{"id":1088,"date":"1997-01-28T22:52:30","date_gmt":"1997-01-28T22:52:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/"},"modified":"2014-02-02T02:35:44","modified_gmt":"2014-02-02T02:35:44","slug":"january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/","title":{"rendered":"Facing Legalism and License With Truth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Truth is incontrovertible.\u00a0 Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Winston Churchill<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The German Anabaptist Hans Denck said, \u201cTherefore, as God wills, and so much as in me is, I will not have my brother as an opponent and my Father as a judge.\u201d1<\/sup> In all of my ministry I have avoided neither exclusion inside my church nor separation outside my church. But I have often\u00a0 disagreed with good men as to how either should take place.\u00a0 I have never liked the terms \u201cfirst degree\u201d and \u201csecond degree\u201d in referring to separation, \u201clegalism\u201d and \u201clicense\u201d in referring to godliness, or even \u201cpersonal\u201d and \u201cecclesiastical\u201d as terms dividing spiritual realms of responsibility.\u00a0 Jonathan Edwards had a simpler way of putting it, \u201cIf it be made out clearly and evidently from reason and the Word of God, to be our duty so to do, this would be enough with all Christians.\u00a0 Will a follower of Christ stand objecting and disputing against a thing, that is irrefragably proved and demonstrated to be his duty?\u201d2<\/sup><\/p>\n

For purposes of this article, I will use the terms \u201clegalism\u201d and \u201clicense\u201d in today\u2019s vernacular of two extremes beyond a desired biblical norm.\u00a0 Legalism describes, I think, a giving up on a consistent, biblical philosophy of life and a resultant falling back on rules for rules\u2019 sake.\u00a0 License describes a giving up on a consistent philosophy as well but with a resultant refusal to determine right and wrong at all.\u00a0 It seems to me that biblical admonitions to holiness, love and evangelism would lead us in a different, and more balanced, path.<\/p>\n

Proverbs 23:23 says, \u201cBuy the truth and sell it not.\u201d\u00a0 In that short statement by Solomon is a balance that can be lived consistently.\u00a0 Pascal said, \u201cIt is false piety to preserve peace at the expense of truth.\u00a0 It is also false zeal to preserve truth at the expense of charity.\u201d3<\/sup> But I think we can preserve truth without sacrificing charity, although at times it may cost us peace.\u00a0 Truth is part of God\u2019s creation.\u00a0 It is the way He made the world and the glue that holds it all together.\u00a0 It is the ninth commandment, the belt of the Christian armour.\u00a0 Solomon says we are to seek it at all cost to ourselves and we must never deny it for any reward.\u00a0 I believe this biblical admonition can be lived out consistently in five prominent areas of the Christian life.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Personal Life<\/h3>\n

In 2 John 4, the Apostle writes, \u201cI rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth.\u201d\u00a0 We are each, first and foremost, individuals before God.\u00a0 If there is any place on this planet where we can live out truth, it is in ourselves and within our own lives.\u00a0 Paul wrote to the Romans, \u201cTherefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest\u201d (Rom. 2:1).\u00a0 He was pointing out that we all judge situations in many ways every day.\u00a0 We decide the right and wrong of a matter, and then go one way or the other.\u00a0 As believers we \u201cdesire the sincere milk of the word, that we may grow thereby\u201d (1 Pet 2:2).\u00a0 To violate what we judge the Word to say, is to lie to ourselves before God.\u00a0 Spurgeon said, \u201cFellowship with known and vital error is participation in sin.\u201d4<\/sup><\/p>\n

As an individual, I can make two errors concerning the handling of truth. The error of legalism would be to create a wrong where there is none.\u00a0\u00a0 The error of license would be to ignore a wrong where there is one. I may decide that it is wrong to eat meat and even teach against it.\u00a0 But I have created an unbiblical standard and violated truth.\u00a0 Or I may laugh at an inappropriate joke, or smile at another\u2019s sin or break the law of the land that God told me to keep.\u00a0 Then I have refused to abide by the rule of truth by an unbiblical and unchristian license.\u00a0 In legalism or license I have loved the world system more than God by not following truth.<\/p>\n

When error from the truth is evident in my life, I must appeal to the plain text of scripture witnessed by the Holy Spirit and follow that corrective back into the truthful way.\u00a0 Otherwise I \u201clie and do not the truth\u201d (1 John 1:6).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Married Life<\/h3>\n

