I believe legalism is the greatest single problem of the Christian church. Legalism is, first of all, the attempt to achieve righteousness with God by keeping a set of rules. If you are attempting to be righteous with God by any set of rules, you are under legalism. There is nothing wrong with having rules.

We need them. It is wrong, however, to believe that keeping those rules will make us righteous with God.

Legalism is the cause of much of the sin in the church. Many sincere and honest Christians have embraced a set of “do not” rules such as: Do not look at another woman. Do not drink alcohol. Do not wear certain articles of clothing. Do not go to the movies. Do not associate with particular people. They think that observing these prohibitions will make them righteous.

When our attention is focused on such regulations, however, we become enslaved by them. The way to be pure is not to focus on resisting lust, because the more you focus on lust, the more it dominates your thinking. There is a totally different way of becoming righteous. It is a righteousness from God, which is by faith in Jesus Christ.

If the Law is ruled out as a means of righteousness, the only way to be in God’s favor is through Christ. Paul goes on to say this: But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:21-24

Please notice, first of all, that righteousness comes "through faith." True righteousness is given us “by His grace” with no distinction between Jew and Gentile, between Catholic and Protestant, or between one nationality and another. Paul is very clear that we are all alike in one point—we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Since we cannot be justified by the works of the Law, therefore, we must accept the only alternative, which is God’s grace. We cannot earn it. We must receive it by believing in Christ Jesus.

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Vern

Please notice, first of all, that righteousness comes "through faith." True righteousness is given us “by His grace” with no distinction between Jew and Gentile, between Catholic and Protestant, or between one nationality and another. Paul is very clear that we are all alike in one point—we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Since we cannot be justified by the works of the Law, therefore, we must accept the only alternative, which is God’s grace. We cannot earn it. We must receive it by believing in Christ Jesus.

Amen and Amen. I believe along with legalism.. you must do things (Religiously) our way.. we will not enter in.. Jesus Said He is the way the truth and the life John 14:6.
Jesus loves us all the same and when people set religious standards.. Im not talking about not walking a walk of Holiness unto the LORd. Pls dont misread this.. I believe God's Grace will change us.. we should all stay teachable and see the commonalities I believe in OTHER churches.. God will sort out the differences. HE IS GOD and the HEAD of the Church.. He Sees He hears.. When I study scripture I believe Jesus had more problems with pharisees than anyone else.. May we all remember we are saved by His Grace not works lest any man should boast.
ephesians/2-8.htm
And every converted sinner is a saved sinner; delivered from sin and wrath. The grace that saves is the free, undeserved goodness and favour of God; and he saves, not by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus.

IN Him
Sister Frannie

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Frannie

Rev.13: 9-10,
“If any man have an ear, let him hear.”

10 “He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.”


2Tim.2:19,
“ Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from ‘iniquity’.

Iniquity: Lawlessness

We are NO LONGER, under the Law, ... we No longer look upon the written law, and try to Do it.

But is there no ‘labor’, ..’doing’,.. deeds, according to The Word?

He wants to ‘save’ us form sinning continually,... else why would we need the power,.. the grace to help in time of need,...that we be ‘overcomers’,... [he that overcometh]

Rev.12:11,
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

But Now,... after we have been filled w/ The Spirit of The Living God, ... (The Living and active Word of God), .....We are lead by The Living Spirit.

The Spirit is given unto us for a purpose.... to led us into all truth....
But why?

(For as many as are lead by The Spirit of God, they are, the sons/ children of God.),...

wouldn’t the leading be calling for the doing,.. working, of that leading ?

Could that be called legalism,... would it not be called obedience ?

‘Faith’ cometh by Hearing, and hearing by The Word of God.

The Word of God was spoken to Abraham, he heard God, and obeyed God.

The Word of God came to Noah, Noah heard God and obeyed.

The Word of God,..spoken to us through The Spirit of God., ..obedience,
...... = faith

Can we see ‘faith’ as to how it was used in the Scriptures, for a more true diffenition of its meaning?

Re: “But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, ”

.... revealed to us by His Spirit, for the purpose of the working His righteousness in us, who believe.

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elizabeth

Look what the Israelite's said.

