Before You Begin: Read Acts 21:37 – 22:3
Paul Speaks to the Crowd
As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, “May I say something to you?”
“Do you speak Greek?” he replied, “Aren’t you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?”
Paul answered, “I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let speak to the people.”
Having received the commander’s permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic: “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”
When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.
Then Paul said: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today”.
Stop and Consider: “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today”.
Questions Asked of Me: Looking back, what are some of the things you misunderstood about Christian life and practice, things you were once adamant about but have since plastered over with grace?
Growing up, church was something I did because my parents went. As mentioned before, when given the opportunity to stop going… I jumped at it. I thought church was a bunch of people telling you what you couldn’t do. I felt restricted and confined but I was a teenager…what did I know. When I was an adult and diagnosed with breast cancer; having three little girls, I took that as an opportunity to blame God for the diagnosis and began to feel sorry for myself. But, just a couple of years ago, when I realized that I needed to be a part of something bigger than myself; I thought I was too late and too bad to be forgiven. I couldn’t forgive myself for my past and surely didn’t think it possible for Jesus to be waiting there with open arms, ready to forgive me and give me yet another opportunity to seek a relationship with Him; not the religious part I once knew but the relationship I now so desperately needed. Plastered over with grace? You can say that again. With each mistake, each detour, each misstep…more grace and another layer of plaster given to me without question. Whew….
Why are legalism and judgmentalism such safe havens for us? What is it about them – what do they provide us – that we keep going back for?
Legalism could be defined as any attempt to rely on self-effort to either attain or maintain our justification before God.
Judgmentalism is the judging of people or things using non-Biblical standards to judge by.
It’s easy to turn back to these characteristics instead of doing what the bible instructs us to do.
Safe havens? Hmmm….not sure if I would go that far but I know I still try to “be good enough” to get into heaven and rely on myself rather than have faith that Jesus is going to take care of things for me. I try to fix situations I know I should give to Him and I try to run from others I know He is directing me to; thinking I know what is better for me because it is easier and a more direct route to getting what I want. The whole “his timing and not my own” is hard to live with and harder to accept despite his track record in my life lately….There is that word again.
Judging others was always something I fell back on because in comparing my life to others always made me feel better about myself. Now, I don’t think I judge people as often but I do compare what I have and am comfortable with…with the unknown path put before me; hence the bible study on faith…renewing and consistent.
I think these characteristics provide us with something that is easy to slip into. Something that is more commonly accepted, and almost expected, around us. It is harder to do what is good for us; i.e. Dieting instead of diving into fast food or chocolate cake. I know I keep going back because it is what I knew for so much of my life. It is easier to be dragged into a pit than to try and pull someone out…no matter who is doing the dragging or pulling. Jesus is there with a hand out for all but we have to be willing to trust and walk out in faith; exactly what I am working on now.
Even with your clear understanding that God has accepted you by grace through faith, do you still find yourself appealing to Him on the basis of your good works and best efforts? How can freedom in Christ coexist with a zealously disciplined lifestyle?
Absolutely. I try to do my best and secretly ask myself “What would Jesus do?” many times throughout the day. I know that there is NO way I can get to heaven by being good enough and yet I still try. I know that freedom in Jesus can coexist with my overzealousness at times BUT I know that He just shakes his head and smiles and thinks to himself and even utters to me… “Lighten up. Sometimes you are way too hard on yourself. I just want you to do your best in being more like me. I want you to know that I don’t expect you to be perfect but I think you would agree that since you have come to know and accept me, you are much better at making decisions and we make a pretty good team.” He and I have been coexisting for nearly two years; despite all of my quirks. Whew….
Praying God’s Word Today: “As Your Word says, “If we have known Christ in a purely human way, yet now we no longer know Him like that. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come. Now everything is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation” (2Corinthians 5:16-18). Help me not to see You through the lens of legalism, nor others through the lens of judgment. Help me instead to experience the reality of being a new creation.
Dear Jesus:
You know I try to be “the perfect Christian” sometimes and I scold myself when I falter. I LOVE being a new creation in You because, let’s face it… without you there wasn’t an opportunity for me to be better than my past. I always felt like the actions in my life before you, portrayed me. I was the alcoholic, I was the bad daughter, I was the bad mother, and I was the “mean girl” that pretended to be something I wasn’t and judged others based on anything I could to make myself look better. Without you, I didn’t believe that I was worth anything more than that. I love that I can have a relationship with you and it isn’t a disciplined religion or something I HAVE to do. YOU are something I choose to do and I can’t imagine what, or who, I would be without you. I KNOW that faith in you is the answer to everything. I know that you have a track record of ALWAYS taking care of me. You have answered every prayer even if it wasn’t the answer I wanted or it didn’t get there the way I thought it should.
Thank you Jesus for ALL of these opportunities and for giving me so much more in a relationship than I could ever get out of my legalistic past or my trying to be good enough to get anywhere.
Love,
Me
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