As I grow older in my faith, I continually ask myself, “how much do I really trust in the grace of God?” Our church is moving through a study of Grace, and this last week we applied the teaching of Paul in Galatians 3 to the practice of religion.

Jesus was radically opposed to the Pharisees who made a habit of adding their own traditions to God’s law. Their desire for righteousness was strong. They felt the need to create additional rules and regulations to ensure their holiness exceeded that of the average person.

…the Pharisees, upon the pretence of maintaining [the Law] intact, multiplied minute precepts and distinctions to such an extent that the whole life of the Israelite was hemmed in and burdened on every side by instructions so numerous and trifling that the law was almost if not wholly lost sight of. These “traditions,” as they were called, had long been gradually accumulating. Of the trifling character of these regulations innumerable instances are to be found in the Mishna. Such were their washings before they could eat bread, and the special minuteness with which the forms of this washing were prescribed; their bathing when they returned from the market; their washing of cups, pots, brazen vessels, etc.; their fastings twice in the week, Luke 18:12; such were their tithings, Matt. 23:23; and such, finally, were those minute and vexatious extensions of the law of the Sabbath, which must have converted God’s gracious ordinance of the Sabbath’s rest into a burden and a pain. Matt. 12:1-13; Mark 3:1-6; Luke 13:10-17.

Smith, W. (1997). Smith’s Bible dictionary. Nashville: Thomas Nelson.

The penchant for self-righteous law-making was a foul stench in the nostrils of God. Jesus not only rebuked this practice; he died to save us from it. Paul makes clear that the Grace of Jesus Christ frees us, not just from supercilious law-making; it frees us from Law itself. Yet again and again throughout history, the Church has tended to reject the grace of Jesus for law.

• The churches in Galatia were bewitched by the Judaizers who sought to burden them with Old Testament circumcision.
• The Roman Catholic Papacy burdened the people with indulgences.
• The Holiness movement of the late 19th an early 20th centuries sought to burden people with long lists of acceptable and unacceptable practices.
• I live just 3 miles from a very large “church” that demands everyone read the King James Version, the women wear dresses, and eschew makeup–or face the fires of hell.

Freed from the oppressive burden of legalism, why then does the Church turn from grace and embrace such foolishness? Why do pastors promote, and individuals accept, the burden of laws not intended for us?

• Like the Pharisees, we are all prone to think that rules will help guard us from moral failure. The more strict the rules, the more we feel safe from sin.
• Like the Judaizers in Galatia, we think that following a set of laws will give us a better way of salvation.
• Like the Roman Catholics, rules give us the power to control the actions of others and make sure they conform to our standards of morality.
• Like the people in the holiness movement, a list of rules offers a sense of moral superiority—compared to everyone else, “I am more obedient to God.”
• Like the people down the street from me, the power of legalism offers a sense of accomplishment that makes us feel secure in earning our salvation.

The problem is that all these traditions supplant the righteousness of Christ with self-righteousness. Rules, lists, and laws create a barrier to stand between us and God (Gal 3:19-20). These barriers shelter us from the Holy Spirit so we do not face his real power to speak directly to our conscience. Man-made-laws make us a slave to lists and keep us from being bond-slaves to Jesus (Gal 3:24-29).

Seeing how this penchant for legalism has persisted over the past two centuries, it should not surprise anyone to discover that the Evangelical-Protestant church does Her fair share of law-making. I would like to use this recent post about “Saddleback’s Ten Commandments” on Ed Stetzer’s blog as a case study of grace vs. law. Here are the first 4 of his 10 moral commandments Ed uses to guard his actions.

Thou shalt not go to lunch alone with the opposite sex.
Thou shalt not have the opposite sex pick you up or drive you places when it is just the two of you.
Thou shalt not kiss any attender of the opposite sex or show affection that could be questioned.
Thou shalt not visit the opposite sex alone at home.

The Evangelical church is full of lists and rules just like this one. This is just one example where pastors have taken the Law of Moses and rewritten it to meet a particular need in ministry. My reply to the post was as follows.

I remember years ago being encouraged by similar stories of how Billy Graham followed many of these same principles.

If making sure we do not give a cause to diminish our reputation is important, so too is remember the Grace of Christ. Making ones personal convictions into a “Thou Shalt Not..” list does not fit well with the instructions in Galatians.

My goal was first to say that legalism is no joke. It derails the faith of many and putting out a list of “suggestions” in the form of a list of Commandment is not helpful, funny, or a proper use of Scripture. Second, I hoped to remind folks that righteousness is not secured by following a list of rules, it comes by grace through faith and an obedience to the Spirit of Christ in us.

Galatians 3:2-3 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?

Here are a few replies most relevant to this discussion of grace.

Matt said: “Joe, I do not see anything wrong with a “Thou Shalt Not…” list. In fact, I would encourage it if it helps to keeping your from getting into trouble. Remember the Grace of Christ, but Jesus also said that if we love him, we will obey his commands. And I would consider personal convictions fall under that.”

Ed said: “Joe and Matt, thanks… but let’s move on from Galatians (did I just say that?).
These are church policies, not laws. The “thou shalt not” is tonuge-in-cheek…”

Dave Miller said: “any pastor who does not practice something very similar to these rules is foolish.”

Jack Allen said: “Ed, wisdom is never silly. The simpleton who walks into the enemy’s arms is the one with regrets. Not you. As for the list, I praise God for giving the same instruction to me through Rick Warren. And yes, they need to be Laws as in, “Break this law, and there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth as thou seeketh new employment.” Sorry if that doesn’t sit well with some of the brothers, but in the church planting world we have less leeway and more attacks.”

Michael said: “Frankly, I’d be very concerned about any male over the age of 12 who tries to convince me that they don’t need these “laws.””

Hal Bilbo said: “There are two tools that I have used to protect myself and those I love from my moral collapse, similar to Ed’s Shall Not list. The summer 1999 edition of Leadership Journal, James MacDonald wrote “5 Moral Fences” that I used in my pastorate- to the dismay of many members. It was the right thing. More recently, Celebrate Recovery has 10 Commandments for CR Leaders that include many of these elements. Again, a good tool.”

So taking this list of religious commandments as a case study; here are a few questions for consideration. Read Galatians 1-3 and answer the following.

• When does a list of “suggestions” cross the line and become a “law” that violates the grace of Jesus Christ?
  
• What makes this list of behavioral restrictions different from the methods used in the other religious traditions mentioned above?
  
• Does a pastor have the moral right to impose this list on another Christian brother, or sister, just because they are paid staff?
  
• Can any list really keep us from moral failure? Or put another way, do people really fall into sin because they did not have a good list of moral guidelines or because they were not listening to the Holy Spirit.

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