NEW TOPIC - PERFECTIONISM

Let no one be so confident of himself as to suppose that when he has received grace, he is completely cleansed of his old vices. Many things are indeed cleansed, especially the head of the serpent – that is, unbelief and ignorance of God are cut off and crushed (Gen. 5:17) – but the scaly body and the remnants of sin still remain in us.

Luther, Martin. Galatians 3:1, p. 189
Luther’s Works, American Edition, Vol. 26

It’s jokingly referred to as “Lutheran guilt.” It’s the sense of religious obligation that won’t let you say “no” when someone from church asks you to do one more thing. It’s the feeling that your life is so much better than you deserve and that something bad is bound to happen. It’s the somber “church face” that suggests Lutherans more easily believe their confession of sin than the pastor’s assurance of forgiveness. “Lutheran guilt” is a subtle form of legalism in which people believe the gospel but live under the law.

…Overt legalism is also using the law where the gospel should be applied. Such spiritual abuse makes people “wear their sins,” like a scarlet letter, as though the punishment Jesus endured for sinners wasn’t enough. It manipulates moral behavior with guilt or shame, rather than renewing Christians with forgiveness and empowering them with God’s promises. Legalism coerces giving or volunteering with a sense of religious obligation, instead of encouraging the grace of giving and the joy of serving with the love of God.

…Jesus has freed us from the judgmentalism of those who would impose their own ideas of right and wrong on our conscience. We follow God’s Word because we want to, not religious rules because someone told us to. “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival.” (Colossians 2:16).

Kelm, Paul E. Freedom from legalism, p. 29
November 2005. Forward in Christ –
3rd of 6 part series on Christian Freedom, Vol. 92, No. 11

The use of the law is not legalism. Legalism is the misuse of the law, for example:

· Using the law as a way of salvation
· Elevating human tradition to divine law
· Using the law to motivate sanctification
· Using the law to coerce behavior
· Using the law with a self-righteous spirit
· Using the law with an unevangelical spirit.

Living in the law is not legalism. Jesus never condemned scrupulous attention to doctrine and life. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:23-24). The Pharisees’ problem was two-fold: like all legalists they majored in minors and minored in majors. Jesus stressed the opposite: putting the greatest emphasis on the chief points of law and gospel, but not neglecting any point of doctrine or Christian living.

Brug, John F. Scylla And Charybdis, p 7
Winter 2006. Wisconsin Lutheran Quarterly - Foreword to Volume, No. 1

“I must choose to be honest with God” (p 117). “I must choose to obey God in faith” (p 121). “I must choose to value what God values” (p 123). “I must desire friendship with God more than anything else” (p 124).

Warren, Rick. The Purpose Driven Life (2002)
quoted by: Schuetze, John D. Reviewer’s Desk, p 239
Summer 2004. WLQ, Vol. 101, No. 3

Comment: Warren mixes Law and Gospel. He demands of people the things that they cannot by nature give - honesty, obedience, valuing what God values, desiring friendship with him above anything else (loving him with all our heart, soul, and mind).

None of these things save us. These are the very things that ought to condemn us forever. God deserves these attitudes, but our daily lives show that it is impossible for us to offer them.

That's why God sent his Son. The Gospel shows us a perfect savior who DID do all these things. He redeems us from our guilt and failure. He inspires us to strive to do all the things that Warren demands. But let us not be fooled into thinking that we have done these things, can do these things, and are saved by doing them. That's legalism. That's salvation by works.

Our lives aren't purpose driven, but promise driven. Those promises of God's love motivate us to set these noble purposes before ourselves everyday.

Excerpt from a conversation between Prof. Brug and tele-solicitor from a Christian activist group. “After he talked for awhile, I responded that it seemed to me that the group was devoted to lobbying for legislation to try force (sic.) a change in people’s outward behavior by means of law. I asked, ‘Since you are presenting yourself as a group doing the work of the church, shouldn’t you be emphasizing changing people’s hearts and lives through the gospel?’ He answered, ‘We have already tried that and it doesn’t work.’… That… encapsulates in a nutshell what has gone wrong in many of the efforts of Evangelicalism to produce a more sanctified church and society.”

Brug, John F. The Lutheran Doctrine of Sanctification
and Its Rivals. p, 184,185
Summer, 2004. WLQ, Vol. 101, No. 3

Comment: When we give up on the Gospel and all become legalists, then we are no longer Christian. Christ's cross is replaced by our own individual crosses, which can save no one.