Resting In God's Providence

Providence is the teaching that God is in control. Otherwise know as the Sovereignty of God. In it’s full biblical glory, it is expressed quite clearly in Ephesians 1:11, where it says "…being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will."

And when we say God is in control, we don’t just mean that He is controlling a herd of cats that He can barely get his hands on. Or that He reacts to things by some corrective measure that barely averts tragedies sometimes, and sometimes, "Ooops, I missed that one."

That borders on blasphemy. When we say God is in control, we are saying that He has determined all things before the foundation of the world. For example, the Scripture says that he has chosen us before the foundation of the world and that even the Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world.

God is never surprised. He’s never amazed. He’s never shocked. But He doesn’t just see the future, He determined it.

Now there’s a mystery there, as in so many other things about God. Clearly the Scripture doesn’t portray us as robots. We are thinking, choosing, feeling beings. We might say our mind is our thinker, our will is our chooser, and our emotions are our feeler. And we do choose. We do make decisions.

Yet God "works all things according to the counsel of His will." Before time began, He set forth history. And a thorough study of the sovereignty of God will convince you that when a car drives down a dusty road, not one speck of dust will fall back to earth, but that God determined beforehand where and how it would fall.

And here’s my concern. I see those who believe in the sovereignty of God often in a state of discontentment. I see them mouthing the truth that God is in control, then living as if every circumstance of life was cause for being upset. Knowing that God is sovereign, yet they lack the peace of God too often. Knowing that Romans 8:28 is true, yet they live as if it weren’t.
Romans 8:28 says, "God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him, to those who are the called according to His purpose."

Some have rightly called this verse the "soft pillow that a Christian can rest their head on." But too many are not resting on that pillow. At some level, they know it’s true, but at some level they deny it in their mind, emotions, and will.

I think there are three main reasons why one doesn’t rest in the Providence of God:

1. We forget that He is in control.

Whether it's other people (I always say you can't live someone else's life), or circumstances beyond our control, or even the weather, He is in control. The old "Serenity Prayer", which is more asssociated with secular gift stores than the church, has a lot of wisdom: "Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference." But if He is in control, then things are not out of control. That alone can be a comfort. Serenity.

2. We forget that He loves us.

Mainly because of Performance-based religion – deceived by the world, the flesh and the devil. We don’t spend the time communing with Him, so we don’t experience the warmth of His open arms. We don’t draw near to Him with the promise that He will draw near to us. When we do spend that time with Him, and when we are reminded through His word that we live by grace, and not performance, then we can experience His love. And not just the intellectual, "Oh yeah, I know He loves me."

3. We doubt His righteousness or goodness.

This is close to #2, forgetting that He loves us. But it extends to all the world. We have the "If I Ruled the World" complex. You know the old song, "If I ruled the world, every day would be the first day of spring."

All I can say is it’s a good thing that neither you nor I ruled the world. I much prefer an all-knowing, all-wise, all-powerful holy, righteous and good God ruling the world. And He does.
Here again, we need to spend the time in His presence and in His word, to really grasp this in our hearts.

The word is filled with the truth of the goodness of God.

Even His justice for the wicked is a reflection of His goodness and righteousness, isn’t it?
"Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God." (Romans 11:22)

Even our repentence is driven by His goodness. "Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?" (Romans 2:4)

But we need our minds renewed by the word, to really get it. "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what [is] that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." (Romans 12:2)

May I ask you a simple question? If you knew God was completely sovereign, and that He completely loves you and accepts you in Christ, and that He is completely good and righteous, wouldn’t that make a difference in your life? Wouldn’t that give you a level of rest in the Providence of God? Wouldn’t that take away some of the anxiety that may have plagued you regarding everything from a rained out picnic to a friend who just won’t be the way or live the way you know they should?

Believe me, the more you commune with this Lord of ours, the more you get to know Him, the more you will be filled with His Spirit, and the more you will have the peace of God that passes understanding, the peace of God that rests in His Providence, that rests in His Sovereignty over all.

(Sidebar: The excellent book portrayed above in the photo is A.W. Pink's best work. In glorifying God in His sovereignty for initial salvation, he does a wonderful job, and I highly recommend the book. But in my opinion, Pink is weak in understanding Grace after salvation, advocating law-based Christian living. So I would be very cautious in recommending any other of Pink's books to any but the most discerning Grace-oriented reader.)

