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Church Growth – Grace I
Are you being made perfect by the flesh?
Galatians 3:3
Jesus condemned legalism, man-made rules, and regulations that are imposed by men. In the book of Galatians, Paul condemned those who tried to impose the Old Testament law on New Testament believers who were living under the new covenant of grace. Legalism, by keeping the law, or trying to follow the rules of men, both have this in common: they give us a picture of men trying to earn their own salvation or favor with God.
The "way of grace" is based on the fact that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Christ alone plus nothing. The sovereign, eternal God made provision to save a people for His honor and glory before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1:4. He is working all these things according to the counsel of His will to the praise of His glory, Ephesians 1:11-12.
Legalism is the easy way to have a form of religion and make yourself feel good. Charles Spurgeon said, "Superficial religion will always be fashionable because it does not require any self-denial." Men have always been religious. This is one of the characteristics that separate us from animals (beasts). Human sacrifice was once a part of men trying to obtain peace and favor with the God they served. The Ammonite people had gruesome orgies in which little ones were sacrificed, Leviticus 18:21, 20:1-5.
Today, most of us in America have a much milder form of legalism where our works help to obtain our salvation, at least that is what people think. Several years ago, we were attending a church where they encouraged (pressured) people to come to the front of the church if they desired a closer walk with God. You could also go front if you wanted to confess sin or rededicate your life.
As I watched the people come out of the pews to go front, I asked myself some questions. What were those people going to do
differently on Monday than they did last week? If I went front, what would I do differently in the future? What would be evidence or fruit that some small part of my life, thinking, and behavior had been more sanctified? The truth was that those people weren't going to change anything; it was just a religious exercise to make the worship leader feel good.
If you are bold enough to question leaders about their legalism, they will tell you they are only trying to enrich the worship experience. That prompts me to ask more questions. Did God fail when He gave us His Word? Do we really need to add to the gospel message? When God sent the early church out with a message, was it able to accomplish His will; or do we need to add men's ideas to it? Isaiah 55:11 says, "So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; it shall not return to Me void, but it shall accomplish what I please."
The way of grace is God's way and we will look closer at this concept next week. Eventually, it is my goal to show that God used three basic ingredients to cause church growth.
1 – The proclamation of God's Word and the gospel message.
2 – Prayer which was God glorifying and exalting.
3 – The singing of psalms, hymns, and songs.
No legalism, only God blessing His people as they gathered to worship, praise, and glorify their God. And what was the result? Acts 2:47 says, "And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved." Contact the author at thoughtsonword@gmail.com if you have any comments or questions.
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Lyndon Stimeling, of Richfield, has been writing about faith and family for many years. He has self-published four books, Common Thoughts on The Word in 2016, Eye of a Needle in 2017, Common Thoughts on The Word II in 2019 and A Bridge Between in 2023. He has also had articles published in The Coming Home Journal and local newspapers and has written a children's book.