How to Spot a Legalist

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FreeNChrist

Guest
The truth is that legalism just won't work anymore once you take away a person's fear of losing their salvation. Legalism and fear of lost salvation go hand and hand. Once a person realizes the truth of God's inexhaustible grace, it is the death of legalism and fear, and the beginning of a new life in Christ...living free in the knowledge that our salvation is eternally secure in the hands of our loving and capable Abba Father.


 
Sep 25, 2015
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Legalism 'sucks' that's for sure. We need to remember however that while God's grace saves us and brings forgiveness of sin, we must never take advantage of it:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? - Rom 6:1-2

Additionally = Salvation is free, but in order to have a close walk with God we must pay a price.
I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death - Phil 3:10
This means we must die to self in order to know the power of his resurrection. Death to self is never a pleasant thing, because it means denying the flesh and our 'self life'. Those who refuse to die to self or refuse to kill their flesh/old man are those who do not have a close walk with God. If sin reigns, God does not, and although we can be Christians through grace, we can only be in close relationship with Abba through obedience.
Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. - John 14:23



 
F

FreeNChrist

Guest
Legalism 'sucks' that's for sure. We need to remember however that while God's grace saves us and brings forgiveness of sin, we must never take advantage of it:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? - Rom 6:1-2


That would be number 6 on the "how to spot a legalist" top ten hit list.

Additionally = Salvation is free, but in order to have a close walk with God we must pay a price.
That is number 2.


I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death
- Phil 3:10
This means we must die to self in order to know the power of his resurrection. Death to self is never a pleasant thing, because it means denying the flesh and our 'self life'. Those who refuse to die to self or refuse to kill their flesh/old man are those who do not have a close walk with God. If sin reigns, God does not, and although we can be Christians through grace, we can only be in close relationship with Abba through obedience.
Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. - John 14:23
That would be numbers 1, 4 and 9.

5 out of 10. Not bad, but there are others here who can do much better.
 
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eternally-gratefull

Guest
Legalism 'sucks' that's for sure. We need to remember however that while God's grace saves us and brings forgiveness of sin, we must never take advantage of it:

What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? - Rom 6:1-2

Additionally = Salvation is free, but in order to have a close walk with God we must pay a price.
I want to know Christ--yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death - Phil 3:10
This means we must die to self in order to know the power of his resurrection. Death to self is never a pleasant thing, because it means denying the flesh and our 'self life'. Those who refuse to die to self or refuse to kill their flesh/old man are those who do not have a close walk with God. If sin reigns, God does not, and although we can be Christians through grace, we can only be in close relationship with Abba through obedience.
Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. - John 14:23



The reason it is so hard, because it takes love, Gods defecation of love, not our own. And this takes dying to self. and allowing God to humble is and flood us with his love, for we love only because he loved us.
 
Sep 25, 2015
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That would be number 6 on the "how to spot a legalist" top ten hit list.

That is number 2.

That would be numbers 1, 4 and 9.

5 out of 10. Not bad, but there are others here who can do much better.
Perhaps you should get a list that's actually scriptural. As it stands, you just plucked one off the internet and went with it because of things you personally don't like being said to you.. Lol!
Basically what you've done is you've become legalistic by attempting to make RULES about what 'legalism' looks like.
Sweet mercy ..well thank you for the laugh!
 
Sep 25, 2015
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The reason it is so hard, because it takes love, Gods defecation of love, not our own. And this takes dying to self. and allowing God to humble is and flood us with his love, for we love only because he loved us.
Bless you, this sounds more like truth. "Allowing God to humble us", yes.. it takes some effort. Unfortunately, there's this problem some Christians have with hearing the truth and they'd rather point the finger at anyone who dares to suggest God may expect them to be holy and call them "legalistic".. lol. It is indeed the end times.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy - 2 Tim 3:1-2
Why are they unholy? -- Because they refuse to be obedient to the Lord and allow Him to sanctify them. The word says "be ye holy as I AM holy" - It does take some effort on our part.

