Legality vs. Legalism

 Oh how the pendulum always swings too far one way or the other.

Many Christians seem to be struggle with this topic (or an aspect of it). I have also struggled with one aspect of it as well in the earlier days of my spiritual walk with God. My hope is that this post raises awareness towards a healthy view of self in relationship to God and His commands.  

 Let’s start by defining our terms.

Definitions: Legality & Legalism  

Legality (Google’s definition: (1) obligations imposed by law; (2) the quality or state of being in accordance with the law) regard God’s commands. God is the lawgiver and judge (Jas 4:12; Isa 33:22). If God is king, the king has the right to impose laws demanding obedience from His people! The love we have for God is not merely the love we have for a friend (though He is our friend) nor a loved one (though we are His bride). Rather, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Jn 14:15) If God is our king, our love for Him results in obedience—keeping His commandments. Legality is biblical.  

 

Now, consider legalism. 

 

Legalism is defined as the (note this) excessive adherence to law. Legalism is NOT mere obedience. Legalism is excessiveness or excessive strictness that affects one’s personal relationship with God and one’s relationship with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. In other words, legalism is when “it's too much!” Or “it's too far beyond what Scripture clearly writes”.

Biblically, some judiazers in the Galatian church were pushing for legalism, that Christian believers had to be circumcized (Gal 1-3). The Pharisees were also legalistic in things that were not important to the faith. A prominent biblical example would be Matthew 15:1-8.

An modern example could be parents forcing their kids to read Scripture or else they won’t get to eat. Legalism is detrimental as it may overemphasize works.

 

Problem #1: Struggles with Legality  

Some Christians have pushed too far “left”. Some Christians, perhaps due to their rebellious nature or bad experiences with parents and those in authority have overreacted, believing any imposition of rules is legalism. This includes going to church. “I don't need to go to church every week! God is with me and I love God!”

Whenever a pastor preaches, “Set a time to pray” or “Read your Bible”, these Christians view these exhortations as legalistic because they don’t like to be told what to do. They hate discipline whereas Scripture writes “It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?” (Heb12:7)

 

These Christians are actually “spiritual anarchists”. They want free reign and struggle with the concept that God is their Lord and master. I worry for them. If a believer struggles with legality, they struggle with submitting to God. They may struggle with the concept of “duty” and “responsibility”. The Christian faith, to them, is free-spirited where one does whatever one feels.

Obedience to God, however, is not (primarily) about feelings. Obedience is how we should respond to Christ.

 

Problem #2: Struggles with Legalism 

Other Christians have pushed too far “right”. They take out the idea of a personal and corporate relationship with God and replace it with an iron rod. What causes legalism? One factor could be a translation of culture that rigidly uphold devoutness. Someone who struggles with legalism could be prone to add things that one deems “necessary” in the Christian faith (e.g.: waking up at 3am for prayer meetings as spiritual maturity). This was what the Pharisees did, they upheld and imposed an “oral law” in addition to the one in Scripture.

Another cause could be rivalry or conceit (Phil 2: 3-4). The sin nature has naturally made us to crave for power, glory, and influence. If we apply some aspects of the social dominance theory, many humans are fighting to be at the top of the hierarchy--”we want to be power holders!” This can translate to the church. Church becomes a competition: who is the “godliest” person? Well, the person who arrives earliest to pray or one who reads the Bible more than others (not that praying and Scripture are bad by any means). 

 

A Healthy Balance 

Do you struggle with one side or the other? Do you struggle with God being your Lord and King? Do you struggle with equating your faith with works, that it is a matter of excessive doing, doing, and doing to “prove” your spirituality?  

May we reflect to see who we are in light of Christ and His grace. I encourage you to bring forth this discussion to someone you respect in the faith and ask for his/her feedback.  

 

Preachers, Stop Manipulating Numbers!

This is an excerpt from an upcoming project on preaching:

 

Some preachers like to bring out the appearances of certain facts, names, and terms in Scripture to make a point or contrast. For instance, a pastor mentioned “the Bible uses the verb diakoneo (I serve) 37 times and the noun diakonos (servant, minister, deacon) 30 times.”

