The New Legalism
Colossians 3:1-10
Chapter 3
Put On the New Self
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Ephesians 5:1-12
Walk in Love
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
Paul sounds like a judgmental fundamental legalist. Yet we know he is not. Yet, when someone tells us that we ought to adjust our lifestyle today to reflect the fact that we love and honor and walk with God, we often give them the label of being judgmental, fundamental, or a legalist.
Can you imagine a modern day preacher actually saying what Paul said? He might say that we need to focus our minds on eternal things, that the things of this life are not worth putting our time and effort into. He might say that we need to die to ourselves so much so that our lives are hid with Christ in God, or that when people see us, they actually see God in our words, actions, and deeds.
If that were true, and the verses we started with are true, then our pastors might tell us that it would inconsistent to continually fill our minds with the sexual innuendos that are ever present on television and movies, and that we should guard our minds as to the many songs we fill it with that speak of sex, money, pride, despair, etc.
But if he did that, he would be labeled judgmental and legalistic.
What is interesting here is the idea of judgment and legalism being thrown as a defense for disobedience and disregard. As in all cases of re-creating normal, the one who holds to the truth, the true normal as God created it, must be found deviant in order for the deviant to become normal.
So the one who holds to the idea that one who loves and walks with God would not watch Desperate Housewives, listen to Lady GaGa, or spend three hours watching a movie that promotes things that would make God cringe, can be disregarded, and it could sound "spiritual" to do so.
In order for deviant behavior to become normal, the normal must be found deviant. The best way to find one who holds to obedience in our God is to find a way where he/she does not hold to obedience. Therefore, the accusation of legalist or judgmental is often used to silence the obedient, even as the crowd shouted "Crucify Him" to silence any real rational thought, and make the leader think that the majority is right, even while making an absurd request.
The reason the crowd got the crucifixion was because the leadership, who could have set Jesus free abdicated his responsibility. By washing his hands, by not using the power and authority he had for good, by doing nothing, he changed normal. When leadership could have taken a stand, they chose to be silent.
Throughout history Satan has used an excellent strategy to normalize deviant behavior. In the Garden of Eden he played with Eve's mind getting her to wonder if God really meant what He said. It was not as if Eve did not know what He said; she did. It was his goal to get her to add, understand, use her human logic, and make a decision based on what she thought was best. He worked at moving the authority from God to Eve. He worked at getting her to elevate herself and her thinking and to actually believe that God left something out, and that she could make things better.
Satan was a deceptive liar and Eve fell for it. How could she have disobeyed God when she clearly knew what He said? How too can we disobey God when we so clearly know what He says?
Legalism in the old times was something that happened as those who wanted to follow God added rules to what God said so that every knew how to apply what He said even when what He said was abundantly clear. Eventually a whole new document was created, called the Talmud, that was bigger than the Old Testament Scriptures. In the Talmud, and other writings, the writers went into great detail about what God meant by what God said. The rules that were written became equally or even more important that the Scriptures themselves.
The fact is, Jesus Himself got mad at this. One day as he was walking with His disciples, on the Sabbath, they reached out and grabbed some grain and ate it, and were accused of "harvesting" on the Sabbath. Jesus rebuked those who said this because the "rule" of the Sabbath was one of making sure we set aside intentional time to have a relationship with Him, and not about how many steps one took.
It is not really difficult to understand what God has said. We make it difficult when we need to add to it to make it work for us. For example, from the passage we started with in Ephesians it says this: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
This does not seem to need too much interpretation. I need to imitate Christ in dying to myself. I should not allow any sexual immorality or impurity or covetousness to be a part of my life. That would not be proper. I should not allow any filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking. I need to live understanding that one day there will be an accountability time with God as to how I lived, and those who disagree with this are deceivers whom I should avoid.
In fact, I should do everything I can to do in my life what would be pleasing to my Lord.
That means that I should watch the television programs and listen to the music and watch the movies that would please God. I should speak and spend my time and money in a way that would please God.
