Fearlessly Making Disciples (DEACTIVATED)Sample

Overcoming Legalism

Have you ever worked for a company that had so many rules/regulations that you felt restricted? A rigid list of instructions often leads to people feeling hopelessly unqualified and underappreciated.

If we’re not careful, sharing the gospel can be the same way. It can be easy to heap impossible requirements upon people to make them acceptable to God. We can never forget that salvation is by grace through faith. It’s a gift! We can’t possibly bring anything to the table that helps save us. We cannot earn grace, it’s free!  

It’s true, following Christ includes obedience for living holy and pleasing God, but the good news of salvation itself is simple and clear. It holds no conditions or required paybacks. Jesus never said, “All who believe in me and do good works will be saved.” 

1 John 5:11-13 makes it clear, "The witness is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life."

In fact, when we attempt to earn our salvation with good works, we reject Jesus’s work on the cross which provided the payment for our sins. It’s a slap in the face to God. It’s as if we’re saying His Son’s sacrifice wasn’t enough to do the job. 

When we encounter those who feel they have earned (or need to earn) their place in heaven, this is a false gospel and we must be faithful to fearlessly steer them toward the true message of the cross.    

Jesus has already paid the price for our sins and made a way to God through His sacrifice. God cannot love His children any more than He already does, no matter what we try to do to earn His favor. And once we accept Christ and believe, nothing we do can ever diminish His love for us as His children. The wrath God once had for us as sinners has been satisfied, once and for all. He’s crazy about us. 

For reflection: Legalism is a normal human reaction to the grace that we must constantly fight to overcome. When do you most feel prone to earn your salvation? After you sin? When attending church? Has legalism crept into your attempts to share the gospel with others?