Psalm 146:2 "I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live."

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Say Goodbye To Legalism

So when it comes to Christianity there are all these lists-you know--lists of stuff that Christians should and should not do--it might be your own list or one that someone else in a sense made for you--or just in general what you think is expected of a Christian,

For example--a big thing that Christians can legalistic about is having their daily quiet time reading the Bible every day. So why do we read the Bible every day? Do we do it because we are scared thst something is going to happen to us if we don't do it, or that we are breaking some law or expectation of knowing this is how we should perform?

The motive changes when we are allowing Christ as our life to live in and through us--for example we may still read the Bible every day--but we read it out of a motive of being in love with God --of wanting to know him better. It has nothing to do with "keeping the rules." We already know that whether we read the Bible or not, God isn't going to love us any more or less for having done so becaise we are already fully accepted and loved in Him. However, we are excited to read it as an opportunity to get to know Him better as a person and as a relationship with him, rather than just reading it because it is something we are "expected" to do.

So whether living by legalism or living by grace, we may be carrying out some of the same actions, but doing so for very different reasons.

We cannot expect to produce  in ourselves what only Christ living in and through us can produce in us. We weren't meant to live the Christian life taking the job upon ourselves that only Christ's life lived in and through us can do. Only He can transform us--the source is Him.

We can say goodbye to legalism because the Christian life isn't about us or our effort---it's about Him. There is no room or need for legalism in the walk of grace.