There are two basic principles effecting relationship with God: legalism & grace. Both are very powerful, having their own unique abilities. On the one hand legalism demands works, while on the other, grace inspires faith. Legalism brings bondage! Grace releases faith and freedom!

LEGALISM:
Legalism can be traced right back to the fall of man. Having sinned, Adam and Eve felt the need to cover their shame and nakedness. By sewing a few fig leaves together they thought they would be presentable to God. God seeing right through the shabby human efforts of self righteousness made His own covering for them.

The birthplace of legalism (the human effort to attain divine perfection without God's power) is deeply embedded in self righteousness.

Legalism is, both strong and weak; strong in its demands, weak in its ability to provide power to achieve. Demands, regardless of how noble, never provide power to perform!

Gal. 4:9 calls legalism, weak and miserable. The reason being; legalism lacks power to give the spiritual capacity to please God.

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THE LAW:
During the course of God's dealings with humanity, He, through Moses, introduced the Old Covenant Law. This embraced much more than the "Ten Commandments". There were numerous rules and regulations effecting social, civil and religious conduct. All of which had to be strictly observed, or else! ! !

Introducing the Law did not introduce legalism. It did however give lots for it to feed on. Having a ferocious appetite for works, legalism flourished under Old Covenant.

The Law showed up legalism for what it really is! The height of its misery and the depths of its weakness are vividly revealed through the rejection of Christ by religious Pharisees and Saducees. Their self righteous ego refused to embrace the long awaited Messiah. Instead, they crucified the Lord of Glory! Legalism was powerless to change their hearts, powerless to give them the spiritual capacity to receive Jesus Christ as their Lord.

Legalism has its weaknesses, but, it does have some very strong points! It's quick in pointing the finger at failure, merciless in its accusations of short-comings. It's quick to enslave and bring into bondage! The demands for perfection never diminish. Always wanting more. Never satisfied!

The Law wasn't introduced for the purpose of condemning us, but rather to show us our real need. We need more than demands. We need more than the knowledge of what is right and wrong. We need a Savior. We need Life. We need the divine power of God to live as would have us live!

The nation of Israel tried for hundreds of years to obtain divine righteousness using the legalistic approach. To this very day they've failed. Still striving, yet, never able to attain.

The principle of legalism fuels self righteousness, ruthlessly it drives people on, striving to attain godliness through human effort and never giving any rest or assurance.

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THE HUMAN HEART:
The reason legalism is not the God acceptable way of pleasing Him is because it fails to address the spiritual issues of the human heart.

Through natural birth Adam is our human father and as a result we have all inherited his sin nature. Without Christ, the most human thing for us to do is sin. You might say, "We come by it naturally". There's simply nothing in the "Adamic" nature that will ever enable humanity to attain to the righteousness of God. Legalism cannot change our sin nature. Nor can it give us a new heart.

ISHMAEL REPRESENTS LEGALISM:
According to Gal. 4:211-26, Hagar and Sarah represent the two covenants. Hagar, the Egyptian slave woman, speaks figuratively of legalism while Sarah, the free woman, speaks of grace. What is birthed out of these two principles is quite interesting. Hagar births an Ishmael. Even the way he was conceived is so revealing. It was the result of impatience, human reasoning and a whole lot of self-effort.

The true colors of legalism are seen through the character traits of Ishmael. At one point Hagar desperately feared that Ishmael would die. However, her fears were dispelled when God told her that her son would grow into a large nation, too numerable to number (Gen. 16:9). One thing is certain, legalism isn't going to die. It's not going to go away. No, it will flourish! How true! The vast majority of world religions and cults are fuelled by this curse. We shouldn't be surprised when legalistic religions thrive. They're merely preying on the "Adamic" nature of legalistic self righteousness.

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ISHMAELITISM:
Hargar was told by the Lord what kind of a man her son would be, (Gen.16:11,12). Through this we can see what legalism looks like and how it behaves.

* He is a wild donkey stubborn and self willed.

* His hand is against everyone, don't ever think that legalism wants to help you. There is no mercy, just more demands.

* He will live in hostility.

It's amazing how harsh and absolutely brutal legalism is! Look how it treated Christ!

Another character trait of legalism is:

* The tendency to mock and ridicule the true heir.

When it came time for Sarah's son, Isaac, to be weaned, (about 3 years of age), we find Ishmael mocking Isaac. To this very day legalism always mocks and ridicules the grace of God and grace people. It was at this point that Hagar and her son Ishmael were sent away. At that time Sarah boldly declared, "that slave woman's son WILL NEVER share in the inheritance with my son Isaac," (Gen. 21:10).

