LEGALSIM...how do you know if your a "legalist"

[Viligant_Warrior]

Is this your homemade definition?

John said something entirely different...

No, actually he didn't. In 1 John 5:3, John speaks not of works and deeds, but of love for Christ and for others. It is under the influence of that love that we act in thought, word, and deed toward Him and others, not motivated to act because it is required, but motivated to act out of love.

Regardless of what some may think about the necessity to perform, to do so is burdensome and disagreeable, not to mention impossible. The Pharisees thought their outward acts were what made them righteous, but that is not the case. What makes us righteous is the condition of our hearts, and while we love Christ and others through our heart, it also harbors hatred, anger, fear, and pride that destroys any outward act we do before it is even performed.

We act in love out of gratitude for His work in us, and we love because He first loved us. No work, ministry, blessing, or deed done in His name will add one single ounce to our salvation, and by the same token, He is not standing by waiting for us to act against His nature so He can retract a single ounce from it, either. To live as though He does is to live legalistically, and that, my brother, is you. Repent -- change your mind -- about who you are and what you must do in Christ. You stand in danger of being told "I never knew you."

 

[The_highwayman]

I think your getting a little mixed up...the Commandment of Christ is to love as He loves us and we know that love fulfills all the law.

Hello cloud and wind with no rain...
Matthew 22.35-40 says....

[SUP]35 [/SUP]Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
[SUP]36 [/SUP]Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
[SUP]37 [/SUP]Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

[SUP]38 [/SUP]This is the first and great commandment.
[SUP]39 [/SUP]And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

[SUP]40 [/SUP]On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

 

[p_rehbein]

I think your getting a little mixed up...the Commandment of Christ is to love as He loves us and we know that love fulfills all the law.

Oh, well, maybe I am........or maybe folks must define what a Commandment of Jesus is? Dunno, maybe? Is this a Commandment of Jesus?

Matthew 28:19 .) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 .) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

[john832]

Yes and he has already clearly defined those commandments as faith in Jesus Christ and to keep His commandment to love...which we know fulfills every commandment anyway...so what point do you think your making?

Oh, then please explain what this means...

Funny, even Paul knew what the Commandments are...

Rom 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

What does it mean BRIEFLY COMPREHENDED?

The NKJV renders it thusly...

Rom 13:9 For the commandments, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," "YOU SHALL NOT MURDER," "YOU SHALL NOT STEAL," "YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS," "YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."

The Diaglott has this...

Rom 13:9 That for: Not thou shalt commit adultery. Not thou shalt commit murder. Not thou shalt steal. Not thou shalt covet; and if any other commandment, in this the word it is brought under one head, in this: Thou shalt love the neighbor of thee as thyself.
Are you telling me you don't understand what a summary is? You think a summary means something totally different than the individual points it is summarizing?

Explains a lot.

 

[john832]

Oh, well, maybe I am........or maybe folks must define what a Commandment of Jesus is? Dunno, maybe? Is this a Commandment of Jesus?

Matthew 28:19 .) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 .) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Just playing off of this post a little (if you do not mind), Who said this?

Mat 19:17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

Who said this?

Exo 20:1 And God spake all these words, saying,

Was this I AM who said this?

And Who was I AM?

Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.

oh well, you can lead a horse...

 

[Mitspa]

Oh, then please explain what this means...

Funny, even Paul knew what the Commandments are...

Rom 13:9 For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

What does it mean BRIEFLY COMPREHENDED?

The NKJV renders it thusly...

Rom 13:9 For the commandments, "YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY," "YOU SHALL NOT MURDER," "YOU SHALL NOT STEAL," "YOU SHALL NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS," "YOU SHALL NOT COVET," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF."

The Diaglott has this...

Rom 13:9 That for: Not thou shalt commit adultery. Not thou shalt commit murder. Not thou shalt steal. Not thou shalt covet; and if any other commandment, in this the word it is brought under one head, in this: Thou shalt love the neighbor of thee as thyself.
Are you telling me you don't understand what a summary is? You think a summary means something totally different than the individual points it is summarizing?

Explains a lot.

Yes He is teaching love not legalism...he has already explained that the "letter" of the law produces sinful passions and that we must serve God in the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter...

Can you guys not see the truth?

 

[Mitspa]

Oh, well, maybe I am........or maybe folks must define what a Commandment of Jesus is? Dunno, maybe? Is this a Commandment of Jesus?

Matthew 28:19 .) Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 .) Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

Right ..is called obedience in faith and love...not legalism which Christ clearly condemned in the Pharisees....They worried about the written rules of the law but not about love.

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

... Explains a lot.

What that post explains is how thoroughly legalistic you are.

