True Faith Vs. Legalism
"But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? " - Romans 14:10
In March of 2002, BBC news told of a shocking event in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi religious police prevented the fire department from rescuing 15 of the 800 girls trapped inside their burning school. Their reason for blocking the rescue? Because those 15 girls were not wearing correct Islamic dress. The religious police warned the rescuers that "it would be sinful to approach them." Fifteen girls died because they were not wearing the headscarves and black robes required by the kingdom's strict interpretation of Islam.
While this is an extreme example, this incident shows the mindset of legalism. This is what can happen when man-made rules are put before the laws of God. And that mindset is not restricted to Islam. Legalism exists in every religion, including Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and most certainly Christianity. Legalism consists of man-made rules with self-appointed judges who induce guilt and oppress normal life. Because legalists place their laws above God's laws, legalism leads to slavery.
Jesus fought legalism all through His ministry. True faith in Christ leads to the ultimate freedom: freedom to follow God and know God; freedom from captivity of legalism and sin. Legalism leads to spiritual death, while true faith in Christ is about abundant living in Him.
You are reading a Daily Devotion from Right From The Heart. We invite you to comment, forward it to a friend, and subscribe to the daily email or RSS feed.
Subscribe to the Daily Devotion
We send out the devotion terribly early every morning. Enter your email address to get on the list.
RSS Feed
If you prefer, you can grab the RSS feed and read it in your favorite "feed reader." Huh?
Grab it http://feeds.feedburner.com/rfthdevotions
19 Comments
In our world of separation of church and state, how do we reach those who live and woship in a religious legal system? It seems this devotion gets right at the point (wwjd) while reminding us of our responsibility of humility. - George
This devotion is so true. Some Christian denomination even have rules that you can't drink alcohol or gamble or dance. Crazy stuff.
- Erik
Legalism will break and kill the spirit of a Church. We are held back from being able to worship God in Spirit and truth by traditions also. If man would put their eyes on God and follow his word this would be a better world. Lets forget what we want and concetrate on what the Bible says and then look for Gods blessings to fall upon us. If we as Christians would do this in our every day lives then the lost people would regain a respect for the real Christians that they have lost due to the so called Christians living like the lost do. God bless all and have a good day. Eric, we are still praying for you. - Jerry
Erik, I prayed for you last night. - christ follower
Erik, do you mean to say you are actually comparing Sharia Law to Christian rules of conduct in some instances? Please. By the way, to try and understand the above news story is futile. I gave up long ago trying to understand many Islamic customs and practices and realized that more important is trying to spread the word of Christ. By the way........how about we put the above story in a different perspective. If that was YOU and YOUR FAMILY in that burning building and they knew you were Christian, you would burn to death also. - Matthew
Matthew,
You are right on the money, things are seen different when my family is involved. I wouldn't be bothered as much if it was your family, but when it comes to my daughter things are different. This is how people are in normal families but then again the devotion is talking about a religion that doesn't place its worship on the only Living God. Not to go into a building to save a human life just because they don't have on a black scarf and black attire is pitiful. But then again these are people who don't see anything wrong with killing innocent people just to try to get to Heaven quicker. Keep living for Christ and he will bless you - Jerry
Thanks Jerry. It's just very difficult to follow in the teachings of forgiveness when other religions preach zero tolerance and no forgiveness. That includes zero tolerance for Christianity. - Matthew
I don't know why it's so hard to understand the Muslims. Your God once commanded fathers to murder their daughters if their virginity could not be proved (Deuteronomy 22: 13-21). I find that hard to understand too. - Erik
Erik, and was that acted upon? If so........when? I would venture to say hundreds of years if at all. It's the year 2008 and you still have Muslims burying women to their head and stoning them to death for crimes far less than rape and murder. This is along the lines of barbarianism that goes back to the dark ages. Unfortunately, this is not the dark ages. This is happening today! How about some human evolution and understanding that yes, none of us are perfect but we have made mistakes and will refrain from such barbaric and totally inhumane behavior and than justify it as teachings of the Koran. - Matthew
Well matthew, I would think it was "acted on" since it was a commandment from God to his chosen people.
