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know we have done some evil things in our time (anything not of God is “evil”). Did we ever once think,
"I think I will do some evil today”? Not likely!
No, rather, people are frequently seeking after the good. But whether we seek the good or we seek
evil, we are working apart from almighty God unless what we are doing what we do because of His
direction. Anything done apart from God is sin. The act itself may not be sinful but doing it apart from the
almighty, everlasting, eternal Father is what makes it wrong and thus sinful. Separating ourselves from
God is sin.
So how do we avoid getting into legalism? First we must understand that no amount of work on our
part will establish anything righteous. We have no hope of righteousness apart from the blood atonement
of Jesus Christ. Nothing we will ever do, in and of itself, will be righteous apart from the involvement of
the Lord Himself. He must be a part of everything we do; indeed, He must be the originator, the author, as
it were for what we do in order for it to be righteous.
Now immediately one wants to say, “There is no way this is possible!” But that is exactly what
walking by the Spirit and in the Spirit is all about. It is the involvement of the Lord in every moment of
our lives. The Holy Spirit was sent to walk along beside us on a continuous basis, day by day.
John 14:16-17 (NKJV) “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you
another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; 17"the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows
Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
2Tim 1:13-14 (NKJV) “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you
have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14That good
thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in
us.”
Perhaps Paul’s words in Galatians are some of the most pointed where legalism is concerned. The
entire book deals with trying to become righteous through keeping the law and the consequences of doing
that.
Gal 3:1-5 (NKJV) “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you
should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly
portrayed among you as crucified? 2This only I want to learn from you: Did
you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made
perfect by the flesh? 4Have you suffered so many things in vain; if indeed it
was in vain? 5Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works
miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?”
God intends that His Spirit, working in us and through us, is the force that will accomplish His
purposes in our lives. It seems that the Lord is not even interested in anything we might accomplish on
our own absent His involvement. In fact, it is sin to try to do things apart from the Lord or outside His
power and involvement.
Now these are strong statements for even a serious believer to accept. We need to first understand
God’s purposes in even creating us. He created us for fellowship with Himself. Anything done apart
from Him obviously does not involve fellowship with Him. Therefore it will never accomplish His
purpose in our lives. God is not interested in the absolutes of what all we accomplish but rather that it is
done with His involvement and under His direction. To think that the totality of the good we might
"I think I will do some evil today”? Not likely!
No, rather, people are frequently seeking after the good. But whether we seek the good or we seek
evil, we are working apart from almighty God unless what we are doing what we do because of His
direction. Anything done apart from God is sin. The act itself may not be sinful but doing it apart from the
almighty, everlasting, eternal Father is what makes it wrong and thus sinful. Separating ourselves from
God is sin.
So how do we avoid getting into legalism? First we must understand that no amount of work on our
part will establish anything righteous. We have no hope of righteousness apart from the blood atonement
of Jesus Christ. Nothing we will ever do, in and of itself, will be righteous apart from the involvement of
the Lord Himself. He must be a part of everything we do; indeed, He must be the originator, the author, as
it were for what we do in order for it to be righteous.
Now immediately one wants to say, “There is no way this is possible!” But that is exactly what
walking by the Spirit and in the Spirit is all about. It is the involvement of the Lord in every moment of
our lives. The Holy Spirit was sent to walk along beside us on a continuous basis, day by day.
John 14:16-17 (NKJV) “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you
another Helper, that He may abide with you forever; 17"the Spirit of truth,
whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows
Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”
2Tim 1:13-14 (NKJV) “Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you
have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14That good
thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in
us.”
Perhaps Paul’s words in Galatians are some of the most pointed where legalism is concerned. The
entire book deals with trying to become righteous through keeping the law and the consequences of doing
that.
Gal 3:1-5 (NKJV) “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you
should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly
portrayed among you as crucified? 2This only I want to learn from you: Did
you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made
perfect by the flesh? 4Have you suffered so many things in vain; if indeed it
was in vain? 5Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works
miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the
hearing of faith?”
God intends that His Spirit, working in us and through us, is the force that will accomplish His
purposes in our lives. It seems that the Lord is not even interested in anything we might accomplish on
our own absent His involvement. In fact, it is sin to try to do things apart from the Lord or outside His
power and involvement.
Now these are strong statements for even a serious believer to accept. We need to first understand
God’s purposes in even creating us. He created us for fellowship with Himself. Anything done apart
from Him obviously does not involve fellowship with Him. Therefore it will never accomplish His
purpose in our lives. God is not interested in the absolutes of what all we accomplish but rather that it is
done with His involvement and under His direction. To think that the totality of the good we might
