“It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.” Galatians 6.12
April 25, 2023
A legalist is someone who attempts to add works to grace in order to be accepted and approved by God. The Galatian church was being infected by certain professing Christians who rejected grace and salvation by faith alone. These legalists were theological cowards. They did not want to be criticized, rejected, and bullied for being grace-only people. Many are willing to proclaim Christ as a great teacher, example of a moral leader, a prophet, but refuse to include the significance of the cross of Christ. Courage for Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, and the sufficiency of the Bible for living life God’s way will be costly. We need a new generation of Christ-followers who will not be ashamed of the gospel and will live out loving boldness. The message of the cross of Christ will always be an offense to our culture, moralists (virtues only without the need for repentance and faith in Christ), and even the religious world. Let us resolve to never compromise the gospel in order to avoid the disapproval of the world.
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“We deny that salvation is in any sense a human work. Human methods, techniques or strategies by themselves cannot accomplish this transformation. Faith is not produced by our unregenerate human nature.”
The Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals