“Legalism doesn’t need God. Legalism is the search for innocence—not forgiveness. It’s a systematic process of defending self, explaining self, exalting self and justifying self. Legalists are obsessed with Self—not God.”
For
the past year or so, I’ve been reflecting more and more on what I
have seen of Man-Centered Theology in my church and pondering how to
help turn the focus of these believers more to Christ than Self.
Even
though the theology here is not very systematic or cohesive, the
bottom line is usually quite clear. Christ as Savior from sin, Victor
over Satan and death and Redeemer from damnation - the central figure
of our faith and confession - takes a second place to the importance
of Me, My efforts and My ‘keeping myself blameless’.
As
I was in church this past Sunday, this thought would not let me go:
If
I insist that my goodness, my zeal, my church-going, etc., is what
saves me in the long run...
have I ever truly seen
Jesus Christ?
The
apostle Paul says this of those who have not believed in Christ,
both Jew and Gentile, “...their minds were blinded: for until this
day the same veil remains when they read the Old Testament, the veil
that is done away with in Christ. To this day, when Moses is read, a
veil lies on their heart, clouding what they hear... the god of this
world has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, so that the
glorious light of the good news of Christ, who is the image of God
would not enlighten their hearts...” (2 Cor.3:14-15, 4:4)
I
think that this is very applicable to many ‘christians’ in
churches today.
Paul
spent all of chapter 3 of 2nd Corinthians comparing the
New relationship with God given through Christ with the Old covenant
of Law. He starts with the ‘chosen people of God’ when discussing
how people miss out on Christ. How does Satan so effectively blind the eyes and
mislead the hearts of those who are ‘good people’, who believe in
God, yet have never truly comprehended ‘the glory of God in Christ
Jesus’?
After
all, these are people who studied the scriptures and knew the
commands of God. They even recognized Him as the One true Creator who
has the right to demand moral uprightness from His creation, and
dedicated much of their time and energy to adapting their lives to
His commands.
Yet
they missed the very One to whom the Law pointed. Paul tells us that
the purpose of the law was to reveal man’s need for the Savior
promised by God. (Rom.3:19; Gal.3:22) However, God’s Chosen People
took so much pride in the fact that God chose them above all others,
and gave them His law that they turned their focus away from the
promised Deliverer and to their own ability to keep the law.
“Being ignorant of God’s righteousness, they zealously
established their own righteousness as the ultimate standard,
not submitting themselves to the righteousness of God. For Christ is
the end of the Law, imparting His righteousness to anyone who
believes in him.” (Rom.10:3-4)
I
know that I have a tendency to over simplify complex theological
concepts... but I am living and working and teaching in a very
uncomplicated theological setting. I truly am perplexed at how people
who claim to make the Bible their “Ultimate Rule” in teaching and
practice can so easily set aside so much of the New Testament, the
very essence of the New Covenant established with the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This
is the crux of the matter to me:
Either I see in the Scriptures my own lack of righteousness and begin to seek the Answer - the repeatedly Promised Redeemer of the Law and the Prophets...
Either I see in the Scriptures my own lack of righteousness and begin to seek the Answer - the repeatedly Promised Redeemer of the Law and the Prophets...
OR
I see myself in every line.
“My
hands are clean before You, O Lord...” (Ps.18:20-24).
On
every page of scripture, Old Testament and New, I see my chance to
prove to God and others how good I really can be when I try.
If
that is how I read the Bible, then my mind and heart is just as
clouded and deluded as the most stubborn, self-righteous Pharisee. I
may never truly see Christ.
“...God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ... we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, not of us.”
Not. Of. Us.
I
am becoming almost desperate to walk into church and hear Christ
Himself glorified far
above any good that we may possibly find within ourselves.
Not my efforts, my attendance, my prayers, my appearance, my words, my blamelessness, my witness, my righteousness, my rejection, my acceptance, my separation, my repentance, my sacrifice, my sin... my sin, my sin, my sin...
Not my efforts, my attendance, my prayers, my appearance, my words, my blamelessness, my witness, my righteousness, my rejection, my acceptance, my separation, my repentance, my sacrifice, my sin... my sin, my sin, my sin...
I
want to see Christ.
I
want to hear Christ.
I
want to praise Christ
for His
love, His
mercy, His
righteousness, His
sacrifice, His
resurrection, His
goodness, His
blamelessness, His
beauty...
Jesus
said that the Jews believed they would gain eternal life through
their studying of the Scriptures, but that they would never attain
their goal - because they never saw Him,
the One to Whom all of Scripture points... and not having truly seen
Him, they were not willing to come to Him and rejoice in accepting
the Life He offered freely. (Jn. 5:39-47)
How
is it that we are so ready to repeat the deadly mistakes that the
Lord Himself pointed out so clearly, that his apostles expounded on
in such detail?
Have
we ever truly seen Christ?
We see most eloquent orators voiceless as fish when they must speak of Thee, O Jesus our Saviour. For it is beyond their power to tell how Thou art both perfect man and immutable God at the same time. But we, marveling at this Mystery, cry faithfully:
Jesus, Eternal God!
Jesus, King of Kings!
Jesus, Lord of Lords!
Jesus, Judge of the living and the dead!
Jesus, Hope of the hopeless!
Jesus, Comforter of the mournful!
Jesus, Glory of the poor!
Jesus, condemn me not according to my deeds!
Jesus, cleanse me according to Thy mercy!
Jesus, take from me despondency!
Jesus, enlighten the thoughts of my heart!
Jesus, make me ever mindful of death!
Jesus, Son of God, have mercy on me!”
Akathist to Our Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ
3 comments:
I appreciate this question "Have I ever really seen Christ?" I think the problem I often have is that I want Jesus to be my helper instead of my leader, I want him to be my co-pilot instead of taking full control. I'm reminded of Paul's words in Philippians "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain!"
Great points! This is a struggle we have working in Latin America, where legalism has completely clouded the Gospel. Getting people to understand that our relationship with Christ is all about His grace to us, not our works for Him is an uphill battle sometimes!
Thanks for posting this. Having lived with Jesus for nearly 42 years I am only beginning to see Who He is, in contrast to Who I have presumed Him to be. The great, blinding obstacle for me has not been legalism so much as Western individualism, and the expectation of comfort and privilege as one of His Own ... completely antithetical to The Gospel.
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