The Gospel of Christ vs. Legalism: What Ground are you Standing On?

We are in an era of uncertainty, doubt and fear. Many are questioning their life and the way they have been living. I believe we all should constantly evaluate our lives and what we do with the precious gift of life. Everywhere you turn now someone is talking about being "Woke". Information and knowledge is so easy to obtain, because of this a lot that we were in the dark about has been revealed to us. But, what do we do with all this information? Are we as Christians (followers of Christ) allowing it to make us stronger or are we allowing it to deconstruct our faith in the True and Living God? Often I've found that it's the latter and that tells me " Houston, we have a problem". Many are waking up to the fact that they have been living out "Legalism" and not Grace by Faith in Jesus Christ. 

What is Legalism? 

According to Thomas R. Schreiner “Legalism exists when people attempt to secure righteousness in God’s sight by good works. Legalists believe that they can earn or merit God’s approval by performing the requirements of the law,” I will speak for myself, I knew that Jesus died for my sins from a little girl. I knew I could be forgiven for my sin because Jesus died, but I didn't have a true understanding of what Jesus actually did on the cross. I only understood when I begin to search God for myself and ask questions that others couldn't really answer. I realized I really didn't understand the God that I served. Many are waking up to this fact, which is not a bad thing. What is bad is that they're turning on the Most High God because of misunderstandings. They feel they are going crazy trying to keep a law that God isn't holding them to. I was raised going to a Church building every Sunday, Bible class on Wednesday and Choir rehearsal. I was taught a gang of things we are not supposed to do as a "Christian".  I wasn't told why really, I just knew not to do it because that's what I learned from people not God. This is what Legalism is and why many are leaving. You will run yourself crazy with the do's and dont's. This is also why many who think they are saved are not really saved. I say that because many came to the faith out of being condemned by people, many just believed what their parents said believe and some merely was afraid of going to hell so they said " I believe" without a repented heart.  It's time that we make our foundation sure by building a relationship with Christ and not rules.

The Gospel of Christ: Saved by Grace

See Legalism will not sustain you or me because there is nothing we can do to be justified. Justified means we are declared righteous because Christ took our guilt and shame. He took our penalty for sin. To give a small synopsis. God made Adam and Eve perfect without sin. They were made holy and righteous. He put them in the garden of Eden. This was a paradise for them with beautiful trees filled with fruit for them to eat. There was one tree that they were instructed not to eat from and that was the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Satan tempted Eve to eat from the tree by deceiving her. She then took the fruit to Adam and he ate it knowing it was forbidden. All mankind came through Adam, so because he sinned through him sinned entered every human since. We are born in sin. We are born with the desire to sin. God who is Holy, Righteous and king of kings has his rules that he never breaks. One rule is that Romans 6:23 the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. Also the Bible says Hebrews 9:22 Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin. In the old testement we can see all the sacrifices they had to make for sin (uncleanliness). God sent a way of escape for us because he so loved the world his creation, that he sent his son Jesus because he could satisfy the requirement for sin. His blood was sufficient because he had NO sin. So he died and was buried and rose on the third day with power over death. We can't do that no matter how "good" we try to be. It's God's grace, his undeserved favor that we are saved. That's it. The requirements to be saved is to believe that God sent his son Jesus to die for you, Repent which means that you have a change of heart through a contrite (sorrowful) spirit and turn your eyes from the world to God. You make a decision to allow Jesus to be Lord of your life, to live for Christ. Then be baptised and filled with the Holy Spirit. 

Works vs. Grace

Jesus said those who love me follow my commands. Jesus is telling us that this walk is relational. We can't work our way into Heaven. Jesus is the way , the truth and the life. No man can enter except by him. We follow God's Kingdom culture because we love him. That's It! When we become saved we began the process of sanctification. This is not anything we do, this is done by the word of God and the blood of Jesus. Sanctification means you are set apart through the transformation of your mind. Our mind is transformed the closer we get to God, he begins to reveal himself to us and his original plan for our lives. We are washed, cleaned through the blood of Jesus and the reading of God's Word. We are faithful to our spouse because we know it the right thing to do, not because we don't want to go to hell. We don't curse because this is not pleasing to God. We don't murder because it's wrong. We don't steal because it's wrong. I could go on and on. We love God and want to please him because he loved us not because we are scared into it. God wants the best for us because he loves us unconditionally. I also love my children unconditionally, but I'm not pleased with everything they do. I also don't allow them to do whatever they want in my presence because I have a moral code that I stand by. Now, I am in noooo way comparing myself to the most high God. I'm trying to give you a picture of our father in Heaven. You should never feel condemned because Jesus didn't come to condemn us, he came to save us. Condemnation comes from satan not God. When we sin we can go to God and repent and ask for forgiveness. Our God is faithful and Just and will forgive us of all unrighteousness. He loves 👉you. 

