Show Notes
Summary
Christianity is highly misunderstood. It is not a religion. Our faith involves the work of the Holy Spirit to do the impossible tasks we can not. Once we are saved, the journey has just started. We become disciples of Jesus. The problem is that we don’t fully follow Him, and we turn to the right hand and to the left (Joshua 1:7).
What we have on both sides of walking in the Spirit is legalism and lawlessness. Both plague the church in different ways. Man-made laws and a complete disregard for sin have no place in the Christian walk. We’ll discuss what Jesus wants from us.
1. Legalism
What is legalism? Loosely defined, it is a focus on keeping moral laws with a “good works” mentality. The best example of this in the Bible is the Pharisees. They got so caught up in keeping the law that they tacked on man-made laws to make God’s 10 Commandments more “humanly” feasible.
We see this today, when people point fingers at others about what they are wearing, listening to, hanging out, etc. Jesus told us to be conformed to Him (Romans 8:29), not to the world (Romans 12:2). Legalism tends to get so strict and uncomfortable that it makes Christianity look boring, stiff, and strict.
2. Lawlessness
In my personal opinion, I think this is the real problem in the American church today.
People lack a basic reverence for God. I think it’s because the fear of God has not been instilled into this generation, just the love of God.
This group is interesting, because they believe that because they have been saved* that they have a license to sin. This group causes people looking in to think Christians are no better than them.
Blatantly living in sin makes our faith look like a sham and something no one would commit to.
* I talk about the possibility of a false conversion in the video
3. Following Jesus
Jesus tells us to “Follow Him” (Matthew 4:19). It’s not easy, but He doesn’t ask us to do it alone. Jesus was sinless. He does not desire sin. Following Him should mean we don’t desire sin. Galatians is the book about Christian freedom, understanding that we are not under the law, but we walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-18). The Holy Spirit is one of the greatest gifts God has given us. The Old Testament saints didn’t get Him, but we have Him and fail to use Him to glorify God.
Give it a try 💪🏽🤍
- Check your salvation. Did you come to Christ with a repentant heart? Or with a party? (Matthew 13:1-23)
- If you are saved and you have been living in sin, it’s time to repent and turn back to Christ (1 John 1:9)
Resources
Scripture Verses
Joshua 1:7-8 | John 10:1-2 | Matthew 7: 13-14 | Matthew 5:17| Mark 2:27 | Galatians 5: 16-18
Books
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