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There’s a question that we each
have to ask ourselves: Do we desire to walk in fellowship with
the God who created us?
We have the opportunity to walk
with Him because the work of Jesus Christ on the cross has
satisfied God’s just demands against our sins. When we accept
Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are given new life from God
Himself— even eternal life— and thus begins our walk of
fellowship with Him.
Consider this very important
little verse:
“As you have received Christ
Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Col. 2:6)
These two clauses communicate a
mountain of meaning. It teaches that our walk in Christ is
accomplished by the same means through which we originally
received Him as our Savior.
How did we receive Him as our
Savior? This salvation is available by God’s grace alone,
through faith alone, in Christ alone.
How then, are we to walk with
Him? By faith. “As you have received Christ Jesus [by faith],
so walk in Him.” This point can’t be missed. When we attempt to
walk in fellowship with Jesus Christ through our own efforts and
works, we are destined to fail. Just as human works cannot save
a person, neither can human works produce a life that is
pleasing to God.
When a person or a preacher
attempts to follow or preach a gospel that includes human works—
even human religious works that look good on the surface—the
result is a false gospel. A dangerous false gospel. A
misleading gospel. Add even a grain of human works, and
precious blood of Jesus Christ on the cross is rendered
useless. If we have to add to it, then God did not finish the
work that Jesus Christ was assigned to do. And in the area of
sanctification, remember our lesson from Paul's letter to the
Colossians. The Christian life is just what it sounds like it
ought to be: a life in Christ.
It is lived by faith, daily
depending on Him, growing in Him. And it is through this
fellowship with Him that we are used by God to bear fruit that
is pleasing to Him.
But, because we are fleshly
creatures wanting to have some of the credit when it instead all
belongs to God, we like to inject our own selfish efforts into
sanctification.
When we inject works into the
gospel, the result is a false gospel that is dangerous. When we
inject works into the Christian life, the result is a kudzu like
problem called legalism.
Legalism can be defined as any
attempt, however sincere, to live a life that is pleasing and
acceptable to God through efforts to conform to an extra
biblical set of rules of conduct.
Paul writes about the dangers of
legalism Colossians, chapter two, which concludes:
“These things [legalism]
indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed
religion, false humility, and neglect of the body., but are
of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.” (Col.
2:23)
For the enemy, fighting this
enemy within that is characterized in the Bible as “the flesh”
by our own self efforts may have the “appearance of wisdom,” but
it doesn’t have power.
Trying to walk in a manner that
is pleasing to God through fleshly efforts is like trying to
control kudzu with hedge clippers. You can clip at it all the
live-long day, but it’s going to remain active. In the same
way, trying to live the Christian life through legalistic
methods doesn’t even begin to result in a life that produces
fruit that is pleasing to God.
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