• About
  • Forgiveness is not Reconciliation
  • Posts

David C. Means

~ Just another Recovering Legalist

David C. Means

Monthly Archives: December 2018

A Quick Comparison of Legalism vs. the Gospel

24 Monday Dec 2018

Posted by DMeans in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

LEGALISM (RELIGION)
GOSPEL
1
I obey; therefore, I’m accepted.
I’m accepted; therefore, I obey.
2
Motivation is based on fear, punishment, and insecurity.
Motivation is based on a fruitful relationship.
3
I obey God in order to get things from God.
I obey God because it is within my nature to do so[1].
4
When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or myself, since I believe, like Job’s friends, that anyone who is good deserves good things a comfortable life.
When circumstances in my life go wrong, I may struggle, but I know that bad things[2] are not from God because He is good[3], and He will work all things together for good in my life.
5
When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated because it is essential for me to think of myself as a “good person.”  Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs.
When I am criticized, I may struggle, but it is not essential for me to think of myself as a “good person.”  My identity is not built upon my performance, but upon who I am in Christ [4],[5].
6
My prayer life consists largely of petition and only heats up when I am in 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 action on the behalf of others because a primary purpose of my life is to function as a Priest and a King in His kingdom [6],[7].
7
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.  My self-view is based upon His view of me: redeemed[8], loved[9],[10], accepted[11], conqueror[12].


[1] 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.”
[2] John 10:10: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

[3] 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.

[4] 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.”

[5] 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. 29 [a]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.

[6] Rev. 1:6: and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to [a]His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen

[7] Rev. 5:10: “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

[8] 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”

[9] 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.”

[10] Romans 5:8: “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

[11] 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!””

[12] Romans 8:35-39: “Who will separate us from the love of [a]Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

End Times

  • The Two Witnesses: Revelation 11:3

Depression

  • The Bondage of Depression – A Root Cause Analysis
  • The Bondage of Depression – The Onion of Despair
  • Depression: What Not To Say
  • How Jesus Heals Depression
  • Iniquity, Sin and Transgressions: Breaking Free from Bondage and Addiction

Forgivness

  • Personal Forgiveness
  • Reconciliation Forgiveness
  • Healing Old Wounds
  • Forgiveness is not Reconcilliation
  • Judging the Sins of Others
  • Forgiveness vs. Reconciliation

Recent Posts

  • About the Bible: Stop Doing the Do’s
  • The Two Witnesses: Revelation 11:3
  • Be On The Alert
  • A Brief History of a Brief History of Our Nation in Time
  • Deception vs. Rebellion: You won’t get a Pass

Archives

  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • April 2020
  • January 2020
  • November 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • February 2018
  • July 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • January 2017
  • July 2016
  • May 2016
  • March 2016
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • May 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • July 2014
  • May 2014
  • July 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • December 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • October 2009
  • June 2009
  • April 2009
  • February 2009
  • November 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008

Categories

  • Depression
  • End Times
  • Forgiveness
  • Uncategorized

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Create a website or blog at WordPress.com