Recaptured Passion Ministries

 I was listening to a well-known preacher tackle that subject.  He said he was leading a conference at a major church in the United States and that during a break he was led downstairs to a children’s Sunday School room to relax.  There on the wall, a teacher had prepared a poster with this title: How To Make God Happy.  Underneath the title were the following “principles” to make God happy:

·         Sit still

·         Be quiet

·         Obey quickly

And the list went on and on and at the end it said, “Or you will be given a trip to the hall with the teacher.”  The preacher then asked, “What is the Christianity they are inviting those children to?”

What an awesome question to explore!  Were they inviting them to “freedom,” and “abundant life”?  No—they were inviting them to what I consider the most dangerous and insidious doctrine and enemy in the church today—LEGALISM.  And the problem is that we don’t just do that with our children—we do it with adults as well.  Most of the time, we who claim to be Christians, find ourselves inviting people to a Christianity that is far from the freedom Jesus came to restore to our hearts.

Why do we do that?  Basically because that is the Christianity we were invited to.  We were told we were sinners, that Jesus died for our sins, that we needed to ask for His forgiveness, be baptized, join the church—and then we were shown by example, or commanded by church creed, to live and act a certain way.  And if we didn’t live up to that—well, we just weren’t as godly as we should be, and were therefore unqualified or disqualified for certain things by the very people who promised us this freedom in Christ!

Freedom was the very mission for which Jesus came to earth!  Look at this:

• “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1-6—NAS).
• “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17—NIV).
• Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners…to release the oppressed” (Luke 4:18—NIV).
• Jesus said, “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (John 10:10—The Message).
• “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36—NIV). 

But how many of you reading this can say, “I really feel free in Christ”?

Here’s what I know—throughout our lifetimes we have been told that we dare not teach people about the freedom we are supposed to enjoy in Christ because things will get out of control.  The people who say that are the legalists.  What’s their problem?  They don’t understand biblical grace.  That is what Paul is writing about in Galatians 5:1-6 (NLT):

1 So Christ has really set us free.  Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.
2 Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ cannot help you.
3 I’ll say it again.  If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey all of the regulations in the whole law of Moses.
4 For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ!  You have fallen away from God’s grace.
5 But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive everything promised to us who are right with God through faith.
6 For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, it makes no difference to God whether we are circumcised or not circumcised.  What is important is faith expressing itself in love.

What he tries to say is that no man could become a rebel who depends on God’s grace, yields to God’s Spirit, lives for others, and seeks to glorify God.  The legalist is the one who is the rebel because he/she is living in bondage, depending on the abilities of the flesh, living for self, and seeking the praise of men because of all their rules, regulations, and interpretations they keep.

Why do I say that the most dangerous and insidious doctrine and enemy in the church today is legalism?  Because when you abandon grace for law, you always lose.  Unfortunately, some of us have lost already.  Paul explains very clearly that when you turn from God’s grace to man-made rules, regulations, and interpretations, you lose your FREEDOM!