I used to operate a small Graphics Company in Charleston, WV. Through the internet I took on a lot of work from outside the state. One client was a small Fundamentalist book publishing company. They were a rather small customer and not something that would make or break my company. So when they asked me for a discount, being they were publishing Christian works, I did not hesitate to give them one. Not so much to keep them, but to help them out. God had blessed my company in many ways through the years with larger accounts that paid the bills and then some.
For over two years I did work for this small publishing company and had talked over the phone with them weekly. After we talked business, we would then talk about our faith in Christ. We had a good, close relationship.
This all changed in a rather short fashion. One time on the phone I told this same Fundamentalist publishing company that another good customer yet much larger company, The Disney Store, had given me a lot of work. The response from the Hyper-Fundamentalist group was they could not believe a Christian would do work for Disney. I never heard from them again. I was cut off, as a heretic, not for supporting Disney, but because Disney gave me some work to do.
I did work for many companies that were not known as Christian, because I was just another company like you find on any Main Street of your town. Not that it matters, but I did not seek out the Disney account, they came to me. I did not give Disney a price break as I did the much smaller Christian company. All I did was take fair wages from Disney for work I had done on some t-shirts. For this I was cut off. This is the mindset that is now found in the Hyper-fundamentalist camp.
Mindsets such as this come when we leave the gospel of God and enter religion. It is interesting to me that one of the things that Hyper-Fundamentalists stand against so strongly, they turn into. They hate the use of the word religion to describe their faith, but they setup all these practices to follow in order to remain a Hyper-Fundamentalist, so that they become a religion unto themselves. As for the Christian company above I had broken one of their religiosity rules and therefore was not fit to talk with and surely could not do business with. They would rather pay twice as much to an atheist on down the street, than to any Christian believer that did not follow their set rules.
In “The Christian Tradition: A History of the Development of Doctrine” by Jaroslav Pelikan is written “The Centrality Of The Gospel”
In its strict sense as the good news of salvation through the victory of Christ, the gospel stood in the sharpest possible contrast to the law. Out of that contrast Luther shared one of the most pervasive themes of his theology of the cross. “The truth of the gospel is this,” he said, “that our righteousness comes by faith alone, without the works of the law,” and therefore the only “real theologian” was one who “knows well how to distinguish the gospel from the law.” “the knowledge of this topic, the distinction between the law and the gospel” he went on, “is necessary to the highest degree, for it contains a summary of all Christian doctrine.” (Book 4, page 168)
In my own words Luther is saying the truth of the gospel is necessary to the HIGHEST degree, for it is the center of all Christian doctrine. Now many may agree with this before they understand the full impact. Paul addresses this in Galatians.
Galatians 2:14 But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before [them] all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
I want you to notice “walking according to the truth of the gospel.” We see here that the gospel is much more than “God saves sinners” for Paul is addressing Peter, a believer. The gospel is a life that we walk by. We live it, breathe it and treat others in light of it. The gospel is greater than just salvation, for it impacts our whole life. We no longer need to work under laws to be “upright.”
Paul is not saying we all should do as we want. We all need to have standards based on the Bible. Paul is showing Peter his error in treating others wrongly. “why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” or why do you think others should be just like you? Again please remember this is addressing another believer.
Pastor Tim Keller picks up on this idea….
First, Paul is showing us that that bringing the gospel truth to bear on every area of life is the way to be changed by the power of God. The gospel is described in the Bible in the most astounding terms. Angels long to look into it all the time. (I Peter 1:12). It does not simply bring us power, but it is the power of God itself, for Paul says "I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation" (Rom.1:16). It is also the blessing of God with benefits, which accrue to anyone who comes near (I Cor.9:23). It is even called the very light of the glory of God itself--"they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ...for God...has made his light shine into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (II Cor.4:4,6)
Second, Paul is showing that we never “get beyond the gospel” in our Christian life to something more “advanced”. The gospel is not the first “step” in a “stairway” of truths, rather, it is more like the “hub” in a “wheel” of truth. The gospel is not just the A-B-C’s but the A to Z of Christianity. The gospel is not just the minimum required doctrine necessary to enter the kingdom, but the way we make all progress in the kingdom. We are not justified by the gospel and then sanctified by obedience, but the gospel is the way we grow (Gal.3:1-3) and are renewed (Col.1:6). It is the solution to each problem, the key to each closed door, the power through every barrier (Rom.1:16-17). It is very common in the church to think as follows. "The gospel is for non-Christians. One needs it to be saved. But once saved, you grow through hard work and obedience." But Col.1:6 shows that this is a mistake. Both confession and "hard work" that is not arising from and "in line" with the gospel will not sanctify you--it will strangle you. All our problems come from a failure to apply the gospel. Thus when Paul left the Ephesians he committed them "to the word of his grace, which can build you up" (Acts 20:32)
Last week I quoted Tertullian.
"Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves, so this doctrine of justification is ever crucified between two opposite errors."
Interestingly Tertullian is quoted by Luther, Keller and Pelikan on this subject. Maybe because it is also interesting to see that this is not a new problem in the church and that it goes back to the early church. Legalism keeps popping its ugly head back into the church and must be dealt with. This time around it finds its roots in Hyper-Fundamentalism.
What Tertullian and others want us to understand, is that legalists/moralists/religionists will “steal” the truth of the gospel and the power found in it, and cause us to live in error.
It is hard for the Pharasee to see the sin in it’s camp for they feel they are “walking holy” unto God. But it is just as great a sin to live as a legalist as it is to live as an irreligionist. Both are sin and both take away the gospel that Paul says we should walk in.
These two errors are very powerful, because they represent the natural tendency of the human heart and mind.
Keller Says..
These “thieves” can be called moralism or legalism on the one hand, and hedonism or relativism on the other hand. On the one hand, "moralism/religion" stresses truth without grace, for it says that we must obey the truth in order to be saved. On the other hand, "relativists/irreligion" stresses grace without truth, for they say that we are all accepted by God (if there is a God) and we have to decide what is true for us. But "truth" without grace is not really truth, and "grace" without truth is not really grace. Jesus was "full of grace and truth". Any religion or philosophy of life that de-emphasizes or lose one or the other of these truths, falls into legalism or into license and either way, the joy and power and "release" of the gospel is stolen by one thief or the other.
"I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe" (vs. antinomianism)
"I am more accepted and loved than I ever dared hope" (vs. legalism)
The moralism-religion thief. How does moralism/religion steal joy and power?
Moralism is the view that you are acceptable (to God, the world, others, yourself) through your attainments. (Moralists do not have to be religious, but often are.) When they are, their religion if pretty conservative and filled with rules. Sometimes moralists have views of God as very holy and just. This view will lead either to a) self-hatred (because you can't live up to the standards), or b) self-inflation (because you think you have lived up to the standards). It is ironic to realize that inferiority and superiority complexes have the very same root. Whether the moralist ends up smug and superior or crushed and guilty just depends on how high the standards are and on a person's natural advantages (such as family, intelligence, looks, willpower). Moralistic people can be deeply religious--but there is no transforming joy or power.
Moral and religious people seek to be their own saviors and lords through religion, "religious" pride. ("I am more moral and spiritual than other people, so God owes me to listen to my prayers and take me to heaven.”)
They are both based on distorted views of the real God.
Next week we will look at someways to change this attitude of self- holiness.