Lordship or Legalism

People are confused about Lordship being legalism and it is not legalism. GRACE CAN BE COSTLY By A.W. Tozer

Christians all around us are trying every shortcut they can think of, to get "something for nothing" in the kingdom of God. Talk to them and they will predictably flare up: "Isn't grace something for nothing?" That depends upon what kind of grace we are talking about. Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer gave his life as a martyr in Hitler's Germany, but he left a book now known around the world: The Cost of Discipleship. He pointed out a sharp distinction between "cheap grace" and "costly grace." Although God's grace has been given freely to humans who do not deserve it, Bonhoeffer believed it rightly could be called "costly grace" because it cost our Lord Jesus Christ even the suffering of death. Some men and women have actually turned God's grace into lasciviousness. They do not know what the word grace means-that God gives us out of His rich and full goodness although we are unworthy of it. When I preach about the grace of God and point out that Jesus commanded us to take up our cross and follow Him, those who do not know the meaning of grace respond: "Oh, Tozer is now preaching legalism."

Legalism is: "It's pretending to be holy without really being holy" My problem with legalism is that it can't produce a pure heart. Rules do not protect us from sin because rules are basically guidelines that will help you avoid sinning. Jesus had a problem with the pharisees who were very legalists and they had about 613 rules to protect God's commandments. To me: Legalism is from the Law while Grace is from the Heart. We are under Grace and that we are to obey God and follow His Word (the Bible). God wants a pure heart from us and He does not need to give us rules in order for our hearts to be pure. Jesus Christ cleaned our sins and all God wants us to do is be Christ-like. Jesus said in Matthew 5:8 "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God." God wants our hearts more than He want us to follow rules. If we give our hearts to God, then we will know what is sinful and what is not sinful.