If you are confused right now because it feels like you just can't get it right. Stop right now and talk to God, tell him everything you are feeling right now. If you've been taught not to question God, throw it out the window with legalism. We can go to God and talk to him about anything and he will answer us. Tell God that you want a relationship with him, you want to know him without the do's and don'ts. You just want to know his character, love, and his son Jesus Christ. Keep it real with God, he loves your transparency. Don't allow satan to deceive you into thinking you're not good enough because you sinned. We all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God. There are good people of God that are giving the answers to the questions you have. You are not suppose to believe anything just because someone told you to. You are suppose to know why you follow Christ. Below are scriptures to help you drop legalism and build on your faith in Jesus for eternal salvation. 

Colossians 2:14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;

Galations 3:13-14 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us- for it is written, cursed is everyone who hanged on a tree 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing promised to Abraham would come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.…

John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believe in him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world ;but that the world through him might be saved. 

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. 

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom thou has sent.

Please leave a comment if this blog has helped you in any way. Share so that others that are struggling in their faith may be helped. If you have any questions please ask, if I don't know I will definitely point you to someone who does. Be Blessed my sister, my brother💖

The Lukewarm Church: Will Jesus Know You At His Return

My biggest fear as a follower of Christ is displeasing God. I know what it is to be a lukewarm "Christian". I straddled the fence for awhile myself. I believed I was doing fine until God showed me I was far from him. This wasn't because he left me, it was because sin separated me from him. He has to turn away when we are filled with sin. God even turned from Jesus when he took on the sins of this world. Sin cannot exist in God's presence. 

God woke me up in the middle of the night to pray. I didn't really know what to pray for until I opened my Bible. I asked God to lead me in his knowledge, wisdom and understanding before I begin to read. When I looked down at the Bible  I was in the book of Jeremiah. I begin to read and saw God's love and anger at the same time. He sent Jeremiah numerous times to prophesy to his people. He sent his judgement of what would happen because of disobedience, iniquity, and the worship of idols. The message sent was very serious. There were some bad things going to happen to them because of disobedience. God sounded the alarm so many times before he punished them. It's the same way today. He loves us so much that he will wake me out my sleep to pray for his people to get it right. There's nothing special about me, I'm sure I'm one of many. My point is so many feel it's not that serious. They feel as long as they go to church they are fine. Some feel there are many paths and if they are on one of them they're fine. Some people feel like if they identify as Christian they are saved. These are all wrong. The truth is that we are instructed by God that we must love him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. This means to love God with your entire being. Living in sin while saying with your mouth you love God is being lukewarm.
Doing the bare minimum just doesn't cut it for God. He wants our all. The Bible says this is our reasonable service. Think about it. How would you feel if your child dishonored you after you've done everything for him/her? I would feel hurt. angry, sad, rejected and unloved. Now, how do you think God feel being that he sent his son to die so that we could live free of the thing we still hold on to, SIN? In Revelations Jesus says I wish you was either or, hot or cold, choose a side. Think of being in a relationship where someone tells you they love you but you never see them, you never hear from them, you can't depend on them for anything and there's no intimacy. They come around every now and then when they need something and once all is good they're gone again. I would rather they just leave me alone if I always have to question their love for me. We string God along just like that scenario I just presented. He's saying I AM ABOUT TO SPIT YOU OUT OF MY MOUTH! YOU MAKE ME SICK! I never want to make God feel like that. It saddens my heart to even know that I once did. At Jesus return I want him to know me. I want him to say well done my good and faithful servant.

Disconnect the Yoke

In order to begin to be hot you must separate from the cold. Lukewarm is a mixture of hot and cold, it's being halfway in the world and halfway with God. To be with God we must separate from the world. You may say, how can we live in the world but separate from it? Romans 12:2  says don't be conformed (comply with the standards)  by this world but be ye TRANSFORMED by the renewing of your mind. This is what God did for me and he continues to do it daily. I've changed in so many ways with no power of my own but by God changing the way I think. People that I used to connect myself with I don't anymore. I don't hate them, I don't think I'm better than them. If I see them I'm happy to see them but similarities are not there anymore. The music I listened to, I don't listen to it anymore. I used to workout to worldly rap music with cursing at times and now I listen to Godly music while exercising. I loved scary movies and spent a lot of time watching television, now my desires for that has changed. I don't look at those type of movies anymore and I hardly ever watch television. Instead I watch documentaries and sermons a lot. That's just a few changes of many that God has made in me. GUESS WHAT! I don't miss them because God is more important to me than anything in this world. Now is the changes always easy? NO. but the peace that the changes bring are awesome.  I don't want to be lukewarm. My desire is to be all that God intended when he created me. I don't want to be connected to anything or anyone if it displeases God. In order to be all in for God we MUST disconnect the Yoke to sin. There is no bargaining in that area. 

