Legalism

[Caleb]

Look's like Every Christian need's Jesus according
to the verse below:

John 15:4-5 GNB

"Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you.
A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only
if it remains in the vine. IN THE SAME WAY YOU CANNOT
BEAR FRUIT UNLESS YOU REMAIN IN ME. "I am the vine, and
you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in
them, will bear a great deal of fruit; for you can do
nothing without me."

Now if you look at Galatians 5:1-4:

"Freedom is what we have - Christ has set us free! Stand,
then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become
slaves again. Listen! I, Paul, tell you that if you allow
yourselves to be circumcised, it means that Christ is of no
use to you at all. Once more I warn any man who allows
himself to be circumcised that he is obliged to obey the
whole Law. Those of you who try to be put right with God
by obeying the Law HAVE CUT YOURSELVES OFF FROM CHRIST.
You are outside God's grace."

More verse's:
Galatians 3:10-14
Galatians 5:22-26

It look's like us Christian's have to be carful of Legalism
or we shut ourselve's of from Christ. What do you Christians
think?

 

[Avesther]

Quote[/b] ]Those of you who try to be put right with God
by obeying the Law HAVE CUT YOURSELVES OFF FROM CHRIST

This here is the key statement. Following the Law will not reconcile you to God, believing and following in Jesus will.

This does not preclude following the law. Gods law (the 10 commandments) defines what sin is. Breaking Gods commandments is sinful, regardless of your salvation in Christ.

We no longer need to follow the law because we have to for our own salvation, we do so because we love God and want to rid sin from our lives.

 

[mrpopdrinker]

Quote[/b] ]Those of you who try to be put right with God
by obeying the Law HAVE CUT YOURSELVES OFF FROM CHRIST.
You are outside God's grace."

Im gonna put that on my bedpost next time I get a hankerin fer some fornicatin!

Quote[/b] ]Gods law (the 10 commandments) defines what sin is.

So the rest of Torah doesent? How silly God was to have Moses write down all of those commandments when he only needed ten of them.

 

[Avesther]

Quote[/b] ]So the rest of Torah doesent?

The rest of the torah hangs on the foundation of the ten commandments and the ten commandments rest on the foundation of the two greatest commandments:

Love God with all your heart (First 5 commandments)
Love your neighbor as yourself (Remaining 5 commandments)

All the laws in the Torah fall under three general classifications:

Sacrifices/ritual - No longer required as Jesus was the perfect and ultimate sacrifice
common/society - No longer requred as we supposedly know how to treat people equitably
Commandments - Still very much in force. These are the 10 commandments and is a foundation of Judiasm.

 

[sealcomm]

I think that people need to be careful not to become legalistic.

For example.
Many christians today want to be closer to God. Have a better relationship with Jesus. They may hear from someone 'what they do'. Ie they read their bible for an hour every meal time and pray, and that's how they have an amazing healing ministry, or whatever.

Next thing, everyone is doing the same thing. Seeing the same results. but over time the 'results' may fade or go out in a persons life, as they aren't relating to Jesus, they are just relating to a formulae. So they read MORE, they pray more, but it's words, not relationship. And here we have legalism. They feel they have to do it. It's a great thing, but it's only a thing in itself.

If i was stuck in this, i'd take a week off reading my bible. I'd go for a walk and look at creation. Look at what the lord had done for me, and get back to being 'with him'. Get my relationship back into first place, then pick up my bible again, and grow with him, in a healthy way again.

This is only one example, but formula's are good, but only to add to what we are doing. We need to keep our relationship first, then add to that. I think you need BOTH but its crucial to have JESUS first.


cheers


sealcomm