Why Yet Another Christian Chronicle?
(All scripture references are NASB and all references to “Law” are Torah (Mosaic law) unless otherwise noted. I usually capitalize “law”, only because I am using it as a proper noun, not as a special status.)
Obviously this chronicle has a Christian Gospel or “Good News” theme. I want to make that clear up front. I'm assuming that you understand basic Christian terminology (like the names of books in scripture).
If you are not familiar with Christianity, or a new believer, then perhaps you can pick up something from my writing, but it might be difficult. I recommend reviewing this resource (and other links in it) first:
https://biblequestions.com/answers/how-do-i-become-a-christian/
I will get into more detail about who I believe my audience is (and who they are not) later, but I do not want to waste anyone's time. It would be better to start with the basics.
Much of this will be like a one-sided “family of God” dinner table discussion, so it could be confusing for anyone with no foundation or who is not part of the family of God.
Certain “familial” assumptions will be made.
Why I will remain Anonymous
I plan to remain anonymous (though obviously some folks will be personal friends and thus know who I am).
Nuntius Vitae are real Latin words meaning “messenger” and “life”, though I could not find where the phrase was put together in Latin. But the idea is to be a messenger of life.
As a messenger of life, it should be the message that is judged, not the messenger.
Far too often in this genre, it becomes about the messenger and not the message - whether in a negative or positive sense.
I want my writing to be what is judged, not my credentials. I think we absorb way too much dung from well credentialed folks who we default to trusting because of their credentials. There were more fishermen who first disseminated the gospel than scholars.
Same with tribalism. It is the content that matters, not what religious tribe you are in.
There are “new creations” in every tribe.
Galatians 3:28 says it best - “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Amen.
Perhaps I will have a different leading in the future to reveal myself, but for now, the message, not the messenger, will be emphasized. I suspect that will hold.
Take Care with Human Terminology
I generally use the word “scripture” because that is what scripture calls itself. I'm not opposed to using the term “Bible”, but it is a human label, so just a personal preference.
This may already give a hint of my mindset. I have found that using man-made terminology to describe scriptural concepts is fraught with risk. Great care must be taken when using man made theological terminology; particularly when scripture already has a term.
I am not saying it is intrinsically wrong.
Sometimes a term like “incarnation” puts a lengthy scriptural concept like “Christ being God, yet born in human flesh” into a single word. This can obviously be helpful.
Clearly all teaching and preaching is a form of putting scriptural principles into a different form of speech. This is the majority of what I am doing in this very forum!
But, sometimes, humanity begins to ascribe values to certain words that twist their meaning. It is impossible to extract that completely, even from my own thinking. It comes with having a fallen brain and body.
It is not always the actual meaning of a word that can be the issue - it is also how it is used.
Even if it is a scriptural term, if it is used as a weapon, or the meaning is twisted to mean something it does not, it is the same concept.
This should make us wary and discerning.
Anti-law and Lawless are not the Same
One example is the term 'antinomian'. It means anti-law. I suppose the closest scriptural term is “lawless”. Yet, anti-law and being lawless are different concepts.
Actually, for both terms it depends on which “law” you mean. There are many “laws” in scripture - Mosaic, Christ, love, sin, etc.
If it is the “law of sin in my members” being referred to, then proudly call me anti-law!
This is not a term from scripture. Most often, I see antinomian being used as a slur against those who teach a pure gospel of grace. Paul must have faced a similar accusation that he defended in Romans 6-8 and other places.
Many times these terms are created as a way to divide the body of Christ, often over misunderstandings or concepts that simply are not that important to the gospel of grace.
Scripture warns of this kind of division - yet, legalistic religion depends on it. It has to find value in the effort it puts into keeping rules (and keeping them better than others).
We Are Not Lawless - a New Law is in Town - the Law of Christ or Love
A new covenant grace believer is not lawless, though the “law of Christ” does replace the “law of Moses” (at least for Jews; for Gentiles, it is the only law). Thus, we should be, in a sense, anti-Mosaic law. So, antinomian could scripturally describe a grace believer.
Again, only in a sense. We affirm with Paul that the “Law is good”, and has a purpose, it is just not for believers to put themselves under.
This is not a slur, and we are not “lawless” in the way the epistolic authors understood it.
The issue is when you view something without nuance. A believer should honor the Mosaic law while putting it in it's proper place and using it properly (1 Tim. 1:8).
Thus, we can be pro-Law, not anti-Law, yet we are only pro-Law for the unbeliever and the self righteous - the purpose of the Law is to show them both their need for Christ. The Law is a placeholder for Christ, once Christ indwells you, it is no longer useful.
The old covenant law of Moses and the new covenant way of grace, (known as the law of Christ or love), are in opposition as a power source for living righteously. But we are under a law or power, thus we are not lawless. But under the new covenant the law has changed.
This is straight from the book of Hebrews. In 7:12 the author has just discussed the fact that the high priest has changed to Christ. The author then states that when the priesthood changes, then the law must change. This is an abundantly clear description in Hebrews.
I will get into the Law vs. grace topic much more later, but this is an example of a man-made word that can have scriptural overtones or theological vibes, yet it can be used in a way to water down the gospel, or diminish those who are teaching the pure gospel.
Using the literal terminology from scripture, whenever possible, helps. It does not eliminate this bias completely, but it can help.
Especially when we elaborate and interpret using original language. Given the tools at our disposal, this is not the sole domain of scholars. Like most “experts”, they may feel threatened, but we don't answer to them.
Please Follow Along in Scripture
I also want to say that I will rarely type in the scripture passages (due to space limitations), and at least for now, I haven't taken the time to figure out how to make them show up by hovering without clicking a link.
My expectation is that you will either already be familiar with them or have a Bible or Bible app ready to go. Please do this while reading.
If I paraphrase or draw a conclusion from a particular passage, please look it up. Don't just take my word for it; ever; period. I am happy to have a difference of opinion about the meaning, but please read it yourself.
And preferably from several translations, or even better, get into the Greek meanings.
Also, please only read my stuff if and when you have the time and really want to! If you are just rushing through this right now, stop, and come back later. It will be waiting!
And I certainly never want anyone to feel obligated to read for any reason. Only if you are interested, led, and it is helpful.
The “Why ?” is Going to Take Awhile
You will have to wait until a few posts for my detailed write up on the main passage that provides the answer for why I am writing this.
Take a look at Ephesians 4 if you want a preview. Paul gives an example of what it looks like when you don't “learn Christ” properly. Interesting phrase.
How we learn Christ is everything. The first 3 chapters of Ephesians is part of Paul's answer to this. I would argue that all of epistolic writing has this goal but comes at it from many different angles or perspectives.
I believe that “learning Christ” is the primary goal of every believer. Everything else flows from this. If the things that we do are not focused on this goal and/or flowing from the results of this goal, they are spiritually useless.
I will also get into this later, but this does not mean these actions must be “religious” or fit into some specific category. Christ within should inspire you to brush your teeth just as much as to volunteer at a soup kitchen.
This understanding is essential because it is the only way we can be who God created us to be, with our unique abilities, personalities, and backgrounds. Not everyone is created to serve tables. When we limit the ways Christ can be reflected, we limit His power in us.
When Christ says, “…apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) this is what He means. He does not mean you cannot literally do something or perform an action. Often, the doing of things becomes a major problem when they are not from a Spirit motivation.
(Sometimes doing nothing is absolutely inspired by Christ…especially when it helps us get rid of mindset that we must “do to please”.)
Every action, however mundane, can flow from His indwelling power. This is a distinguishing factor in the daily life of a believer. The percentage of our living that flows from this is a measure of our maturity.
Every gospel admonition of the apostolic writers has the thread of this goal to learn Christ woven deeply. This should be the lens through which all of scripture is read -especially the Old Testament.
If Christ is not the lens, many anti-gospel mindsets can be pulled from the Old Testament. The grace covenant is really the only covenant because the revelation of Christ is the truest revelation of God's very nature (Hebrews 1). This is important.
Learning Christ is really about learning the true nature of God, a nature of which we are now partakers. When we learn Christ, we are actually learning the reality of our true new nature as believers (2 Pet. 1:4; 1 John 4:17).
