who fail. 

If and when I am not living up to His standards, I feel humble but not confident – I feel like a failure.		My self-view is not based on a view of being a moral achiever or an obedient doer. What I do in life is both an agreement between myself and God, and a natural byproduct of being like a tree planted by the water.

My self-view is based upon His view of me: redeemed 9, loved 10|11 accepted12, more than a conqueror 13. It is not based in what I do, or how obedient I am.

Foot Notes

  1. Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
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  2. 2 Cor. 5:17: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
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  3. John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”
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  4. James 1:16-18: “Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good thing given, and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or [b]shifting shadow. In the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”
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  5. Malachi 3:17: “They will be Mine,” says the Lord of hosts, “on that day when I publicly recognize them and openly declare them to be My own possession [that is, My very special treasure]. And I will have compassion on them and spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him.”
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  6. John 10:28-29: “and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” ↩︎
  7. Rev. 1:6: “and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen”
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  8. Rev. 5:10: “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
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  9. Gal. 3:13: “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law, having become a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”
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  10. Isaiah 41:10: “Do not fear, for I am with you; Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
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  11. Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
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  12. Romans 8:15: “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!””
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  13. Romans 8:37: “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
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