Who does the Lord draw close to? - He draws close to those who obey Him.. Christians today want to do whatever possible to avoid obedience it seems...
"Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. - John 14:23
 
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Karraster

Guest
Perhaps you should get a list that's actually scriptural. As it stands, you just plucked one off the internet and went with it because of things you personally don't like being said to you.. Lol!
Basically what you've done is you've become legalistic by attempting to make RULES about what 'legalism' looks like.
Sweet mercy ..well thank you for the laugh!
Hi, welcome to CC. Much of what is said on CC is not scriptural, unfortunately. "Grace", for instance..my understanding of what the word means is, the power of Almighty in us to live a righteous and holy life..not by our might, rather His power, He gets the glory. ..so, that may not look exactly the same in every believer, however, it should not be at enmity with Torah. Messiah kept Torah while smacking down the religious leaders with every recorded miracle. I could be wrong, but it looks like to me, that on cc if you try to follow Messiah and walk as He walked..you might be deemed a legalist. The religious leaders who lived while Messiah walked on earth made up their own rules. Christians today, (many of them) make up their own rules. Who is doing what Messiah said to do? ..anyhow, I liked your post. :)
 
Sep 25, 2015
80
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Hi, welcome to CC. Much of what is said on CC is not scriptural, unfortunately. "Grace", for instance..my understanding of what the word means is, the power of Almighty in us to live a righteous and holy life..not by our might, rather His power, He gets the glory. ..so, that may not look exactly the same in every believer, however, it should not be at enmity with Torah. Messiah kept Torah while smacking down the religious leaders with every recorded miracle. I could be wrong, but it looks like to me, that on cc if you try to follow Messiah and walk as He walked..you might be deemed a legalist. The religious leaders who lived while Messiah walked on earth made up their own rules. Christians today, (many of them) make up their own rules. Who is doing what Messiah said to do? ..anyhow, I liked your post. :)
Thank you Karraster, great post.
I guess if we are going to be persecuted by other Christians and called a legalist when we adhere to ALL of scripture and not just the ones we 'like' in order to live like Yeshua then so be it! I'll gladly accept the title!

"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me" - Matt 5:11

Be blessed sister
 
Sep 4, 2012
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Hi, welcome to CC. Much of what is said on CC is not scriptural, unfortunately. "Grace", for instance..my understanding of what the word means is, the power of Almighty in us to live a righteous and holy life..not by our might, rather His power, He gets the glory. ..so, that may not look exactly the same in every believer, however, it should not be at enmity with Torah. Messiah kept Torah while smacking down the religious leaders with every recorded miracle. I could be wrong, but it looks like to me, that on cc if you try to follow Messiah and walk as He walked..you might be deemed a legalist. The religious leaders who lived while Messiah walked on earth made up their own rules. Christians today, (many of them) make up their own rules. Who is doing what Messiah said to do? ..anyhow, I liked your post. :)
In other words, we receive grace in order to keep the law. Typical sophistry of a sabbath keeper.
 
F

FreeNChrist

Guest
Hi, welcome to CC. Much of what is said on CC is not scriptural, unfortunately. "Grace", for instance..my understanding of what the word means is, the power of Almighty in us to live a righteous and holy life..not by our might, rather His power, He gets the glory. ..so, that may not look exactly the same in every believer, however, it should not be at enmity with Torah. Messiah kept Torah while smacking down the religious leaders with every recorded miracle. I could be wrong, but it looks like to me, that on cc if you try to follow Messiah and walk as He walked..you might be deemed a legalist. The religious leaders who lived while Messiah walked on earth made up their own rules. Christians today, (many of them) make up their own rules. Who is doing what Messiah said to do? ..anyhow, I liked your post. :)
Being a good Jew never saved anyone.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
Bless you, this sounds more like truth. "Allowing God to humble us", yes.. it takes some effort. Unfortunately, there's this problem some Christians have with hearing the truth and they'd rather point the finger at anyone who dares to suggest God may expect them to be holy and call them "legalistic".. lol. It is indeed the end times.

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy - 2 Tim 3:1-2
Why are they unholy? -- Because they refuse to be obedient to the Lord and allow Him to sanctify them. The word says "be ye holy as I AM holy" - It does take some effort on our part.

