Tuesday, November 07, 2017

Dial Daily Bread: The Clearest Definition of "Legalism"

Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"

Here is the clearest definition of "legalism" I have ever found. When the Apostle Paul talks about being "under the law" in Romans 6:14, he means that our motive for serving the Lord is a self-centered one; you go to church, you are baptized, you pay your tithe, you become a minister, because you hope to go to heaven someday, and have eternal life.

You are under a constraint imposed by a sense of "ought"; you feel the constant obligation of the law. The threat of being lost hangs over you; and the enticement of a great reward in heaven beckons you on to deeds of sacrifice and service. Yes, this is what it means to be "under the law."

But, says Romans 6:14, "You are not under the law but under grace." What does it mean to be under grace? Now you feel a new constraint imposed by a deep heart-appreciation of the grace of God revealed in the sacrifice of Christ. Grace imposes on you a new and different kind of obligation.

When you are under the law, you are a slave to an egocentric motivation, although of a spiritual kind. You are working for an eternal reward. When you are under the law, you are a clever bargainer, an opportunist. You sacrifice the pleasures of sin and of this materialistic world to reap a better reward by and by.

But when you are under grace, the new constraint imposed by God's love delivers you from all egocentric concern or insecurity. You are no longer serving the Lord because you fear the fires of hell if you don't, nor do you serve Him because you want a great reward in heaven. You serve Him because you appreciate that Christ died in your place. Grace has become your new blessed taskmaster.

Could it be, though, that many of us are still "under the law"? [More tomorrow.]

--Robert J. Wieland

From: "His Cross Constrains Me!," 1984.
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