Waking Up to Grace
Waking Up to Grace is a Bible-centered podcast for anyone who is weary of religious performance and ready to rest confidently in Christ.
Hosted by Lenny, each episode brings honest conversations and a fresh look at Scripture to questions about grace, faith, the New Covenant, identity in Christ, forgiveness, assurance, the church, and eternal life. The goal is not to give you another religious checklist, but to help you see the finished work of Jesus more clearly and reconsider long-held traditions in the light of Scripture.
Whether you are questioning what you have been taught, recovering from legalism, or simply longing to know Christ more deeply, join us as we wake up to grace—one conversation at a time.
Find companion Bible studies and more at WakingUpToGrace.com
Waking Up to Grace
What Is Christian Legalism? | Episode 23
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What is Christian legalism, and why can it be so difficult to let go of it? Lenny begins with a childhood water-skiing lesson that went badly because he kept hanging onto the rope when everyone was yelling for him to let go.
That picture becomes a way of looking at the Christian struggle with self-effort. We examine how guilt, rule-based religion, repeated attempts to make ourselves right with God, and confusion about the New Covenant can keep believers holding tightly to something Christ has already brought to an end.
Hebrews shows us a once-for-all sacrifice that purifies the conscience from dead works. We also examine 1 John 1:9, forgiveness, the difference between Law and grace, and what it means to stop trying to maintain our standing with God through religious effort.
The remedy for Christian legalism is not a better set of rules. The remedy is Christ.
Read the companion study and continue the conversation:
https://wakinguptograce.com/023-let-go-of-christian-legalism/
The Water Skiing Analogy
announcementHello and welcome to the Waking Up to Grace podcast , where we celebrate and explore the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ . Tune in to the Waking Up to Grace podcast on every major platform . You can also listen to our episodes and read our full transcripts at wakinguptogracecom . And now here's Lenny .
LennyWhen I was a young child , my parents took me out with them on a friend's boat so I could experience water skiing . The first thing you have to do when water skiing is get up out of the water . You have to be aware and ready . Then the boat pulls you up out of the water and you begin to glide above the surface effortlessly . What a feeling when you get into that rhythm . You just have to watch out for those waves when they come at you . But as long as you hang on and keep focused , the boat continues to pull you along . Well , that was the experience I had after I learned the hard way . My first attempt was not so graceful . My parents' advice to me as a first-time water skier was to hang on to the rope , don't let go . This was great advice , but it didn't work for my particular situation . As the boat began to accelerate and pull me out of the water , in my mind I kept thinking hang on , lenny , just hang on . So I did just that . The boat then proceeded to pull me out of the water , face first , and began dragging me across the surface of the water , belly flopping along , slicing through it head first , with all the excitement going on and the water blasting into my face , scaring my vision . All I could think of was hang on tight , lenny , don't let go . So I just kept hanging on as my parents yelled let go of the rope . It wasn't until I had taken a good beating from the water and received the full cup of its salty flavor that I began to hear what they were saying Let go of the rope . I was just stuck on hanging on to that rope . I didn't want to let it go . Are you still hanging on to that rope of pleasing God with your self-effort ? Are you struggling your way through the Christian life , trying with all your might to live up to our Lord's holy standard ? Let go of the rope . Welcome back to the Waking Up to Grace podcast . Everyone so much like my water skiing experience .
LennyMany Christians , including myself , have spent years of their lives hanging on to self-effort and legalism for dear life . That was the instruction given to us after we put our trust in Christ . If you were able to get up on top of that water and begin gliding along , letting Christ do the pulling , trusting in his finished work , you'd be hanging on to the right thing . You'd be gliding along , living by grace . But instead , just as we got excited to be pulled out of the water by Christ , we got dragged out of the water face first by legalism and guilt and lost our clarity of thinking . We cannot hear the gospel message telling us to let go of the rope . If we did let go , we could start fresh and hold tightly to Christ and his work , letting him pull us along through all the waves of life , instead of taking a steady beating by our own self-effort and ignorance .
