What are Signs of Legalism?

Legalism is defined as adding anything to grace through faith alone. They seek to obey in order to get God to do bless me or be good to me, or I can keep God loving me and blessing me. In the book of Galatians false teachers had entered the church and tried to place the members under the control of the law. Today we face a couple of issues on legalism; sometimes our traditions can become legalistic holdovers from the past. Here are a few signs of legalism.


1. Legalists always settle for a fixation on outward appearances only. Jesus said it best, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.” (Matthew 23:27) The legalist will fixate on externals only, with no thought or care of the heart or spiritual growth. Church becomes the building, not the people. Attending church becomes about being seen instead of seeking to be part of the body of Christ and bearing others burdens.

2. Legalists always compel others to adopt their pet peeves. In Galatians, the legalist wanted the church to embrace circumcision. Circumcision was a sign of the old covenant, Jesus had not established the new. We have the same problem today, many legalists push unnecessary pet peeves like using only the King James Version of the Bible (which I love, but we don’t talk that way anymore). Or, to them you don’t smoke, don’t chew, and don’t go with girls that do! Christianity is much more than staying away from things that annoy others!

3. Legalists always maintain a safe distance from grace. Because of their misunderstanding of God’s grace, that is his unmerited favor upon us. A legalist will always seek to contribute to salvation in some form or another. Paul says it this way, “so that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.” (Galatians 6:12) The legalist wants God and everyone to know that God is lucky to have them on his team.

4. Legalists are hypocrites. In Galatians 6:13, Paul says, “even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law…” The legalist will keep a list of things they don’t struggle with staying away from and expect others to keep that standard. I remember a legalistic televangelist who railed ageist drinking beer, but three weeks later he was caught with a prostitute.

5. Legalists seek notches on their belt. Paul also nailed the legalist for bragging about convening others to follow their nonsense he says, “they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.” They don’t see the church as Christ does, but merely as a scoreboard of people who they can convert to their line of thinking, instead of Christ’s example.

Should Local Churches Pay Their Pastor?

“Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.”
–Galatians 6:6

A few years ago, I heard a biblically ill-informed “Christian” DJ say on the radio, “I don’t think we should pay pastors.” He went on to explain that that money should be used for other things like taking care of widows in the body. While this may be an extreme example, many may question the idea of paying the preacher. Wayne Pohl points out, “Churches often fail to count the hidden costs of poor salaries.”

The passage above from Galatians points out the fact that those who teach and preach the word of God faithfully should “share all good things” which means the physical provisions like food, clothing, and shelter. The passage is in the context of sowing and reaping. The reality of human nature remains that we will spend our money on what we value. Paying a pastor for faithful preaching and teaching emerges many places in the New Testament. Paul quotes both Jesus and Deuteronomy in 1 Timothy 5:18, “For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” Also, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 9:14, “In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel.”

Every church should strive to pay at least one full-time pastor who labors to faithfully preach the gospel and apply it to daily living. Not all churches can afford this, but many have a bi-vocational pastor. The pastor needs time to reflect and study the word. Many issues continue to bombard the church, and the church needs someone to aid them in applying the gospel and biblical principles. Remember the Bible does not focus on private bible study, although that holds significant value. The Bible emphasizes the public teaching of the word, which is taught by pastors supported by their hearers. The human principle remains, we will find money for what we value. Our bank statements are a black and white snapshot of the values of our hearts. Too many times our local churches approach pastors’ salaries with the attitude of, “What is the least we can do?” instead of asking the important question of, “What is the best we can do for our pastor or pastors?” Here are a few practical points to make on this issue to ensure that you as a church member are faithful in this area.

1.    Do you know if your pastor’s salary is livable? Remember pastor’s compensation package is not the same as a salary, what you see reflected usually has to have medical insurance and retirement carved out of it.

2.    Do you know if your pastor’s salary truly provides what he needs to live and support his family (including housing, transportation, healthcare, continued education, kids college savings, and retirement)?

3.    Do you know if your pastor’s salary is comparable to other churches of a similar size? In our denomination, Lifeway often does compensation studies to determine if a pastor is being paid adequately and fairly.

In Exodus 22 and 23, the Israelites are told not to oppress foreigners, how does that apply to the current situation of illegal immigrants in our country?