A nature perfectly illustrated by Jesus Christ.
The entirety of a believer's walk could be summed up by saying that we are learning God's reality for us vs. the reality we have created from our own brain and senses.
It is a reality that impacts everything we think, say, and do. But our thinking, saying, and doing doesn't change the reality, it simply begins to align with it. That is the goal.
A later post will explain why the Davidic phrase “be still and know that I am God” is a major key to “learning Christ”. Hopefully these introductory posts don't scare you off and you will come back for both of those.
And then I will write about John 5:38-40, verses that have had a huge impact in my life, hence using john540.org. They are part of the reason I use “scripture”, not Bible, as a reference to written revelation from God. But you will have to come back to find out why.
Truly Introductory Posts
I must warn that this introduction is extensive and gets into many gospel topics.
Matter of fact, I have had to divide it into four posts since it got too long, even for me! All four posts will be to some degree a continuing thought pattern, so please read all or none.
Alas, while I will include some scripture in these introductory posts, they will not be as scripture centric as my writing normally is. Please consider this before judging. I will not get into the context as deeply in these posts.
These first posts are a high level overview of some concepts that have impacted my mindset. I plan to extrapolate them in more detail in the future (and most importantly, from scripture). At that point you can decide if I am a Christian quack or not! But please actually investigate before dismissal.
(I acknowledge that if you are not a believer and have stumbled upon this you may well think all Christians are quacks. This is to be expected; scripture even warns of this. The Gospel can sound absolutely crazy.)
So… What is the Point of Writing this?
I realize there are a ton of Christian writers on the internet, and tens of thousands in print for the last couple of millennia. With such a volume of human pondering, what hope is there that I can meaningfully contribute to it?
Yet…despite all of those…and being in church since I was an infant…and studying thousands of pages of spiritual material…and going to “Christian” schools…and listening to thousands of sermons, I found myself after 30+ years of being a “Christian” in a place where that enormous fact of my life was essentially meaningless. A sad place to be.
What I mean by that is this: an honest, in-depth look at all that time spent on “spiritual things” revealed little impact on the practical matters of life, i.e. in my life or walk.
I had form without function; I was attempting to “fake it until I make it”; I was simply trying to do “good” stuff and avoid “bad” stuff. I was immersed in conservative “Christian” culture, but there was something missing.
Some would say I wasn't disciplined enough, dedicated enough, or obedient enough, etc.
Those were not my problem. My problem was I had not learned Christ very well.
Human discipline, dedication, and obedience can make you look really good and take you pretty far. But they often substitute for real faith when you haven't learned Christ well. In the end, they can only take you so far since human effort is as “dirty filthy rags”.
And even though it may make you look better because you are behaving better, if the behavior doesn't flow from faith, it cannot please God or help you grow in grace.
Behavior on it's own accomplishes nothing spiritually. We don't gain or or improve anything from God by our works. Works that please God can only flow from what we have already been given by Him. Paul calls this the “obedience of faith” (Rom. 1:5,16:26, Gal. 3:2).
Discerning this is critical - knowing what “works” are flowing from your own power versus what is flowing from Christ’s power within is the key to walking by, or according to, the Holy Spirit. This is true power.
This is impossible to judge in others (I get into this more later) and often difficult to judge in ourselves. Some are gifted with a natural human ability to be disciplined and obedient. So, they may fool themselves and others for a very long time. But, if they haven't learned Christ well, life eventually messes up. If not publicly, then privately.
The issue is recognizing the “flesh patterns” we are struggling with and not excusing them. We all have them. Some are more obvious than others due to a greater emphasis by society, and especially church society.
An example is men get beat over the head constantly for “lust”, yet other things like gossip or meanness get a lesser sentence. And some flesh patterns are even more subtle than those - like performative moralism.
(Note: I am not excusing actual lust, though since scripture indicates it is the same as coveting, many of the folks on the condemning side lust in other ways. All sin is harmful, but we tend to emphasize some over others - usually what is not our struggle.
Though to be fair there are some that emphasize it in others because they struggle.
