“What I believe about God is the most important thing about me.”

–A.W. Tozer

 

Legalism

Strict adherence, or the principle of strict adherence, to law or prescription, especially to the letter rather than the spirit; the doctrine that salvation is gained through good works; the judging of conduct in terms of adherence to precise law (dictionary.com).

When the woman caught in adultery met Jesus, she must have felt more exposed than she already was. She stood before God incarnate, knowing she had sinned. She assumed her fate was sealed: her last sight would be of stones careening toward her; her last sensation would be of rocks pelting her skin before she collapsed to a merciless death.

But Jesus did not confront her about this. He instead turned to the crowd of indignant men and asked which of them was without sin. Jesus gave this one permission to throw the first stone. Every rock fell to the ground, impotent.

Jesus turned back to the woman and asked who her condemners were; she replied that there were none. He looked at her, really looked at her, and stated he also did not condemn her.

And then he told her to sin no more.

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We can’t change our behavior—or expect others to change—before we come to Christ. His forgiveness empowers us to repent, which is to turn the opposite way of our initial course of action.

From there, we forsake the former person, and thus inherit a new identity in Him, by which we can do the works he calls us to; we can overcome sin; we can be made whole.

Behavior modification rarely results in our accomplishing more, performing better, or feeling completed. It often tethers us to fear because what would happen if we slipped up? Where would our salvation, our faith, be if our mistakes got the best of us?

If you’ve been caught in the thicket of wondering how to behave better to get God to love you or listen to you more, reconsider your theology. Instead, remember when our identities change, our behavior changes—not the other way around.

Give yourself and others another chance. Christ does.

"If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God." -Colossians 2:20-23; 3:1