Immigration takes the stage as a central hot topic issue. Let's make a few observations before attempting to answer the question. First off, the United States is not a theocracy like the Old Testament Israelites. Second, we cannot point to any Bible passage for U.S. regulation of the issue; and finally, we must submit to the laws of the land (see Romans 13). However, we have been a nation who has been biblically informed in decision making in the past. Think about these conversations on God’s character:

1.    God has always had a heart for those who are on the social fringes. God has a heart for the fatherless, widow, and the foreigner. (James 1:27 and Leviticus 19:24)

2.     The Holy Spirit calls us to bear fruits in keeping with love, gentleness, and kindness which are all perfectly reflected in Jesus Christ. (Philippians 4:5)

3.    God loves all people no matter their ethnic status or background. (2 Peter 3:9; Acts 17:26)

It is clear that illegal immigration is against the law and we as believers cannot say that the law doesn’t matter. Illegal immigration provides benefits as well as some issues for the United States. With the surprising loss of life through abortions each year, someone needs to talk the low paying jobs and rent the low rent housing. So illegal immigrants do provide an economic benefit to the country and communities; however, the law must be honored.

So I would call for fellow believers to seek a balance between mercy and honoring the law.  A position that takes into consideration the mercy that these immigrants may desperately need in pursuit of better lives for themselves and their children but also honors the law. I would personally advocate for the option of a pathway towards citizenship with the reasonable penalty being paid as part of that process. Similar to a speeding ticket or a parking ticket, the punishment must fit the crime.

The oversimplified solution of putting all illegals on a boat sending them back to their country of origin lacks the needed gospel perspective. In 2010, the United States received over 42 million international immigrants, which was around 20% of the global total.[1] We must view this as not just a political issue but as a gospel issue. Immigration, legal or illegal, provides opportunities to fulfill the Great Commission. Dr. J.D. Payne points out that it is estimated that there are 361 unreached people groups in the United States.[2] As Christians, we have a responsibility to take the gospel to the immigrant, legal or not. Let’s not pass up the opportunity to meet the Acts 1:8 challenge in our backyards and across the street.

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[1] Payne, J.D. Pressure Points: Twelve Global Issues Shaping the Face of the Church. (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, Inc., 2013), 63.

[2] Ibid.

Will There Ever Be Another Billy Graham?

Today Billy Graham went home to be with the Lord.  Billy Graham’s faithful ministry spanned nearly seven decades. He was a friend to Dr. Martin Luther King, evangelist to the world, and pastor to a dozen U.S. presidents. He was and remains a personal hero of mine. Southern Baptist owes a debt to Dr. Graham as they sought a return to gospel fidelity in the 1970’s through the 90’s. Dr. Moher asked to use Graham’s name to aid the restoration of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY. I could go on about how God used him, and while that may be a worthier task is not the focus of this blog.

I have often heard the question from church members, “will there ever be another Billy Graham?”  The short answer is No, absolutely not! There are several reasons for this, let me see if I can help unpack why I say no. Here are the reasons:

1.           The American culture has shifted significantly since Dr. Graham’s crusades. He was ordained in 1939. Dr. Graham was part of the greatest generation. His contemporaries were John Stott, J.I. Packer, and Francis Schaeffer . When he came onto the scene, the prevailing worldview was modernism, which was predominately Christian saturated and influenced. The move then shifted to post-modernism, which began to critique the evangelical movement. But today we have experienced another two cultural turns from postmodernism to pluralism and finally to tribalism.

2.           Evangelicals were once a tribe; now evangelicals are tribal. Seth Godin, who to my knowledge is not a Christian, has made a remarkable observation about what technology has done to our culture. It has created tribes. He defines tribes as “a group of people linked together by an idea, a leader, and a way of communicating with each other.” Evangelicals have leaders within their tribes with their leaders, publications, blogs, conferences, even bible translations. The sad result is that many tribes talk about each other but don’t talk to each other. As Mark Driscol points out, “We make a point, but not a difference.” Billy Graham was the  Big Chief of evangelical movement, but now that evangelicals are tribal, no one will be the big chief. The closest we have today would most likely be Rick Warren, but he is different still than Dr. Graham.

3.           Nothing Ever Repeats itself twice in the same way. C.S. Lewis once state in his book a grief observed that “nothing ever repeats itself twice in the same way.” We should not go looking to make someone a clone of Dr. Graham. Perhaps Acts 13:36, Dr. Billy Graham “served God in his own generation, he fell asleep” this morning. We have his legacy to build on though he is dead, he will continue to speak to us through books and recordings of his sermons.

