The Judaizers

Judaizers – it has an ominous tone to it, don’t you think? I can almost hear the theme from Jaws in the background as I write. Who are the Judaizers and what do they have to do with you?

They were the legalists of Paul’s day. They were the ones who came to the grace walking Christians at Galatia with a new slant on things. Their focus was all about behavior, about doing the “right things” that they contended were necessary to move forward in the Christian life.

Theirs was a sinister and subtle plot against the church. The truth is that Christianity is Jesus. Nothing more, nothing less. Being a “good Christian” doesn’t revolved around a list of do’s and don’ts. Being a good Christian means understanding that Jesus Christ is our life and allowing him to live through us. The gospel, then, is a person named Jesus not a performance. It’s a relationship, not a list of rules.

These Judaizers were sneaky. Their message came to the Galatians sounding something like this: “You’ve trusted Jesus Christ? Good for you! That is so important, but now you want to be a good Christian, don’t you? Hmm? Sure, you do. Well, the way you become a good Christian is to follow this list of rules that we want to give you – it’s God’s Law and you have to keep these rules in order to really grow and move forward. Now that you’re saved you’ll want to get started right so we’re going to tell you the things you need to do in order to become a really strong and good Christian.”

Like Paul, I find myself wanting to shout back through history into the Galatian church, “Watch out! Run! They’re trying to fool you! Don’t fall for it!”

That’s why Paul wrote the book of Galatians. He is shouting to them, “No! A thousand times no! Christianity is not about rules! Christianity is about a person named Jesus. He is the only source and subject of the gospel. As you live out of your union with Him, your behavior will take are of itself. Don’t be deceived!”

This same scenario, played out nearly two thousand years ago happens in churches all over the world today. People come to Christ. They love Him and live for Him as naturally as they breath. Then the religious mafia comes along and they are hit with legalism.

“You must read your Bible,” they are told, “every day!” “You should tell your friends about Christ,” they hear. “You ought to pray,” they are commanded, as if they aren’t already doing that.

Little by little, the new Christian finds that the actions which, until now, have been normal expressions of who he is becomes religious obligations, responsibilities that take on a different life than they have had until now. Actually, to be exact, they don’t take on a different life. Instead they begin to smell of death.

The new Christian who has all along been glorifying Christ through his behavior without even thinking about his behavior now stops focusing on Christ and starts focusing on his behavior. The face of Jesus fades into the background and a list of religious rules emerge as the focal point of the new Christian’s life, at which point the modern-day-Judaizers smugly pat each other on the back on move on in search of another victim.

In their wake they leave a mass of sincere believers who are now trying to achieve something they can never achieve – victorious Christian living. Victory in Christ can only be received by faith. It cannot, now or ever, be achieved by following the rules of legalistic lunacy.

Do I sound harsh? I hope so. I don’t want to water down the tone of our brother in Christ, the Apostle Paul, who hit this topic straight-on in the book of Galatians. As you read the book of Galatians, you’ll find that he took off the gloves and went after legalism with bare knuckles. That’s the only way to deal with it. You don’t treat cancer gently. You zap it with radiation or destroy it with chemo. Be gentle and patient with it and you do so to the peril of the patient you claim to care about. We love the patient (Christian), but we hate the cancer (legalism).

Paul went after legalism with a vengeance. Listen to the strength of his words: “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel.” He didn’t see this matter of legalism as an honest difference of opinion between Christians. It wasn’t “a matter of semantics,” as some have suggested at times. He told them that they were deserting Christ if they followed the way of legalism.

Make no mistake about it – when our lives are more grounded in religious rules of behavior than in an intimate relationship to Christ, we have abandoned Him. Let’s understand what the gospel is not and what it is. The gospel is not a message which tells you that you have to trust Jesus Christ and then live according to certain rules. That is not good news. The gospel is that Jesus Christ has come to give himself to you, to express his love to you, and to express his life and his love through you.

