Dear friend,

 

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
 

- Eph. 2:8-9 -

 

We would never SAY our salvation is by works. We would never SAY we keep God's favor by doing the right things. But some of us live as if it's true. 

If you’re accustomed to rejecting sinful desires through strict rules, Eph. 2 might challenge you. Paul is teaching something contrary to our human inclinations: a grace-based holiness. Instead of forcing ourselves into holiness by willpower and works (which don’t earn us righteousness anyway!), we are ushered into holiness by the Spirit of God Himself. It is for freedom (from sin and legalism) that Christ has set us free!

 

In a debate with the religious leaders in John 8, Jesus addressed this freedom in simple terms:

 

“Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.  I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me,because you have no room for my word.  I am telling you what I have seen in the Father’s presence, and you are doing what you have heard from your father.” (John 8:34-38, NIV)

 

Ever read Galatians 4:31? “Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.” Jesus repeats this concept in John 8: “A son belongs… forever.” 

When teaching local theology classes, I describe the difference between legalism and the Spirit-led life as the difference between two fruit trees. The legalism tree is bare, but the owner knows it needs to bear fruit. So he takes a basket of apples, puts hooks on each stem, and painstakingly hangs the apples on the tree. But because the apples aren’t attached to the branches, they quickly rot and fall away. The owner must constantly do the back breaking work of re-hanging fruit on the tree so it has the appearance of a good harvest.

 

The Spirit-led tree is full of fruit! The fruit grows naturally on the branches as the tree puts roots deep into good soil (Matt. 13:23). The owner allows the Gardener to tend the tree, and He prunes back wayward branches so the fruit can grow more abundant and healthy. The owner of the tree doesn’t try to force fruit to grow; he simply makes sure the tree stays rooted in good soil. 

 

Are you hanging fruit on your tree, or is it growing naturally? A sure sign of a “legalism tree” is spiritual exhaustion, guilt, shame, and people-pleasing. Legalism is concerned with outward appearance. The Spirit-led life is about inner transformation: roots deep in good soil and living water. 

 

Timothy George writes this about the Spirit-controlled life:

 

 

We have the incredible privilege of facing every hour as free sons and daughters guided by the personal voice of Christ. This is the advantage of being a Christian! Jesus does not leave us alone to muscle our holiness into existence. He gives us the power to become like Him. Who the Son sets free, is free indeed. 

 

And a son, or daughter, belongs forever.

Legalism lends itself to competition. When my husband and I were attending a Southern Baptist church, there was an unspoken “rule” that dressing well for church was a sign of greater dedication to God. What began as a genuine desire to honor God’s sanctuary slowly morphed into a personal fashion parade. The extra “work” to please God quickly became a way to please and impress man.

 

When we lived in Lancaster County, PA, several Anabaptist friends of ours told us a similar story. As an effort to steward God’s good gifts, some Mennonites worked hard to keep a perfect house and yard. What started as a genuine way to honor God’s gifts became an end in itself. Pretty soon neighbors were judging each other’s spirituality by the state of their farm! 

 

Neither Southern Baptists nor Mennonites are always or inherently legalistic. No matter what our tradition, we can fall into the trap of turning personal convictions into biblical law – then measuring everyone else by that standard. In charismatic circles, legalism often takes the form of spiritual superiority: having more spiritual gifts, dreams, or experiences than others. In liturgical circles, there may be pride in the history and sanctity of the service, looking down on denominations that don’t practice these things. God condemns all legalism. He will not tolerate it.

 

“A pervasive problem for the gospel of grace was for the attitude of hierarchy to invade the Spirit -led life,” says the Baker Illustrated Commentary. “It may well be that this was the chief attraction of legalism – the opportunity to measure oneself relative to another and to appear superior. As Paul indicates, such an attitude is completely foreign to the gospel.”

The gospel of Ephesians 2 and John 3 and everywhere else in the Bible tells us this: no amount of good works, the right clothes, the right service or spiritual gifts will make us worthy of the salvation we receive. It is by grace and faith. Works matter immensely, but we do them out of the righteous posture of our hearts – the overflow of our righteous identity. We do it because we are daughters. We don't try to become a daughter by doing enough. 

 

We had an amazing time in Dayton, OH at the Teach Them Diligently conference last week! Our whole family attended to work the convention. It was such a delight to meet many of you in person and share our resources with you! To all our new email friends who joined my email list from the event - welcome!

 

We did a fun giveaway of a $50 shopping spree to anyone who joined this email list – Margaret Barnes was the winner! Margaret, we will send you your gift card via email this week!

 

We didn't have a lot of time to peruse the city, but we did make it to the Air Force Museum. I grew up visiting here so it was fun to take the kids – including my space-obsessed daughter and a son who likes anything with wings! The museum is totally free, which is such a gift. I got to stop into Press, an amazing coffee shop in a cute historic district of Dayton.

 

We also got to exhibit alongside Brighter Day Press and our girls had a blast perusing the exhibit hall together while we worked our respective booths! We would love to see you at the Pigeon Forge event in May.