I will probably do an entire write up about this, but one issue is that the enemy, as our accuser, wants to turn everything into sin for believers. Many men are wrought with guilt over a God given attraction to women that they may or may not allow to become lust.
Of course, true lust is not healthy, especially when it turns into addiction. But false guilt and shame over something that is natural and not sinful is just as harmful. The Spirit is certainly able to help us know the difference. But we must have a discerning mindset.)
The cool thing about the gospel is that we are forgiven, righteous, and still a member of the family of God even if we don't learn Christ well. But it is not a very fulfilling life!
I will get more into the personal reasons I did not learn Christ well later in these posts, and frankly, that is what this entire forum is for.
Be Ready to Answer for the Hope Within
Thus, this forum will be my written version of “answering for the hope that is within” me (1 Peter 3:15). It is a “peak” into my discovery (and continued discovery) of the missing pieces in my knowledge of God's truth that prevented me from properly growing in grace.
This is an exposition of why my “faith” simply wasn't working very well despite all the teaching I had absorbed. It is some of the answers I have found and continue to find.
It is a lifelong journey of truth seeking. I have not arrived or completed the journey. I'm not sure we ever will. The love of God is so vast we will discover truth into eternity.
The scriptural truth I have sadly only discovered in the last few years has made a huge difference. There are some key mindsets that I previously held that hindered that journey, and some I have had to pick up in order to facilitate my journey of growth.
Don't Let the Past Inhibit the Future
It can be discouraging to consider all the years of spinning my wheels and I have had to forgive many who perhaps innocently led me astray. Yet, at the same time, I could not be where I am now without the failures.
This is a bit of a conundrum to face, but as Paul would say, “forgetting what is behind” in Phil. 3:13. In the Greek, this means “overlooking”, not dis-remembering. It means not allowing the past to inhibit the future.
As we grow in grace and knowledge of Christ, this allows us to relax in the need to perform, including our self condemnation over our past performance. The gospel frees us from the past, but only if we allow it or “let” it.
Free From Performative Moralism
What is interesting is that while growing in grace and knowledge of Christ has allowed me to express more fruit of the Spirit, especially love, in my daily life, it has possibly resulted in less overt “spiritual” actions taken.
(Well…in some areas; in others I end up naturally doing more like reading scripture; and talking to Dad is a foregone conclusion. It is not a requirement; it just “is”.)
Because maturity in Christ has enabled me to spiritually relax and trust His work, not my own, I am no longer forced to seek overt “spiritual” activities to make me feel better about myself. Maturity is not about seeking some false level setup by a human measure.
Those who would measure their spirituality by activity level (or some would measure it by the opposite, like a monastery) would think I have regressed, not progressed.
The Fruit of the Spirit is the Only Proper Measure for a Believer's Maturity
Yet, I do not believe that this is a scriptural measure of your maturity in Christ. The measure is the fruit of the Spirit - (which is all attitudes - not specific actions). You can bear it quietly or actively, but the fruit is what matters. This is the same as Christ power.
The fruit of the Spirit, which we get as a gift when we are born of God, is not something we try to accomplish. It is something that we let happen. And because it is attitudes, we can bear it in every aspect of life, even those that others don't have on their measuring stick.
A key mindset in “letting it happen” is to stop trying to force it to happen. I have found that the harder I try to “bear fruit”, the less genuine fruit I end up bearing! Fake fruit is easy to confuse with the real thing.
An attitude of “look at me God, see my smoke” is not a new covenant gospel attitude!
(Lest you think by my language that I am somehow perfect in this, far from it. I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I was, but I literally just had a moment where I was trusting in my own work. However, now, at least, I normally recognize it fairly quickly.)
I will get into more about fruit of the Spirit later. Many avoid this topic because it is difficult to measure and if it is genuine, it cannot be “ginned” up by human effort. It must truly come from the Spirit.
Fruit Bearing is not Stressful
I am reminded of a sad interaction that I often think of. I had a discussion with a lady about the fruit of the Spirit, and she was under deep stress over the perception that she was not able to bear it very well, no matter how hard she tried. She was in tears over this.