Who does the Lord draw close to? - He draws close to those who obey Him.. Christians today want to do whatever possible to avoid obedience it seems...
"Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. - John 14:23

Hey sis, This is the issue (I have bolded in your remarks)

No one is saying anyone who says God calls us to be holy and a people which is separate from the world is legalistic. That is a lie from the works crowd.

We say those who base salvation is DEPENDENT ON THIS, ie, you have to earn your salvation, keep your salvation intact and not lose it) is dependent on this, is legalistic.

God calls us to be holy, and anyone who says otherwise. is not speaking Gods word.
 
E

eternally-gratefull

Guest
Hi, welcome to CC. Much of what is said on CC is not scriptural, unfortunately. "Grace", for instance..my understanding of what the word means is, the power of Almighty in us to live a righteous and holy life..not by our might, rather His power, He gets the glory. ..so, that may not look exactly the same in every believer, however, it should not be at enmity with Torah. Messiah kept Torah while smacking down the religious leaders with every recorded miracle. I could be wrong, but it looks like to me, that on cc if you try to follow Messiah and walk as He walked..you might be deemed a legalist. The religious leaders who lived while Messiah walked on earth made up their own rules. Christians today, (many of them) make up their own rules. Who is doing what Messiah said to do? ..anyhow, I liked your post. :)

yep. lets all be jews. when do we start killing animals in the temple again?

I love how people continue to claim the torah helps us to be holy, then reject half the torah themselves.


 

gb9

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2011
11,893
6,399
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yep. lets all be jews. when do we start killing animals in the temple again?

I love how people continue to claim the torah helps us to be holy, then reject half the torah themselves.


I've always wondered: who makes these decisions??? do they ever wonder if maybe they left out the right part, put in the wrong part, maybe we THOUGHT that was not valid, maybe it was, but I don't know, but it could be........................... see what a mess works Salvationism is??
 
K

Karraster

Guest
Thank you Karraster, great post.
I guess if we are going to be persecuted by other Christians and called a legalist when we adhere to ALL of scripture and not just the ones we 'like' in order to live like Yeshua then so be it! I'll gladly accept the title!

"Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me" - Matt 5:11

Be blessed sister
Thank you LieDetector, we need more encouraging people around here. Encouragement to actually do what our Messiah said and not just wear a T-shirt that says "I love Jesus". He says if you love Him, follow Him.

Actually, the term "Legalism" can never be used to describe keeping the Commandments of Almighty. No, that is called "Obedience". Legalism would be best described as following the doctrines, rules/ regulations of men....but there are those who love to call evil good and good evil and will try to intimidate so they can control you. How obvious it is on CC for instance, scripture does not matter as much as "one's own opinion". ..and using scripture selectively in order to justify how one wants to live rather than studying scripture to learn what our Creator asks of us. How many interpretations have we seen of this verse?

Matthew 7:23
Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
But I will reply, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws.'
And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Then I will announce to them, I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!'

That's our Messiah talking! All authority has been given Him, He will judge us one day. That should give everyone pause and think soberly on that...you'd think? Yet, some will not. There is still time to be serious about God's Word, life is good. that doesn't mean it's a round the clock party.

Dear sister I'm glad you're here..I look forward to more of your insight.:)

 
Sep 25, 2015
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No one is saying anyone who says God calls us to be holy and a people which is separate from the world is legalistic.
It actually appears some people here are indeed saying that. I'm glad to hear you personally don't believe that lie however.

We say those who base salvation is DEPENDENT ON THIS, ie, you have to earn your salvation, keep your salvation intact and not lose it) is dependent on this, is legalistic.
Good stuff, I agree with this. Salvation is free, but a true walk & relationship with God personally is indeed contingent on our obedience to Him. We will not have intimacy with Abba without it. There is a reason why Yeshua spoke this below, showing which Christians He will abide with (those who walk in obedience).
Jesus replied, "Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them - John 14:23


God calls us to be holy, and anyone who says otherwise. is not speaking Gods word.
A huge amen to this. Thank you for clarifying your stance on the matter Eternally-Gratefull
Be blessed!