AVOID THE TWO EXTREMES OF RELIGIOUS LEGALISM& THE ABUSE OF THE LAW OF GRACE

By Rev. Michael Benson Ajayi.

      1Cor.6: 12 "All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient:  all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power  of any."
   This scripture underscores the degree of immunity the child of God enjoys under the dispensation of grace through Jesus Christ. This became necessary because of man's inability to fulfill the laws of Moses(Exo.24:12), therefore, forgiveness was needed through blood sacrifice that justice may be satisfied and man made eternally free from the condemnation of the laws of Moses . The law required atonement for sins through blood sacrifice (lev.4:1-4,17:11, Hebrew9:22) but this was not a sufficient cure for sin because animal sacrifice though repeatedly executed could not take away sins. There was always a sense of guilt from an unclean conscience (Heb.10:1-4,11)
         By shedding His blood, Jesus Christ obtained eternal redemption for us (Heb.9:25-28a) and it was a one- size -fits -all sacrifice for humanity requiring no more sacrifice for sins. Through Jesus Christ's sacrifice we were sanctified (made holy and righteous ) once and for all ( Heb.10:10-12) and the blood of Jesus repeatedly cleanses us sin consciousness (1Jn 1:7b) . The blood of Jesus is the cure to shameful addictions when acknowledged  in prayer through faith.
       Redemption through Christ marked the end of the law of Moses over us and the beginning of the law of Christ as promised by God (Jer.31:31-33) haven found faults in the laws of Moses (Heb.8:7-10) in that it wasn't humanly possible to fulfill (Rom.7:14) .It can't be fulfilled by an imperfect person .Jesus' death on the cross marked the end of the law (Matthew 5:17,Rom.10:4) thus believers in Christ aren't bound by the rigid law of Moses (Rom.6:14b,Heb.10:9) We are delivered from the law through Christ (Rom.7:4-6,8:1,2)The law is made for the sinner (1Tim.1:9) that God may have the legal grounds to judge them for where there is no law, there is no sin. The believer in Christ is under the law of liberty were we are commanded to love God and one another. This fulfills the obligations of the law of Moses (Rom.13:10,Matt.7:12,Gal.5:14).
              There's the temptation to think that the law of Christ is much easier than the laws of Moses but the contrary is the case so that we would always need Jesus to fulfill His laws(John 15:5), for instance  while the laws of Moses requires that we give 10% of our income as tithes, the law of Christ demands that we give 100% and lay it at the apostles feet as the early church did ,the scriptures says  in Acts 4:32 "And the multitude of them that believed  were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that  ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all  things common. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as  were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices  of the things that were sold" again while the law encourages revenge (Exodus 21:24, Matt.5:38-42) Jesus commands that we love our enemy (Matthew 5:43-45) it commands us to love those we dislike ( Lk.10:25-37) also ". Going by the law of liberty, married folks have no reason to stop loving each other because the law of liberty doesn't require a reason to love one's spouse, ,love is a duty one owes his neighbour. The misconception of the word "liberty" does more harm than good. It leads to self destruction.
      We have have been given liberty but it does not include the liberty to be foolish.God hates foolishness (Gal.3:1,Mk7:22) It gives no room for abuse and dishonorable lifestyles. It is not for offense because liberty is for the mutual growth of the community, therefore, consideration should be given to the disadvantaged .  If one's liberty hurts more people and repels them away from the gospel, then one isn't working in love.(1cor.10:23,8:9,12) therefore ,if a neighbour is offended by our display of liberty we should let him or her know that though we are free to do what we please but for the love we have for them ,we chose not do it until they can tolerate it. However, we  shouldn't allow a person's indifference to truth keep us in bondage, therefore,  tolerance should have a mutually acceptable limit .
         When tolerance isn't operated within  mutually acceptable limits abuse becomes inevitable. This is the origin of religious legalism and those Christians who are still bound by the law for selfish ends. The scriptures describes them as the concision, they are evil workers such as the various religious fundamentalists seeking to impose the Mosaic laws over others while exempting themselves.Act21:20,Phil.3:2-3) they project a self-righteousness which denies Jesus' sacrifice and grace(Rom 10:3,Gal.3.2:21) they fail to understand that righteousness can't be attained by the law of Moses (Phil.3:3-9). The enforcement of the law of Moses only leads to bondage , social and infrastructural underdevelopment because it isn't God's will, it brings about a curse open the lives of the practitioners (Gal.3:10) . It leads to depression and a high dependence on psychotropic substances (Matthew. 23:4,2Cor.3:6b) . Those who seek to enforce these laws are themselves guilty of violating them (Exodus 31:14-15,Jn 7:22,23)
     For example,  the law of the Sabbath says in Exodus 31: 14 "Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it  is holy unto you:  every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever  doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his  people.". No task or duty is to be observed on that day, this includes, cooking, using toothbrush, combing one's hair,driving,sweeping, washing, being on duty as a policeman, nurse,soldier, chief, if a pet or someone fell into a well, they were to be left there until the end of  sabbath. There isn't a single person who hasn't violated this law and the penalty for violating this law is death. Thank God that through Jesus Christ we have been delivered from the bondage of the law.
      As you read this now, receive freedom from religious bondage and the stronghold of shameful addictions in Jesus name.
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