I tried explaining how for an apple tree, bearing apples was not a stressful event. It simply does what it was designed to do. And for believers it is the same, we have been born again as new creations to bear fruit.
But this lady simply could not get away from the mindset that she must try hard to bear fruit. I could not convince her otherwise.
She died of cancer a few years later at a relatively young age. I cannot help but wonder if the stress she was under, based on this mindset drilled into her by her religious community, played any role in this.
No one can know for sure of course, but the role of stress in chronic disease is well established. And I have not found very many environments more stressful than a self-righteous religious community.
If your fruit bearing is stressful, then it is not from the Holy Spirit. It is most likely from the false tree of performative moralism. It may fairly accurately mimic Spirit fruit in some ways, but it cannot be genuine.
Stress is a product of the fallen world, not God. We are human, stress is certainly not a sin (though it can lead to sin), yet it can be a sign that our mindset needs to grow. And the “growth that comes from God” helps with stress; it never causes more!
By Reading this, You are Asking!
Since no one will be forced to read this, then as 1 Peter 3:15 states, they will be “virtually” asking about the hope within me. I pray I am able to do this with “gentleness and respect”.
A Disclaimer
We only have so much time in this life, and I want this to be edifying for you.
I fully recognize that how a believer learns Christ is unique to each person. Your puzzle pieces are probably different from mine. But some of them may be quite similar too. There are many basic universal human mindsets.
Only you (with Spirit help) can determine if my musing is helping you grow and/or challenging your thinking.
Both are valid and if it is not doing either, please don't waste your time. But I do ask that you finish the next few posts of introduction to maybe help determine if this is for you. But the last thing I want to do is waste your time.
The Harms of Legalism
Much of my struggle and failure in my pursuit of the knowledge of Christ is due to the harms of “legalism”. So, I am going to spend a bit of time explaining a “brief” (sarcasm) version of my perspective on this topic.
I realize that not everyone has this issue, though I am convinced many believers have a bigger problem with it than they realize!
Perhaps they don't really know what it is, or minimize it to certain narrow categories like music, clothes, entertainment, etc.
Legalism is a huge topic - much of the apostle Paul's writing deals with it. It was a massive problem in the early church, causing Paul to get righteously angry, as portrayed vividly in the book of Galatians.
Is Only Ceremonial Law an Issue?
Paul was so angry, in fact, he desired those who were confusing the Galatians to be castrated. His language is very strong!
(This is in reference, of course, to the most overt expression of the Law - circumcision.)
Yet, even this is used by those with a legalistic mindset to justify their legalism. They see Paul's use of this overt example as proof that he was only concerned about ceremonial Law, not the “moral” Law. They still press believers with the condemnation of the Law using this.
They conveniently ignore other places where he calls out coveting and “letters on stone” -quite clear references to “moral” Law. (See Romans 7 and 2 Corinthians 3.)
As we will see, Paul never divides up the Law. Anything he says about the Law means all of it - even the so-called “moral” laws. The Law creates a human mindset that is dangerous to true faith, and the grace we obtain by faith - which is the only power to say no to sin.
Circumcision is a extreme example he is using to demonstrate a legalistic mindset.
If these Gentiles were being convinced to undergo a dangerous medical procedure late in life in order to gain peace with God, what does that say about their mindset?
Again, these were Gentiles, not Jews - never given any Law -no covenant, Mosaic or otherwise, ratified directly with them.
Can we have the same mindset, yet our focus be on other “works of the Law”? In most circles today circumcision is not an issue, yet other parts of the Law are.
Or even worse, we make up modern Christian “laws” like “quiet times” that have the same condemning Law type mindset. They often are enacted in a sense that we are somehow acting in order to maintain peace with God or they are a requirement to grow.
Peace with God and growth are shoved onto our shoulders, no longer a gift. Our shoulders cannot bear it. Both of these items must be treated as gifts, not requirements.
Paul is using circumcision as an extreme example in order to rip out the entire mindset from root to stem. But it is the mindset, not the actions that flow from it, that matters.
Just because your list of laws that you put yourself under doesn’t include circumcision or even the Sabbath, doesn't mean you don't struggle with a legalistic mindset.