When Jesus is expressing his life through us, there is where real quality of living comes. But if we’re staring at a list of rules that dictate behavior, you are missing intimacy with Jesus Christ because you can’t be looking at a list of rules and staring in the face of Jesus at the same time.

Are You Qualified?

I talk to many people who don't see themselves as the kind of person God could use in the growing grace revolution because of weakness in their lives or even sins they've committed. I hope you don't fit in that category. If you’re waiting to get your act together before you will step up to act as an ambassador of Christ, spreading His grace in this world, you’ll wait forever.

Don’t think for a moment that God uses people who have worked out their spirituality to the place where they’re in a different league than you. The truth is they are more like you than you may want to know, but you need to know it because, by knowing that there are no Super Saints, you may be more likely to believe that God can use you to advance the cause of His grace in this world and, even more difficult than that these days, in His church.

One guy said to me, “If you only knew the things I’ve done, you’d know why God couldn’t use me.” “Really?” I asked. “Are the things you’ve done worse than murder? Adultery? Stealing? Lying? Drunkenness?” Read the list of those mentioned in Hebrews 11, the “faith-chapter” that lists those set forth for us as examples of faith from biblical history. Look at their lives individually. They did everyone of those things and more.

As you consider their sins, remember that the sinful things they did were, for the most part, after they had been called by God and began to follow Him. So don’t try to fall back on the yeah-but-my-sins-were-done-after-I-trusted-Christ excuse. So was theirs.

Check out that list in Hebrews 11. Then go back and look at the things the Old Testament tells us about what they did. After doing that, you may be inclined to ask, “Is this the best God can do if He wants to give us a list of people who had great faith and were mightily used by Him?” Yes, it is. So don’t think God can’t use you.

Don’t believe for one minute that anybody who sets himself up above you today, as if he has some spiritual advantage you don’t have, is telling you the truth either. This whole idea of there being super-saints in the church today who are somehow different from the rest of us is an enemy tactic meant to discourage us from thinking God can use us. When we see them we may feel like we don’t measure up, but just remember looks can be deceiving.

In spite of the way some religious leaders present themselves to us, the truth is that people are just people. We all have the same kind of struggles, doubts, temptations and weaknesses. If you doubt that, then ask yourself again why God listed the kind of people He did in Hebrews 11. Maybe there’s a higher quality of saints in the world today? Maybe back then He listed them because there weren’t so many good examples as there are today? Yeah, right. You know that’s not true. People have always been the same and God has never looked for perfect people to use. He only looks for people who will completely trust Him – nothing else. You might not be able to clean up your act the way you’ve wanted to in the past but He isn’t asking you to do that. He’s just asking you to trust Him. You can do that much, can’t you?

I’m not suggesting that the gifts the Spirit has given to the church don’t distinguish some in ways that are different from others. What I am saying is that there are no second-class citizens in God’s kingdom and that you don’t have to think for one moment that you lack anything that would keep you from rising up at this very moment to be used by God. In Jesus Christ, you have been made complete because you have all of Him and in Him resides the fullness of Almighty God Himself.

There's A Difference Between Knowing Grace & Identity

"He is a fantastic grace teacher, but he says we are still dirty sinners who need to constantly apply God's grace to our lives," somebody recently said to me about a Christian author we both admire. "That seems different from what you teach," he continued.

"Well, in my opinion, he understands grace but not identity," I responded.

"What's the difference?" the sincere inquirer asked.

It's a good question. There's a big difference between understanding the grace of God and understanding who we are in Christ. I've read a number of authors whose writings about God's unconditional love deeply touches me, but they are missing the identity component.

You'll just have to take my word for it that I don't see myself as having a perfect understanding of this subject anymore than anybody else does. Nor do I attempt to set myself up as judge and jury over anybody else. But it's a fact that not everybody who understands grace also knows the truth about who we are in Christ.

