The Sad Lives Of Legalists And Sinless Perfectionists

[Willie-T]

Amen! \/

You know brother Willie, I'm sitting here thinking how someone can be so blind about the grace of Jesus Christ and believe in their mind that they have to obey in order to maintain their position with the Lord. Then all of a sudden I remembered being that very type of legalistic zealot years back before my eyes were opened to the truth. And you know what helped get me to the end of my ignorance? Humility. I was broken and humbled again and again because my religious philosophy wasn't holding up for me. I shake my head at how stubborn and rebellious and hard-nose religious I was.

Oh bless the Lord Jesus for picking me up again and again each time my stiff-neck attitude brought me down! Hallelujah for His great mercy in getting me to let go of all that hideous nonsense and walking in His liberty and love.

Yeah, my wife keeps telling me, over and over again to ease up on trying to show grace to people who don't want to see it. She reminds me that it was not that many years ago she and I actually swore that people who were not members of "God's one true and original church, the CoC", were not saved.

No kidding. I had no trouble with going for that hogwash, hook, line & sinker. And we CoC people also thought you had to keep your Repentance Scorecard cleared and up to date, or you would bust Hell wide open if you happened to get hit by a bus before getting a chance to make "the walk of shame" on Sunday morning.

Yes, we even thought that you had to hang your head and look good and miserable, cataloguing each and every sin before you could take The Lord's Supper "in a worthy manner." (This is probably the one I feel the stupidest about believing.... "in a worthy manner".... Oh, Brother!)

But it is precisely because I was so steeped in all that Legalism that I want to slap silly, people still so blind to Jesus.

 

[KennethC]

Amen! \/

You know brother Willie, I'm sitting here thinking how someone can be so blind about the grace of Jesus Christ and believe in their mind that they have to obey in order to maintain their position with the Lord. Then all of a sudden I remembered being that very type of legalistic zealot years back before my eyes were opened to the truth. And you know what helped get me to the end of my ignorance? Humility. I was broken and humbled again and again because my religious philosophy wasn't holding up for me. I shake my head at how stubborn and rebellious and hard-nose religious I was.

Oh bless the Lord Jesus for picking me up again and again each time my stiff-neck attitude brought me down! Hallelujah for His great mercy in getting me to let go of all that hideous nonsense and walking in His liberty and love.

Well lets just see what the bible says about obedience;

What Does the Bible Say About Obedience?

Here is 100 scriptures that speak on obedience, and the Lord Himself even says those who believe in Him are those that "do" what He said. Apostle James says a hearer only and not a doer is deceived, and Lord Jesus said a non-doer has no foundation in the faith built on Him.

Obedience is clearly emphasized a lot in the bible !!!

 

[Willie-T]

Well lets just see what the bible says about obedience;

What Does the Bible Say About Obedience?

Here is 100 scriptures that speak on obedience, and the Lord Himself even says those who believe in Him are those that "do" what He said. Apostle James says a hearer only and not a doer is deceived, and Lord Jesus said a non-doer has no foundation in the faith built on Him.

Obedience is clearly emphasized a lot in the bible !!!

The Pharisees DID everything just right, but they pretended to not even see the guy lying, beaten by the side of the road.

Today, we do it a bit differently, we just avoid those dirty sinners who don't fit our prescribed mold of who or what is acceptable..... but we keep those rules.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

I agree that the “accuser is always accusing us, and Jesus is always sticking up for us.” Not only that, the accuser sets up traps for the believer to fall into, but the Lord sees the believer through, even if the believer falls into the trap. Lazarus the beggar was caught in the trap of poverty and he didn’t seem to have any place to go except a dead-end alley, -- but after death he was received up into Paradise.

However, I agree with what Jason said:



The apostle Paul explained about walking after the Spirit, not after the flesh. The “Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God. Sin tends to take away the witness of the Spirit (kind of like the oil of the lamp carried by the 5 wise virgins, but not like the 5 foolish virgins).

Romans 8:1, 13 and 16:

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
--------------------------

You just contradicted yourself.

on one hand, you said we need jesus to be our advocate (because we sin)

on the other hand, You claim we can be sinless.

As is typical among people like Jason, you speak contradictory things.

 

[Magenta]

The Pharisees DID everything just right, but they pretended to not even see the guy lying, beaten by the side of the road.

I thought they saw him and crossed to the other side of the road to avoid him...?