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Why Teaching Tithing Is Evil

Giving to the "Lord's Work" is good and right.

Teaching giving to the "Lord's Work" is good and right, if done biblically.

Have I made the above clear? The Lord, and I, love a cheerful giver. Giving is a wonderful thing. And therefore, teaching giving is a wonderful thing. Giving 10% or 90% of one's income is fine, if done biblically.

But teaching tithing is evil.

It's not "neutral", it's not "O.K.". It is evil. But say that to some church leaders who teach tithing, and they will show you how evil they can act.

If you've been around the church for long, you've heard the nonsense many many times. It goes something like this:

"God expects you to give 10% of your money to the local church (the "storehouse"). This is your moral obligation. To not tithe is a sin. Only what is above 10% is your "offering". The 10% is minimum, and it must go to the local church. If you don't . . . according to Malachi, you are robbing God!"

Those who are consistent in their wrongly using Old Covenant Malachi will go so far as to say that those who don't tithe are under a curse from God!

You know the routine. This sad "Clubbing of the Sheep" is done weekly in many churches. Some do it monthly or quarterly, or whenever the budget calls for it. Then they will preface their remarks with something like, "Now you know we don't often talk about money, here at Blankety Blank Church. But today we are going to fulfill our biblical responsibility and Club you Sheep!"

Here is why it is positively evil to teach tithing:

1. It Is Utterly Unbiblical Under the New Covenant.

Tithing was a requirement for physical Israel under the Mosaic or "Old" Covenant Law. Even then it was not related to money, but produce and animals. Jesus spoke of tithing briefly, because He lived under the Old Covenant Himself. But otherwise, it is never taught to the Church.

Cheerful giving is taught and encouraged, but always as a response to the good news of Christ, with no compulsion or set percentages.

When today's teachers of tithing are given the above simple truth about the New Covenant, they often parrot the old mantra they've learned from other teachers of tithing, "If under the Law, one was expected to give 10%, then how much more even under Grace." I'm compelled to give them the benefit of the doubt in not judging their hearts regarding the love of money. So the kindest explanation I can give for that is pure open-eyed biblical ignorance. But that level of ignorance in a teacher of the Word of God is a sad shame.

2. It Puts The Sheep Under False Condemnation.

It's a well-know statistic that over 90% of born-again church members do not tithe. That means that potentially 90% of born-again saints are repeatedly put under condemnation by their shepherds. And for an unbiblical legalistic teaching! This is such a tragedy, because it's wrong and unbiblical in itself. But beyond that, it hinders the spiritual growth of the the saints, because when they are put under false condemnation, the Holy Spirit is quenched in their lives.

Even those who do tithe under such compulsion are often hurt in their spiritual walk for at least three possible reasons:

a. they still feel they aren't "offering" enough above their tithe.

b. they are easily subject to pride for "doing their duty" before God, "not like that Publican over there".

c. they are led away from a biblical distinction between the Old and New Covenants, causing their whole biblical understanding to be askew.

In conclusion, teaching tithing in the church is legalism of the worst sort.

Picture a giant glimmering diamond the size of a basketball, perched on black velour, with a bright spotlight shining on it. It shines with brilliance, and a thousand facets of beautiful light. Its blinding beauty puts a smile on all who see it. Then picture a vandal smashing the spotlight with a hammer, and spraying the diamond all over with black paint, obscuring it's beauty.

The beautiful diamond is "Giving". The vandal is the Teacher of Tithing, who masks the beautiful diamond in darkness.

Who is robbing God?

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God Doesn't Need You, But He Delights In You

God doesn't, and never did, need us.

To quote A.W. Tozer from The Knowledge of the Holy:

"To admit the existence of a need in God is to admit incompleteness in the divine Being. Need is a creature-word and cannot be spoken of the Creator. God has a voluntary relation to everything He has made, but He has no necessary relation to anything outside of Himself. His interest in His creatures arises from His sovereign good pleasure, not from any need those creatures can supply, nor from any completeness they can bring to Him who is complete in Himself....

"The river grows larger by its tributaries, but where is the tributary that can enlarge the One out of whom came everything and to whose infinite fullness all creation owes its being?....