Deu 5:27, "Go thou near, and hear all that the LORD our God shall say: and speak thou unto us all that the LORD our God shall speak unto thee; and WE WILL HEAR IT AND DO IT."

Did they expect to do it?
Did they mean it?
Did they do it?
Could they?

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Vern

//Did they expect to do it?
Did they mean it?
Did they do it?
Could they?//


“But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
Deuteronomy 30:17-20

It would be kind of nasty of God to level curses on a people who had no ability whatsoever to keep his commands.

God is not nasty.

Ergo, they had the ability to keep His commands.

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Todd

Why the Law? by Derek Prince

In chapter 1, we saw that there are two-and only two-paths to achieving righteousness with God. One is by keeping the works of the Law-and keeping them perfectly all of the time. The other is by grace through faith. We cannot have it both ways; we must choose one or the other.

By the death of Jesus on the cross, however, Christians have been freed from the requirement to keep the Law as a means of righteousness. In addition, we are solemnly warned against going back under the Law.

We might wonder: If the Law is impossible for us to keep, and if trying and subsequently failing to keep the Law would put us under a curse, for what purpose did God give the Law in the first place? In this chapter we will study the six purposes for which the Law was given. Then, in the next chapter, we will consider the effects that the Law produces in the lives of those who try to keep it.

1. Not As a Means to Righteousness It is important for us to begin with the reason for which the Law was not given. God never expected anybody to achieve righteousness by keeping the Law. Paul states this clearly: "Therefore by the deeds of the law [the keeping of the Law] no flesh will be justified in His sight" (Romans 3:20). Other than Jesus, who kept the Law perfectly, no other human being will ever achieve righteousness by keeping the Law.

Two passages in Galatians make this clear: "A man is not justified by the works of the law" (2:16), and "that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident" (3:11). The Bible is clear: No one, apart from Jesus, ever will be justified or achieve righteousness in the sight of God by keeping the Law. If the Law was not given to make us righteous, then why was it given?

2. To Reveal Sin The Law was given as God’s diagnostic means to reveal sin. When you go to a doctor today and tell him, "Doctor, I feel kind of strange inside and I get dizzy spells," he does not reach up to the shelf, pull down a little bottle of pills and say, "Here, take these."

Before he gives you medicine he says, "First of all, we’ll find out what’s wrong with you." Today, going to doctors usually involves an agonizing series of tests. They draw blood, take a urine sample, use different imaging techniques, put the whole picture together in order, they hope, to arrive at a diagnosis of what is wrong with you. A good doctor diagnoses your ailment, and then prescribes the treatment. It is futile to offer medicine to somebody until the problem has been diagnosed.

The Law is God’s diagnostic instrument. He uses it to show us what is wrong with us. We return to Romans 3:20: "Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin." What does the Law do? It makes us aware of sin. Paul adds, "What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law" (Romans 7:7). The only thing that revealed sin to Paul was the Law.

Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. verse 13

The purpose of the Commandments and ordinances was to bring sin out into the open and to reveal sin in its true nature as deceptive, destructive and deadly. Until we really see the nature of sin we are not going to see fully our need of salvation. You must know you are sick before you will be willing to take the doctor’s remedy. Jesus said, "I didn’t come to call the healthy, but the sick. I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners" (see Matthew 9:12-13). The Law shows us the nature, operation and effects of sin, "so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful" (Romans 7:13). God gave the Law so that we would see this evil force of sin in all its horrible working and with all its deadly effects.

This is of particular interest to me because when I was a professional philosopher, my primary studies were in the philosophy of Plato, which I studied in great detail for many years. Plato was about the most intelligent man, by way of pure intellect, that I encountered in my studies. Basically, his philosophical theory was that knowledge is virtue. If only we know what is right, that is all we need. Well, that is obviously wrong, because lots of people know clearly what is right and still do what is wrong.

Is it not amazing that so great an intellect as Plato could not see that simple fact? Why did he not see it? Because he had nothing to reveal the nature of sin to him. He did not have the diagnostic, which is the Law of God. We should praise God every day for the revealed Word of God in the Bible, because it is the only book that offers us the correct diagnosis of our problem. Plato could not see the true nature of the human condition because he did not have the truth of the Bible available to him. The Law is given to bring sin out into the open and to show it in its true nature and character.

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Vern