If I have trouble understanding this, I can turn to other passages of Scripture that can help me understand it such as Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
The reality is the new legalist needs to add to what God has said. They need to determine how many swear words are acceptable when watching a movie or television program. They need to determine how many sexual innuendos are acceptable, how much violence is approved by God, and how many crude remarks makes things acceptable. In fact, this is the same crowd that needs to determine how many alcoholic drinks are acceptable before one’s mind is altered, and how many inches above or below the knee a skirt must sit before it is considered modest.
Before you know it, those who claim to not be legalistic are the most legalistic, judgmental people that exist. In order to keep one foot in this world and one in the Spiritual realm, they have had to devise rules of acceptability for both. The new Talmud is gaining size, and it is far worse to break its rules than those given in Scripture. After all, we’re not really sure that God meant what He said.....or are we?
The Bible really seems to teach an all or nothing idea. We are not sort of saved from sin; we are saved from sin. We are not to be sort of pure; we are be pure. We are not to be sort of holy, but holy. We are not to be 95% faithful in our marriages; we are to be faithful.
It is the new legalists who have defined purity, as often portrayed on a bottle of water, as 98.9% pure. We all know that the word pure and 98.9% do not go together, but some marketing genius saw an opportunity to make something mutually exclusive not mutually exclusive.
The Bible is clear. If we get it, if we understand the message, this message changes our lives. Our salvation is about our faith in Jesus, in what God has done for us in accepting the invitation He has given us to be His children. If we get it, we understand that as a child of God we need not live like those who are not His children, and we adjust our lives according to reality, not culture. If we get it, we see that no sexual misconduct is acceptable, no greed, no gluttony, no pride, no hatred, no....etc.
That makes it easier than setting up rules. It instead allows us to set up life.
In the name of grace and love the new legalists have given license to self and sin. They know what God said, but are making up what He means to fit what they like. They call it "relating" to the world. They talk about a loving Father who created this world for them to enjoy, and they are going to enjoy it. They call those who challenge them legalists and judgers. They seek significance and security in things, when it is only available in Him.
The church is again inhabited with those who have been deceived; the evidence is in the impotence of their self-proclaimed faith and the continual cycle of failure that comes when each man does what is right in their own eyes.
We may not always understand God, but we must always obey Him, and when we start to mix our desires and understanding in our decision to obey or not, we end with a deadly mix that yields false hopes, dreams, and reality.
2 Timothy 3:16 - 4:5
16 Every scripture is God- breathed, and is profitable for teaching, for conviction, for improvement, for training with respect to righteousness, 17 in order that the man of God may be complete, fitted out for every good work.
1 I solemnly charge you as one who is living in the presence of our God, even Christ Jesus, the One who is on the point of judging the living and the dead, I solemnly charge you as not only living in His presence, but also by His appearing and His kingdom; 2 make a public proclamation of the Word with such formality, gravity, and authority as must be heeded. Hold yourself in readiness for this proclamation when opportunity presents itself and when it does not; reprove so as to bring forth conviction and confession of guilt; rebuke sharply, severely, and with a suggestion of impending penalty. Pleadingly exhort, doing all this with that utmost self- restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong, and accompany this exhortation with the most painstaking instruction; 3 for the time will come when they will not endure our wholesome doctrine in that they will hold themselves firmly against it, but, dominated by their own personal cravings, 4 they, having ears that desire merely to be gratified, shall gather to themselves an accumulation of teachers. In fact, from the truth they shall also avert the ear, and [as a result] they shall receive a moral twist which will cause them to believe that which is fictitious. 5 But as for you, you be constantly in a sober mood, calm, collected, wakeful, alert in all things. Endure hardships. Let your work [as a pastor] be evangelistic in character. Your work of ministering fully perform in every detail…
Dave Wager davewager.com
Chapter 3
Put On the New Self
1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
Ephesians 5:1-12
Walk in Love
1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
Paul sounds like a judgmental fundamental legalist. Yet we know he is not. Yet, when someone tells us that we ought to adjust our lifestyle today to reflect the fact that we love and honor and walk with God, we often give them the label of being judgmental, fundamental, or a legalist.