I remember the congregants sitting next to me were hectically jotting down these facts. But what good do these facts contain? How do these facts impact one’s understanding of Scripture and biblical truth?

Here’s another example:

“In the Gospels, Jesus asked over 300 questions. Do you know how many times He directly answered a question? 3 times. I’m not good at math, but could someone tell me what percentage that is? If anything, this shows us that, to be like Jesus, we should ask questions and not provide answers.”

The problem with Numbers/Stats

Numbers can be easily manipulated to make a statement or argument that has minimal scriptural warrant. We see that on TV or in presentations. I was taught this in 8th grade. In my experience, there has rarely been a case where numbers have been used well to demonstrate a biblical notion—that it was the intent of the author to use certain words and phrases for effect. On the other hand, there are countless examples of preachers who manipulate numbers, particularly the number of appearances a word has in Scripture, to stress a point that does not make biblical sense.

In my opinion, most preachers use numbers to touch upon significance. The usual argument is something like this: “Because this term appeared [X] amount of times, we should take it seriously or not as seriously;” or, “The term [X] appears [a] times, but the term [Y] appears [2a—twice] times. Therefore, [Y] has greater significance than [X].” These arguments drive me crazy. Allow me to respond with four arguments.

Tread Carefully with Numbers/Stats

First, if all Scripture is God-breathed (2 Tim 3:16), all Scripture matters. All Scripture is important. Even if a word appears only once in Scripture, it is still God-breathed. A word or phrase is significant for the Christian believer not by how many times it appears, but by the fact that it is Scripture. If the objective of making a case with numbers is for the audience to understand significance, “that we should take the term seriously,” numbers and appearances are not the way to do it.

Second, a word or phrases’ appearance does not equate to greater/lesser importance. A word that is used a lot in the Bible does not automatically mean it is necessarily more important than another one. For instance, the word that appears most in the New Testament is kai, a conjunction that means “and, or, even,” with over 9000 appearances.[1] Yet, one would rarely hear a biblical case concerning the significance of kai. This relates to the next point.

Third, even if a word or phrase appears minimally in Scripture, it can carry massive theological—not lexical—significance. I must assert that there are some words in Scripture that contain great theological significance without anything to do with the number of appearances. For instance, “propitiation” (hilasmos) only makes two appearances (1 Jn 2:2; 4:10). Even if one were to combine the variant hilasterion (Rom 3:25, Heb 9:5), the total appearances of propitiation is four. Yet, propitiation is a rich theological notion that is crucial in explaining the Gospel. The word refers to ample passages in Scripture that detail the process of the Gospel. Surely, one would not consider propitiation unimportant unless they would like to deny the Gospel.

Another example is the contrast between kurios (Lord, master) and philos (friend). There are over 700 usages of kurios, in which most of them are designated in reference to Christ. While there are over 20 usages of philos, only a few of the usages indicate the relationship between Christ and His believers as friends (Lk 12:4; John 15:14-15).

Jesus is Lord and the common term to designate Christ is to refer to His lordship—He is the King of kings and Lord of Lords (Rev 19:16). However, just because there are fewer instances where Christ calls us “friends” (philous), a fraternal term, it does not diminish the significance. Jesus is not lesser as a friend than our Lord. He is Lord over all and He is our friend.

Fourth, the attempt to make a case concerning significance with numbers assume that certain terms and phrases are used in the same way. However, a word (especially in Greek) can be used in different ways. For instance, “word” (logos) is used in Scripture referring to “Christ”, “Scripture”, “logic/reason” and (literally) “word”, in the sense of speech (something someone said). In fact, logos is predominantly used as a communication device. Counting how many times Scripture contains logos to make a case may easily ignore the different meanings that the word has. One simply cannot make a case with the number of times logos is used in Scripture.

In my experience, many preachers who attempt to make a case with numbers are not familiar with the original languages of Scripture nor linguistic practices. That’s not a problem…until they act like pros when they’re not by not doing the actual work. Please do the work and handle the word of truth correctly (cf. 2 Tim 2:15). Scripture is not a means of manipulation—even when the preacher did not intend to manipulate and to present inaccurate information.

