"And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?"
Deuteronomy 10:12-13
I wonder if people understand that God has requirements of His people. If God grants five talents to a man, at his hand He will require them. See how many times the word "LORD" appears in the Deuteronomy passage! This is the word used for the "self-existent and eternal" God. If you are a Christian, than God must be your LORD. A good servant always does the will of his master, even as Jesus always did the will of His Father in heaven. Does a father require things of his children? Yes. Would a master who purchased a slave with his own blood expect obedience from that slave? Certainly. Yet for whatever reason, the opinion of most people today is words of obedience to God is enough. God doesn't really require anything of us besides being born again, right?
Perhaps this verse will clear things up: Micah 6:8 reads, "He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justly, To love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?" But that is so Old Testament, some might say. Notice that God has requirements of ALL men, not just Christians or Jews. There is an unfounded fear today in the church that preaching obedience to God will somehow bring us under the legalism of the Pharisees or Puritans. Understand that the Law is good. It is a revelation of the righteousness of God. I would like someone to tell me what is wrong with fearing the LORD with all my heart and walking in His ways. For even Christ has said, "If you love me, keep my commandments." When He was asked "What is the greatest commandment?" He said, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." Jesus did not come to destroy the Law but fulfill.
Maybe right now you feel some heat flushing into your cheeks. Now before you start screaming "LEGALISM!" allow me to clarify. Legalism is not obeying the commands of Christ. Legalism occurs when man places himself in the place of God, dictating what is right and wrong. Legalism is the belief that faith is not enough for salvation, but man must earn favor from God by adherence to the Law. Jesus spoke against the legalism of the Pharisees in Matthew 23:1-5: "Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 But all their works they do to be seen by men..."
The Law is rooted in externals. Man corruptly uses the law to add to his pride, arrogance, condemnation, and judgment of others. Legalism will drive a man to outward actions not consistent with his convictions. He will do things because he is seen by other men and he will not do things because he is seen. He is a hypocrite, living a life behind closed doors he would be ashamed to admit in front of others. Like all men, he is a sinner. But he remains without repentance, working to create a false persona in the name of "obedience to God" so people will revere and idolize him. His life is caught up in being right, even if his attitude is wrong. Ironically, I am convinced there is no one more legalistic than Satan. He is happy to spout off God's law to cause feelings of condemnation and guilt, not that he would ever obey the Law himself!
As much as Satan has tempted away men from faith in Christ through legalism, the age of grace in which we live has given way to dissipation and complacency never before seen in the church. Because of fear of legalism we have swung far to the left and allow grace to be used as a cloak for lasciviousness. It is true we are free from the penalty and letter of the Law through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. There is nothing we can do to earn favor with God through the keeping of the letter. 2 Corinthians 3:5-6 says, "Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." The only way to be justified by the Law is to keep it absolutely perfectly. Yet since the Bible teaches and we affirm all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, the Law only condemns us. Jesus was without sin and therefore death had no right to hold Him. He rose glorified and imputes His righteousness upon all who believe!
God does have requirements. Jesus says in Luke 9:23: "...If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." He also told Nicodemus a man MUST be born again to go to heaven. Must he say a certain prayer or raise his hand, be baptized in a church or join a certain denomination to be saved? No! But that spiritual rebirth through the Holy Spirit must take place. Titus 3:5 says, "...not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit..." It is by grace we are saved through faith, not by anything we have done to earn it. Ephesians 2:8-9 also says, "For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast." Grace and good works are paired together. Once we have received freely of God's grace, we show our love for God by obedience to Him.
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