"The problem of why God created the universe still troubles thinking men; but if we cannot know why, we can at least know that He did not bring His worlds into being to meet some unfulfilled need in Himself, as a man might build a house to shelter him against the winter cold or plant a field of corn to provide him with necessary food. The word necessary is wholly foreign to God." (A.W. Tozer, from the Chapter, "The Self-Sufficiency of God")

And yet He has chosen to love us, and we are His "delight".

Amazing.

The Book of Job puts those two almost antithetical truths in perspective when God asks, "Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?....When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" (Job 38:4ff)

We can only use non-God things to think of and explain God, so it will always be incomplete. But God's creation of us and delight in us reminds me of a Master Italian Baker who really enjoys his craft, singing opera loudly over the creation of some rich pastry that he didn't need to make, and then thoroughly enjoying it, bite by bite.

Don't forget that He delights in you, even when you don't seem so delightful. Delight in Him.

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Does God Love The Whole World?

An Open Letter To A Friend

By Michele Rayburn

I don't think that the Church has only been teaching that God is love. The unsaved world may seem to be, but it seems that the Church is teaching doctrine (often legalistic doctrine) to the exclusion of love.

The Bible says that we are nothing without love, and yet I do not see its principles expounded upon very often. And I believe that it has had its effect on the body of Christ. If the Church is not "walking in love" then we are not spiritually mature...we are not "walking by the Spirit". And that is what is so lacking.

I don't think that we should deny that God loves the lost just because you think too much emphasis is being given to "For God so loved the world...". That would not be a biblical approach. Because the concept that "God so loved the world" may confuse the unbeliever is no reason to downplay it. It's not a matter of giving them "false hope" by telling them that God loves them, but rather, it is biblically accurate.

We can say that God will not save all people, even though "God so loves the world", and it doesn't matter if it confuses them, because it is the truth. "God's ways are higher than our ways" and we can't always understand His ways. "The deep things belong to God". And, "The natural man cannot understand spiritual things". The clay is not to ask the Potter, "Why did you make me this way?"

But, we know from John 3:16 that God loves the world (the whole world) because in that same verse, God says "whosoever believes". This is a recognition that some (the "whosoevers") in the world will "come out from them" (come out from the world) and believe.

And, nowhere does the Bible say God did not love His elect before He saved them. The Bible says that God chose you before the foundation of the world, which is an act of His love. He sees the end from the beginning and He still set His love upon you before you were created. When John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world...", was it before He knew them or after? God so loved the world always. There is no mention of time limitations on God's love or preconditions for His love.

God's love is the motivating reason (or, at least, the best known reason) for our salvation. It is because He loved us that He saved us. You said the Gospel begins not with love. But even the giving of the Law to convict man of sin was an act of love.

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world [His love comes first] that He gave His only begotten Son [the good news comes second]". The reason God gave His Son is because He so loved the world. God was motivated by His love.

"We love Him [why?] because He first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

Here are more Scriptures that show that God's love came first and that His love was the motivation for His salvation plan:

Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

1 John 3:16, "By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us."

1 John 3:9, "In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.

1 John 4:10 "In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

This last verse, 1 John 4:10, by the way, together with 1 John 2:2 "And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world" is a clear Biblical statement of fact. For 1 John 2:2 to say "not for ours only, but also for the whole world" clearly states that God means "the whole world". Because, who is left over after He is the propitiation for our sins?

The word "propitiation" does not mean "turn away God's wrath", but rather, it more closely means "to satisfy God's wrath" ("It does not make God merciful; it makes divine forgiveness possible"--The New Compact Bible Dictionary). It means that Jesus Christ's offer of Himself is a sacrifice that is sufficient for all. But it is not describing an act that is accomplished in all. The turning away of God's wrath comes after the act of propitiation is received by those who repent.

The love of God is the motivation for the salvation of man, and the law is used to convict lost souls in order to show them their need for salvation.

If we see God as only angry toward unbelievers, I think we could very well become angry Christians, since we are imitators of God. God has the right to be angry because He knows how to be angry and not sin. He has a righteous anger, because underlying His anger is His perfect love.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

To Live and Walk By Faith

From John Angell James:

"'The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.' Gal. 2:20

To live and walk by faith, is to come daily to Jesus in the exercise of fresh dependence, fresh expectations, and fresh devotedness.

