An Adulterous Generation Saved by Grace - Legalism Vs. Antinomianism, by Rev. Reggie Kimbro
The text for this sermon is
Galatians 5
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I listened to a lecture tonight on the book of Galatians, specifically, on the "evils of legalism." And as I listened to this pastor railing against legalism, I noticed that directly behind him was an artists rendition of our Lord Jesus hanging on the cross.
Every true Christian believes that our Lord Jesus is God. The Bible itself calls him "The image of the invisible God" (
Colossians 1:14-16). And one of the 10 commandments - the third one - absolutely forbids us from making any image to represent God:
"Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, or in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down to them nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God visiting the iniquity of the fathers unto the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me. And shewing mercy on thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments." (
Exodus 20:4-6)
It's interesting that 2 of the 10 commandments - the one I just quoted that forbids us from making an image of God, and the 4th commandment, to keep the Sabbath (or the Lord's day), comprise more of the 10 commandments that the other 8 commandments combined.
The late
Francis Schaeffer once said that if he only had one hour to share the gospel with someone, he would spend the first 45 minutes telling them about sin and judgment and the law. And then he would spend the last 15 minutes talking about the love of God, the cross, the blood and the how they can escape the wrath of God (I'm paraphrasing from memory).
All Christians believe we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. And in fairness to this pastor, he does point out that once a person is saved they are going to strive to obey our Lord's commandments - the one's in the New Testament anyway! - out of love for Jesus and not fear of punishment. And the Apostle Paul does condemn real legalists - those who think their obedience or good works can somehow add to their salvation - in the strongest terms.
The Bible says, "The law is our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ that we might be justified by faith." (
Galatians 3:24). But once we are saved, we're going to strive to obey our Lord Jesus' commands out of thankfulness for what he has done for us. We don't obey to get saved. And we don't obey to stay saved. But Christians strive to keep the law - very imperfectly in this life, that's for sure - to show our thankfulness for being saved by grace alone.
The writer of the book of Hebrews says, "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin." (
Hebrews 12:4). And based on
1 John 3:4, which says "Sin the the transgression of the law, I think you could rephrase Hebrews 12:4 in this way: "Ye have not yet resisted unto blood...striving to keep the law."
For further study...
What's the Devil's Position on The Lordship Salvation Controversy?
Regeneration Vs. Decisionism - Paul Washer
The Tyranny of the Weaker Brother - R. C. Sproul
