Legalism
Sunday, November 12th, 2006There’s a new post for Yancey’s book, Prayer, over at the site Biblos. Do check it out.
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We just finished a discussion-study on 1 John, something we’ve been doing in our home for the last couple of months. I’ve been reading through Dr. Tom Olbricht’s little book on 1 John that he wrote for the 2005 Pepperdine Lecturship program.
I found this paragraph on "legalism" helpful. Maybe it will help you too.
(Comments on 1 John 5.3): John does not agree with those who believe that the keeping of commandments is legalistic. The word legalism is often not employed in a New Testament manner. There legalism means making a rule a law of God when it is, in fact, a tradition of men (Mark 7), or asserting that keeping the law apart from faith is the way to salvation (Romans 9.32), or focusing on the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law (Mark 2.23-28). John fully believed that Christians should obey the commandments, as did Paul (1 Corinthians 7.19).
God bless you as you walk in grace and love throughout this week.