Just analyze how it makes you feel if you miss a “quiet time” or some other “discipline” you have scheduled for yourself. Do you feel farther from Christ? Do you feel guilt, shame, or stress? Is that coming from God, or the enemy, who is your accuser day and night?
Legalism - A Brief Overview
In general, legalism is the idea that our relationship with God is based on behavior, i.e. how well we keep His laws, or some subset of these rules or commands we have chosen (or new ones we create by twisting scripture).
Hence legal(law)-ism. It is “behavior or performance based righteousness” before God.
This can occur before salvation, thus preventing it; or after salvation, where it becomes a roadblock to growth in grace.
Legalism is the Original Sin
I will write about this further with it's own post, but I believe legalism is the “original sin”. It is truly about changing our trust from God and focusing it on our own ability to please God with our attitudes and actions.
The tree of “knowledge of good and evil” is a legalistic religious tree. Notice knowledge of “good” has equal footing with “evil”. Yet, you rarely see or hear this emphasized.
Scripture doesn't indicate one is better than the other. It the knowledge of both that is in focus. Only God can know truly which is which - only He can judge good and evil.
The tree is a symbol of humanity wanting to go their own way and trust their own ability to determine what is right and wrong, and act on it. And legalism is this same mentality.
Humanity has little capacity to truly know exactly what is good or evil. Everything a human does is nuanced by motive. I am not advocating relativism, which I cover in the next couple posts. Yet, we truly cannot come up with a list of do's and dont’s that work.
Even with the Law, given by God, this is impossible. This is not a flaw in the Law, it is our inability to interpret or grasp the true standards. They are subject to our own bias and interpretation. The flesh interferes.
This is why Paul says in Romans 8 that Christ had to do what the Law could not do since it was “weakened by the flesh”. Yet, God knew the flesh was weak when He gave the Law! So, obviously He gave it for a different reason.
And even if we could grasp the true standards, we can never keep them. God never gave us the Law to keep it, but to show us that we can't. The Law was given to lead us to Christ, not to try and keep it (Gal. 3:24).
Adam and Eve had True Righteousness
Adam and Eve did not need to know what was right or wrong. They had relationship with God and it was not based on behavior. The only behavior that mattered was trusting God by faith when He said don't eat from that tree.
Yet, they weren't happy with the free gift of righteousness (being right with God) bestowed upon them by God at their creation. They felt their own righteousness was better.
They wanted to establish their own rightness by knowing good and evil and doing what was good and avoiding evil. This is the definition of religion - they established the first religion.
And still today, humanity struggles with this.
At various levels, even for believers, but especially for the world in general, we view our “rightness with God” or righteousness through a lens of how well we are doing “good” things and avoiding “evil” things.
Even “atheists” operate this way. Their list of “good and evil” may not be purely scriptural based (they would claim none is, yet most still tacitly admit lying, stealing, and murder is wrong), but the mentality is the same.
Their “god” may be themselves, but they cannot get away from this human mindset of measuring their worth and value based on how well they appease their chosen deity, even if that deity is themselves (or perhaps worse, their peers or tribal 'virtues').
Nothing has really changed since pagans did rain dances around the fire. Only the laws and the gods have changed. All are “religious”.
Humanity cannot get away from this.
Their worth and value is still based on how well they are following their “list”. Modern “wokeness” is based on this mentality.
Because of Adam and Eve's choice, Christ had to come and give up His own life in order that the gift of righteousness is available to humanity again because they rejected it.
And yet again, many continue to despise that choice and try to gain or maintain peace with God by doing what is good and avoiding evil.
The gift becomes the stumbling block.
It was always about faith and trusting God's free gift and not trying to earn anything by our own effort. Adam and Eve wanted to know how to earn…they despised the free gift.
They found value in earning, not receiving - a legalist mindset today does the same thing.
Many cannot see this, they think they are “pleasing God” with their feeble attempts to obey the rules. Yet without faith it is impossible to please God! Learning whether your actions are powered by faith is critical.
(Note: later in this introduction I explain why doing “good” is still better than “bad”. Please finish at least the introductory posts so that you can read this holistically.
