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The Book Warning This Book Will Shock You |
Warning This Book Will Shock You By Roxy J Nolin Chapter Six |
Do we believe that by our actions you can sustain your salvation! Do we feel that Sunday or maybe Saturday is the day of the Lord only! Do we think of a brother who disagrees as a brother in error, or brothers of week faith! Do we tend to be domineering or controlling! Do we demand uniformity or conformity! Do we demand that all must except our judgement as final and correct! Do we tend to be self-centered! Do we operate in fear and suspicion! Can we feel threatened and defend ourselves at all cost! Tend to reject those who have more knowledge! Can we become easily paranoid! Do we have an extravagant view of ourselves! Do we demand absolute obedience or service to the organization, church or man! Do we see God's love as conditional! Are we insensitive to the needs of others! Pondering our heart. Now the list that you just read in no way comes close to all the things that legalist do, but as we read and ponder we may discovered areas in our life that fits a pattern. A pattern that makes us good candidates to falling into extreme legalism Remember all of us struggle with legalism in some form or another. To some it is different then someone else. But it all comes from the same dark hole. The problem comes when we begin to effects others environment with our preconceived ideas and view of God! When we start to steal the joy of our salvation and others. This is not good ground to be on! Now before you get under condemnation, let me interact that no matter how hard you work, or how well you perform, there will never be a time when you will feel you have done enough. Our salvation, position and security in Christ are not based on what we feel, but on what God has done through his Son on the cross. The devil is in the business of saying, in order for God to be happy; you must read and study your bible more. To appease Him, you must fast more. To be blessed by Him you must give more. To be accepted by Him, you must sacrifice more. Now even though to fast, pray, study, give and even sacrifice in certain ways are good, they do not change who we are in Christ. Legalism is a tool of darkness that makes us feel condemned and insecure before God. Satan has mastered the art of making us feel we have not done enough, and sadly he has convinced Christians in the church to teach this venom. We may say, no problem! But it can be a fight, a retching of the soul. Remember we have years of training. To instantly pull out ingrained hurts, offences, wrong beliefs and attitudes is a task in and of itself, yet not impossible to the Spirit of God! Dealing with legalism. The only way that we will recognize or deal with legalism is through proper teaching and understanding who God is, the renewing of our mind to present day truths. Book of Romans says, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God. The book of Second Corinthians says, for though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The question is, "How do we pull and cast down strongholds if we lack knowledge and have not renewed our mind to the Word?" Now I do understand that the study of the Word is a process of time and experience. But by looking at the work of legalism in the church there are areas of belief we have lost godly common sense. We do things to our brethren that many in heathen world would not think of doing. No wonder many are turning to new age, Islam, cults and more. We are in a desperate battle to present Christianity as a place to finding peace, acceptance and a relationship of love with God and His church. Now, I am in any way promoting other religions but I am deeply concerned that the spirit of legalism has such a deep root in the church of Christ, that it will not be long before we start killing our own. Fear and suspicion in the name of God can turn even the best of believers into puppets of destruction. Legalism in churches and ministries. Although we have come an incredible distance in the last twenty-five years, I have also witnessed people and movements that seem to be on the cutting edge of showing the church there complete freedom in Christ. Yet through the pride of men, slowly they are led into another structure of denominationalism. It is very hard for men to allow God to control. False humility, pride and self importance can be a giant obstacle, especially when it touches a person's ministry. It is very hard not to become an overload instead of overseer when there is an attitude of competition in the church. Many using the church door as opportunity for personal gain, instead of a place to love and serve God's people. Legalism as a battle in the church can not be denied, yet go into the world of business and see the, reach for success at all cost mentality. The whole system is based on performance, if you don't perform, out you go! People have simply become a number in the gain for greed. Most are more concerned with what is happening to their shares, paper with no life or faces. A legalistic system that has no feeling and justifies every move in the name of progress! Sadly this mentality has found its way into the body of Christ, where we have become more concerned with numbers then souls. We have taken on the attitude and personality of a chain store. Strategies and maneuvering to find the perfect place to set up shop. Calculating population, income and nationality. We present our churches like storefronts, with all the right dressings. The best music program, the best youth program, the best Children's program, this program and that image. Soon we are burdened down with huge salaries, mortgages and debt. From here it escalates to television, radio, some new project designed to raise finances and awareness that we are churches of the hour. The ironic thing is people of God flock to this performance driven centers in droves. Looking to keep an image or satisfy an emotion. |
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Copyright Roxy J Nolin 2002 |