All to say, a preacher who truly cares about the integrity of the biblical text must be careful in using numbers as an argument. I would suggest that it would be safe to not use the appearance of a term as much as possible unless the preacher has truly made a biblically true case concerning numbers—which requires ample study. A case that employs numbers well is one in which the preacher can substantially claim that the biblical authors intended numbers to be used for significance. In my own studies, these cases are few. One example where numbers are used well could be the length of a king’s rule during Kings/Chronicles. Kings who were faithful to the Law had a longer reign while those who were unfaithful had a short reign.

Preachers, for the sake of integrity and biblical integrity, don’t manipulate numbers. As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 2:15, may we do our best in handling Scripture.

[1] Mounce, Basis of Biblical Greek Grammar, 20.  

The "Problem" of Evil?

 

Hello friends! Just wanted to share a recent video I made concerning the "problem" of evil, in which I argue that evil isn't a problem for God but a pointer to God. This is the first complete apologetics video I made, so please have a look!

“Ministers, Read the Bible!” (One-Year plan included)

 “Ministers, Read the Bible!” (One-Year plan included)

At the bottom of this article is a link to a 1-year Bible Reading plan that I made (technically speaking, modified). I don't think it is God's mandate for believers to read Scripture once a year, but for those in full-time ministry or aspiring to be in full-time ministry or serving as elders/pastors/deacons (even though all believers are supposedly ministers of God…)—I encourage you to read Scripture once a year. Here's why:

 

1.    Knowing Scripture by Heart

It is written, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,” (Ps 119:105) and that God’s word is “…profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17)

 

If we desire to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord” (2 Pet 3:18) and to develop any sort of intimacy with the Holy Spirit, we have to know Scripture. I think there can be a difference between knowing and understanding Scripture. Understanding and interpreting Scripture accurately can sometimes require a careful study of each passage in light of God’s Word as a whole and a careful understanding of how different words are used (especially in the original languages).

 

However, I also firmly believe that one who has the skills to understand Scripture may not necessarily know Scripture well—that he/she has not kept God’s Word as the lamp to one’s feet and as the light to one’s path. Ultimately, one’s engagement with Scripture enables one to engage the Word of God—Jesus Christ—through Scripture. Thus, knowing Scripture is more than understanding the authorial intent of God’s Word, though that is important, but a means to know who God is—as that is revealed in His Word.

 

And the only way (and best way?) to know God’s Word is to spend time in His Word! It takes steady, dedicated time and memory to know Scripture by heart. This is why I propose my plan so that one may read Scripture once a year as it provides a structure and rhythm of steady engagement with Scripture every day.

 

 

2.   Setting an Example

As ministers of God, we are representatives of God (though our eyes should be ultimately set on Christ, the Head of the church). As Paul says in 1 Cor 11:1, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ,” or “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us,” (Phil 3:17) we should be living examples demonstrating the character and faithfulness of Christ. By the way, Jesus knew Scripture really well as a man (yes, He’s God…but as a man) through His answers and understanding (cf. Lk 2:47). Though inspired by the Holy Spirit, He engaged with Scripture (LXX) prior to His ministry. We should imitate Christ as our brothers and sisters imitate us.

 

On the flip side, if we don’t regularly and fruitfully engage with Scripture, how then can we instruct others to engage in God’s Word?

 

3.   Revisiting All of Scripture (whole counsel of God?)

I can’t believe I’ve met pastors who’ve said, “the last time I read that book (in the Bible…I think it was Lamentations or Zephaniah) was years ago.” I thought: “I can’t believe you’re a pastor.”

 

When Paul mentions the “whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27), I don’t think that refers to all of Scripture, as in, the entire Bible. But as ministers, (supposedly) being “able to teach” (1 Tim 3:2), I struggle to comprehend how we do not engage with the entire Bible regularly. Yes, the Bible is a tome, but shouldn’t we try our best to know ALL of God’s Word to the best of our abilities—even the likes of Zephaniah or Esther or Onesimus (Philemon) and the “elect lady” in 2 John 1?

