In this episode, we dive deep into the transformation from legalism to living a life rooted in faith. Our discussion revolves around how faith, rather than strict adherence to the law, becomes the guiding principle for sin and morality. This episode explores the profound realization that faith in Christ leads to a life free from the shackles of guilt and legalistic condemnation.
So I read that statement in chapter 14 at the end of the chapter, which says, whatever is not from faith is sin. I read that yesterday to you, and we talked about it a bit, but I’d like to say more about it. The King James Version says, whatsoever cometh not of faith is sin. Years ago, when I was a young Christian and very much a legalist, this thought didn’t even cross my mind. The idea was incomprehensible. I just had to obey the law and make sure I was as perfect as I possibly could be and calling upon the Holy Spirit to help me to overcome all my various temptations in those days. And so when you concentrate on the law and when you are a legalist in your heart, this statement simply doesn’t make sense. But when the gospel came, and as the gospel slowly unfolded to me in my thirties, the good news of Christ, who is our substitute for the judgment of all sin, and who is our reconciliation with the Father’s heart, who represents us before God, When the gospel came in this way, then slowly things began to unfold. Slowly I could see more and more, and then I came across this verse, and it was like a bolt of lightning. It was really very revealing to me. Whatever is not from faith is sin. So sin is an attitude of the mind, not simply an act of the behavior. Now, when we think of sin as an act of the behavior, well, we’re simply legalists once again. We feel that as long as we don’t do this or do that, or as long as we do this or that right in a particularly ritualistic way, we’re okay. But the Scriptures reveal, and especially the book of Romans, that salvation is of the heart. And the heart is where the trouble starts, isn’t it? I mean, none of us is totally sincere. None of us has a full, complete desire for righteousness. We have mixed motives. We want to serve God one day and not another. And even when we do serve him, the mixed motives indicate that we’re not truly sincere. dedicated to him 100%, it’s really very, very confusing unless you have the Gospels. You see, the gospel is telling us that when we have faith, then what we are doing is not sin. Now look, don’t misunderstand that. This is not faith that I can do anything, but rather faith in Christ’s atoning work for me in that Jesus took my place on the cross and took the judgment of God. God is love, and God gave Jesus Christ so that we wouldn’t be judged and have to be judged. God is not a harsh judge and Jesus is the gentle Savior. Jesus is one with God, and God came in Jesus Christ to remove our judgment. Now, when you are no longer guilty… and no longer ashamed and afraid, you have much more control over your emotions, and you also are able to operate in those areas that are uncertain. You’re not sure whether to do this or that. I remember in New York when I lived in New York and Times Square, when I would go from my apartment to the Central Station there on 42nd Street, I think it was, I would pass… at least a dozen winos, as we used to call them then, people who would be begging and asking for a dime or a dollar, and you knew very well that they would be using that money as they collected it for their next drink. And part of your heart would say, no, I’m not going to support them. Another part of your heart would say, well, I should offer some kind of help. How do you decide what is the best thing to do? And anyway, even if you do decide to help one of them, you can’t help all 12. Every day you go to the subway because it’s going to cost you more money than you can afford. But when you do it in faith, and you choose to do it one day and not another day, and you say, Lord God, I thank you in Jesus Christ that I’m not condemned and that I do this with the heart of Jesus, then you give when you feel it’s appropriate, or when you sense it’s appropriate, or when the mood is correct, or you don’t give. But you see, you are acting in faith, and therefore, and that faith is not faith that I can do this or that, but rather faith in Jesus Christ, who does not condemn me for my good and bad choices when I don’t know what I’m doing. that gives you a liberty that enables you to begin to act. And let me tell you, this is particularly important for people who struggle with sexual addiction, whether they struggle with pornography or actual acts or whatever it may be, or thoughts alone. Because sex is not simply a sin when it’s done wrongly or felt wrongly or thought wrongly. It’s a right. It is an innocent act because it’s part of our human nature and it is part of God’s plan for marriage and family and children and what have you. But before marriage and before children, there is the desire. And that desire is usually in our teenage years, especially when we see an attractive woman and we are drawn to that person. But if you are addicted, you begin to feel so much guilt and shame and fear that every attraction and every desire becomes perceived of as sin and as wrong. And so people with sexual addiction very often, if they’re Christians, undergo such a sense of condemnation that they are hardly able to function relationally in regard to the opposite sex. But once you know that whatsoever cometh not of faith is sin and whatsoever does come of faith is innocent, then you begin to loosen up a little and you begin