There comes a time in our Christian lives when we really see legalism for what it is! The harder we try, the more it mocks the grace of God. It's time to say to Ishmael, "Away with you."

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OUTWARD APPEARANCES:
Legalism's only really interested in the external appearances. It has no real interest in the heart. Strangely enough, it can look good outwardly yet have totally the wrong motives. Jesus said of the Pharisees that outwardly they looked fine (white washed) however inside they were full of dead men's bones and everything unclean, (Mt. 23:27).

It's amazing how man, who is naturally legalistic, looks on the outward appearance, God, on the other hand, looks into the heart. He's more concerned with why people do what they do, than what they do. At the judgement seat of Christ it will be the motives of the heart that are exposed, (I Cor. 4:5).

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THE MOSES EXAMPLE:
The Law was given through Moses, (Jn. 1:17). In some ways he became a living illustration of the Law. He had served God so well all through the wilderness years, only to fail in one point. The rebellious Israelites had so provoked him, he failed to strictly obey the Lord when told to speak to the rock. Instead, he struck the rock with his rod as he had previously done. This one failure is what kept him from going into the Promised land, (Deut.32:50 -52). That's the way the law is! It's only as good as the weakest link. Fail in one point and you've blown the whole thing, (Jms. 2:10).

MOSES MY SERVANTS DEAD:
The things written in the Old Testament are written for our learning, (Rom. 15:4). Moses, as a type of legalism, was never permitted to enter the "Promised Land". In the will of God, Moses brought the people up to the "Promised Land" but it was to be Joshua that would take them in! When it came time for Israel to enter Canaan, Moses died, God buried him and the Word of the Lord came to Joshua saying, "Moses my servant is dead."

Moses was not permitted to do what only Joshua could. The law was designed to bring us to Christ, not to take us into Christ. Its ability is to show up the weakness of the fallen, "Adamic" nature and reveal to us our need of the Savior. Interestingly Moses was strong and very and much alive right up until he died. God took and buried him in the land of Moab. In Col. 2:14 we find where the law was taken and nailed it to the cross of Christ.

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GRACE HAS COME:
It's at this point, when the Old Testament Law was taken out of the way that God introduces us to His grace. Jesus is our Joshua who will take us into the "Promised Land". Jesus will do for us what the Law was powerless to do and that is to change the human heart. The law came through Moses; grace and truth have come to us through the Lord Jesus Christ, (Jn.1:17)

HEART TRANSPLANT:
What Adam's race needs is heart surgery. Not just a bypass, but a complete transplant. That's exactly what Christ does for us when we receive Him as our Lord and Savior. He gives us a new heart surging with the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what being "Born Again" is all about! We receive a completely new heart! We become new creations in Christ. (2 Cor. 5:17).

Satan has come to steal, kill, and destroy. On the other hand Jesus has come that we might experience His life in abundance, (Jn. 10:10).

WHAT MUST I DO?
At one point, the people asked Jesus the all familiar question, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" (Jn. 6:28). The Adamic, legalistic spirit of this world always wants to know, "What must I do?" Let's face it! It's a very intelligent and legitimate question. The God-given answer, however, is too often rejected! "The work of God is this: to BELIEVE in the one He has sent." (Jn. 6:29).

Legalistic fueled self righteousness thrives on earning its own keep and struggles with the concept of God doing something for me when I don't deserve it. "For by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God", (Eph. 2:8). We've all been born in sin and shaped in iniquity. No one deserves forgiveness and salvation. It's a gift from God and He says the only way we can receive it is by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Without faith it's impossible to please God, (Heb.11:6). Crawling a thousand miles on crushed glass to some how gain the favor of God and buy His mercy and grace looks pretty shabby in the light of Christ's shed blood. Even sowing you're very own fig leaf garment won't cut it. God sees right through all our futile humanist efforts.

JESUS DID THE WORK FOR US:
We should never assume that grace and truth have come cheap!

Jesus paid for our redemption with His life. Yes, there was work to do to satisfy the God who hates sin with all its negative affects on the eternal state of the human soul. The wages of sin is death. Sin earned every penny of its reward: alienation and eternal separation from the God of love and grace.

Oh yes, salvation involves works alright! The only thing is, it doesn't involve our works of righteousness. It is totally dependent on Christ's work of righteousness as the atoning sacrifice for our sin, (Rom. 5:18). Christ came under the law to fulfill its strict demands and to do the work His Father required of Him.

