The answer to both legalism and antinomianism is living in light of the gospel.
A Christ-Centered, Bible-Believing Fellowship
Winston-Salem, North Carolina
The answer to both legalism and antinomianism is living in light of the gospel.
Unity in the body depends on three very important factors: divine example, divine truth, and divine power.
These verses provide the final two guidelines for helping Christians avoid both legalism and license.
Paul helps us understand that living by right, biblical priorities is an important key to both pleasing the Lord and being a good testimony to others.
Those strong of faith have the responsibility to avoid flaunting their liberty in Christ so that the weak of faith are not enticed into sinning against their conscience.
Unity in the body depends on each Christian seeking to please the Lord with all his choices in life.
How do we maintain unity in the church when we all don't have the same preferences and convictions on many issues? This passage gives us the first of three keys for developing and guarding the unity that God expects of us.
By cursing a fig tree that bore no fruit, Jesus acts out a parable that depicts God's hatred of empty religious profession when in reality there is spiritual barrenness.
This passage provides the opportunity for a in-depth discussion of what the will of God is, and how to know it.
A moral, upstanding young man who "had it all" asked Jesus how he could have eternal life. Jesus firmly but lovingly confronts this man's faulty thinking about salvation, sin, and the Savior.
Like today, the early church had to deal with what areas Christians should and should not compromise in. We can learn from their example as we learn to identify these areas by applying some biblical principles.
In this passage we find three important attitudes that Christians need to develop so that they can be effective in proclaiming gospel truth in today's world.
Legalists and moralists today make the same mistake that the Pharisees did in Jesus' day -- thinking that holiness consists of mere external conformity. Whether we consider biblical commands or man-made preferences, the ultimate issue in holiness is the thinking and motives of the heart.
The time had come in Jesus' ministry to deal directly and firmly with the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. In this confrontation, we find as well a warning to professing Christians to avoid a tendency toward legalism.
Using the Sabbath as a backdrop, two problems with a legalistic approach to living our lives before God become evident.
We see another aspect of the false teaching in Colossia, that of mysticism. Mysticism is not the same thing as the recognition that certain aspects of our faith, or about God, are mysterious. We get a glimpse into it, and its forms in early church history.
Paul knew that the mixing in of legalistic, Mosaic Law-based practices with the message of the gospel was a terrible danger, that Christians would end up in bondage instead of enjoying their liberty in Christ. He gives a stern warning that Christians must guard their freedom, and two keys to successfully doing so.
Paul gives us five general guidelines which will help us live out biblical love in the body, as well as help us avoid sinning against God, fellow believers, and even one's own conscience.
What happens in relationships when individuals don't share the same spiritual convictions? How are Christians supposed to relate to someone who holds a different conviction? A church body needs solid, biblical principles in order to handle our opposing convictions properly.
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