This week, we continued the “Two Kings, Two Thrones”
series. We have been looking at the contrast in Kings Saul and David and how
King Saul was a picture of the law and King David a picture of grace. In this part, we examined a story from 1
Samuel 14. Beginning in verse 24, Saul declares a fast for his fighting men as
they are about to battle the Philistines. What is striking about this demand is
that he says it is to be until “I avenge MYSELF against MY enemies.” Saul has
made this all about himself. Secondly, we must notice that God is not the one
who demanded the fast or the Priest, Samuel, who recommended it. This was all
Saul.
Legalism will continue to keep adding more rules and more
restrictions to try to get the desired result. If law sees sin, it thinks the
solution is more law. Saul wanted victory, so he demanded something
unreasonable from his men. His men are about to go into battle, and he demands
that they do not eat. He didn’t say it was because he wanted them to be more in
tune with the spirit or to prepare them spiritually. It was just a power play.
Law enjoys ruling over people.
What this demand did was create an unnecessary
disadvantage for his men – who did go on to win anyway, by the grace and mercy
of God. Legalism does that in our lives. It creates and unnecessary
disadvantage in accomplishing the plans and purposes of God. Now, I am not
talking about living by Godly principles or living a moral life. I am NOT
saying God’s instructions are creating an unnecessary disadvantage. It is
legalism that does so. Remember, Saul’s command did not come from God.
I remember when I was in a band and we were doing our first overseas trip, the organizers declared that we should fast before our trip. We were to go to California, attend a church service, and then break the fast. Because we had not heard from God to do it, though we obeyed, we did not have the best attitude about it. When we got there, to top it off, we got to the church service, after which we were to break the fast, and the organizers were eating chicken wings. We did not have time to get food at that point, so we had to wait through a long church service to break our fast. This was a similar situation.
There are many examples that I could give that fit this
description that have been thrust upon believers in the name of holiness. First
of all being holy, like righteousness, is not something you achieve, but
something you are. The definition of holiness is “set apart for the plans and
purposes of God.” What does that have to do with our works? Nothing.
Just like truly knowing that the blood of Jesus has made
you righteous will change you at the heart level into one who appears more
righteous, the same is true for holiness (remember grace teaches us to say no
to ungodliness – Titus 2:11-12). When you truly understand that YOU are set
apart for the plans and purposes of God – meaning you are holy – you will begin
to act in accordance with that belief. If you only believe you are holy when
you have acted as such, you will be hard pressed to truly change the outward
actions to ones that many would identify as less than holy.
Legalism has made holiness something you attain by
adhering to a list of rules and guidelines for holy living. Many of those rules
may seem good but have little to no grounding in scripture. Many others appear
to be based on scripture until we learn more about the true context and meaning
of the verses used to establish them.
A great example is 1 Peter 3:1-5 that appears to be
saying that women are not allowed to wear makeup, jewelry or nice clothing. The
first thing to know when you read this passage is that Peter was not giving a
definition of holiness. He says not to rely on outward beauty – like clothing,
jewelry and makeup -- to keep your man, but inner beauty. That is very
true, but what most translations leave out of that statement is one word that
is very important to the message Peter was trying to communicate. I only find
this word when I look at the original Greek or in an Amplified Bible. That word
is “merely.” He said to let not your beauty be based MERELY on those outward
things. He was not banning them!
Additionally, Peter was giving marriage advice. If you
want to have a long marriage, you better be more to him than a pretty face (my
paraphrase J). If that is all the
attraction he has to you, there will always be a younger, newer, prettier face
that will come along. Legalism looked in the Bible and found something it
thought it could use to make a law out of – one that is an unnecessary
disadvantage in life.
A second example that also relates to women is in 1
Corinthians 11. It appears on the surface that Paul (who we thought was all
about grace) is saying that a woman cannot cut her hair if she wants to pray or
prophesy. To understand Paul’s words more clearly we must zoom out a little and
get some context. Just a few verses earlier at the end of chapter 10, Paul
talks about how all things are permissible, but not necessarily beneficial and
that no one should be condemned for eating anything, but, in exercising our
freedom, don’t cause someone else to stumble. I may be free to have a beer in
God’s eyes (though I never would because I think it tastes horrible), but if
someone in my congregation saw me drinking a beer, it could be a stumbling
block for them. They may not be able to receive the Word from me, or maybe they
would see my action as a form of approving such behavior for them. If they have
alcoholic tendencies, that could be catastrophic.
So why this stark about-face now when we’re talking about
a woman’s hair length? It seems a little strange, doesn’t it? More context is
needed. The next few verses after this so-called rule bring some light to
Paul’s heart. He goes on to point out that men and women are not different
before God. He does not have separate rules for righteousness for men and
women. But this all still seems a little contradictory. The key is in that
“don’t cause someone else to stumble” statement. What Paul is saying is that to
the people in these churches, the length of hair means something and it is
important to them. It doesn’t matter that it may not really be important. Don’t
let your opinion be an offense to them. You don’t have to call them out. It
really doesn’t matter in the grand scheme. He says in verse 16 to not be
contentious about it.
There was another statement he made just previous to this
in chapter 10. He says that we should not be ruled by someone else’s
conscience. Remember that we have been cleansed of a guilty conscience. Don’t
allow what someone else’s conscience says is right and wrong rule over you (or
vice-versa). If they want length of hair to be important – so be it. Don’t
argue with them about it, but also, don’t allow them to force that on you.
Finally, we headed back to 1 Samuel 14. After Saul’s
demand for a fast, his son Jonathan, unaware of his father’s decree, sees a
honeycomb oozing honey and takes some. The other men see him do this and inform
him of his father’s command and that any who ate would be killed. Jonathan
remarks that his father was foolish sending men to battle without food. He says
that they could have had a resounding victory against the Philistines with
food, not just a slight win. Saul is
notified that someone ate. At this point he does not know it was his son. He
demands the “sinner” be brought forward and killed, even if it is his son. When
it is discovered that it was indeed his son, he sticks to his guns and demands
Jonathan’s life. The other men say, “no way.” Jonathan had just been a war
hero, and he is the king’s son, and Saul would have him killed for breaking HIS
rule (remember it was not God’s). This
is what legalism does. It will entirely disqualify a minister who is doing
great things to expand the kingdom because he doesn’t line up with one of their
legalist rules. We want to be ruled by God, not rules and legalism.
To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php. To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee,
visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