Christ was destined to work for our salvation and that He did! As the sacrificial Lamb of God, He took our sins upon Himself, (Jn. 1:29 & 1 P. 2:24 ). He who knew no sin became sin for us, (2 Cor. 5:21). He took the righteous judgement of God for sin upon Himself. He died in our place. He paid it all! Jesus did all the work that the Father required to secure freedom and salvation for us. The point is: The work has been done! JESUS HAS DONE IT ALL

BELIEVING:
As a result of Christ having fully completed the divine requirements for providing salvation, God now calls upon everyone, everywhere, to repent and believe in Jesus Christ. As Jesus told the questioning crowd of followers, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one He has sent" (Jn. 6:29).

Believing who Jesus is and what He did when He gave His life's blood on the cross is what God now requires of us.

When the desperate jailer cried out: "What must I do to be saved." Paul and Silas said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved", (Acts 16:30,31). And where does the ability come from to do this believing? This is the work of grace! This is what the Lord puts into our hearts as He divinely influences our lives. It's the grace of God that releases saving faith.

RECEIVING FROM GOD:
The Apostle Paul asked the Galatian believers, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit through believing (faith) or through trying to keep the law (legalism)?"(Gal. 3:2) He went on to say that if they had originally received the Holy Spirit through faith, then why now start trying to complete that work through humanistic legalism. This basic principle of the world would like to continue it's dominion over us. Having been freed from it we need to remain free. "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free" (Gal. 5:1)
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THERE IS REST FOR GOD'S PEOPLE:
Legalism never brings us into rest. It always ministers insecurity! We're never absolutely sure if we've done enough, or, if what we've done has been done well enough. It's a pretty ruthless master. We're encouraged to "Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery", (Gal. 5:1). Why! Jesus Christ has taken us out of the slavery of legalism and has brought us into His kingdom principles of grace and truth, that's why.

As God's children we've been given, "full rights of sons" (Gal. 4:5). We're no longer under the law but under grace, (Rom. 6:14).

The Lord clearly tells us that there is a rest for the people of God,(Heb. 4:9). We're told that Israel failed to experience their rest because of unbelief.

The "Rest of God" will only fully embrace our hearts as we fully embrace His rest. Rest is that place where we cease from our own works and enter into the works Christ has done, (Heb. 4:9).

SABBATH REST:
"There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God: for anyone who enters God's rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his." (Heb. 4:9,10 & Gen. 2:2,3)

The Sabbath-rest has been ordained and blessed of God. It's the time we stop working and enjoy the works of God. New Covenant grace and faith rests in the work of Christ and enjoys what God has done.

Heb. 4:11 has an interesting statement. They we're encouraged to make every effort to enter that rest. Once having entered Sabbath-rest the challenge is to stay there.

The enemy seems forever determined to encroach on private property. He likes to sneak in and build a bit of beach-head from where he can launch his lying accusations. He's constantly provoking us to a co-redeemer role saying: you must do this--you have to do that--salvation is free but you have to work to keep it and if you don't well, who knows? Maybe one day you'll find yourself in hell! He's constantly trying to get us out of Sabbath-rest into humanistic works of self - effort.

WORKING OUT OUR SALVATION:
When the devil attacked Jesus in the wilderness he was shrewd enough to approach Him using the Word of God. He still uses this technique! He'll come and say: "Well doesn't the Word of God say to "work out" your own salvation"? All too often what young, zealous ears hear is : "Work FOR your salvation". The Word says work OUT. It doesn't say, "Work FOR". There's a major difference! In order to work something out of you it first has to be in you. Sure, once the salvation of Christ is in our hearts the most natural thing to happen is for it to work its way out into our everyday living. Jesus wasn't deceived by the devil's misuse of the Word and we don't need to be either.

ASSURANCE:
Assurance is awesome! Isa. 30:15 says, "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength." The accuser may ask, "Are you secure in your goodness?" The answer: "No! I'm secure in Christ's goodness." "Are you secure in your works of righteousness? The answer: "No! But I'm secure in Christ's work of righteousness on the cross." "Do you have an assurance today that you've done enough to please God?" The answer again is: "No! But I'm secure in knowing that Jesus Christ has done enough and I'm secure in Him."

Our trust is in Him, not in ourselves. We need to be constantly reminded of Sarah's words: "the slave women's son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac."

RESPONSIBILITY:
Personal responsibility is an important issue to have settled as it pertains to allowing the grace of God to do for us what we can never do for ourselves.

Responsibility is an area where the differences between legalism and grace are clearly seen. In, Isa. 46:1-4, (stop and take time to read these verses from your Bible) we find that the religious spirit of legalism is burden- some for the weary. It is unable to rescue the burdened and takes people off into captivity. Contrasting this is the grace of God. God's voice of grace says, "I have made you and I will carry you: I will sustain you and I will rescue you."