LennyIf this story sounds like you , if you've been going through life keeping a logbook of your sin , begging God for forgiveness and trying to stay in a right standing with our most holy Father by your own self-effort , it is never too late to let go of that rope and start again . Instead of asking your Heavenly Father for forgiveness for that next sin , maybe you'd rather tell your Lord I am sorry . I doubted your finished work at the cross and resurrection . I'll never display my doubt on you again by asking for more forgiveness . Thank you so much for sending your Son to save me . Lord , in Christ Jesus , please live your life through me . Guide me in all things . I'm letting go of the rope of self-effort and trusting in you . I want to depend on you in all things and to trust that your life-giving spirit has given me everything I need to live a holy life and that you are no longer counting my sins against me , as is written in our scriptures . So maybe you've begun your journey of growing in grace , but someone you love is still holding on tightly to that self-effort rope . What can I do about this , you might ask yourself . Well , I'd like to talk about that in today's episode .
Letting Go of Self-Effort
LennyIn our world today and every age in all of history , legalism has been a systemic issue plaguing the church . Nothing is really getting better or worse from my vantage point . It's really always been this way . We seem to make ourselves completely sick with legalism before we're willing to accept a remedy . The full grace message which tells you to let go of the robe is often not interesting to someone who is still holding tightly to self-effort . As humans , we are incredibly resilient to self-effort . As humans , we are incredibly resilient to self-inflicted torture . We can even convince ourselves and others that we're perfectly fine , but if we're to be honest , we're not fine . We cannot live up to our father's holy standard by self-effort , because we were never meant to .
LennyI remember when I was young , if I was not feeling well , my mother might recommend a remedy . If I didn't like that remedy , I would suddenly feel better and let her know that everything was just fine . She could see right through this . Of course , I didn't like the flavor of what she was trying to give me . Even if it would help , I didn't want it . Once I finally accepted the remedy , I would feel better . Some of us , as Christians , have felt like the mom trying to give a child their medicine . We know we can make people feel better , but they don't want the medicine . But how gratifying is it when we see our loved ones get some relief .
LennySo with this analogy , you might be wondering well , what is the remedy for someone with systemic legalism ? What is it that they won't accept ? What is it that can cure this disease ? The short answer is Christ . Christ Yeshua is the cure .
LennyThe sin issue has been dealt with . We just have a hard time believing it due to the systemic disease caused by self-effort and rule-based teachings . Modern medicine , for example , offers very few cures to our problems and rather places its focus on symptoms . Natural medicine is far less funded due to its lack of trademarks and profitability , but natural or integrative medicine looks for a root cause . It believes that if you only treat symptoms , you don't improve overall health and end up adding more and more medicine to mask the root cause of the issue . When it comes to law-based and legalistic teaching , we need to treat more than just the symptoms to really cure the disease . Someone that is fully immersed in the system of legalistic theology is probably not going to suddenly grasp the full grace given to us by Yahweh just because we tell them Jesus loves you . We need to help them see that they need a remedy and that the finished work of Christ Yeshua is that remedy .
LennyI believe that there are two primary issues that cause this disease to spread and teach us to hang on to that rope of self-effort . The first is our understanding of when the new covenant began . You can ask your friends and loved ones when do you say the New Covenant began ? You might be shocked at how many Christians who have been attending a church for years can't answer this question . Many church leaders can't even come up with this one . In fact , I've seen it with my own eyes . Many who can think it through and come up with the correct answer simply don't see the value in it . If you've been listening to my podcast episodes . You probably already know how important this fact is . The question when did the new covenant begin is a great conversation piece that can lead our loved ones into a richer understanding of the gospel . And if we read the letter to the Hebrews in our Bible , the answer is not even remotely arguable . I'm going to be using the ESV Bible translation for our study today . A letter to the Hebrews which is titled Hebrews in
The Systemic Disease of Legalism
Lennymost Bibles gives us crystal clarity on exactly when the new covenant began and why it matters so much that we know that Hebrews .
LennyChapter 9 begins Now . Even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness , for a tent was prepared , the first section , in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the presence . It is called the holy place . Behind the second curtain was a second section , called the most holy place , having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold , in which was a golden urn holding the manna and Aaron's staff that budded and the tablets of the covenant . Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat Of these things .
LennyWe cannot now speak in detail . These preparations having thus been made , the priests go regularly into the first section performing their ritual duties , but into the second only the high priest goes , and he but once a year , and not without taking blood , which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people . By this , the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing , which is symbolic for the present age . According to this arrangement , gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper , but deal only with food and drink and various washings regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation . So , in summary , we see that the rules and regulations of the law could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper and these regulations would be imposed until the time of reformation . This time of reformation refers to the new covenant age that we are living in now .