 

4.   A Sign of Commitment

Allow me to raise my hands (feel free to picture that) and admit that Scripture  (written by the end of the First Century) has no direct exhortation for Christians to read all of God’s Word once a year—because God’s Word was not available for the believers in the early church! Some of the early church may have only had a few epistles! But what do we have now? We have Scripture in all kinds of forms (such as journals, online versions and so on?), just listening to it for half an hour a day gets will get us through the whole of Scripture in a year. 

I think devoting ourselves to Scripture, whether once a year or something, can serve a sign of our commitment and treasuring of God’s Word! And honestly, how can one commit to anything if one can’t commit to the simple task (physically simple…though spiritually challenging at times) of reading Scripture regularly and engaging with Him—the One whom we claim to love?

Let me present a passage that is not contextually connected with this article's topic: Hebrews 12:4, "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood." The author of Hebrews (Barnabas maybe? jk, it's probably Apollos) is stating that their quest of sanctification hasn't been that bad—it's not like they're dying in their struggle against sin. With a similar logic, I'd like to say: "your daily reading of Scripture and engagement with God has not come to the point of shedding blood as well" so why not engage with Him more?

 

From my experience with believers in countries where Scripture is illegal, I can testify to how they have truly dedicated themselves to God’s Word! Some read Scripture a few times a year because that is truly the most important thing in their lives! God’s word is truly more precious than gold to them (cf. Ps 19:10). One of my favorite Bible scholars, Craig Keener, was noted to have read 40 chapters a day when he first encountered God.

 

 

Ministers, may we truly pursue God and His Word to the best of our abilities. And if this is reading His Word once a year, so be it. I do not want to sound legalistic, or perhaps this is my own bias, but I think reading Scripture once a year only produces fruit without harm. I know churches that mandate their pastors and staff to read Scripture once a year, and I think that's great. 

 

Click HERE for the link to my 1-year Bible Reading plan:

 

WHEN FAITH MEETS THEOLOGY (and Vice-Versa)

 

When Faith meets Theology and Vice-Versa

 I oftentimes run into (more or less) two groups of Christians: 1) believers emphasizing faith & 2) believers emphasizing theology. By faith, oftentimes this refers to one’s relationship with God—how one engages, experiences, and encounters God on a daily basis.[1] Theology, on the other hand, defined as the study and understanding of God (theos + logos) that is ultimately based on Scripture, deals more (not entirely) with the conceptual and perhaps, even intellectual in some cases. In short, faith = how God works and moves in the believer’s life and theology = who God is and what He does.[2]

Even when it comes to preaching and preachers, some tend to stress on stories and experiences, capturing what the Lord has been practically doing in one’s life, while others can be more theological, emphasizing on concepts, terms, and Scripture that is more “up in the air”.

 

Allow me to use another example. Some Bible studies are “inductive”, where a group of believers gather together and simply share anything upon coming to a certain passage—oftentimes more experiential and related to their life. At the same time, there are some “deductive” bible studies are crafted with actual questions and answers geared towards unpacking every little detail of a certain passage.

 

 While “faith” and “theology” could at times be juxtaposed at different ends of a spectrum, my goal in this article is to present that there is an intertwined relationship between the two, and there is massive importance for every believer to understand how faith shapes one’s theology and vice-versa.

 

Faith impacts Theology

Just as Paul came to have faith in God through encountering the risen Christ (Acts 9), I believe the reason why most Christians are Christians—one people who pledges allegiance to King Jesus—is ultimately because of an experience and encounter with the living God. This is oftentimes called a testimony.

 

At the same time, Paul had a theology before he had faith in Christ (e.g.: Acts 8, Gal 1-2), and his theology ended up being completely changed by his encounter with Jesus (e.g.: Gal 2; 1 Tim 1:13-16). In the same way, one’s experiences in life with Christ can impact one’s understanding of God.

 

For example, one who sees a “believer” who was once extremely passionate for God—only to fall away into sin and ultimately denounce Him—may believe a “theology” that one can lose one’s salvation. Or one who comes to find unconditional love and acceptance in the church may eventually understand the biblical and theological notion of God being love (1 Jn 4:8). Or, on a contrary note, a believer who has been continuously struggling with sin in his/her walk with God, may struggle with the theological notion of how we can have complete victory over sin (e.g.: 1 Cor 10:13; 1 Jn 1-2).