The grace of God is wonderful and must be taught. It teaches us that God's love for us in unconditional and bigger than we could ever imagine. It has nothing to do with anything good in us, but has everything to do with His goodness. God loves us regardless of what we do or don't do. He has made up His mind about loving you and you aren't big enough to stop it.

Identity,however, is another issue. Understanding our identity in Christ necessitates that we know that the old man we were in Adam was co-crucified with Christ and that we were raised up with Him and given His resurrection life. Out with the old man, in with the new. Now He is our very Life and we are righteous, not because of how we behave, but because we are in union with Him, and that's what defines us.

So, some who speak about grace in ways that are biblically sound and personally thrilling don't understand the reality of who we are in Him. They see themselves as deeply loved by our Father, but still depraved to the core. They see half the truth but not the whole picture. God doesn't love you in spite of you. He has transformed you and made somebody new out of you by joining you into union with Himself through Christ. You are lovable because "in Him you live and move and exist."

So when you read books that encourage you about the love of your Father, but still teach you that you are a dirty sinner, check to make sure that they're on target about who you are as well as about God's love. It's importance to recognize the distinction. Sometimes we have to, as they say, "eat the meat and spit out the bones." As we grow in grace, we learn how to do that in a way that allows us to broaden our capacity to receive from those who aren't exactly on the mark on every point. After all, who is?

The Growing Grace Revolution

Many people are worried about the effect of unrighteousness in the church. But the fact is that it isn't unrighteousness, but self-righteousness that presents the greatest threat. Legalistic religionists can’t stand grace for at least one reason. It takes them completely out of the limelight and gives all the glory to God. Tell the church leaders in Martin Luther’s day that people’s good works didn’t move them one inch toward salvation and, like Luther, you would have been considered a heretic.

Today this fundamental fact about salvation probably makes sense to everybody who reads this. After all, the Protestant Reformation was five hundred years ago and the issue has long ago been settled. Works have nothing to do with salvation. Every Christian knows that. Though it was a controversial matter back then, that fact is a no-brainer in the church world today.

It’s a slightly different grace related issue that will get you into trouble with many in the church today. It’s not about salvation, but about sanctification – how a person becomes holy and then lives a holy lifestyle. Tell many at church that works don’t define salvation and they’ll say a hearty “Amen,” but tell them that the Christian life isn’t defined by works and you’d better take a step back and prepare yourself for the verbal lashing that is likely to follow.

In many ways, Protestant denominations today have lapsed right back into the same errors that stirred Luther to action in his day. The difference is that the controversy then surrounded what it took to become a Christian while today the issue revolves around what it takes to become a good Christian. It’s the same battle, just a different battleground.

To suggest that Jesus is the answer in both instances may seem obvious, but when you look at the message given in the modern church world, an unbiased observer would hardly come to that conclusion. Ask almost anybody in almost any contemporary congregation what a good Christian is and then listen as they describe all the things that person will be doing. They may have learned that at church but it sure didn’t come from the Bible.

The fact of the matter is this: Christianity isn’t about what we do. Neither entering nor living the Christian life revolves around doing. It has only to do with Jesus Christ and nothing else. I didn’t say we won’t do anything so please don’t read into my words something I haven’t said. Of course Christians do, but we don’t do to be good Christians. We do precisely because we are good Christians. We’re good Christians, not because of anything we may do or not do, but because our good God has put His good Spirit in us where He lives and defines us, giving us our very identity. Your goodness has nothing to do with anything you do. It’s because of what He has done.

I’m going throw out a bone here by mentioning works in their proper context. Yes, Christians do good works. There, I’ve said it. I’m sure somebody will read that statement and feel like a smoker who gets his first long draw after not having had a cigarette all day. If that’s you, savor the moment. Yes, we work. It’s inherent to who we are. Having said that, I can't resist reminding you again that Christianity isn't about works, but grace.