LennyAs we read on , we will see that the rules and regulations of the old covenant were a reminder of sin . They served as a reminder of how unholy the people were and how holy Yahweh was . These rules and regulations did not clear your conscience , according to the author . Rather , they reminded the people of their guilt . How many Christians do you know , who still maintain a guilty conscience before our Lord or , even worse , have a clear conscience before the Lord based on a false view of their works and deeds .
LennyWe read on , but when Christ appeared as a high view of their works and deeds , we read on the blood of goats and calves , but by means of his own blood , thus securing an eternal redemption . For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh , how much more will the blood of Christ , who , through the eternal spirit , offered himself without blemish to God , purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God ? Did you grasp all that ? Christ Yeshua entered once and for all into the holy places by means of his own blood to secure eternal redemption for us . When did this happen ? At the cross ? And then he says how much more will he purify our conscience from dead works , which are works based on self-effort to serve the living God ? Why is he telling them this ? Because , like today , we have a hard time believing it . We hold tightly to our guilt before the Lord . We don't want to let go of self-effort and rest in him . We don't want to depend on someone else . We want to do it ourselves and be proud of our accomplishments . Whatever the reason , it is no reason to spend our lives doubting and disagreeing with our Lord about our reconciliation and justification , etc .
LennyWe read on From the transgressions committed under the first covenant , for when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people , he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people saying this is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you . And in the same way , he sprinkled with the blood the tent and all the vessels used in worship . Indeed , under the law , almost everything is purified with blood , and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins . So the new covenant began at the death of Yeshua on the cross . That's it . There's no other true answer to the question when did the new covenant begin ? On top of that , we learn that both the first and second covenants of Yahweh began with blood . Without the shedding of blood , there is no forgiveness .
LennyWhen you feel guilty toward God , when you need more forgiveness , how do you get it ?
When the New Covenant Began
LennyDo we just ask whenever we need to , and as often as necessary . No , not . According to the scripture , there needs to be bloodshed . Continuing our reading God on our behalf .
LennyNor was it to offer himself repeatedly , as the high priest enters the holy places every year , with blood not his own , for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world . But as it is , he has appeared once for all , at the end of the ages , to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself . So we see here that Yeshua entered heaven , not just a man-made temple , on our behalf . Many have been led to believe that this is why we ask God for forgiveness . Christ is a mediator , so we go through him now to self-cleanse our sin . The one main problem with this idea is that it is not found anywhere in our scripture . In fact , we're told the opposite . We read earlier . Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly , as the high priest enters the holy places year after year , with blood not his own , for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world . But as it is , he has appeared once for all , at the end of the ages , to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself . This new covenant shedding of blood is not a repetitive religious practice . It was once and for all .
LennyIf you had a huge debt that you could never pay off and the person you owed said they will put that debt away once and for all and never ask you for payment , would you pretend that you still owed that person and bring them your paycheck every week ? Our loving Father threw away your sin records at the cross and stopped keeping track forever . Now you need to throw away your records . God is not going to audit you . Paul the Apostle said in Romans 6 10 , at you . Paul the Apostle said in Romans 6 10 , for the death he died . He died to sin once for all , but the life he lives , he lives to God . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God . In Christ Jesus , you're dead to sin and alive to God .
LennyWhenever we decide that we have a guilty conscience , we can remind ourselves I'm dead to sin and alive to God . Stop feeling guilty toward Yahweh and make things right with the people you are hurting by sinning . You're reconciled to God , but we need to be forgiven by our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ . Sometimes , don't we ? It can be a little more difficult to admit this to the person we hurt than to just ask God instead . Can it ? And what do you think Christ Yeshua is going to say when you ask him for more forgiveness ? This religious cleansing ritual is a lot like trying to put Christ right back onto that cross . According to the author of Hebrews who wrote for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world . You might be saying but wait just a minute .
LennyAll this new covenant teaching is all well and fine , but 1 John 1 9 teaches Christians to ask God for forgiveness . You can't go around teaching people not to do that . You're giving them a license to sin . You can't just go around doing whatever you want . Yet Paul the Apostle tells us in Galatians 5 1, . For freedom , christ has set us free . Stand firm , therefore , and do not submit again to a yoke of Paul the Apostle tells us in Galatians 5.1, . As humans , we always do what we want , but , as I have said before , it is our motives that matter . Are we acting out of obligation or acting out of freedom ? If it is out of obligation , how can you be sure it is a true desire ?