When God said, \u201cThey two shall be one flesh (Gen. 2:24),\u201d He meant that two together should seek to follow Him and His Word.\u00a0 The blending of two individuals makes the task of following truth by conscience more difficult.\u00a0 Differences of opinion as to what is right will inevitably arise.\u00a0 That is why a couple needs a mutual agreement that what God says is truth, and therefore right, and when they discover what that is by study and prayer, they will follow it.<\/p>\n

Ravi Zacharias, in discussing how love can exist consistently with morality, writes, \u201cIf love is creation\u2019s first law, it is consistent within that framework to delineate love\u2019s boundaries–this is the moral law.\u201d5<\/sup> Trouble comes when one partner is untrue to that moral law, or truth!\u00a0 A husband can err on the legalistic side by creating household laws that are inconsistent with moral laws.\u00a0 The food isn\u2019t just right; the shirts aren\u2019t ironed satisfactorily; the trash is too full.\u00a0 He can err on the side of license by thinking it is his right to swear in the home; his right to provoke the kids to anger; his need to be unfaithful.<\/p>\n

Neither is it right for either partner to leave conflict unresolved and pretend the discrepancy doesn\u2019t matter or doesn\u2019t exist.\u00a0 Though we wrongfully do this in other areas of life without immediate consequences, it quickly becomes disaster in a marriage.\u00a0 God\u2019s remedy for error in the home is for the husband to be the spiritual head of the family as he follows Christ.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Church Life<\/h3>\n

Paul instructed the Corinthian church, \u201cIn the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ\u201d (1 Cor 5:4) to proceed to resolve conflicts over truth.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The local church is the only divine agency found in the New Testament through which we fulfill our stewardship before God.\u00a0 MacArthur writes, \u201cWe need to be concerned about accountability.\u00a0 That\u2019s one reason Communion is important.\u00a0 It reminds us to make sure our lives are right so that we can restore each other in love and stimulate one another to love and good deeds.\u00a0 Accountability involves the \u2018one anothers\u2019 in Scripture.\u00a0 We are to exhort one another, pray for one another, love one another, teach one another, edify one another and admonish one another.\u00a0 Those things make up the life of the church.\u201d6<\/sup><\/p>\n

Now the church is larger than the individual and the family and, therefore, susceptible to greater conflicts over truth.\u00a0 But it is also the perfect vehicle for teaching and practicing the Word of God in a human situation. Both the individual as well as families of individuals can fellowship, bound together by a love for the truth of God.\u00a0 No one can be made to say amen to that of which he is not convinced, and no one is without recourse if truth has not been found.\u00a0 He has the Book, his pastor, a deacon and numerous friends to which he can go for instruction.<\/p>\n

Legalism can arise within a church by one group creating standards of conduct not supported by Scripture and forcing those on all the others.\u00a0 License often occurs when a group of believers begins violating the truth of Scripture in some particular way and yet no biblical recourse is allowed to take place.\u00a0 Even on this level these two errors result from an apathetic attitude toward finding and maintaining the truth.<\/p>\n

It is at this level of our Christian life that God tells us that exclusion may be the way in which we have to deal with error.\u00a0 Paul told the Galatians to \u201ccast out the bondwoman and her son\u201d (4:30), and then asks them \u201cYe did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?\u00a0 This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.\u00a0 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump\u201d (5:7-9).\u00a0 This, of course, is only after seeking the truth among individuals and also having followed proper avenues of biblical authority.\u00a0 It is not God\u2019s will for moral or doctrinal error to remain in the body like leaven in a loaf of bread.\u00a0 It must be removed.\u00a0 A properly functioning church is one in which godly believers have the faith to exclude error rather than one from which godly believers must themselves separate.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Life In God\u2019s Family<\/h3>\n

Not all believers are in the same local church.\u00a0 As believers, we are aware that God\u2019s children are present in varied fellowships although some Christians are not in any local assembly (a situation not assumed in the New Testament).\u00a0 The love for truth is far more difficult in relation to those with whom you do not have local church accountability.\u00a0 Many disagreements will never be resolved because accountability cannot be taken by Christians beyond their own local assemblies.\u00a0 Correcting error within the larger family of God must be pursued by prayer, preaching, personal contact and other forms of communication.<\/p>\n