If the growing grace revolution is to keep gaining momentum, modern Christians will have to detoxify from their addiction to works and stop having the need to constantly be reassured about the whole subject.

I can almost hear the voices now: “People may misunderstand what you’re saying and think works don’t matter at all!” That’s a risk anybody takes who teaches the pure grace of God, but it is a risk that must be taken if we’re going to avoid diluting the truth of the gospel. To make grace clear, we just have to run the risk.
The great Bible expositor, Martyn Lloyd Jones wrote:

The true preaching of the gospel of salvation by grace alone always leads to the possibility of this charge being brought against it. There is no better test as to whether a man is really preaching the New Testament gospel of salvation than this, that some people might misunderstand it and misinterpret it to mean that it really amounts to this, that because you are saved by grace alone it does not matter at all what you do; you can go on sinning as much as you like because it will redound all the more to the glory of grace. If my preaching and presentation of the gospel of salvation does not expose it to that misunderstanding, then it is not the gospel.


The great need in the church is that we find ourselves more and more addicted to grace and a biblical understanding of what it means to relax and simply allow Christ to live out His life through our lifestyle. If you get antsy when somebody like me talks about works not being the foundation of Christian living, that is an indication that you need to grow in your understanding of grace.

Works -- it always has been a hot topic in the church. It was the subject that triggered the revolution that led to reformation in Luther’s day and it’s the subject that the growing grace revolution hinges on today, five centuries later. Despite the fact that the Apostle Paul himself said that works and grace are impossible to mix , those who speak out boldly against works-righteousness as the basis of Christian living had better be prepared for resistance. The religious world hasn’t changed since Paul’s day or, for that matter, even Luther’s day when he addressed the subject as it relates to salvation.

Some have argued that “going too far with grace” can cause people to grow lax about sin in their lives. They imagine the Summer Youth Trip at the Local Community Church turning into a “Girls Gone Wild” video. That kind of assumption is totally ungrounded in reality. It ranks right up there with “There’s a boogey-man under my bed.”

Grace doesn’t cause people to go wild in sin. That’s a ridiculous idea perpetuated by two groups of people: (1) Those who are fearful because they don’t trust the Holy Spirit inside other people to lead them and (2) those who are afraid that they will lose control over other people if they actually begin to believe this grace teaching is true.

You can’t go too far with grace. That’s like saying, “don’t go too far with Jesus.” Paul wrote in Romans 5:17 that it is by the abundance of grace that we learn how to reign in life. The real threat to the church isn’t that we will go too far with grace, but that we won’t go far enough. Paul told Titus that the grace of God teaches us to deny ungodly behavior and empowers us to live like the righteous people we are. Show me somebody who is sinning and calling it grace and I’ll show you somebody who is telling a blatant lie. They’ve embraced disgrace and have given it a slanderous new name.

Do you feel an inner defense mechanism suddenly kick in when somebody like me starts to talk about how works aren’t the basis of the Christian life? If so, I encourage you to ask yourself why. Is it because you’re afraid that grace might cause people to become lazy or even passive? Grace won’t do that. The Apostle Paul commented on his own level of work when he said, “I labored even more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of God with me” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

Paul was willing to put his works ethic in the Christian life up against anybody. What was it that he said gave him such a strong motivation for works? It was the grace of God at work in him. You don’t have to be afraid that grace will make people lazy. True grace never does that. To the contrary, it motivates us toward authentic righteous works as opposed to mandating artificial religious works that only masquerade as being righteous.

What I'm Reading Right Now

Seldom do I read books twice, but this is one of those times. I read it a few years ago and picked it back up recently and found myself pulled back into it. Adrift is the true story of Steven Callahan's amazing experience of being lost at sea in a life raft for 76 days. It is a compelling account of his determination to survive and how he managed to fight off sharks, starvation and thirst. You might think that the story of being adrift alone in a raft for that long would become repetitive and boring, but this story is far from that.