Again, you read without understanding, as you did in the earlier quotation of 1 John 5:3. And you very conveniently stopped short of Paul's real message in this passage, found in the very next verse, and following.

Romans 13, NASB
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts. ​

"Put on" the Lord Jesus, Paul says. Sink into Him, in other words. Immerse yourself in Him. That is the only way we are going to be able to lay aside the "deeds of darkness." We have no power within us to do so, and it is only through love that we are able to do anything in and for Christ.

Also, you pick a verse from the latter section of Romans, long after Paul has explained that it is only by faith we are saved, not the works of the Law. So, essentially, as with all your posts, you show that you truly do not understand what the word of God says, you cling to your own abilities, you own "works," to save you. Do you not know that Isaiah has told us those are as "filthy rags" -- menstrual clothes? Stop trying to save yourself! You can't. You won't. You aren't.

 

[Mitspa]

Hello cloud and wind with no rain...
Matthew 22.35-40 says....

[SUP]35 [/SUP]Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying,
[SUP]36 [/SUP]Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
[SUP]37 [/SUP]Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

[SUP]38 [/SUP]This is the first and great commandment.
[SUP]39 [/SUP]And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

[SUP]40 [/SUP]On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Yes he came to those under the law to set them free from the law...He magnified the law to its true standard that all might become guilty and see their need for Him.... And the rich young ruler claimed he had kept the law...but really he loved his money more than God....just like all of you who claim to keep the law....your all blind to your own sin.

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

...just like all of you who claim to keep the law....your all blind to your own sin.

Seems to me there were a group of people called the Pharisees in Jesus' time on Earth who did the same thing.

 

[The_highwayman]

Yes he came to those under the law to set them free from the law...He magnified the law to its true standard that all might become guilty and see their need for Him.... And the rich young ruler claimed he had kept the law...but really he loved his money more than God....just like all of you who claim to keep the law....your all blind to your own sin.

Oh now we are all under the Law and living in SIN, because we exposed the cloud and wind has no rain....

 

[p_rehbein]

Right ..is called obedience in faith and love...not legalism which Christ clearly condemned in the Pharisees....They worried about the written rules of the law but not about love.

Ok, so, Keeping the Commandments of Jesus is not the same as keeping/living under the Law? Right? Just want to be clear here.........

 

[michael56]

just like all of you who claim to keep the law....your all blind to your own sin.

Some things never change:

Has not Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps the law. Why are you trying to kill(attack) me?”

John 7:19

 

[Mitspa]

Ok, so, Keeping the Commandments of Jesus is not the same as keeping/living under the Law? Right? Just want to be clear here.........

No the law...legalism, is not obedience ...faith and love is. and the commandments we see in Christ are kept through faith working by love...

 

[michael56]

I wonder how many people on this thread strive to obey each and every literal command of Christ in the Gospels. Anyone who fibs isn't keeping them

 

[Viligant_Warrior]

I wonder how many people on this thread strive to obey each and every literal command of Christ in the Gospels. Anyone who fibs isn't keeping them

Neither is anyone who self-deludes and claims their outward actions are the only kind of sin there is. Most, if not all of them, will sin just reading this post.

 

[Mitspa]

Oh now we are all under the Law and living in SIN, because we exposed the cloud and wind has no rain....

Well if your under the law...your for sure under sins power....No doubt about that!
"The strength of sin is the law" Don't you want to be set free from sin?

 

[notuptome]

Well you are a legalist if you add anything to grace as necessary to salvation. You are likely a legalist if you teach that there is anything required that you must do to secure your salvation for all of eternity.

Those who are saved by grace know not to live in sin. Those saved by grace know how to help others around them. This includes those in the household of faith and those who are in the world and still lost.

Those who are saved by grace are new creatures in Christ and live accordingly. Those who might be legalists are telling everybody else how to live and how to please God.

For the cause of Christ
Roger

 

[p_rehbein]

No the law...legalism, is not obedience ...faith and love is. and the commandments we see in Christ are kept through faith working by love...

Why did you start with "No........" and then finish by separating the Law from the Commandments of Jesus? Why did you say "No" to what I said?

Ok, so, Keeping the Commandments of Jesus is not the same as keeping/living under the Law? Right? Just want to be clear here.........

 

[SaintJoeNow]

If you are a woman who wears tight fitting clothes showing off your curves and contours, you are ignoring what the Bible says about modest apparel and you are probably not a legalist. If you are a man who listens to music and songs which glorify the performers rather than the Savioiur, allowning worldly entertaiments to be your leaders as you follow along for the ride, you are probably not a legalist. If you think being a good person gets you into heaven or makes you better than me, you are a legalist.