This post is for the beautiful young women that have been studying God's Word with me this year and desire to be Godly women of character and purpose. This week we were understanding legalism, its affects on believers, and what God's Word has to say about it.
We looked at how the Pharisees divided God's laws (and their own additions) into greater and lesser laws, and the reasons behind that. The fact is glaringly evident; no one can keep God's law. The Pharisees divided the law into greater and lesser laws they chose which laws they wanted to keep and which they could not/did not want to keep. Essentially, they made themselves out to be above God. They decided the standard of holiness, not God.
Legalism reduces a relationship down to a workable list of do's and dont's. It makes us think that Christianity and salvation are things that WE are responsible for - things that WE do (in our own strength) rather than God. It elevates man and devalues God. Now man is sovereign above God.
Legalism makes us think that our lifestyle should gain God's favor - making God obligated to us.
Legalism makes one act based on human wisdom and strength, without regard to the Word of God or the Holy Spirit.
We spent some time in Colossians 2:8. "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy, empty conceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of this world, and not according to Christ."
SEE TO IT - This is a command to be in a constant state of watchfulness.
THAT NO ONE TAKES YOU CAPTIVE - The Greek word for "captive" is very rare. Used only here in the entire new testament. The word is sulagogeo. Sule is the word we get "booty" from. Like a pirates booty or loot. Ago is the verb meaning "to carry off".
THROUGH PHILOSOPHY - This is the love of wisdom especially as it applies to academia. Theories about God, the world, and the meaning of human life. Those people who love to debate the finer points of theology and doctrine for the sake of looking intelligent or spiritual, but have little or no concern with living like Christ.
EMPTY DECEPTION - This is a description of what Christ (through Paul) thinks of philosophy. He is restating philosophy as empty deception. You are deceiving yourself into thinking you are wise when you are really a fool. This philosophy/empty deception, manifests itself in two ways:
1. ACCORDING TO THE TRADITIONS OF MEN - Just because something has been done for ages and handed down for generations, does not make it true. Over the centuries there have been many examples of this. Buying indulgences, head coverings, tithing a certain amount, only reading a certain translation of the bible, etc...
2. ACCORDING TO THE ELEMENTARY PRINCIPLES OF THIS WORLD - This carries the element of immature, simple principles. It is the setting out of things in a row. Like a little child playing with toys, lining up his cars or blocks in little rows. This is a philosophy that does not convey any deep or profound truth, it is elementary and rudimental. At its core, it is an effort to achieve salvation by works. Like the Pharisee who prayed aloud thanking God that he was spiritual, because he fasted the prescribed amount of time, gave the proper amount of offerings, etc...He was lining up in a row, all of his laudable deeds, "proving" to God that he had earned salvation.
Legalism is manifested in the very traditional, the very high-brow academia, and the very fundamental. Paul says here, it is at the end of every human way of thinking/rationalizing. The only antidote to legalism is found in the very next verse, Colossians 2:9. FOCUS ON CHRIST!!! "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily; and you are complete in Him who is the head of all principality and power."
We also looked at what is wrong with making rules from narrative stories in the Old Testament. All Scripture is profitable for teaching us, but not all Scripture is written about us or to us. The Old Testament is history. The working of God and His covenant promises to the children of Israel.
We saw how man's laws are lists of do's and don't's - mostly dont's; and how God's laws are, love God and love others.
This led us to ask ourselves, Do we take seriously the total corruption of the human nature? We looked at Genesis 6:5 and Matthew 15:19. We saw that all of our nature has been affected by sin; our will, intellect, affections, and conscience. We looked at the meaning of total depravity=the corruption of man's whole nature. We looked at 4 aspects of man's depravity.
1. Man's depravity is INWARD. It is deep down in our nature. God can see it, but often we cannot.
2. This wickedness/sinfulness is VERY GREAT. This is God's view, but not necessarily ours.
3. This wickedness is CONTINUAL. Not at some times only; not only when we make bad choices, but all the time, even when we think we are doing good. The heart of man is deceitful and desperately wicked.
4. This wickedness is UNIVERSAL. There is not a single man or woman on earth who is not sinful by nature. There is not even one thought in the heart of "man" that is not wicked.
Depravity, like some terrible disease, has infected every part of man's nature, and everything that man does. We are totally corrupt. There are two ways we can think of a thing as being totally corrupt.
1. Totally corrupt in EXTENT. Corruption/depravity is found in every part. The whole nature is corrupted by sin.
2. Totally corrupt in DEGREE. Corruption/depravity is absolute. As bad and bad can be. Evil has gone as far as it can.
The illustration of three glasses of water helps me visualize this principle. The first glass is a glass of pure water. This represents Adam's original purity. The second glass is pure water too, only added to it is a drop of poison. This is what it is like to be corrupt in extent. The whole glass of water is now ruined. Poison has corrupted every part of the water. The third glass is a glass full of poison. There is no water. Wickedness has reached the fullest possible degree.
God slows down the workings of sin in the world today by:
1. Romans 2:15 - leaving sinful man with a working conscience to restrain (to some extent) the work of sin.
2. Romans 13:1-5 - the power and restraint of civil government
3. Hebrews 2:15 - the fear of death
4. The influence of family, education, and society, which helps retard the workings of sin in the hearts and lives of men.
Sinful man cannot do anything that God considers good, holy, or righteous without FIRST being regenerated BY the Holy Spirit. (Look at Gen. 8:21, Ps. 58:3, and Matt. 23:25,28) Sinful men (dead in their trespasses and sins) are unable to repent and turn to God, unless the Father draws them (John 6:65).
But what about free will? We talked about the huge distinction between freedom and ability.
Freedom is the absence of external/outward constraint/force.
If a person is permitted to do as he wants to do, he is free. But man is not always ABLE to do what he wants to do. Man is free to fly. He is not able to. He has no ability to fly. He was not created with wings.
God is free to do anything He wishes to do but He is not ABLE to lie. He is governed by His own nature. He is holy and therefore cannot lie.
Man is free to do good (to choose God) but apart from God, he is unable to. Jeremiah 13:23.
We looked at C.S. Lewis' analogy of the book. You hold a book in your hand. You desire the book to go higher, but you don't want to lift it. When you let go of the book, it is free from restraint. It falls to the ground. Why? Because the natural law of gravity pulls it down. We are free to choose righteousness, but because of our natural depravity, we are unable.
As long as man is left to his own nature, he will always incline to evil, more and more. Not because he is forced to, but because he freely prefers it. Proverbs 1:24.
When we understand who and what we are before God, this helps us better understand legalism and how to avoid it. It is all about relationship, not rules.
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