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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Drawing the line | Col 2:21 | Tim Sheasby | 34789 | ||
Sin is missing the mark. That is not just falling short but also going beyond. God has given us commands and guidelines to protect us but for many men that does not seem enough. Jesus criticised the Pharisees for enforcing their traditions when they had no right to do so. I believe many Christians are guilty of the same thing. For example God's word tells us that drunkenness is a sin. He does not tell us not to drink, just to not get drunk. We however think we know better than God and so we make a law "thou shalt not drink alcohol". I have been in congregations that have "dress codes" for service. I do not mean unofficial traditions either, I mean actual documented dress codes. One man at one of these congregations said that "we have to draw the line somewhere". My reply was "God draws the lines, not us!" Another man at the same congregation said that his son-in-law had left the church because of the dress code (he didn't see why he had to wear a tie on Sunday). I grew up in an environment where we were told "thou shalt not dance", "thou shalt not drink alcohol", "thou shalt not go to movies". Where is our freedom in Christ? If God tells me to do or not to do something then I will do my best to obey, however, when a man makes that law and condemns me for disobeying his law then I have a serious problem. Let's go back to Bible principles again. Let's use God's guidelines instead of our own inferior ones. In His Service Tim Sheasby |
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2 | Drawing the line | Col 2:21 | stjones | 34792 | ||
Hi, Tim; It's called legalism and the comparison with the Pharisees is valid. I once heard a radio Bible teacher (name of Malcolm Smith maybe?) discuss this at a time when I was a new Christian and really obsessing over what was expected of me. He said that he had grown up in an environment similar to the one you described. He found no joy and no encouragement in his faith only rules. Then he read Jeremiah 31:31-34: '"The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."' He went on to say that he realized that it was his realtionship with God, not adherence to rules, that mattered. He concluded by saying you can put all the religions in the world into a barrel labled "Try and Do"; you can put Christianity all by itself into another barrel labled "Trust and Done". I nearly drove off the road such was my relief an joy. Peace and grace, Steve aka Indiana Jones |
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3 | Drawing the line | Col 2:21 | Tim Sheasby | 35127 | ||
Amen. I want to re-itterate my understanding of legalism. I believe it is law dependence instead of law obedience. To try to obey God's law, and teach others to do so, is not legalism. Legalism is where I trust in my own ability to keep these laws and thus "earn" my salvation. Legalism is also where men make laws for God and bind them on others. Legalism allows no difference of opinion. Legalism does not forgive or understand different levels of understanding. Even when there are doctrine that are very clear to us there are some who just cannot seem to understand. But we get impatient. We fail to understand that when a major life belief is challenged and shown to be false it is traumatic to change. I recently went through such an experience and it took months to get over my preconceptions. However, once this process starts we often then start questioning ALL the doctrines we have ever held dear. This can either make or break a Christian's faith. In my case, Praise God, this has been cathartic for me. I am not just being blown about by every wind of doctrine but have, for the first time in 30 odd years as a Christian, become more of a Berean and now spend more time in God's word than ever. This is liberating but sometimes puts me at odds with my bretheren -- they have not come to the point of separating tradition from doctrine. I need to have the patience with them that God has had with me. In His Service Tim Sheasby |
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