The Once-For-All Sacrifice
LennyGetting back to 1 John 1.9, . This isa passage I've discussed in past episodes , but it's important . This one passage is the root cause of most of the legalistic doctrines of our day . It is truly incredible how much this one passage has influenced the masses to fall into bondage to their sin . We need a remedy for the disease that has spread throughout the church because of a bad interpretation of this passage that tramples the truth about the new covenant that we have learned so far .
LennyAs someone who struggles with a critical spirit , I can be a bit of a perfectionist . In the industry of painted finishes , whether it be cabinet finishes or automotive finishes , you can never get things to be 100% perfect . The harder you try , the worse things are going to get . Once we become turbulent , we can get obsessive about getting things exactly the way we want them to be . As we become obsessive about a tiny speck on the finished product , we might just keep redoing the work until we have overcoated the product . Too many coats of finish , one on top of another , weakens the durability and eventually it will need to be stripped down and started over again . How many times will we keep doing this before we realize that we need to change our standard ? We can never run a functional business with that mindset . The stress and pressure of trying to be perfect will cause us to make more mistakes and no longer even enjoy our work .
LennyIf we simply take the remedy and let go of the rope , we can enjoy our work again and , as we read in Hebrews , purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God . When we no longer see God as looking over our shoulder , picking on every little thing we do , we can serve him freely , from the heart . Our work is going to be holy and pleasing to him when his spirit is working in us . We don't have to be perfect . We're all growing in grace while living in a multitude of life situations . Some of us in the world might be facing severe government persecution , some might have become divorced , some might be recovering from addiction . Some might be running a business , some might be facing loss . Some might want to start a church . Our amazing Lord will work in all of our situations . We are his beloved children and he has a plan for each one of us .
LennyI had a great conversation about the 1 John 1-9 passage with a friend recently , and it inspired me to talk about it in this episode . He brought to my attention some details that I believe really help us to gain an even better understanding of this passage . 1 John 1 9 reads If we confess our sins , he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . I'm going to be looking at an argument directly related to the passage 1 John 1 9 that holds to the mainstream interpretation
Understanding 1 John 1:9
Lenny, for the sake of learning from it . The argument begins I would say I do think that this is the most reasonable view being that John opens by proclaiming Christ to them so that they can share fellowship in Christ with them .
LennyThe argument continues If we confess our sins . Confess is a compound Greek term , homologio , which is from to speak and the same . So this literally means to say the same thing . Confessing therefore means saying about our sins what God says about them , namely that they are indeed sins , offenses against him . I say yes . When our eyes are open , we see sin how God sees it . We despise it . Upon regeneration , we are able to see ourselves from God's vantage point , and then he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness . As is written , the argument goes further , saying it is the present tense , which implies ongoing action .
LennyBelievers continue to agree with God that they have violated his holiness . I say while believers continue to agree with God about sin , they also agree with God that it has been dealt with . We agree that we've been reconciled and that can't be undone . We believe he is no longer counting our sins against us , as it is written . We also agree that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness and that Christ shed his blood once for all and isn't going to do it again and again . Like the high priest under the law Hebrews outlines this with clarity . John himself also tells us that we do not continue to sin because Christ abides in us . Later in the letter we have been cleansed by our faith . We have been justified by God . Justification is a super big deal .
LennyThe argument finishes by saying the argument finishes by saying Some say that believers are already forgiven of all sin and they don't need to confess their sins . Well , to not confess your sins would be to not agree with what God says about sin . I say I don't know what some said , but I don't think believers can help but agree with God about their sin . That is milk and vegetables , in my opinion . We talked about that in our last episodes on the healthy Christian diet . In my experience , believers do not agree with God that their sin was fully dealt with at the cross . They don't believe they are right with God , even though it is the promise of the gospel and the very reason our Lord Yeshua shed his blood for us .
LennyNo matter how you interpret the word confess or homologio , it still doesn't mean ask for more forgiveness . Our scripture never tells the Christian to ask God for more forgiveness . You would really have to wonder if it was so important that we had to do something to get right with God every time we sin . Wouldn't it have been written in just one of Paul's epistles ? When a Christian sins , it ought to immediately bring to remembrance the cleansing they received from Christ . Upon remembrance , one should be humbled and extremely grateful for the sacrifice that our Lord made . What is it about being cleansed from all unrighteousness that makes us want to ask for more cleansing ? Why not just agree with God and thank him for his great mercy ? Why not , out of thanks , despise what we did and look to him for guidance ? We're children of the true living God . We are God's holy people . We can ask him for anything and come to him anytime . He's always going to be right there with us .