To live and walk by faith, is to see more of His glory and grace continually, and to rejoice greater in His unsearchable riches, and inexhaustible fullness.

To live and walk by faith, is in all our conflicts, sins, fears, weaknesses, and woes--to resort afresh to Jesus, with a full persuasion that we are welcome, and thus ever to derive strength and courage from Him."
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I would humbly add to these rich words:

1. The beginning of the Gal. 2:20 verse James quoted, "I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me..."

2. To live and walk by faith, is to so commune with Jesus as to have Him evidently living His life out through me.

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Replacing Resentment With Forgiveness

I love science. I'm not a scientist, but I love the observation of "the way things are".

And one of the "way things are" is that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).

And one of the ways we are fearfully and wonderfully made is in how our soul (mind, emotions and will) affects our body.

And one of the ways our soul affects our body is in the devasting effects of unforgiveness.

We might assume this from the Scriptures, and rightfully so, but it is science which has actually demonstrated that the following is true:

"Resentment is like taking poison, and waiting for the other person to die."

Self-interest is not as high a motive as Spirit-filled obedience to our loving God, but it doesn't hurt to hear the words of scientists who have studied unforgiveness. They have universally found that unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, etc., cause increases in heart rate, blood pressure, cortisol (a fat-producing hormone), nervousness, adrenalin, restlessness, sadness, cardiovascular disease, relationship problems (duh..), and immune deficiency.

But forgiveness is only possible as we draw near to our Lord. As we commune with Him, as He expresses His Life through us, as we are filled with His Spirit, and as we walk by the Spirit, forgiveness is as natural as the fruit of the Spirit, which is love. Fellowship with Him. Practice His Presence. Let go of the resentment.

Oh, that Grace and forgiveness would govern our relationships. Healing balm for our souls and bodies. Isn't science something?

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Your Acceptance By God

I have a theory. I'm not the originator of the theory, but I subscribe to it. It goes like this:

If a believer in Jesus Christ has not "appropriated" the love and acceptance of God for them, that is, if they have not grasped in their very heart the utter unconditional way that God loves them and accepts them, then they can't really grasp the love and acceptance of other people for them.

Let me say that in another way.

If a person feels unloveable, or...

If a person feels that others can't really love or accept them, or...

If a person feels that if someone really knew them, then they wouldn't love or accept them, or...

If a person feels like if they only could do such-and-such or be such-and-such, or accomplish such-and-such, or be good enough, THEN someone might be able to love and accept them...

Then I believe that person has not understood their acceptance in Christ by God.

They may be born again, saved from their sins, and biblically knowledgeable, but they haven't grasped the basic understanding of what their relationship is to the God Who loves them unconditionally. They may even know about God's acceptance of them intellectually, or logically. But they haven't "appropriated" it spiritually, in the heart.

Sometimes they just need to be taught it from the Scriptures and they blossom as the light dawns in their hearts. But other times it seems that a person must come to some crisis in their lives, some hopelessness in their own self-righteousness, some discouragement from imperfect people, some "whatever", before the Lord opens their heart to the glorious truth that He doesn't have a relationship with them based on performance. But it must be spiritually discerned, and so it must be taught over and over and over. Faith even for that, comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

Meanwhile, if you have that gnawing feeling that you just don't measure up to the standard that would allow God to really love and accept you, if you are striving to please Him, and feel like you're failing to do so, listen: He loves you. Yes, you. Not just enough to die for your sins. Enough to dwell in you. Enough to "justify" you, to declare you righteous, just as if you'd never sinned. Enough to no longer have any condemnation for you. Enough to take you in His arms and comfort you with the truth that He fully, fully accepts you in the Beloved. Enough to call you His beloved, the apple of His eye.

And if you have that gnawing feeling that people can't really love you, or they sure wouldn't if they really knew you, understand that you feel that way because you have yet to really grasp God's love and acceptance for you.

Those who have the Spirit of God surely can love and accept you, even if you have a hard time accepting it, because love is a fruit of the Spirit. And you will be sky-walking when you come to the knowledge of God's love so strongly that you can say with all sincerity, "Even if no one else loved me, my Savior and my God loves me, and that's enough." And the irony is, that's when you may first be able to accept the love of other people like you never have before.