There are many reasons other than making peace with God to have good behavior. I am not advocating an “anything goes” mentality -quite the opposite. Healthy living is good.)
Again, it is the mindset that is harmful. This is separate from obviously unhealthy choices, though the wrong mindset can lead to them.
Side-note #1: Two Disparate Examples of Legalism
Comparing and contrasting Galatians and Corinthians is fascinating. They both had legalistic mindsets, yet one led to asceticism and the other to debauchery.
Most think I am nuts for saying that the Corinthians had a legalistic mindset. But just hear me out and you decide.
This is fascinating because the Corinthian mindset was actually somewhat unusual. But it demonstrates yet another facet of the harms of a legalistic mindset.
These may seem to be opposed; however, they are two sides of the same coin (for these two churches): same mindset, different results - neither displaying true “righteousness”.
(Note: I'm not saying all debauchery comes from a legalistic mindset. This was a particularly Corinthian issue. But it can still be a mindset with some believers today where “grace” is used to excuse unhealthy behavior.)
Both groups put themselves “under Law” in very different ways. They both looked at “the Law” as the only or main power to control sin.
This is a legalistic mindset: looking to the demands of the Law as a power to help you with your sin problem or self-control. Paul calls this “spiritual adultery” in Romans 7 during his marriage to Christ analogy.
Galatians saw the Law as still active for them; Corinthians took Paul at his word that they were no longer “under the Law”, so they treated it as inactive. Both are not of faith - the Law is not of faith, whether you are viewing it negatively or positively (Gal. 3:12).
Since the Corinthians viewed Law as the only constraint on their behavior, they had not learned the grace way to “behave”. They misunderstood Paul's teaching and used it as an excuse to act lawless in their behavior.
(They were not lawless, they just acted that way. No true believer is every actually lawless, though they may be confused about what law they are actually under. See above!)
Thus, the Galatians behaved better than the Corinthians, yet both missed out out on faith.
One way could be judged as better than the other temporally, but they both massively missed out on true righteousness by faith.
The Galatians could be compared to say Mormons today. Most Mormons have an amazingly healthy lifestyle. Yet, they don't truly acknowledge Christ as the only Way, Truth, and Life, so true faith is hard for them.
Their rules are a replacement for Christ. We all must take care that this doesn't happen.
Fake Righteousness is more Harmful than the Poor Choices of a true Believer
I will argue, however, that the Corinthians had more faith than the Galatians, which is ironic. From an external view, certainly Corinth looked a lot worse off. But man looks on the outside, and God on the heart.
(Note: I realize that Paul wrote in broad strokes to everyone at these churches. While I am using the church names as representative of these ideas, obviously not all participated. Many were healthy, growing believers.)
Seemingly, at least the Corinthians believed the promises of total forgiveness, mercy, and love promised through the new covenant gospel, unlike the Galatians. This is faith - believing and trusting God's promises.
They took it too far, because they did not understand and believe the promise of grace and the new creation to give them an active life righteousness. They did not understand that “grace teaches them to say no to sin”.
So they had faith in some of the promises, yet ignored, misunderstood, or doubted others.
This is the opposite of faith, not believing and acting on God's promises, whether this is due to ignorance or simply not taking God at His word. The Corinthian issues were still a lack of faith. They did not believe in grace power.
Yet, while Paul warned Corinth of the severe earthly consequences of their actions, it can be argued that he warned the Galatians that some of them may not have even been saved! This was a heavenly spiritual consequence.
A misbehaving believer is in a much better condition than a well behaved unbeliever.
One is spiritually alive and one is spiritually dead. You can dress up a spiritual corpse with lawful behavior, but it is still dead. This is the most deadly aspect of a legalistic mindset.
Justification is at Stake for the Galatians
Justification was on the line - this is evident from how Paul uses it in the letter. He is clearly quite concerned that some Galatians struggled to understand “salvation by faith”.
Paul only mentions “justification” once in 1 Corinthians 6:11. And he uses it in the past tense, you “were justified and sanctified”. So, he is clearly identifying, that despite their bad behavior, he is not as concerned about their salvation as he is their knowledge of Christ.