Dr. Graham completed his race, but what about you? God will raise up His people and His leaders, God always remains faithful to all generations! But have you trusted Jesus as your only hope of salvation? Do you have confidence of your eternal destiny?

Should I let a feeling of peace be my referee for a big decision?

Often Christians will give counsel to let the peace be your referee when making a difficult or important decision. I often hear Christians say things like, "I feel or don't feel peace about ___________." Many fleshly decisions survive masked under this "spiritual" counsel. In fact, the Bible gives at least one biblical example of someone who was totally at peace with rebellion against God's revealed will. He followed the peace in his heart which leads him the complete opposite direction from God's will. This man is Jonah, he was given a direct biblical command to go to Nineveh, but what does he do? Jonah gets on a ship headed to Tarshish, the complete opposite direction. And the real kicker is that he is so at peace with his sin that he falls into a "deep sleep" in the middle of a raging storm (Jonah 1:5-6).

I think it is often normal for Christians to not feel peace about doing God's will. Dealing with the anxieties in our heart goes along with growth in the faith and is an essential part of trusting in God's commands and principles. Do you think Jesus was at total peace when he was sweating blood in the Garden? The peace He felt did not come from a fleshly felt peace, it was peace in doing what was obedient to God the Father.

As a Pastor, I have had to church discipline at least three members all the way to the last step of Matthew 18, and I didn't always feel very peaceful about it. But I knew it was what God had commanded in Matthew 18. I remember two days before we had to remove a friend of mine from our fellowship, I was feeling anxious about the whole thing! But my wife's grandfather told me a story about his pastor doing church discipline; he said, "You have to be faithful to what God says, kick them out, and God will send you three to replace the one." And you know the funny thing was in that business meeting we voted one out and in the same meeting voted three into our fellowship! Praise God!

The feeling I had during the whole thing felt more like a brick in my stomach, but doing what is right (that is what is biblically commanded) is usually not what is easy, at least at first! So don't trust the peace feelings in my heart or yours! Our hearts are desperately wicked and who can know them (Jeremiah 17:9)? If we follow them, we will most likely end up like Jonah, in a dirty, fishy, smelly situation wishing we had done what God asked the first time! In the end, Jonah still did what God commanded, he did it with whale puke all over him. So our referee is not our fickle feelings, but our referee remains the objective, unchanging, inerrant, infallible, revealed Word of God!

“…God is love.” -1 John 4:8

As Valentines’ day quickly approaches, love is in the air. How are we to think about love? As 1 John 4:8 makes it very clear, love is not just one of his attributes it is his very nature. Many people like this attribute of God the best and speak of it often. The tragedy remains in the local church that many people receive lousy teaching on the topic of God’s love.

I have often heard it taught that God loves in a unique way, and there was a word invented to talk about this type of love, the Greek word "agape." This is not the case. "Agape" is the transliteration of the Greek word for love. Agape simply means love. It is not from the word itself that we can gather any particular information, but from the context of the Word of God. I would like to draw out three essential aspects of this attribute of God.

First, God’s love is uninfluenced. By this, I mean that there is nothing in the objects of His love to call it into exercise, nothing in the creature to attract or prompt it. God's love is unique from our love. By comparison, we love others because of different reasons: physical attraction, the other person thinks like us, the other person is our opposite, they're complimentary to us, etc… In each case there is something that prompts us to love someone else. We see in Deut. 7:7-8, one sees that God chose to love Israel in spite of who they are, the fewest in number.

Second, God’s love is sovereign. That is since God himself is sovereign (meaning under obligations to none, a law unto himself, acting always according to his own pleasure.) God is God and He does as He pleases. Since God is sovereign and since he is love, it follows that his love is sovereign. So God loves whom he pleases. We see this in passages like Romans 9:13 where is says “Jacob have I love, but Esau have I hated”. There is no more reason to love Jacob over Esau. Both were born at the same time to the same parents and the prophecy given before either had done anything good or bad.

And finally, God’s love is holy. The fact that “God is light” (1 John 1:5) is mentioned before “God is love” (1 John 4:8) in 1 John. God’s love is not regulated by impulse, passion, or sentiment, but by principle. His holiness overshadows all his attributes. God does not wink at sin, even in His people (Heb. 12:6). If God did wink at sin, Christ died for no reason. God continues to manifest or show his love for us.

Let’s not forget that God’s love is also eternal (Jeremiah 31:3), infinite (Eph. 2:4), immutable (James 1:17), and gracious (John 3:16 & 34). I recommend The Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God by D.A. Carson for further study on this matter.