Life. Love, and Legalism, Part 3

"For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you:  Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."
          -Romans 12:3

     This is the last post, for now, on the subject of holiness.  And yet, it may be the most important one.  As always, I don't believe in coincidences.  Today when I was studying some of Precept's materials (thanks Mary), I came across the above scripture in Romans.  I knew it had to be the focus scripture for this post.  Our discussion is going to be about the last two points of the title together because they are so closely related (in an opposite sort of way....).  Love and Legalism.  Two conflicting terms.  Two ways to go with holiness.  Yet one is the way to life and the other......well the other is the more familiar, and it leads in a completely different direction. 
     Most of us who have been Christians for any period of time are very familiar with the DON'T list.  Don't do this, Christians don't do that.....on and on and on. And while it's very true there are certain things that are usually missing from the Christian's life, many of us get so hung up on the DON'Ts we forget to nurture and promote the DO's. And of all the DOs, love is the most important one.
     The Bible points out the importance of this word that really must be an action.  In the NIV, the word love appears 567 times in 526 verses.  That's a lot.  It must be a big deal.  Not only does scripture talk about God's love for us, it points out how much we are to love.  Of course, loving our Father is number one, and that is easy to do.  It's the loving others part that's more difficult.  I urge you to just do a search for the word "love" in your bible or online tool.  I like www.blueletterbible.org .  It has many different types of tools to use.  Anyway, when you do this search you find all of the ways we are to love.  Here are a few we need to look at in regard to holiness:

And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is no other commandment greater than these.

            -Mark 12:31

 

A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so must you love one another.  By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

            -John 13: 34-35

 

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: Love your neighbor as yourself.

          - Galations 5:14

 

Those three verses alone are pretty clear.  No greater commandment, others will know we are disciples if we love, the entire law is fulfilled in love.  What does that look like in regard to holiness?

      I guess before we go there, I need to preface that with my firm belief about sin.  Sin is sin.  We as human beings tend to "level" sin, making some worse than others.  Of course we believe gossip to be much "less" of a sin than murder.  There are certain crimes toward children we see as beyond description, certainly at a different level than resentment and unforgiveness.  And yet, when the Bible says:

 

.....for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

          -Romans 3:23

 

I believe it is saying ALL sin falls short of what God can accept.  My gossiping makes me unable to  participate in His glory.  His murder makes him unable to participate.  Their unforgiveness, her deceit, his greed.........the list is unending.  If we look at sin in that way, we all are in desperate need of the Savior.  All of us.  Consequently, your sin is no "worse" to Him than mine.  It's all unacceptable.  We all need grace.  If we truly believe this, it makes it easier to love others, no matter what their sin.  We're all in the same boat so to speak. 

     Loving others allows us to take the focus off the sin and just "love the sinner".  Do we ignore continuing sin? No.  Do we demean, look down on, criticize another's sin?  Also no.  You see, love is the only thing that "works".  It's the only thing that makes someone else want our Savior...strive to become closer to Him.....want to give up sin for His sake.  I believe in this lifelong 'Journey Into Forever' we continually grow in our understanding of Him.  I recognize things as sin for me now that I did not recognize a few years ago.  God has graciously helped me to recognize these things as my relationship with Him grows deeper.  It is truly a journey.  I know He will teach me even more as time goes along.  When loving others, I accept them at their stage of the journey, just as Christ accepted me at mine.  My role may be to encourage and assist that person in their growth and understanding of what it is to be a Christ follower, but it is NEVER to unlovingly criticize, look down upon, or shun the less mature believer.  Never.

     Holiness becomes legalism when we become so hung up on the DONTS that we forget the DOs.  It is defined in Wikkipedia as:

 

"Legalism, in Christian theology, is a usually pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality,  the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of law at the expense of the spirit. Legalism is alleged against any view that obedience to law, not faith in God's grace, is the pre-eminent principle of redemption" (Bold accent mine).

 

Misguided rigor....neglect of mercy.....ignorance of grace....letter of the law at the expense of the spirit.  Whoa.  Doesn't sound a bit loving to me, does it to you? 

     There are so many stories we could tell here.  Stories of misguided holiness that is critical of the new believer.  That shuns the person entrapped in habitual or addictive sin.  That refuses to help the downtrodden because they " got themselves there" by their sinful behavior.  None of that behavior exemplifies holiness.  Christ didn't act like that......and if we are to use His example, neither should we.

     I took a spiritual gifts test at church last night.  My highest score was in the area of mercy.  It was defined as a desire to serve God by identifying with and comforting those who are in distress.  The person who understands and comforts fellow Christians.  That really is me.  I have been ensnared by almost any sin you can think of......addictions, anger, sexual sin, ......my list goes on and on.  So I do understand when someone is trapped by a sin they are having difficulty with.  I've been there.  Do they need to turn it over and let Christ heal them?  Absolutely.  Will my criticism of their lack of holiness promote that?  Never.  I know.  Love won me over.  Love and acceptance and mercy from the One who guides us to a deeper understanding of holiness.

     So there you have it.  My concept of holiness.  At least it is right now, in this place in my Journey.  I may understand it differently later, as I try to learn more about what He desires me to be.  I know one thing for sure.  I will keep searching.  It's a great ride......and I intend to seek, study, and learn until the ride is done and my destination is reached.  How about you?