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Nuggets
From the Bible
Ephesians 2:8,9
"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of
your selves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast."
The scripture gives us many comparisons to study and understand. Things
like pride vs. humility, light vs. dark and weak vs. strong are found
from Genesis to Revelation. But one of the greatest and most important
comparisons for the believer in the age of grace is explained so well
by Paul the apostle in his letter to the church - grace vs. legalism (works).
The letter to the believers in Galatia is known by most Bible scholars
as the Gospel of Grace. It is called the "Magna Carta" of Christian
liberty. These believers like many today, are willing to give up their
freedom in Christ for bondage to the (a) law. Paul writes this forceful
epistle to do away with the false gospel works and to demonstrate the
superiority of justification by faith. He approaches the problem from
three directions: (Ch 1 & 2) the gospel of grace defended, (3 &
4) the gospel of grace explained, (5 & 6) the gospel of grace applied.
Grace vs. Legalism is an old comparison from the time of Paul to today.
To understand this concept we need to understand several things about
grace and legalism.
First, grace is not withheld or lessened because of demerit. Grace ceases
to be grace if God withholds it or lessens it because of human failure
and sin. All sins are either forgiven or they're not. There's no middle
ground. Christ's death settled the sin issue totally. Second, grace cannot
incur a debt or be exercised in the just payment of a debt. God does not
owe us anything. Man is permitted to do nothing until God has done it
all. This, too, was settled at the cross. Rewards for the believer are
a completely different issue. They are for faithful service after belief
not the payment for doing something good that makes God indebted to us.
Last, under grace believers have liberty but not a license. The position
of liberty in grace is to stand. You can feel comfortable around a believer
who is gracious because he knows liberty and gives it to others. The "I
don't do it so you shouldn't either" attitude stifles grace. To understand
grace is not to be swayed. The practice of liberty under grace is to love
one another and serve one another through love.
So why do so many people live in religious bondage under laws? Much of
this is due to the lack of an understanding of grace. Legalism describes
human attempts to either gain salvation and/or spiritual maturity through
self help and conformity to a list of religious rules and regulations,
or to keep it after believing. A legalist is one who sees legalism as
a way of obtaining salvation or as a way of continuing God's acceptance.
Characteristics of legalistic tendencies can be evident - self sufficiency,
self serving, shallowness, being law bound, and hyper-sensitivity. These
tendencies go beyond biblical guidelines, but instead reflect culture,
tradition, and personal preferences rather than a true expression of biblical
faith.
Grace, though the guidance of the indwelling Holy Spirit produces love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self-control - all these things that God desires for His children.
Grace is a free gift for salivation and results in the riches of Christ.
Grace gives liberty, legalism results in bondage. Grace (undeserved favor)
results in love, legalism results in guilt and fear - have I done enough,
good enough?
GRACE - God's Riches At Christ's Expense! How awesome is the Grace of
God!
ARA
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