Transcript Document

Jesus on Legalism
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“Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to his
disciples. ‘The teachers of the Law and the
Pharisees are the authorized interpreters of
Moses' Law. So you must obey and follow
everything they tell you to do; do not,
however, imitate their actions, because they
don't practice what they preach. They tie onto
people's backs loads that are heavy and hard to
carry, yet they aren't willing even to lift a finger
to help them carry those loads. (Matthew 23:14)
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They do everything so that people will see
them. Look at the straps with scripture verses
on them which they wear on their foreheads
and arms, and notice how large they are!
Notice also how long are the tassels on their
cloaks! They love the best places at feasts and
the reserved seats in the synagogues; they love
to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces
and to have people call them 'Teacher.'
(Matthew 23:5-7)
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You must not be called 'Teacher,' because you
are all equal and have only one Teacher. And
you must not call anyone here on earth 'Father,'
because you have only the one Father in
heaven. Nor should you be called 'Leader,'
because your one and only leader is the
Messiah. The greatest one among you must be
your servant. (Matthew 23:8-11)
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Whoever makes himself great will be humbled,
and whoever humbles himself will be made
great. How terrible for you, teachers of the Law
and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock the
door to the Kingdom of heaven in people's
faces, but you yourselves don't go in, nor do you
allow in those who are trying to enter! How
terrible for you, teachers of the Law and
Pharisees! You hypocrites! You sail the seas and
cross whole countries to win one convert; and
when you succeed, you make him twice as
deserving of going to hell as you yourselves are!
(Matthew 23:12-15)
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How terrible for you, teachers of the Law and
Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give to God one
tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint,
dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the
really important teachings of the Law, such as
justice and mercy and honesty. These you should
practice, without neglecting the others. Blind
guides! You strain a fly out of your drink, but
swallow a camel! How terrible for you, teachers
of the Law and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You
clean the outside of your cup and plate, while the
inside is full of what you have gotten by violence
and selfishness. (Matthew 23:23-25)
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Blind Pharisee! Clean what is inside the cup first,
and then the outside will be clean too! How
terrible for you, teachers of the Law and
Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like
whitewashed tombs, which look fine on the
outside but are full of bones and decaying
corpses on the inside. In the same way, on the
outside you appear good to everybody, but
inside you are full of hypocrisy and sins. How
terrible for you, teachers of the Law and
Pharisees! You hypocrites! You make fine tombs
for the prophets and decorate the monuments of
those who lived good lives; (Matthew 23:26-29)
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and you claim that if you had lived during the
time of your ancestors, you would not have
done what they did and killed the prophets. So
you actually admit that you are the
descendants of those who murdered the
prophets! Go on, then, and finish up what your
ancestors started!’” (Matthew 23:30-32)
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Scripture reading
Tithe paying
External devotion to God
Careful observance of the law
Mission
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“My friends, how I wish with all my heart that
my own people might be saved! How I pray to
God for them! I can assure you that they are
deeply devoted to God; but their devotion is
not based on true knowledge. They have not
known the way in which God puts people right
with himself, and instead, they have tried to set
up their own way; and so they did not submit
themselves to God's way of putting people
right. For Christ has brought the Law to an
end, so that everyone who believes is put right
with God.” (Romans 10:1-4)
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“Once a man came to Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he asked,
‘what good thing must I do to receive eternal life?’
‘Why do you ask me concerning what is good?’
answered Jesus. ‘There is only One who is good.
Keep the commandments if you want to enter
life.’ ‘What commandments?’ he asked. Jesus
answered, ‘Do not commit murder; do not commit
adultery; do not steal; do not accuse anyone
falsely; respect your father and your mother; and
love your neighbor as you love yourself.’ ‘I have
obeyed all these commandments,’ the young man
replied. ‘What else do I need to do?’ (Matthew
19:16-20)
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“Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect,
go and sell all you have and give the money to
the poor, and you will have riches in heaven;
then come and follow me.’ When the young
man heard this, he went away sad, because he
was very rich.” (Matthew 19:21-22)
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Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘I assure you: it
will be very hard for rich people to enter the
Kingdom of heaven. I repeat: it is much harder
for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God
than for a camel to go through the eye of a
needle.’ When the disciples heard this, they
were completely amazed. ‘Who, then, can be
saved?’ they asked. Jesus looked straight at
them and answered, ‘This is impossible for
human beings, but for God everything is
possible.’” (Matthew 19:23-26)
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“It must be remembered, of course, that laws
are made, not for good people, but for
lawbreakers and criminals, for the godless and
sinful, for those who are not religious or
spiritual, for those who kill their fathers or
mothers, for murderers, for the immoral, for
sexual perverts, for kidnappers, for those who
lie and give false testimony or who do
anything else contrary to sound doctrine.” (1
Timothy 1:9-10)
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Keeping the law
Good works
“Evidence of God’s blessing” such as riches,
health, etc.