But your right- it would be great if the Muslims could evolve and abandon the commandments of their God the way we have abandoned ours. - Erik
The parents of that day taught their childrn about purity and withholding themselves till they were married. A price was paid for a virgins dowery which was about 50 sheckels, this was giving to the Father to offset his loss of the daughter. While everyone was celebrating the marriage the bride and groom retired to another room to comsumate the marriage. When they came out to greet everyone there was to be blood on the sheets, if there wasn't then the groom felt he had been robbed, (this is one way to look at it)he then would make the accusation and the family would have to defend her and if they couldn't then the groom would be the first one to cast a stone at her. This does sound barbaric but it was meant to keep the people in line with Gods word. Eric you try to make the Bible sound so unfair but you don't take into account the many who did as God said and was not harmed. Today if we don't break any laws then we don't have to worry about any punishment. Instead of trying to make the people hate the laws of God we need to show them that God didn't want them to perish but there had to be some kind of laws to keep order. If we abide by the speed limit then we know we won't get a ticket but if we speed then we should have to pay the price. If we want to go to heaven then we need to abide by Gods word, if you don't want to go then just live anyway you want to and then take your chances, also if someone doesn't believe in God then they can do the same also. Either way, today we don't have to worry about this type of thing happening because we are under his grace. - Jerry
"This does sound barbaric but it was meant to keep the people in line with Gods word."
Now you sound like a Muslim. - Erik
Erik, You are always bringing up these old laws in the Old Testament like you can't get past them. You know the Bible well enough to know about Jesus and the new covenant. I suppose you feel like you have more to hold against God when you think of some of what He prescibed in the Old Testament. Do you ever consider for a moment letting go of what You don't like about God and noticing the good in Him? I am sure you have many blessings from His hand that you take for granted daily. He is a good God who provided your intellect. I just wish you could use it in a more positive way. Jerry is right in what he had to say. We are under grace now. You are under grace. You have so much freedom here in this country. If you lived in a Muslim country you might not ever have the opportunity to know of God's grace. I pray someday you will be thankful for Jesus and what He did for you. You are appreciated in this community for your unique personality. Please don't confine your personality to putting God down. It is a task you will never succeed at. But if you choose to lift Him up, you could do it eternally and never exhaust yourself. - Janice
Eric, I feel so sorry for you allways living in a negative condition. Salvation will bring hope and happiness to a desolate soul. I did not say I approved of what happened back then in Jewish families and I sure don't approve of the muslims doing it today. Even today these barbaric zelots will kill their own sisters just because they do something that they concider wrong. I try to live peacefully among people if I can and if I can't I don't remember killing anyone because they may have cut me off in trafic. Try to get in the New Testement and read there for a while and you will find that Christ taught that we don't need to do these things anymore. And while you are there learn about the teachings where salvation is free for you and all others who have not accepted Him yet. I am praying for you. - Jerry
Why are we debating Erik in a forum like this? I'm not sure what his goal is and frnakly, I don't really care. I come to read these devotions for some inspiration for my day ahead. To think about things in a new light. To remember those less fortunate than I am and as a reminder of how blessed I am with Jesus as my savior. - Matthew
You have some other forum in mind? - Erik
Why would I have another forum in mind? Based on your views, you should be the one seeking that on your own. Trust me, I have no tone to this e mail other than wanting to know what your goal is. Can you tell us a bit more about you and what you are looking to achieve in discounting alot of what is believed in by others sharing this site? What is your belief overall regarding religion? Do you have an affiliation with any organized religion? - Matthew
I don't answer questions about my motives or what I believe. I am only interested in questions and topics posed by these devotions. If you want to know more about me then google "Allen Hunt Show" and my website is usually the third or fourth one listed. - Erik
You more than have the right to do that Erik. However, it does seem like you do question quite a bit what others believe or stand to correct them which leads me to believe you have some agenda of your own and I personally don't think this is the place for that. Nuff said. That's just my opinion. - Matthew