Jesus Message to the Lukewarm Believer

Be Zealous and Repent! Behold I stand at the door, and knock: If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him and he with me. To him that overcometh "will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with the Father in his throne. Revelation 3:19-21

Bad Company Corrupts Good Character: You are who you hang around

As a little girl I always wanted to be liked. I always wanted to be with my friends. I followed the crowd and adapted well. My original personality is meek, mild mannered, quiet, kind hearted and compassionate. This person didn't always show up. She was hidden at times. My character was compromised a lot growing up even to my adult years. Most people that connected themselves to me were strong willed controlling people and I followed very well. I was always a follower growing up. My mother was a drug addict and my siblings were in foster care. I felt alone. My grandmother raised me with very good morals but I always wanted to belong somewhere. I always was who people wanted me to be instead of who I really was. Finally I found myself about 30 yrs old with no idea of who I really was and why was I even here. I had spent a life of trying to please everyone but myself. I felt void, empty and lost until one day my friend invited me to church after I poured out my feelings to her. This is when God pulled me away from everything and began to illuminate my true self. He showed me that he created me to be a leader and not a follower. He showed me that he created me to be strong and not weak. He showed me that he didn't create me to live in lack and uncertainty. 
From years of being connected to the wrong people my character was shattered, not just to the world but to myself. I had no idea who I truly was. When God pulled me from the world's influence and put me in the midst of his people, my character was on the road to reconstruction. I stopped drinking. I was never a big drinker because I can't tolerate much but I did drink at times. I also dabbed in weed some and I stopped that. I couldn't really tolerate that either. I was a what you call a light weight😂. I stopped going to clubs and parties. I was in church at least 4 days a week. I was at prayer on Mondays, Bible Study on Wednesday, Choir rehearsal on Thursday, Kids rehearsal Saturday and church on Sunday and I loved it. The company I kept was totally different. They wasn't perfect but we were all trying to live a life pleasing to God. We were having clean fun now with no consequences. I begin to learn how God wanted me to live as oppose to how I actually was living. 

Sowing and Reaping

Galatians 6:7
Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

I'd spent a lifetime of reaping from bad decisions I made. I was in debt because of poor money management. I can't tell you how many times my phone was cut off. I always owed more on my rent. I was basically robbing Peter to pay Paul. God dealt with my husband and I in this area. We paid off our credit cards. We paid off every bill we owed. We stopped spending mindlessly. All our bills were now current. This wasn't easy. I went about a year of not getting my hair professionally done. I had to do my own hair which I really don't like to do:) There was no manicures and pedicures. We didn't eat out often. We bought groceries and cooked our meals. We also had to work on being to our jobs on time, no calling off unless for emergencies. We became responsible adults.

Forsaking Relationships

Proverbs 9:6
Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding.

The funny thing is when God begins to bring you into the light your relationships begin to fade. Usually people feel that you're different, you think you're better than them or you're acting funny or weird. This causes people to pull away from you because you are no longer living like them. They can usually see your change before you see it. Notice the scripture above says Forsake the foolish and live, You can't really start living until you let go of foolish things because they keep you in bondage. It's like chains are on you and you can't break free when you are in the counsel of the ungodly. God had to pull me from among them to show me my purpose, to give me a life and that more abundantly. I don't know where I would be today if I'd not excepted that invitation to church. Now I surround myself with people who are going or have gone where I'm going. I don't compromise my character nor do I put myself in situations that would cause for it. My life is peaceful. I'm not skirting the mountain year after year with the same problems like I once was. 

This Doesn't Mean you Can't Have Friends

The Bible says Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character." emphasis on Bad Company, God wants us to have righteous people in our circle. God wants people around that will edify you and not pull you down with them. If you are going through a tough time check your surroundings. If you continue to have lack and stay stagnant check your surroundings. It's not wise to get counsel from people that haven't been where you're trying to go. Why would I ask a nurse how to become a teacher? Why would I ask a drug addict how to kick the habit? Why would I ask an irresponsible person how to be responsible? I shouldn't because they will only pull me down because they are still living in error. Therefore I would have to change my group of people I surround myself with. Proverbs 13:20

He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. Wise people help to enhance your character, The foolish helps to corrupt your character.

You are blessed when you allow God to pull you from among people that are not good for you. The best way to do this is to build your relationship with God by reading your word and talking to him. Instead of drinking when you are stressed call him, instead of calling that person who means you no good, call God. Tell him your feelings, he won't make fun of you. He doesn't think you're stupid for dealing with that guy who really doesn't love you. God knows the hurt and pain you have and wants to relieve it. He wants you to be successful, peaceful, joyful, and filled with love from him. Forsake the bad relationships in your life today and begin to see what life God intended for you. Be blessed. If you have any questions please leave them in the comment section. I would love to talk with you.