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Is True Biblical
Christianity Love or Legalism? "Do
you see why this is a problem for me? To me, Christianity itself is a
legalism. It is the ultimate "you must" statement. There is
NOTHING I can do to overcome my incorrect answer to this question of
Jesus. I simply must accept Him. Why must I do this? What if Jesus has
very little to do with my faith in God? My life and actions could be the
very embodiment of Christian virtue and yet my belief in a mortal Jesus
supersedes all. It doesn't matter what I do: I broke the law. And I,
along with so many others, will suffer for it in Hell for the rest of
eternity. I think, long ago, there was a place for a jealous God." Well,
let’s take a look at this question from a few different angles.
First of all I want to reiterate your statement that, “There is
NOTHING I can do to overcome my incorrect answer to this question of
Jesus. I simply must accept Him.” Correct.
This in fact is the key to the freedom of Christianity.
Biblical Christianity is NOT a “behavioral theology”.
I have heard it said before that, “there is nothing you (or any
of us) can do to make God love you more; and there is nothing you can do
to make Him love you less.” If you ponder that for
a while and absorb the truth of that then it’s implication is
extraordinary. If only we as human-beings could love
each other so. Of course, we are flawed and this form
agape love is pretty much the exclusive privilege of God. There
are two kinds of relationships that many of us experience here on earth
that I believe gives us a glimpse into what this love looks like.
Hence the questions I asked you earlier. Let
me see how well I can unravel this and flesh it out a bit. Stick
with me though as I will get back to your powerful assertion that “Christianity
itself is a legalism. It is the ultimate ‘you must’
statement.” That is a great observation as I said. Let’s
take a look at the first of those relationships --- marriage.
Okay, you aren’t married but I think I can still navigate this
analogy semi-cleanly. I will speak from my own
perspective as a husband --- and I will be dealing with this from a
point which most of us husbands find difficult to operate from ---
namely, from an ideal. In this relationship one who
is observing might view the husband as one who is “bound to” or
“subservient to” or “required to” be dutiful to his wife.
The observer might witness the husband doing such things as
opening doors for her, or cutting the grass, or holding the umbrella
over her head, or protecting her from harm, or treating her gently and
tenderly. From that outside point of observation, for
one that is unfamiliar with this type of relationship the observer may
determine that those acts are being done as a form of duty or as an
obligation. And it may certainly look that way.
However, for those of us that at one point courted our wives or
have been involved in a serious relationship with another, we recognize
what that thing is that drives perfectly ordinary and normal men to
abandon their old ways, or to change the clothes they wear, or to start
going places they have never had the slightest inclination to visit, or
to change the language they use regularly, or any one of hundreds of
other behaviors men change when they are smitten. We
would quickly take that observer aside and correct them and tell, them,
“You’ve got it all wrong. I am not required to do
this. I had a choice to make here. I
freely choose to do these things because I love her! It
is hard to describe the things she makes me feel. The
way she looks at me, the way she talks to me, the way she approves of
me, the way she loves me, the way she values me. I
cannot imagine treating her in any other way.” LOVE
is a powerful force and a most powerful motivator. Are
the things husbands do for their wives done simply because of obligation
and duty? Remember, we’re talking about an ideal
here (because sadly, for myself and many others, this is far too often
an easy trap to fall into) and the obvious answer is that NO, there is
no legalistic requirement here to be followed. Love
will drive us to it! To any of us who have fallen in
love, this is a no-brainer. If we want to make this
relationship work, if we want it to blossom, if we want to enjoy the
“fruits” (if you will --- and no sexual reference intended here) of
this relationship, we simply respond by accepting the love offered to us
and offer it in return. It is love not legalism that
we fall into. IF we want this relationship we will
respond with love. The
second relationship is that of a parent & child. For
the sake of this discussion, I will look at this relationship from each
perspective starting with the child. Again, remember
that I am talking about this in an ideal sense. I
fully understand that there are many bad parents out there and probably
some that may read this who do not have fond memories of their
relationship with a parent. For the sake of this
discussion, we will assume a healthy normal relationship. You
are a son Kevin, as am I. I remember many times as I
was growing up that I found the “rules and regulations” imposed upon
me by my parents as being nearly impossible, unfair, and simply idiotic
to be honest. I was sure sometimes that my parents
simply were way out of touch and had no idea what it was like to be a
kid/teen. I mean, heck a lot of other kids were
allowed to do lots of things that my parents simply wouldn’t allow me
to do. What a dork I must look like. I
was so sure that I could come up with a better answer than the one cast
upon me by my parents. What I didn’t realize as a
child/teen is that my parents were looking out for me. They
DID know what was best for me. If I had simply
followed their advice and rules without swerving off the course then
there were many problems and hurts and mistakes that I would not have
made because they knew! By the time most of us
children begin to realize this we are out of the house and trying to
begin making our own way in the world. We realize
then that many of those lessons that we thought were so stupid and
unreasonable have a great deal of “payback” in the real world.