And then you can love like you never have before.

P.S. Critical: This is not psychology, this is theology. It falls under the heading "...Truth shall set you free." The application is "If you really appropriate the Truth of the love and acceptance of God for you, then you will be set free to receive the love and acceptance of others (and to love and accept others)."

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Academic vs. Spiritual Bible Studies

If you are not in a small group Bible study at your church I highly recommend it. Sometimes known as "small group", "home fellowship", "cell group", etc., they are often where the real "Church" takes place. Especially if you are in a church so large that you can't really get to know too many people.

The key is not to have it merely academic. That is, if it is just "study", you are missing perhaps the greatest blessing of "assembling together". You can thoroughly learn the Bible, but go away cold, unfed, unblessed, and having not blessed others.

What's the alternative? Nothing specific, but the following things help:

1. Plenty of Time.

If it's 30 minutes of structured "study", ending with, "Well, time's up, folks. Let's rush out into our lives. Have a nice day," spiritual assembling isn't going to happen. You may need to be sensitive to the time schedule of some, and give an opportunity for those to leave who need to (without guilt that they're not staying for 7 hours). But if feasible, set it up such that those who can "hang around" will do so.

2. Some "Chat and Snack" Time, or Even Better, A Pot-Luck Meal.

If it's all formal, there won't be a chance to really get to know each other. When it's formal, people tend to put their "adequate masks" on, and you seldom find out what's really on someone's mind. It's also difficult to give individual counsel to one another, without the loose time to do so. You may say, "I'm not a counselor", but the truth is you are. It may be informal, but we should be "counseling" one another on a regular basis, with spiritual, biblical, common sense truths.

3. Understanding What "Fellowship" Really Is.

Fellowship is the Greek word "koinonia", which means "common". So fellowship is sharing in what we have in common. And the most important and satisfying thing we have in common is Jesus Christ Himself. So when we "fellowship" in small groups, it's critical that we have our minds on Him. It's critical that we "feed" each other with Jesus Christ Himself, and not just the academic study of the Scriptures.

Jesus said to the Pharisees, in John 5:39: "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." The point is that without relating the Scriptures to Jesus, Who is the key subject of those Scriptures, it becomes just academic, or even worse, just a book of legalistic, condemnatory rules to follow.

4. Prayer.

Prayer for one another. Prayer for ourselves. Prayer for others. Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication, etc. This is not to be rushed or tacked on to the end of the meeting, squeezed into a fleeting time frame. This potentially can be as spiritual as it gets.

The tried and true method of asking for "prayer requests" can be wonderful. But additionally, the group should be encouraged to pray "as they are led" by the Holy Spirit Himself. Prayer is a form of fellowship itself, as we share something very precious that we have "in common", that is, access to "the throne of grace, for help in time of need."

5. Bible Study.

Yes, we don't want to neglect this, after we've put it in it's proper framework of Plenty of Time, Chat and Snack Time, Understanding Fellowship, and Prayer. It's best if there is at least one gifted "teacher" among you, to avoid the "this is what it means to me, how about you?" syndrome.

Most scriptures have an actual meaning, not a flexible rubber meaning that can be stretched to suit anyone's untamed thought. So studying should be studying, but always with an eye and heart to Jesus Christ. Better to draw near to Him, than to have the exact exegesis right, but miss Jesus and His Holy Spirit. That's what I call Spiritless Exegesis.

6. Fervent Love for One Another.

I wish I could shout this, without being rude. If you don't remember anything else, remember this. Maybe this should be listed first, but I saved it for last for two reasons:

a) Without love, all the rest leaves us nothing, a sounding brass, a clanging cymbal, profiting nothing (1 Cor. 13:1-3).
b) Love covers a multitude of sins. We will sin against one another. That doesn't surprise you, does it? We will sometimes neglect one another, or insult one another, or hurt one another's feelings, and on and on. Unforgiveness and even a root of bitterness can result, UNLESS...we "have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins'." (1 Peter 4:8)

Listen to "Grace For Life" Radio Program.

Defining Legalism - Part 2

6. Legalism is rampant in the Churches.

The largest responsibility for this lies with the Pastors (and the Seminaries which crank them out) not understanding the very nature of the New Covenant, and not understanding the centrality of Jesus Christ in every passage.