This area of pursuing truth has become difficult due to present attitudes that see correction as bigoted or mean-spirited.\u00a0 Recently, Ernest Pickering has written, \u201cEveryone wants to be a \u2018nice guy\u2019; no one wants to be a \u2018bad guy.\u2019\u00a0 \u2018Bad guys\u2019 are disruptive to cozy fellowships, are theological and ecclesiastical \u2018whistle blowers\u2019–and few want to hear the whistle.\u00a0 As a result of well-meaning efforts on the part of many to be \u2018nice,\u2019 the cutting edge of Christianity is being dulled.\u00a0 It is certainly correct to say that \u2018evangelical courtesy has seriously watered down its witness,\u2019 and, realizing that, \u2018we must guard against civility breeding timidity.\u201d7<\/sup> Consequently, approaching a brother about error is becoming an endangered action.<\/p>\n

Legalism and license are far more common in the larger family of God than in the smaller areas of life.\u00a0 Both errors abound.\u00a0 Legalism often arises when peer pressure from strong personalities forces others to adopt stringent taboos and strange excesses which cannot be supported from Scripture.\u00a0 License is rampant in our day due to professing Christians using their liberty in God\u2019s grace as an occasion to the flesh while bristling at the thought of Christ\u2019s cross.\u00a0 Neither of these people want to hear that God\u2019s Word stands in judgment on their error from the truth.<\/p>\n

How do you deal with another Christian on this level?\u00a0 It is my opinion that nothing can be \u201cforced\u201d on another believer who is not in your local church.\u00a0 But certainly we have deep obligations to another brother in biblical error.\u00a0 Philippians 1 cannot be used to support doing nothing.\u00a0 Those who opposed Paul while in prison were not said to be in doctrinal error but were selfishly motivated.\u00a0 Galatians 1 gives us a startling look at Paul\u2019s attitude toward doctrinal error and it was anything but laissez faire.<\/p>\n

Paul often exhorts some believers to respond to other believers regarding error.\u00a0 \u201cMark them\u201d (Rom. 16:17, Phil. 3:17), \u201cavoid them\u201d (Rom. 16:17), \u201cput away from among yourselves\u201d (1 Cor. 5:13), and \u201cnote that man, and have no company with him\u201d (2 Thes. 3:14).\u00a0 These admonitions regard more than just five \u201cfundamentals\u201d which some use as an excuse to plead \u201chands off\u201d to their other beliefs and actions.\u00a0 These verses are directed at \u201cdivisions,\u201d \u201cthose who mind earthly things,\u201d \u201ca man that is called a brother who is<\/em> a fornicator,\u201d and \u201cevery brother that walketh disorderly and not after the traditions (Paul\u2019s inspired writings) which he received of us.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Jude wanted to avoid these uncommon areas of \u201cthe faith\u201d but was inspired of God to earnestly contend for it all (Jude 1-3).<\/p>\n

How can this be done practically in the work place, at school, around town or even in various meetings of believers across the country?\u00a0 One way in which we can be true to the truth at all times is never to allow ourselves to put our blessing or approval on biblical error.\u00a0 Years ago, I knew a young man whose father was living in sin and would not repent.\u00a0 How, he asked, could he be around his father at dinner or at social events and still not condone what he was doing?\u00a0 The only way was (though he had to be physically around him) to never, by words, gestures or even silence, say in effect, \u201cit\u2019s all right, Dad, I understand.\u201d\u00a0 We, as believers, must never say to an erring brother, \u201cit\u2019s all right, I don\u2019t care what you believe, it doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d\u00a0 This is too often done over coffee cups, holding hands in Christian rallies, joining movements that have known error and such things where our sentimentality overrules our devotion to the faith.\u00a0 \u201cFor he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds\u201d (2 John 11).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Life In God\u2019s World<\/h3>\n

We share God\u2019s world with all kinds of creatures and there is a certain worldly etiquette toward them all.\u00a0 People, who are made in God\u2019s image, are in need of truth in the most basic way.\u00a0 They need to be reconciled to God and we, who know Christ, are the ambassadors to lead them out of their error (2 Cor. 5:19-21).\u00a0 Legalism, at this worldly level, resorts back to its basic form:\u00a0 working to obtain salvation.\u00a0 License has no limits when the sinful nature is combined with the love of money and of self.<\/p>\n