I just picked this one up in the airport in Pittsburgh yesterday and am already consumed with it. If you wonder what the next 20 years are going to look like, this book will stimulate your imagination about what likely is to come. I read the book Megatrends in the early 1980's and much of what that book predicted has come true. I'm amazed by these people who can look at trends in culture and technology and predict where we are headed in the days ahead. The Extreme Future talks about globalization of the world economy, advances in medicine, the workforce, the rising influence of China and even "weird science" like TVs that will cause you to taste and smell what they advertise, vacations in space, and other things like that.

No profound theological truths in these books . . . then again, maybe there is for those who "have eyes to see." I'm reading them as mind candy after having spent several months in intensive writing and teaching.

Standing On The Promises

Somebody emailed me this week with a question about whether or not it is the right thing to do as a new testament Christian to claim the promises of God to Abraham. It's a good question, and one with an answer that is thrilling to those who understand it.

The answer is no. We don't claim the promises of Abraham. The Apostle Paul explained why that is the case in Galatians 3:16. He wrote:

Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, "And to seeds," as referring to many, but rather to one, "And to your seed," that is, Christ.

Paul makes it clear that when God told Abraham that His promises would be fulfilled in Abraham's seed, He didn't mean the Jewish people. He meant one person. Paul makes the distinction that there's a reason God said "seed" and not "seeds."

The promises of God have all been fulfilled in Jesus Christ. For as many as are the promises of God, in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is our Amen to the glory of God through us. (2 Corinthians 1:20) Everything the Father has ever promised has been fulfilled in the Son.

Now, here's the exciting part: Jesus Christ lives inside you! If Jesus is the fulfillment of all God's promises and He is your very life, then the fulfillment of every promise of God is already yours in Christ! I grew up singing the old hymn, "Standing On The Promises," but the truth of the Bible is that we don't stand on promises. We stand in the grace of God which has come to us through Jesus Christ, bringing the fulfillment of every promise He has made.

It is Jesus, "through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand" (Romans 5:2) that has brought the fulfillment of God's promises to us. We have "received every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus" (Ephesians 1:3).

Maybe a new verse for the old hymn could say,

Standing in the Person of Christ, my King,
By God's grace, I now have everything,
Resting in what He has done, I now can sing,
Standing in the finished work of Christ!

God Is About To Destroy The Earth By Water . . . Again

Get ready. A storm is coming. A big one. The biggest one this world has seen in thousands of years. In fact, it's going to destroy the world. Why? Because of God's anger toward sin. Think "Noah's Ark: Part Two." Rubber rafts won't do. This thing is going to last almost six weeks.

What? You don't believe me? Why not?

Consider this passage from Isaiah 54:9-10:

"For this is like the days of Noah to Me, When I swore that the waters of Noah would not flood the earth again; So I have sworn that I will not be angry with you nor will I rebuke you. For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, and My covenant of peace will not be shaken," says the Lord who has compassion on you.

God spoke in this text about the "Covenant of Peace" He was making with his people. What was included in that covenant? 1.I will not be angry with you. 2. My lovingkindness won't be taken away from you. 3. My covenant of peace toward you won't ever be disturbed.

Can you see how this covenant of peace was a foreshadowing of the New Covenant that Jesus came to ratify and activate? Did He succeed? Of course, He did. You and I live under a covenant of peace now, through God's grace.

Why, then, are we still often taught that God is angry with us about our sins? God, Himself, said, "This reminds me of Noah's day." Just like then, He has given us His Word that He won't ever become angry with us again.

If you go to church Sunday and the pastor tells the people that another flood is coming, nobody will believe Him. They know better. Let him tell those same people that God is angry because of their sins and many of them will say "Amen!" and believe every word of it.

Let's believe God's complete word. He's not angry with you and never will be. He has give us His Word on that. You don't have to build an ark. In fact, you don't even have to buy an umbrella. It's all good.