to realize you can appreciate an attractive person. You can begin to relate to the opposite sex in a way that is innocent. And you can say, Father, I thank you that in Christ I’m not condemned. And in Jesus, I thank you for this attraction. and praise you that you have given it to me. You see, this begins to open your heart up to a normal way of seeing of your sexual feelings and a normal way of relating. But in legalism, everything becomes motivated by guilt. And the way you stop doing your thing or feeling your feelings is to feel guilty. Legalists use guilt and shame and fear to overcome, but it never works. It will work for a short period of time, a day or two, an hour or two, a week or two, but you will be so high-strung that you will finally yield to the pressure. But when we are in Christ, we can say, Father, thank you for that beautiful woman. I thank you for her attractiveness. I praise you that in you, I see this in an innocent way, and I praise you for it. Now, that applies not only, of course, to sexual addiction, but to other issues. If you’re trying to lose weight, and if you’re a legalist, food begins to present to you occasions for guilt and shame and fear every day. You feel guilty for wanting to have a little bit of extra pie or a candy. You feel guilty for having too much on your plate and what have you. But when you are in Jesus Christ and by faith you can say, Father, thank you for helping me to regulate my emotions, to learn what my appetites are, what is healthy and what is not, you make mistakes, but you go on and you thank God that he does not condemn you. You are thankful that you’re learning as you go. That is what Paul meant, of course, in chapter 12, when he said that you may prove what is good and acceptable. We prove it, we test it, we try things, we learn as we go. This is what it means when Paul says, Whatsoever does not come of faith is sin. You see, faith brings peace of heart. Faith brings a knowledge that Christ has atoned for your sins, has taken away the judgment. Faith tells you that Christ has substituted for you and become your sacrifice so that you are no longer under the judgment of death. You are reconciled to the heart of the Father. And that means that you can walk through your trials and your temptations and your difficulties, not fearing that a single mistake will cast you into hell. Yes, we make mistakes. Yes, we fall. Yes, we learn to get up again and fall less frequently and fall with less devastation. But the point is, we know that because of Christ, who is our righteousness. Faith is not simply trusting in a chair, or trusting in your abilities, or trusting that you can do what you want. It is faith specifically in Jesus, knowing that he has taken our part as the judgment for sin. So think of that when you’re deciding what to do, when you’re not sure about the big issues of life, when you don’t know whether to give this amount of money to such and such a person or withhold it because you don’t know whether it’s wise to act generously and mercifully or to withhold in this particular case. You will never know the right answer. not in the legal sense of this is particularly right and that is particularly wrong. What you will know is the faith that says, I am free to act out of my trust in Christ that I am not condemned. When you realize that, you will grow in a way that you’ve never grown before, because you will find a liberty of spirit. And with that in mind, let me turn you to 1 John 3, verses 19 and 20. And 21, I think it is. It says, By this we know that we are of the truth and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. Now, this is remarkable. Hearts, of course, is referring to conscience here because it is the conscience that condemns or acquits. So let’s read the word conscience in here as other translations do. For if our conscience condemns us, God is greater than our conscience and knows all. What does he know? He knows that he has given us his Son to atone for our sins. So, you don’t use conscience… as your guide. Some people say you should use your conscience as your guide. But many times, you see, our conscience is fevered. It is sick. It is unhealthy. It is dysfunctional. It is neurotic. There are many people with an obsessive neurotic conscience that imposes guilt upon us over every single thing. But when we realize that there is a God who has sent his Christ, his Savior, to us, and who calms our conscience by the knowledge that he has taken our judgment and our sins, then we know there is something greater than our conscience, the mercy and the love of God, and that enables us to go forward. Thank you everyone for listening today. Colin Cook here and How It Happens. You can hear this program any time of the day or night on your smartphone. Simply download a free app, soundcloud.com or podbean.com and key in How It Happens with Colin Cook when you get there. And each program costs $39 per 15 minutes. or $200 for a week’s programs. If you would like to make a donation, you can send it to FaithQuest, P.O. Box 366, Littleton, Colorado, 80160, or you can make your donation online at faithquestradio.com. Thanks so much, then, for all your support. See you next time. Cheerio and God bless.
In this episode, we dive deep into the transformation from legalism to living a life rooted in faith. Our discussion revolves around how faith, rather than strict adherence to the law, becomes the guiding principle for sin and morality. This episode explores the profound realization that faith in Christ leads to a life free from the shackles of guilt and legalistic condemnation.