Can you imagine a modern day preacher actually saying what Paul said? He might say that we need to focus our minds on eternal things, that the things of this life are not worth putting our time and effort into. He might say that we need to die to ourselves so much so that our lives are hid with Christ in God, or that when people see us, they actually see God in our words, actions, and deeds.
If that were true, and the verses we started with are true, then our pastors might tell us that it would inconsistent to continually fill our minds with the sexual innuendos that are ever present on television and movies, and that we should guard our minds as to the many songs we fill it with that speak of sex, money, pride, despair, etc.
But if he did that, he would be labeled judgmental and legalistic.
What is interesting here is the idea of judgment and legalism being thrown as a defense for disobedience and disregard. As in all cases of re-creating normal, the one who holds to the truth, the true normal as God created it, must be found deviant in order for the deviant to become normal.
So the one who holds to the idea that one who loves and walks with God would not watch Desperate Housewives, listen to Lady GaGa, or spend three hours watching a movie that promotes things that would make God cringe, can be disregarded, and it could sound "spiritual" to do so.
In order for deviant behavior to become normal, the normal must be found deviant. The best way to find one who holds to obedience in our God is to find a way where he/she does not hold to obedience. Therefore, the accusation of legalist or judgmental is often used to silence the obedient, even as the crowd shouted "Crucify Him" to silence any real rational thought, and make the leader think that the majority is right, even while making an absurd request.
The reason the crowd got the crucifixion was because the leadership, who could have set Jesus free abdicated his responsibility. By washing his hands, by not using the power and authority he had for good, by doing nothing, he changed normal. When leadership could have taken a stand, they chose to be silent.
Throughout history Satan has used an excellent strategy to normalize deviant behavior. In the Garden of Eden he played with Eve's mind getting her to wonder if God really meant what He said. It was not as if Eve did not know what He said; she did. It was his goal to get her to add, understand, use her human logic, and make a decision based on what she thought was best. He worked at moving the authority from God to Eve. He worked at getting her to elevate herself and her thinking and to actually believe that God left something out, and that she could make things better.
Satan was a deceptive liar and Eve fell for it. How could she have disobeyed God when she clearly knew what He said? How too can we disobey God when we so clearly know what He says?
Legalism in the old times was something that happened as those who wanted to follow God added rules to what God said so that every knew how to apply what He said even when what He said was abundantly clear. Eventually a whole new document was created, called the Talmud, that was bigger than the Old Testament Scriptures. In the Talmud, and other writings, the writers went into great detail about what God meant by what God said. The rules that were written became equally or even more important that the Scriptures themselves.
The fact is, Jesus Himself got mad at this. One day as he was walking with His disciples, on the Sabbath, they reached out and grabbed some grain and ate it, and were accused of "harvesting" on the Sabbath. Jesus rebuked those who said this because the "rule" of the Sabbath was one of making sure we set aside intentional time to have a relationship with Him, and not about how many steps one took.
It is not really difficult to understand what God has said. We make it difficult when we need to add to it to make it work for us. For example, from the passage we started with in Ephesians it says this: Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. 3 But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. 4 Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. 5 For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not become partners with them; 8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret.
This does not seem to need too much interpretation. I need to imitate Christ in dying to myself. I should not allow any sexual immorality or impurity or covetousness to be a part of my life. That would not be proper. I should not allow any filthiness or foolish talk or crude joking. I need to live understanding that one day there will be an accountability time with God as to how I lived, and those who disagree with this are deceivers whom I should avoid.
In fact, I should do everything I can to do in my life what would be pleasing to my Lord.