 

My goal here is to illustrate that, when a Christian speaks of his/her faith (whether personal or communal), even if one does not intend to make a theological claim (who God is objectively and ontologically; or “what I believe about God to be true”), there is a “theology” presented beneath one’s faith. It is impossible for one to detach one’s “personal” faith with theology, one’s understanding of God. (even if one says: "I love Jesus", this presents a theological idea that "God is loveable", that He is personal and can be loved—denying agnosticism and pantheism.)

 

Thus, if there are some particular theology (maybe...Christology—study/understanding pertaining to Christ; Pneumatology—understanding of the Holy Spirit etc.) that you do not quite understand or reason with, maybe that's because there are some conflicts or incongruences with the outlook of your relationship with God. In other words, maybe you're not living out your faith right. (If I haven't prayed for forgiveness, I might lean towards believing that God doesn't really forgive me.)

Theology impacts Faith

Vice-versa, one’s understanding of God—or who I think God is (“theology”)—affects one’s (alleged) daily walk with God. Even if one fully professes to be Christian and has committed oneself to live for Jesus and not for oneself, one’s understanding of Him impacts how one’s faith is played out on a day-to-day basis.

 

For example, if one believes that “to love one’s neighbor” is ultimately accepting them and all their behavior (good and bad), and that, when Jesus tells us “do not judge” (Matt 7; Lk 6), it means that we are not to criticize people—then 1) this belief may misread, ignore, or downplay certain aspects of Scripture that present otherwise. 2) More importantly, this believer would likely live out his/her “faith” applying such theological beliefs.

 

Thus, given that theology impacts faith—our experience, engagement, and encounter with Christ—the quantity and quality of one’s everyday faith is oftentimes reflected by what they believe. With the example above, if “love” only means “acceptance”, that “God accepts me and whatever I do”, then this person may not actually experience God well, as love isn’t merely acceptance; this person may not really experience God’s love in any meaningful way.

Here are more examples: 

If a believer believes in a theology that God doesn't heal, he/she may not engage as much in praying for them. 

If a believer believes that God doesn't really care who one dates and marries, one may live out one's faith as more casual relationally, with lower standards—perhaps not actively seeking God's will in one's love life.

If a believer believes that one is still a sinner after coming to know Jesus—and not a saint—this one may be more tolerable to sin in one's life, since "I'm just a sinner anyway."

All to say, if you are struggling with your faith and having difficulties in your experiential side of God, maybe that’s a theological issue—maybe there are obstacles in your understanding of Jesus.

 

Conclusion: 2 Peter 1:2 + 3:18

 

A famous passage (sometimes overlooked) is 2 Peter 3:18, which writes:” But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…” Literally, Peter is commanding (αὐξάνετε—in the imperative, functioning as a command) the believers to increase in grace and also knowledge of Jesus! As believers, we ought to grow in knowledge of God, to know more about Him as that impacts our relational “knowing” of Him on a day to day basis.

 

What’s interesting, however, is how this passage connects with 2 Peter 1:2: “May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” Both “grace” (or “favor) and “peace” have an experiential component. We experience the grace and peace of God (e.g.: Phil 4:7) in our faith—our walk with God. Yet, according to 2 Peter 1:2, this experience is multiplied in our knowledge and understanding of God, once again reflecting the intertwined relationship between faith and theology.

 

Therefore, when Peter exhorts us in 2 Peter 3:18 to grow in grace and knowledge, I don’t think he’s presenting the two as separate identities. I think he is treating the two closely—that, as we grow in the grace/favor of God (faith), we grow in knowledge (theology); and when we grow in the knowledge of God (theology), we grow in His grace and peace (faith).

 

 

The relationship between faith and theology is oftentimes a spiral. Both influence each other. When one's faith meets theology, both one's faith and theology are impacted.  

 

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[1] The basis for this definition mainly arises from how “faith” is used in: Rom 1:8; 1:12; Phil 1:27; 2:17; Col 1:4; 1:23; 2:5-7; 1 Thess 1:8; 3:1-10; 2 Thess 3:2 etc.

[2] I fully acknowledge that this is a super simplified definition of faith (πιστις) and theology (θεος λογος).