LennySo in summary , 1 John 1 9 was directed toward the non-believer or the non-believing mindset , but could serve as a mind renewal for the spiritual , to bring them to remembrance of their cleansing , as Peter said in 2 Peter 1.9, . But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness , having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins . The message was for believers too in that way , just like all scripture is for us . That is probably why he suddenly shifts to dear children in the following chapter . The believers were struggling with a non-believing mindset . We see this throughout the entire letter of John's first epistle . You might want to look into some past episodes to dig further into John's first epistle . I actually did a whole series going through the letter with Melissa as well as discussing it topically more than once .
LennyI hope that what I've done will help you to come to a better understanding of the love God has for you . We've already been given the cure to our sin disease when we trusted in Christ . We just have to believe it . That is why the Apostle Paul said things like be transformed by the renewing of your mind and be reconciled , because we tend to not believe what the gospel teaches us , and keep going back to a guilty conscience and the punishing battle of pleasing our Lord by self-offer . Letting go of the self-offer rope is how we walk by the Spirit . In Galatians 5.16 , paul says but I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the Spirit . In Galatians 5.16 , paul says but I say walk by the Spirit and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh . Did he say we will not experience the desires of the flesh ? No , he didn't , did he ? He said you will not gratify the desires of the flesh In this life . The desires of the flesh will remain , but they have lost their power .
LennyIn 1 Corinthians 15.56 , we read the sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law . But thanks be to God who gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ . When we go back to self-offer and cleaning up our behavior to be right with God , the power of sin will increase in our lives . The more we focus on sin , the worse our situation becomes . Romans 6.10 says For the death he died . He died to sin once for all , but the life he lives , he lives to God . So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus
Finding Rest in Christ's Finished Work
Lenny. We are dead to sin and alive to God . We can please God now from pure motives sin and alive to God . We can please God now from pure motives , but we first have to let go of the rope of bondage , guilt and condemnation that we hold so tightly to in our Christian lives . As I said in recent episodes , we need to replace our obsession with sin with truth and a positive affirmation of that truth . Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus . Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus .
LennyIn Romans 8 we read by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin , he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit . And then Paul continues confirming what we have been discussing here about obsessing over our sin and self-offer and not focusing on depending on our Savior . For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh , but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit . To set the mind on the flesh is death , but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace , for the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God , for it does not submit to God's law . Indeed , it cannot . Those who are in the flesh cannot please God . So , based on this , we please God when our minds are renewed to believe in what he did for us and the fact that it is his work that gives rest to our spirit .
LennyWe don't bear this burden . He does , and we know he can handle it . He proved it to us at the cross and resurrection , and we know he can handle it . He proved it to us at the cross and resurrection . Christ Yeshua defeated death . Has anyone ever done that ? Can we trust the one who is powerful enough to give life to the dead and even raise himself to life ? Yes , we can .
Lenny1 Peter , 5 , 6 and 7 tells us Humble yourselves , therefore , under the mighty hand of God so that , at the proper time , he may exalt you casting all your anxieties on him , because he cares for you . We do not need to worry , though we often do . The Lord tells us to cast our anxieties onto Him . Is that great or what ? That is really great . Our Lord wants you to be at peace . It is His will that you rest in Him .
LennyIt can be hard to do at first , when we have suffered on the yoke of legalism for a time , but when we trust in our Lord to do his work in our lives , we can let go of that old rope , the rope of rules and regulations that keeps us in bondage , and let him guide us out of the water clinging to the rope of his finished work , and glide on the surface of the water by the spirit of Grace , who can give us peace in every situation and smooth out all the rough and choppy waves that will certainly come our way in this fallen world that we live in . If you haven't already let go of that old rope , trust in Christ Yeshua and be free . Have a great day out there , you guys .
announcementThank you for listening to the Waking Up to Grace podcast brought to you by the finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ . If you enjoyed today's episode , we would love to hear from you . You can send encouragement our way right from our episodes and transcripts page or reach Lenny privately from the contact form at wakinguptogracecom .