While legalism puts the responsibility on the power of the selfish, fallen, Adamic sin-nature, God's GRACE puts it squarely on the shoulders of the Lord Jesus Christ. As Isa. 9:6 says, "the government (the power to rule) will be upon his shoulders". Only the shoulders of Christ have been divinely designed to carry the load. This is why Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light". (Mt. 11:28-30).

While legalism arrogantly declares, "God helps those who help themselves", God's grace says, "God helps those who can't help them- selves." Under legalism we carry the weight while under grace Jesus carries us!

GENUINE FAITH TRUSTS:
Genuine faith trusts God. Faith says, "I'm fully trusting Christ to carry me through".

To illustrate faith: A very competent and skilled trapeze artist stretched a tight rope across a vast canyon. Crowds gathered on both sides to watch. Effortlessly he made his way there and back.

Next he successfully pushed an empty wheel-barrow across. Then, taking bags of sand, equaling the weight of the average person, he filled his wheel-barrow and proceeded to transverse the canyon. To everyone's amazement it seemed so effortless. Little question remained concerning this man's incredible abilities.

Turning to the crowd he asked them if they believed he was capable of taking a person over the canyon in the wheel-barrow. The unanimous shout was, "Yes". He then pointed his finger at a non-suspecting individual and said, "Do you believe I can do it?" "Yes," he said. "Well, then get in." Now this is where real faith takes action! It not only says, "Yes", it now gets into the wheel-barrow and puts it's trust completely in the ability of the one skilled to handle the situation.

Faith not only says: "We believe You're capable, Jesus, to take us to the other side". It says, "I'm getting in. I'm trusting you, Jesus, to do for me what I cannot do for myself."

Law and works go hand in hand so do grace and faith. Law demands works while grace inspires faith.

GRACE HAS POWER:
Grace is much more than a theology! More than a pleasant thought! It's the released power of God actively affecting our lives. It's God divinely influencing our hearts, bringing about the fulfillment of His will in us. (Eph.3:20)

There's a very common misconception concerning the grace of God! It sees grace as being something that enables God to overlook our sin rather than the power of God released in us keeping us from sin. An attitude can develop that says, "I'm under grace. It doesn't matter how I live it's all covered." "CAUTION"! This is not an accurate representation of the truth. Yes God is a gracious, loving, patient God and He's always prepared to show us mercy and waits for our repentance of sin. This is God's graciousness extended to us. We're grateful for this divine character trait, however the grace of God is His power released to us that will actually empower us to stay free from sin. (1 Jn.3:9)

It's very important that we see grace as power--power from God released to us, effectively meeting every need we have.

In Rom. 5:21, a comparison is drawn to illustrate the fact that grace has power. On the one hand we're shown the power of sin. It always produces! It always ministers death. Always! To one degree or another, we've all experienced this effect in our lives.

Every time someone physically dies we're reminded of just how powerful sin is. Graveyards scream out the message, "The power of sin is death." We don't doubt it for a minute. Contrasting this is the power of grace. Just as sin has the power to produce death, so grace has the power to affect righteousness in us. We're told that, "sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace", (Rom. 6:14). "For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age", (Tit 2:11,12) The child of faith is under the divine influence of God's grace.

EFFECTIVENESS OF GRACE:
Can we trust the grace of God? Is it sufficient to make us acceptable to God and to affect the inner change of Christ-likeness within us? Is it really possible to rest in God's unfailing love?

The Apostle Paul is a great example of the incredible power and effectiveness of the grace of God. He started out as a very self-righteous, legalistically zealous individual. One day he met Christ as his personal Savior and became a recipient of God's grace. The story of his life is filled with situations that had the potential of total despair. Through out all of life's experiences (and there were many) he found God's grace to be sufficient, (2 Cor. 12:9).
The sufficiency of God's grace always exceeds the demands of the situation.

In Rom. 8, Paul lists a variety of common situations that demand more than human abilities. Clearly God's grace is more than, just enough. God gives the "grace power" to be more than a conqueror, (Rom. 8:37).

GRACE PRODUCES RESULTS:
Just as the power of sin is not abstract, so the power of grace is not abstract. It produces real results.

Word got back to the church at Jerusalem that things were happening in Antioch. They sent Barnabas out to investigate the report and when he arrived and saw the evidence of the grace of God, He was glad, and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts, (Acts 11:23). It was clear to him, by what he saw, that God's grace had powerfully effected these peoples' lives.