Matter of fact, Paul is constantly reminding them of what they have as new creations in Christ. He recognizes that their behavior is caused by not understanding their identity - the family of God they have been born into.
But there still doesn't seem to be as much concern that they are actually in God's family. They just don't know how to act like it!
Yet, he mentions “justification” 7 times in Galatians 2 and 3! And then in Galatians 5:4 he severely warns those who would be “justified by the Law” of their peril. His concern for the Galatians was deeper.
Clearly Paul was concerned that the Galatians, due to their efforts to “keep the Law”, might not truly be “justified” or saved.
And yet, he did not have the same level of concern for the Corinthians, despite their awful, terrible behavior. This is worth some meditative contemplation. Is this the way we view ourselves and others in our community?
Or do we purely base our judgment on behavior? Romans 10 warns of this. Do not say who is going “down” or “up”, only say that the word is near. All humans need this gospel message, believer and unbeliever.
A Poorly behaved New Creation is far Better off than a Law Keeping Faker
As I will get into later, truly being a new creation, with a newly born spirit in-dwelled and fused with the Holy Spirit is the main thing. This should lead to better behavior, but this depends on how well you know and trust Christ. Hence, we must grow in grace.
However, a poorly behaved new creation is in a far better position than a “Law keeping” faker. I cannot emphasize this enough. This is the message of Galatia vs. Corinth.
While from a human perspective most would judge Corinth more harshly, Paul was actually far more concerned for the souls of the Galatians. A “fake” righteousness has far more dire spiritual consequences than the stupid, unhealthy choices of a true believer.
This is not however an excuse to overlook the warnings to the Corinthians. The two letters to the Corinthians are the longest in the New Testament! Paul had great concerns with their major issues. They had clearly not learned Christ very well. This is extremely harmful, both to themselves and the name of Christ.
They were the immature brats in the family of God, but at least they were part of the family.
Perhaps Paul was able to spend more time correcting them, because their faith was actually further along than other churches!
He knew they were true children in need of instruction, so he was able to give that rather than having to go over the basics again. They certainly had a lot of questions.
This pales in comparison to the Galatian issue of “justification by the Law”. Paul is more concerned about the justification or salvation of the “Law keeping ascetics” than he is the “grace abusing libertines”.
Much like the author of Hebrews, Paul apparently felt he needed to review the “elementary” principles of the gospel: by grace through faith - for the Law keeping ascetics. Thus, behavior is not always a good measure of a person's faith.
This is instructive as it is opposite to most people's view of things. Again, worth contemplating. Which mindset is more dangerous to our souls? I believe the Law keeping ascetic view is more dangerous, and it appears that Paul would agree with me.
Clearly there are people who don't know Christ at all who have amazing behavior! And there are some like the Corinthians who have been justified and sanctified, yet behave really poorly. The measure of faith is not always how well you behave. It goes deeper.
Ascetic Legalism is Dangerous because it Mimics true Righteousness
As I will get into later, this holds true for both believers and unbelievers. It is easier to convince the debauched person of their struggle than the self-righteous. Christ ran up against this often with the Pharisees and the “sinners”. The “sinners” often flocked to Him since they knew they needed help.
Humanity struggles to see that doing “good” things out of a bad motive is no more pleasing to God that doing “bad” things. Generally the person doing “bad” things has an idea that what they are doing is wrong, whether they are truly are willing to admit it or not.
The self-righteous person most likely thinks they are doing great things! Which one will be more likely to ‘change their mind' or repent? The one who thinks they are doing “good” or those who deep down know they are not?
What do you think? This is Paul's concern.
Both mindsets are wrong, but one more easily leads to thinking you are saved when you are not. That is far more dangerous.
A legalistic mindset is a huge roadblock to learning Christ well. I will continue on that theme in the next post, I hope you come back for the continuation.
I am taking some extra time as I strongly feel that a mindset of legalism is so harmful. It was certainly extremely harmful to me
There is much more to be said on the topic, but that’s enough for now!
Again, I ask you to at least finish my introductory posts as I plan to wrap much of this all together. This first post is incomplete, however, your time is valuable, so I want to bite this off in a bit smaller chunks. Thanks