At this level we not only \u201cbuy the truth and sell it not,\u201d but we must propagate the truth as well.\u00a0 In so doing, it is fatal to the effort of evangelism for a believer to condone the works of a lost man as if he were making points with God.\u00a0 Today\u2019s society already sees churches as pragmatic service centers for doing good in the community (What else, they ask, could they be for?)\u00a0 Neither can we forget that a lost man has a most basic selfish desire that in itself is keeping him from repentance.\u00a0 It expresses itself in every area of his life.\u00a0 We cannot, at the same time feed this desire for a human world view and simultaneously ask him to understand agape love.\u00a0 What agreement, asks the apostle, can these things possibly have? (2 Cor. 6:14-17).<\/p>\n

The Christian response to error on this level is separation.\u00a0 Not leaving the world, but neither congratulating it (1 Cor. 5:9-10). \u00a0But we will never separate from something we continue to love, and we will never quit loving something until we are convinced of its error.<\/p>\n

Alexander Pope wrote some time ago,<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cVice is a monster of so frightful mien,<\/p>\n

As to be hated needs but to be seen;<\/p>\n

Yet seen too oft, familiar with her face,<\/p>\n

We first endure, then pity, then embrace.\u201d8<\/sup><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Balthasar Hubmaier, the great Anabaptist, often ended his writings with the words, \u201cTruth Is Immortal.\u201d9<\/sup> Perhaps he coined the phrase from the last living apostle who left us with the inspired words that ought to be our motivation and vision, \u201cFor the truth\u2019s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever\u201d (2 John 2).<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Notes:<\/address>\n
1 Hans Denck quoted by Estep, The Anabaptist\u00a0 Story<\/em> (Grand Rapids:\u00a0 Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1996)\u00a0 p. 116.<\/address>\n
2 Quoted by Ralph Turnbull, Jonathan Edwards The Preacher<\/em> (Grand Rapids:\u00a0 Baker Books, 1958) p. 56.<\/address>\n
3 Blaise Pascal, Pensees<\/em> #949 (New York:\u00a0 Penguin Books, 1966) p. 325.<\/address>\n
4 Quoted by Ernest Pickering, Biblical Separation<\/em> (Schaumburg: Regular Baptist Press, 1979) p. 84.<\/address>\n
5 Ravi Zacharias, A Shattered Visage<\/em> (Brentwood, Tenn.:\u00a0 Wolgemuth & Hyatt Pub., 1990) p. 134.<\/address>\n
6 John MacArthur, The Master\u2019s Plan For The Church<\/em> (Chicago:\u00a0 Moody Press, 1991) p. 49.<\/address>\n
7 Ernest Pickering, The Tragedy Of Compromise<\/em> (Greenville:\u00a0 Bob Jones U. Press, 1994) p. 25.<\/address>\n
8 Alexander Pope, Essay on Man,<\/em> Epistle II, line 1.<\/address>\n
9 Balthasar Hubmaier, \u201cEighteen Dissertations\u201d, In Lumkin\u2019s Baptist Confessions of Faith<\/em> (Valley Forge:\u00a0 Judson Press, 1980) p. 21.<\/address>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Truth is incontrovertible.\u00a0 Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is.\u00a0 Winston Churchill   The German Anabaptist Hans Denck said, \u201cTherefore, as God wills, and so much as in me is, I will not have my brother as an opponent and my Father as a judge.\u201d1 In […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[123],"tags":[164,163],"class_list":["post-1088","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-legalism-license-liberty","tag-separation"],"yoast_head":"\nFacing Legalism and License With Truth - Aletheia Baptist Ministries<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Facing Legalism and License With Truth - Aletheia Baptist Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Truth is incontrovertible.\u00a0 Panic may resent it; ignorance may deride it; malice may distort it; but there it is.\u00a0 Winston Churchill   The German Anabaptist Hans Denck said, \u201cTherefore, as God wills, and so much as in me is, I will not have my brother as an opponent and my Father as a judge.\u201d1 In […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aletheia Baptist Ministries\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AletheiaBaptist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"1997-01-28T22:52:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-02-02T02:35:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Book-Reviews-1024x1024.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rick Shrader\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rick Shrader\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"13 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rick Shrader\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/#\/schema\/person\/588b75c574dc86d40cf5fb13774181b2\"},\"headline\":\"Facing Legalism and License With Truth\",\"datePublished\":\"1997-01-28T22:52:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-02-02T02:35:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/\"},\"wordCount\":2678,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Legalism \/ License \/ Liberty\",\"Separation\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/aletheiabaptistministries.org\/Blog\/january-qfacing-legalism-and-license-with-truthq\/\",\"name\":\"Facing Legalism and License With Truth - 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