Yes! Grace will affect powerful changes in our lives. The Apostle Paul became a great man of God in his generation. He came from a back-ground which hated the New Covenant Believer, sending many to prison and some, even to death. However he received God's life changing grace and became the Apostle to the Gentiles. Through God's grace many people were saved healed and delivered through his God given ministry. Many New Covenant local churches were established and he became a spiritual father figure to many of the new converts. How did all this happen? In his own words he says, "by the grace of God I am what I am," (1 Cor.15:10).

IT'S THE TIME OF GRACE:
Grace came through the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, He is, Himself, the grace of God personified: "for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, (Tit.2:11). We are presently living during the time period of "the administration of God's grace," (Eph. 3:2). This is a unique time in which God has extended divine favor to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. It's call "the year of the LORD's favor (Isa. 61:2).

In Christ we have divine favor with God. As a result we are recipients of His continuous grace. "From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another," (Jn. 1:16). From 2 Cor. 9:8 we know with assurance that:

STRENGTHENED BY GRACE:
Heb. 13:9 declares, "It is good for our hearts to be strengthened by grace". In Heb. 10:29 the Holy Spirit is called "the Spirit of grace". It's when the Spirit of God releases His grace into our hearts that we are strengthened.

We are living during the time of ; the year of the Lord's favor, the grace of God and the Spirit of God are inseparable. They are, in fact, one and the same. This puts us in a position of strength in that we always have God's grace available to us at all times.

Jesus said, when the Holy Spirit came "He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you," (Jn. 16:14). Jesus went on to say in the following verse, "ALL that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you,"

 (1)   God's Riches At Christ's Expense. GRACE
(2)   God's Righteousness At Christ's Expense. GRACE

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ABUNDANCE OF GRACE:
As the family of God we are the recipients of our Father's grace. "In him (Jesus Christ) we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins in accordance with the riches of God's grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding," (Eph. 1:7,8). He has already poured grace richly into our lives and the beauty is: "God is able to make all grace abound to you," (2 Cor. 9:8).

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THE THRONE OF GRACE:
One might assume the throne of God to be a frightful and scary place to be. Certainly for the ungodly this is ! However, for those of us who have come into a personal living relationship with the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ, things are much different.

We're encouraged by the Lord to "approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need, (Heb. 4:16). In the future we will all stand before the judgement seat of Christ and give an account of our lives. However, at this point in time, for God's people, His throne is not a throne of judgement, but a throne of grace. It's the throne we can approach to receive God's Riches At Christ's Expense.

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GRACE GIVEN TO THE HUMBLE:
God resists the proud in heart. He does however give grace to the humble, (1 P.5:5). Receiving grace is a heart matter!

The spirit of legalism would fuel self-righteousness and pride, seeking to fill us with a sense of self importance; distracting us from the only real hope we have: the grace of God.

As we learn to walk in humility before our God, grace freely flows in our lives.

We're encouraged to be strong in the grace of God, (2 Tim. 2:1). We're instructed to grow in grace. Why? Grace is God's favor released in our lives. It's His Presence and power released in us. It's God in us that causes us to be willing and gives us the power we need to live a God-pleasing life, (Ph.2:13).

"For it is by the grace of God you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--not by works, so that no one can boast," (Eph. 2:8,9). Where sin abounds grace abounds even more. Yes, sin is powerful BUT grace is more powerful. Sin produces death. Grace produces life in Christ.

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RECEIVING GRACE:
A football team can have the worlds greatest quarterback but if there are no receivers the team will never advance up the field. A TV or radio station may have the most power transmitter money can buy but if there are no receivers the message being sent is of little value to anyone.

Our spiritual Quarterback, the Lord Jesus Christ has received from the Father and has thrown the pass to us. We've already been given everything we need for life and godliness, (2 P. 1:3). We've already been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, (Eph. 1:3). These things have been transmitted. They've already left God's heart destined for our hearts. He has targeted us, BUT, we must be open and receptive to receive.

We're told that Jesus came to His own but His own did not receive Him. The irony is that the religious Saduceese and Pharisees could very well have spent time praying for God to send the Messiah while Christ was right there all the time. God had already done the sending but they were not receiving. Jn. 1:12 goes on to say that "to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." God has given humanity a Savor, however for them to benefit from what God has given they must receive.

As the Holy Spirit was speaking through the Apostle Paul about reigning in life through Jesus Christ, He said, this was possible as we RECEIVED God's abundant provision of grace and the gift of righteousness, (Rom. 5:17). Grace has come! It's already left the Great Transmitter in heaven, (God's heart). We need only to tune in and receive what He has sent to us.

The question isn't will God give to us!

The question is, "Will we receive?"

GRACE is there for us because God is there with us
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