 

[eternally-gratefull]

We all know the verse. But you couldn't just see that as something cool, and keep your mouth shut, could you?

thus why some people have him on ignore. it is a waste of time talking to him, he turns everything into an argument.

 

[Jason0047]

Yeah, my wife keeps telling me, over and over again to ease up on trying to show grace to people who don't want to see it. She reminds me that it was not that many years ago she and I actually swore that people who were not members of "God's one true and original church, the CoC", were not saved.

No kidding. I had no trouble with going for that hogwash, hook, line & sinker. And we CoC people also thought you had to keep your Repentance Scorecard cleared and up to date, or you would bust Hell wide open if you happened to get hit by a bus before getting a chance to make "the walk of shame" on Sunday morning.

Yes, we even thought that you had to hang your head and look good and miserable, cataloguing each and every sin before you could take The Lord's Supper "in a worthy manner." (This is probably the one I feel the stupidest about believing.... "in a worthy manner".... Oh, Brother!)

But it is precisely because I was so steeped in all that Legalism that I want to slap silly, people still so blind to Jesus.

I don't agree with the Church of Christ on many things.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

You said why bother to do good if we are forgiven all future sin. Simple answer is because we love God with great love and gratitude for a free salvation. You may need the penalty of sin in place to encourage you to do good I do not

It goes deeper than that as well.

We TRUST GOD, so in faith, when the one we trusts says do not do this, for nothing good can come from it, and you will probably be hurt by it. We listen.

People like Jason not only do not understand grace, they do not understand FAITH either.

 

[Willie-T]

I thought they saw him and crossed to the other side of the road to avoid him...?

I doubt that was the extent of it. They HAD to act like they didn't know he needed help, or they would have been in open and direct violation of the Law of Moses.... which they would NEVER have let anyone see them doing.

 

[Willie-T]

I don't agree with the Church of Christ on many things.

But the few you do are more than enough.

 

[Jason0047]

but we need to be honest about what the Bible says. we are saved by grace, God forgives all sins if we confess and repent. if you tell someone the truth, and they mis-use it, that is on them, not us. the adding of personal opinion to Scripture is wrong. and grace being a green light to sin is a Jason opinion that the Bible does not share.

No, not all the blame will fall on them but it will also fall on the OSAS Teacher because they just took away the consequences by saying future sin is forgiven them, when real life and the Bible teach that there is an eternal dire consequence to abiding in unrepentant sin.

 

[Willie-T]

I thought they saw him and crossed to the other side of the road to avoid him...?

Sadly, it does look that way.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Yeah, my wife keeps telling me, over and over again to ease up on trying to show grace to people who don't want to see it. She reminds me that it was not that many years ago she and I actually swore that people who were not members of "God's one true and original church, the CoC", were not saved.

No kidding. I had no trouble with going for that hogwash, hook, line & sinker. And we CoC people also thought you had to keep your Repentance Scorecard cleared and up to date, or you would bust Hell wide open if you happened to get hit by a bus before getting a chance to make "the walk of shame" on Sunday morning.

Yes, we even thought that you had to hang your head and look good and miserable, cataloguing each and every sin before you could take The Lord's Supper "in a worthy manner." (This is probably the one I feel the stupidest about believing.... "in a worthy manner".... Oh, Brother!)

But it is precisely because I was so steeped in all that Legalism that I want to slap silly, people still so blind to Jesus.

I am with you on that one, same here.

 

[KennethC]

The Pharisees DID everything just right, but they pretended to not even see the guy lying, beaten by the side of the road.

Today, we do it a bit differently, we just avoid those dirty sinners who don't fit our prescribed mold of who or what is acceptable..... but we keep those rules.

Where do you get your information from ???

The Pharisees corrupted the law of God and added more stumbling blocks to it, and would not lift a finger to help others out. Only a few of the Pharisees such as Nicodemus and Paul actually seeked out the truth from the Lord or where called by Him to do His will.

The rest where clearly told by the Lord that they were hypocrites, vipers, and white washed tombs that prostitutes had a better chance to make it to heaven before they would.

I see this come up all the time of people being taught the Pharisees did everything right, but that is completely unbiblical !!!

