Once standing in Legalism to now standing in Grace

  When you first hear of legalism--you might think stiff, suffocating, unbending, restrictive, rules upon rules--however for me, it was just a way of life; a standard of living. I never once felt suffocated or suppressed. I felt quite the opposite. I felt safe and secure. I had a list of do's and don'ts that were easy to follow and check off. I was told these rules/standards did not save, but were necessary to be a "good christian" and the more standards you had the more spiritual you were. I strived to be this person! I actually thought I was doing a pretty good job of it too. My measuring stick of spirituality was based on the standards set before me. This was my foundation. I was standing on works, and then I read Romans and I mean really read Romans

      To preface some history of the Roman Church when the letter was written, the Jews had been expelled from Rome in A.D. 49 and were allowed to return to Rome in A.D. 54. By that time, the church was mainly made up of gentile Christians. Some of the gentile Christians believed, because of living under grace, you could do whatever you want, and once the Jews came back into the church; they said you couldn't be a christian unless you were living under the "law" and had become circumcised. There is much tension-- imagine an invisible line down the church. The self-righteous, know it all  Jews on one side, and the dirty, pig eater gentile christian on the other. Paul here decides to take the church and take them to court. So imagine standing in a courtroom. There is a judge, a prosecutor, a defendant, and a jury/witnesses. You are the defendant, Paul is the prosecutor, God is the Judge, and the law and the prophets are the jury/witnesses. 

       Through Romans 1-3:21, Paul has just prosecuted the gentile Christians and the Jews and has eloquently presented and proven that all are sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. No one is righteous & the whole world is accountable to God (the verdict). So here I stand, before God guilty. When reading through these verses, you have this sort of sense of heaviness, remorse, and guilt. I have come to realize I'm guilty on every account, and that I could never attain on my own merit a right standing before God. So I'm a sinner, what does that have to do with legalism and grace? Just wait! You'll see in the next stages of the "court case proceeding" that it has everything to do with being justified by faith into this grace in which we stand.

      Paul has just declared that it has always been " the righteous shall live by faith" and we are "justified by faith". The righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law (Rom. 3:21). After the church is reading this, imagine what's going on in the heads of the gentile Christian and the Jews. The gentile Christians are probably nodding their heads and saying to themselves take that Jew you ain't coming near me with those knives today so take your law and take your circumcision and shove it! The Jews are just as mad as hornets. They are probably bursting at the seams with "righteous" indignation. They are yelling (v.27) "then what becomes of our boasting?" The Jews boasted, took pride in: being a Jew from Father Abraham, from following the law, and from being circumcised. They hated the fact that Paul was saying being a Jew didn't matter, that the law didn't matter, that circumcision no longer mattered. Paul wasn't saying that at all.

    Knowing that this would be the response. He calls his witnesses to take the stand. And who does he call up? None other then Father Abraham himself--the patriarch himself. The Jews believed that Father Abraham was perfect. In the book of jubilee 100 b.c. the rabbis would preach that "Abraham was perfect in all his deeds with the Lord, and well-pleasing in righteousness all the days of his life" (meaning he was perfect--he had no need of repentance). They even believed that it was impossible for a circumcised man to go to hell. Paul is taking this Jewish philosophy and cross-examining it with what the scriptures actually say. Abraham wasn't justified by his works. The law came 430 years after Abraham (Gal. 3:17) So then if Abraham had no law, how was he justified? Rom. 4:3 "For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness" Paul is laying out the case that it has Always been by faith and never has been about the law or about circumcision.

    Abraham was a nobody. He was a heathen who came from UR(now southern Iraq). The Bible doesn't say why God chose Abraham--he just did. So here is a guy who is 75 years old and God tells him to leave a place that was something to go to an unknown land that was nothing.   God promised him that he would be the father of many nations yet Abraham had no biological children with his wife Sarah. How long did it take for God to fulfill that promise 25 years! Sarah and Abraham had Isaac when he was 100 and Sarah was 90. Why would God wait 25 years!!?? Would it not have made more sense to have a child when they were "younger?"  No wonder they laughed at that possibility. It was physically impossible...no really it was impossible. Sarah was passed menopause there was no way they could have a child, unless God said it would be so. Would you have waited for God's promise for 25 years?? My guess I would have taken matters into my own hands like Sarah did as she told Abraham to produce a child through her servant Hagar.

       So here comes my point. You are either going to fall into two categories: the gentile christian or a man- made self-righteous person who thinks they are fulfilling God's plan. I fall into the self-righteous category. I know I'm saved yet I still fall into this trap!!  Like the Jews, I was putting more weight on what type of christian I was on what preachers I listen to, what church I attended, what theological view point I had, what type of ministries I was involved in. I started comparing myself with other people and thought.."oh, I'm way more spiritual then these people because I believe in this certain theology" WHAT! I'm turning legalistic again. Before I was legalistic by watching my hemline or what movies I watched or how many times I went to church in a week, but now I'm making theology my God versus the God in my theology!!!

   So what is the good christian?? Faith---living a life of faith!

   The scriptures said Abraham never wavered! It says " In hope he believed against hope" ( Rom. 3:18). "He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead" (v.19). No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised"(v. 201-21). and this is why it was counted to him as righteousness. His unwavering faith!!

   So are you living and believing each day in the God of the impossible? Who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exists? (v. 17) Do you believe in hope against hope and make each and every day by this standard? Abraham did this. He wasn't obeying some law or banking on some circumcision. He lived each day believing in the God of the impossible and his daily actions/works were a product of that faith. I know if I lived by this standard I don't think I live life the same way...I wouldn't worry about the things I worry about. A "good christian" is not the person with "moral standards" it's the person who lives out their faith and believes in the hope against hope.

   My conclusion all resides in Romans 4:16 and Romans 5:2-5. "That is why it depends on faith in order that the promise may rest on GRACE"! "Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this GRACE in which we stand, and we Rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More then that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character, and character produces hope."  We rest/stand on Grace and we can rejoice during suffering because we have the promise of being heirs with Christ--we have the power of the gospel and that's why we can have joyful confidence and eternal security by what Christ had done for us on the cross. It's so beautiful. So are you standing on works or are you living, breathing, and standing on God's grace and his eternal gift to us?