Often times when we make this realization and we put this
together, we return to our parents and thank them for disciplining us
and watching out for us and teaching us. Those words
never fail to bring a smile to the heart of any parent! If
we take time to stop and ponder this truth as well then it is easy to
form a real heart of gratitude as it concerns our parents. From
the other perspective --- that of the parent --- you will have to trust
me. One day if you are fortunate enough to be a
parent you will understand this in a way that you simply can’t right
now. When we become parents it is a most profound
experience. We look at this small bundle of humanity
and realize that they are ours and this little person is dependant on us
for care and life itself. There is no other love like
this on the planet. From the time your child is born
you will love this baby in a way that is unexplainable. You
will do whatever it takes to protect and to keep this child from harm.
As your child grows there will be many times when you will be
disappointed in the way your child behaves. There
will be times when they will be disobedient and defy you. Maybe
even times as they grow older where they are flat out belligerent.
There will be many times when you will offer them good
experience-earned advice only to be rejected or ignored. You
will watch as those decisions they make turn into hurt and harm for
them. You will hurt for them. You
will want to take their pain away --- even to take it on yourself in
their place. But through all of the hurt and
disobedience and rejection you will still love them in a way that defies
logic! There is almost nothing that they can do to
disturb that love. If you really love them you will
set some parameters in place and discipline them when they act out in
inappropriate ways. But, you will always love them
and be willing to do whatever you can to keep them close to you and in a
loving relationship with you. It is an amazingly
simple and yet an amazingly complex love. So
you ask, what does all this have to do with your question? Let’s
tie it all together now --- and I’ll try to make it brief.
God, the Father, loves us in a way that is pure agape love --- in
the way that any parent loves their child. Of course,
God’s love for us is perfect and not limited by the imperfections we
have. God loves us as we love our children because He
created us. We, of course, are the children in this
picture. As we grow in years we chafe against the
“rules” that our parent puts on us. We strain
against the unfairness of the stupid or silly requirements that are
placed upon us. We certainly think we can handle this
better on our own. “Don’t worry about me Dad, I
know how to work this out for myself!” And he
let’s us try to find our own way and just continues to love us through
it all. He weeps for us when we hurt and disciplines
us when we make mistakes. He even accepts when we
treat someone else with the respect and honor that should be reserved
for him as the Father. He loves us through it all
just as a parent would. At some point, we see him in
a totally new light. It might be in the hustle-bustle
of the everyday, it might be in the midst of tragedy, it might be when
your world falls apart. Suddenly you look up and
there He is --- loving you still! You wonder why he
would love you through all the pain you have brought on him and you.
If we grasp that truth at a significant level we see him anew for
the first time --- sometimes early in life, sometimes late. Suddenly
our hearts burst with gratitude and praise and thanks and love for this
one who did all that he did for you while you were doing all you could
to discredit him and to distance yourself from him. And
like when that special woman you meet makes your heart perk up and
sparkle because of all she is and all she makes you feel --- you find
yourself reaching out and accepting the love she has to offer.
As in a marriage relationship, it is love not legalism that we
fall into. God loves us. We are incapable of loving Him enough to “earn” our way into His presence because we are sinful. He still loves us and wants us to be with Him. He sends His Son Jesus Christ to “pay” our penalty for our mistakes and poor choices. He offers us that gift freely --- to replace our brokenness with the love demonstrated on the cross by His Son. We, with hearts full of gratitude and awe, accept that gift and love Him completely. This is LOVE, not legalism we fall into… |
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