But the congregation, too, has a responsibility. Too often the congregation actually welcomes moralistic, performance-based preaching, while they suffer severe malnutrition because they are missing the Bread of Life, Who is Grace, Who is Jesus.

In not "rightly dividing" or "cutting straight" the Scriptures, they mix Old and New Testaments, Old and New Covenants, Natural Israel and Spiritual Israel, Law and Grace, Blessings and Cursings, and a whole hodge-podge of Theological Chili results, where one can't tell when the tomatoes end and the beef or beans begins.

7. The answer at least partly lies in a vigilant watch for legalism, and slaying it's dragons with the clear Word of God at every opportunity.

We may start with really taking Galatians at face value. If teacher or student gets a handle on the radical nature of Galatians, three things will be clear:
a. there is no law or performance involved in initial salvation
b. there is no law or performance involved in retaining salvation
c. there is no law or performance involved in God's loving His children, and bestowing His favor on those who have already been given "all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus".

8. There are two useful personal tests for legalism, even when it's so slippery that it fights definition:

Test 1--
Do I think I'm "better" than some other guy or gal, or do I think I'm "worse" than some other guy or gal?

If I think I'm better, I am not understanding Grace. I am not understanding "that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh." (Rom. 7:18) True, I have a new spirit, a new nature, but "what do you have that you have not received?" Or as the common proverb puts it, "There but for the Grace of God go I".

If I think I'm worse, I am not understanding Grace, because I'm denying what God has done in making me a new creation, old things having passed away and all things becoming new.

Test 2 --
Do I think God will love me more if I perform in such-and-such a way? Then I don't understand
that by Grace, God loves me unconditionally. He set His love on me before I was even born. Nothing I do can make Him love me more, and nothing I do can make Him love me less. He loves me...period.

9. "It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore, keep standing firm, and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery." (Gal. 5:1)

"But now we have been released from the law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not in oldness of the letter." (Rom. 7:6)

"For through the law, I died to the law, so that I might live to God." (Gal. 2:19)

Part 1

Defining Legalism - Part 1

1. Theological Error tends to resist definition.

So you have to wrestle it to the ground like a strong dragon and force it to define itself, then stab it through with the sword of truth.

2. Legalism, as theological error, resists definition.

But we must wrestle some definitions out of it anyway, so we can spot it when it raises it's multiple destroying heads.

3. New Covenant Scriptures allude to legalism in three genres or forms:

a. legalism for INITIAL salvation, e.g., baptismal regeneration, or "you must be circumcised", or the most popular among pagans, "do more good than bad in your life".

b. legalism to RETAIN salvation, for example, the Seventh-Day Adventists, who officially teach salvation by grace, but then teach that we must follow certain laws and practices or we lose it.

c. legalism to earn God's love and favor after we're born again, too common even among Reformed believers, and may be the slipperyest dragon of all to wrestle a definition from.

4. All legalism can best be defined by what it is not, i.e., Grace.

If it's not Grace, it's legalism.

Grace is the element that most defines the New Covenant, a unilateral work of God which not only imputes His righteousness to us, but actually "reborns" our spirits, making us new creatures who love Jesus and hate sin in our new natures.

1 Cor. 4:7 says, "What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?" If it's not All of Grace, it's partly of legalism.

5. Legalism is more insidious, more destructive, and more evil than is commonly thought by believers.

It's not just a "difference of opinion" or a "different slant" on things.

Rom. 6:14 makes a profound statement that the Church in general has missed: "For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace."

Legalism literally robs us of the very ability to keep sin from being master over us. When law is used in any way in regard to the above three genres of legalism (for intial salvation, to retain salvation, or to earn God's love and favor), then one has "fallen from Grace" (Gal. 5:4), gotten on the ground of law, and two things happen:
1. One quenches the Holy Spirit by spurning His Grace, and
2. One inflames sin, since the law is the "power of sin" (1 Cor. 15:56).

When one gets on the ground of law, off of the ground of Grace, there are two typical results:
1. One thinks they are performing pretty well as compared with others, and becomes prideful, or,
2. One thinks they are perfoming poorly as compared with others, and despairs or loses the joy of their salvation.

Part 2