Standards & Legalism
Good Morning,
Please allow me be a bit controversial today, as I scribble a few notes. First of all, let me address standards, especially standards in regards to our appearance.
Everyone has standards. Our church places no requirements on a person’s appearance, except what everyone in town would expect – because everyone has standards. Even people at the grocery store have certain guidelines to what people must wear. One cannot go into any store naked. There are no public schools that I know of that do not require clothing. Where people draw the line varies, but, everybody has a standard.
I will teach and preach what I believe matches God’s directives for appropriate apparel, but I certainly do not require it (nor does our church). A standard of conduct or a standard of appearance is an outward sign of an inward relationship to God. There are things I do and do not do because I love my wife. There are things I do and do not do because I would not want to hurt my wife. If I did those things, I would hurt the one that I love dearly. The same is true with God. If I love Him dearly, then I would never want to offend Him with the way I act or how I appear.
The people who might attack our church for teaching what the Bible says about appearance have to decide on their own what they think is appropriate to wear. It is none of my business (although, they have made it their business to criticize what we believe). The Bible says every man will give an account of himself to God. With that in mind, I would defend each individual’s right to determine their behavior and their appearance. God gives that freedom to people; why would I not also defend that freedom.
If we were to talk about standards of behavior, everyone has them. Recently, it has been made obvious (again) that tying athletics and gambling together violates some standard of conduct. Again, I say, “We all have standards of conduct.” In the political world, standards of conduct in regards to campaign finance in the political world is expected to be upheld. We all understand that a standard should exist.
The second word I would like to address is legalism. I would like to identify the absolute semantic ignorance of the people who use that word. The vast majority who say that someone is legalistic are simply parroting what they have heard someone else say. They cannot define the word, nor can they elaborate on how a church like ours would be defined as legalistic.
We have already established that everybody has some standard of conduct and some standard of appearance. The only difference between us is where we draw the line. In having a standard, we are not legalistic, we are simply trying to abide by our basic beliefs. The true use of the word legalism or legalistic is when we add works to salvation. Some dictionaries would define the word as, “A strict set of rules or standards that is more important than Grace.” I do not know any Christian group that believes any set of standards is more important than grace. I cannot even imagine anyone so foolish to believe that, let alone for one to accuse another of it.
Not only that, but I do not believe there is anyone that teaches and preachers grace more than a Bible-believing Baptist. When knocking on doors and witnessing all over the community, we find an endless stream of church goers who believe that their good works have something to do with their salvation. Some believe their good works help them get saved. Others believe they get saved by faith, but their good works keep them saved. Each of these approaches is legalism and biblical nonsense.
Of all the religious groups I know, we are absolutely the LEAST legalistic. I do not believe that anything one does could possibly help them get saved or keep them saved. I do not believe there is one shred of good works needed to be converted. I will go so far as to believe that if we add one percent of good works to 99% faith, we are condemning ourselves to hell.
Romans 11:6 makes this very clear.
“And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.”
In a very brief summary, I would say that everyone has standards, and that of all the religious people I know, we are the least likely to ever be legalistic; while almost everyone who accuses us of being legalistic actually IS.
Pastor