There’s a couple guys I knew, a few years back, we’ll call them James and Vince, who I was in a church small group with.  Now James was an admitted alcoholic.  Likewise Vince struggled with lust and pornography.  Now, trying to encourage these two was difficult.  Inevitably, James would come in every 3rd or 4th week, and say he’d gone on a 2-3 day binge again, usually starting with his being at a restaurant bar area, just eating dinner or waiting on someone, etc.  Likewise Vince would come in almost weekly discussing how he had “fallen” into sin, and how he wanted to do better.  The suggestion was made to James… “James, we all care about you, but if you seem to have struggles with being in a restaurant bar, maybe you shouldn’t go to places that have a bar or serve alcohol”.  Likewise, a suggestion was made to Vince, “Vince, we all care about you, and know that you want to gain some ground in your struggle against lust and pornography, maybe it’d be a good idea if you didn’t go out to bars on the weekends, and put an internet filter on your computer”.  Someone spoke up in both circumstances, however, suggesting that those tactics were “legalistic”, that they were covered by grace, and simply needed to trust Christ for forgiveness.  So nothing changed.  Ultimately, to the best of my knowledge, James and Vince still struggle with the same things even today.

What is, and what is not legalism?  Legalism is the belief that you will be accepted by God, counted righteous, because of your works.  Thus in Vince’s case, if he believed that the actual act of putting an internet filter on his computer was somehow intermingled with the work of Christ, such that if he didn’t do it, Christ’s death would not be sufficient to reconcile him to God, that is legalism.  This is what the Jews of Israel were doing when they believed God would accept them if they followed all of his laws outwardly.

Legalism is not making decisions that are going to help you stop sinning outwardly, while still asking God to change your heart – that is called wisdom.  If a surgeon has a trauma patient coming into the ER, what is the first thing he does?  He stops the bleeding, and he tries to get the patients vital signs stable.  Then he continues to do everything to 100% heal the patient.

When those suggestions were made to James and Vince, they were not trying to replace Christ’s work on the cross, they were simply made to try to make the bleeding stop.  Do you fall into sin more often when you drink alcohol?  Stop drinking alcohol.  Do you fall into sin when you go to bars?  Stop going to bars.  Do you fall into sin when you come into a large amount of money?  Give it away.  Stopping those things aren’t going to stop making you a sinner.  They may stop the bleeding some outwardly, but ultimately we are to love the Lord with all our hearts, mind, soul, and strength, and that is an inward battle that can only be won by Christ.

My encouragement is to look at your own life and take some steps to stop the bleeding.  Get others involved with you, to encourage you.  We’re all struggling sinners in need of grace.  Christ alone can heal, but we have been commanded to be wise.  Therefore, let’s put behind us those things that would lead us away from our eternal treasure, so that our joy in Him would be made full.  Less of us is more of Him.  May our lives sing all the more to the praise of His glorious grace.

Grace and Peace,
Adam