That means that I should watch the television programs and listen to the music and watch the movies that would please God. I should speak and spend my time and money in a way that would please God.
If I have trouble understanding this, I can turn to other passages of Scripture that can help me understand it such as Philippians 4:8:
Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
The reality is the new legalist needs to add to what God has said. They need to determine how many swear words are acceptable when watching a movie or television program. They need to determine how many sexual innuendos are acceptable, how much violence is approved by God, and how many crude remarks makes things acceptable. In fact, this is the same crowd that needs to determine how many alcoholic drinks are acceptable before one’s mind is altered, and how many inches above or below the knee a skirt must sit before it is considered modest.
Before you know it, those who claim to not be legalistic are the most legalistic, judgmental people that exist. In order to keep one foot in this world and one in the Spiritual realm, they have had to devise rules of acceptability for both. The new Talmud is gaining size, and it is far worse to break its rules than those given in Scripture. After all, we’re not really sure that God meant what He said.....or are we?
The Bible really seems to teach an all or nothing idea. We are not sort of saved from sin; we are saved from sin. We are not to be sort of pure; we are be pure. We are not to be sort of holy, but holy. We are not to be 95% faithful in our marriages; we are to be faithful.
It is the new legalists who have defined purity, as often portrayed on a bottle of water, as 98.9% pure. We all know that the word pure and 98.9% do not go together, but some marketing genius saw an opportunity to make something mutually exclusive not mutually exclusive.
The Bible is clear. If we get it, if we understand the message, this message changes our lives. Our salvation is about our faith in Jesus, in what God has done for us in accepting the invitation He has given us to be His children. If we get it, we understand that as a child of God we need not live like those who are not His children, and we adjust our lives according to reality, not culture. If we get it, we see that no sexual misconduct is acceptable, no greed, no gluttony, no pride, no hatred, no....etc.
That makes it easier than setting up rules. It instead allows us to set up life.
In the name of grace and love the new legalists have given license to self and sin. They know what God said, but are making up what He means to fit what they like. They call it "relating" to the world. They talk about a loving Father who created this world for them to enjoy, and they are going to enjoy it. They call those who challenge them legalists and judgers. They seek significance and security in things, when it is only available in Him.
The church is again inhabited with those who have been deceived; the evidence is in the impotence of their self-proclaimed faith and the continual cycle of failure that comes when each man does what is right in their own eyes.
We may not always understand God, but we must always obey Him, and when we start to mix our desires and understanding in our decision to obey or not, we end with a deadly mix that yields false hopes, dreams, and reality.
2 Timothy 3:16 - 4:5
16 Every scripture is God- breathed, and is profitable for teaching, for conviction, for improvement, for training with respect to righteousness, 17 in order that the man of God may be complete, fitted out for every good work.
1 I solemnly charge you as one who is living in the presence of our God, even Christ Jesus, the One who is on the point of judging the living and the dead, I solemnly charge you as not only living in His presence, but also by His appearing and His kingdom; 2 make a public proclamation of the Word with such formality, gravity, and authority as must be heeded. Hold yourself in readiness for this proclamation when opportunity presents itself and when it does not; reprove so as to bring forth conviction and confession of guilt; rebuke sharply, severely, and with a suggestion of impending penalty. Pleadingly exhort, doing all this with that utmost self- restraint which does not hastily retaliate a wrong, and accompany this exhortation with the most painstaking instruction; 3 for the time will come when they will not endure our wholesome doctrine in that they will hold themselves firmly against it, but, dominated by their own personal cravings, 4 they, having ears that desire merely to be gratified, shall gather to themselves an accumulation of teachers. In fact, from the truth they shall also avert the ear, and [as a result] they shall receive a moral twist which will cause them to believe that which is fictitious. 5 But as for you, you be constantly in a sober mood, calm, collected, wakeful, alert in all things. Endure hardships. Let your work [as a pastor] be evangelistic in character. Your work of ministering fully perform in every detail…
Dave Wager davewager.com
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