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1. What “good work” must I do…?
Making rules out of Jesus’ teachings:
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Do not look at a woman in a lustful way
Do not hate
Don’t even want to do wrong
Love your enemies
Do not judge others
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Pharisee: Self-righteous legalists who
judge and condemn others
Danger of becoming an anti-Pharisee
Pharisee
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1. What “good work” must I do…?
2. Viewing salvation primarily as a legal
transaction
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“And not only so, but we also joy in God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now
received the atonement.” (Romans 5:11 KJV)
More than that, we also rejoice in God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now
received reconciliation. (Romans 5:11 ESV)
But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God
has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has
now made us God's friends. (Romans 5:11 GNB)
In addition, our Lord Jesus Christ lets us continue to
brag about God. After all, it is through Christ that we
now have this restored relationship with God.
(Romans 5:11 GW)
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“So the prophecy of Isaiah applies to them:
'This people will listen and listen, but not
understand; they will look and look, but not
see, because their minds are dull, and they
have stopped up their ears and have closed
their eyes. Otherwise, their eyes would see,
their ears would hear, their minds would
understand, and they would turn to me, says
God, and I would heal them.‘” (Matthew 13:1415)
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“And the seeds sown in the good soil stand for
those who hear the message and understand it:
they bear fruit, some as much as one hundred,
others sixty, and others thirty.” (Matthew
13:23)
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“Jesus said to them, ‘I am telling you the
truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink his blood, you will not
have life in yourselves. Those who eat my
flesh and drink my blood have eternal life,
and I will raise them to life on the last day.
For my flesh is the real food; my blood is
the real drink. Those who eat my flesh and
drink my blood live in me, and I live in
them.’” (John 6:53-58)
“This is eternal life: to know you, the only
true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom
you sent.” (John 17:3)
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“Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses
did, God removes the veil and there they are--face to
face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living,
personal presence, not a piece of chiseled
stone…Nothing between us and God, our faces
shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are
transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives
gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as
God enters our lives and we become like him.” (2
Corinthians 3:16-18)
“Yes, may you come to know his love – although it
can never be fully known – and so be completely
filled with the very nature (the very character) of
God.” (Ephesians 3:19)
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“Come to me, all of you who are tired
from carrying heavy loads, and I will
give you rest. Take my yoke and put it on
you, and learn from me, because I am
gentle and humble in spirit; and you will
find rest. For the yoke I will give you is
easy, and the load I will put on you is
light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
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All God asks is that we come to him and
put our trust in him
God does the rest
 The process is relational, not legal
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1. What “good work” must I do…?
2. Viewing salvation as a legal
transaction
3. Salvation by knowledge: knowing the
“right” doctrines and being a member of
the church with the most “right”
doctrines
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"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,'
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one
who does the will of my Father who is in
heaven. On that day many will say to me,
'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your
name, and cast out demons in your name, and
do many mighty works in your name?' And
then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you;
depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'
(Matthew 7:21-23)
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Afterward the other virgins came also, saying,
'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he answered,
'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.'
(Matthew 25:11-12)
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Someone asked him, "Sir, are only a few people
going to be saved?" He answered, "Try hard to
enter through the narrow door. I can guarantee
that many will try to enter, but they won't succeed.
After the homeowner gets up and closes the door,
it's too late. You can stand outside, knock at the
door, and say, 'Sir, open the door for us!' But he
will answer you, 'I don't know who you are.' Then
you will say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you
taught in our streets.' But he will tell you, 'I don't
know who you are. Get away from me, all you evil
people.' (Luke 13:23-27)
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3 levels of obedience
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Pyramid
Recent news story
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Expand parable to include feeding the poor,
etc.
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Jesus outlegalizes a legalist
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1 Corinthians 13
I give you a new command (God, others,
enemies)…this only comes from God….
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Laws are for rulebreakers…
What is dangerous is when the pious religions
people focus on the rules
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Anti-Pharisee Pharisee