 

[slave]

sin opens that door. [/SIZE]Satan can make us easily offended, causing us to sin. But if we allow God to battle for us we win here- guaranteed! Satan can divert our minds, something he has no power to do if we but stand, but if we do not it is a sin. But there is a group of people He describes that bore fruit beyond their ability to bare, this is the group who stood. Not in themselves but in Christ Jesus; the circle.. These people show the glory of God. God's holiness is seen and in us. It is worthy to note that thru all of this warfare if we "Stand" in the circle God will not let any one of us slip out of His grip.

None of this is earning, or us availing success. But it is recognizing our will as a player here. We must simply stand, a burden God describes as light, and easy. But yet, one we must procure.

"Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, [speaking to brethren here,] we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world." 1 Cor. 11:32.

Scripture does not say, "Faith without works is not as good as trying,but it's not a deal breaker., because all have sinned and fall from God's glory" It says, 'Faith without works is dead." That's a call to arms in the area of "Standing." Now it's hard to hear those words and not associate it with the Salvation thru works camps, but that is my point here. We can't earn anything we do, however, need to "Stand." Which is the work of obedience He is commanding us to be, not just do.For if we are Christ-like we are Christ empowered.

Let me make a correction of my wording here: Satan's temptations are not based on whether or not we sin., nor does Satan's temptations cause us to sin, without our will inviting it. So strike this phrases and correct them as seen in most of the other words, that Satan tempts...we respond [either in staying in the circle of Christ,] or in listening to Satan we choose to exit Gods guaranteed circle of victory and walk out of it by choice, leading to sin. Thx for the correction.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Well lets just see what the bible says about obedience;

What Does the Bible Say About Obedience?

Here is 100 scriptures that speak on obedience, and the Lord Himself even says those who believe in Him are those that "do" what He said. Apostle James says a hearer only and not a doer is deceived, and Lord Jesus said a non-doer has no foundation in the faith built on Him.

Obedience is clearly emphasized a lot in the bible !!!

Yep. That is why those who are SAVED DO.

and since they DO. they will never lose salvation, Because they believed in him a DID.

it is so sad that you all are SO CLOSE to truth, yet so far from eternity.

 

[eternally-gratefull]

The Pharisees DID everything just right, but they pretended to not even see the guy lying, beaten by the side of the road.

Today, we do it a bit differently, we just avoid those dirty sinners who don't fit our prescribed mold of who or what is acceptable..... but we keep those rules.

if we are to avoid dirty sinners.

we would have to avoid abraham, Issac Jacob, David, Moses, and most of the OT fathers, who's life were spread out all through the OT..

Me personally. I can wait to meat them, and see what gave them such great a faith. since they did not have half of what I have (scripture wise) And I struggle to have half the faith they had

 

[eternally-gratefull]

I thought they saw him and crossed to the other side of the road to avoid him...?

thus pretending not to see him

 

[KennethC]

Yep. That is why those who are SAVED DO.

and since they DO. they will never lose salvation, Because they believed in him a DID.

it is so sad that you all are SO CLOSE to truth, yet so far from eternity.

I know the truth as the Holy Spirit guides me, which is why I do not deny the many scriptures that speak on those who will eventually depart, fall away, and leave the faith in Christ to go back to a sinful lifestyle..........


Once again here are passages from the bible that says what believers cans and will still do:



1. Fall from grace - Gal. 5:1-4,13
2. Be led away with error - 2 Pet. 3:17
3. Err from the truth - James 5:19-20
4. Weak brother may perish - 1 Cor. 8:11
5. Fall into condemnation - James 5:12
6. Be moved away from the hope - Col. 1:21-23
7. Deny the Lord who bought them - 2 Pet. 2:1
8. Depart from the living God - Heb. 3:12
9. Can be a castaway - 1 Cor. 9:27
10. Can become accursed children - 2 Pet. 2:14

 

[eternally-gratefull]

Where do you get your information from ???

The Pharisees corrupted the law of God and added more stumbling blocks to it, and would not lift a finger to help others out. Only a few of the Pharisees such as Nicodemus and Paul actually seeked out the truth from the Lord or where called by Him to do His will.

The rest where clearly told by the Lord that they were hypocrites, vipers, and white washed tombs that prostitutes had a better chance to make it to heaven before they would.

I see this come up all the time of people being taught the Pharisees did everything right, but that is completely unbiblical !!!

You do not study history much do you.

In Jesus day, The pharisee was seen as the most righteous person on earth according to the law. Most pharaisees people could not name a sin they commited, because they were done in secret.

I know many people today who live the same lives, they look clean on the outside, but are dirty on the inside (as Jesus said they were. )