We Love God!

God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)

Satan is happy when problems occur in the body of Christ. He loves divisions, dissensions, uproars, individual against individual, falsehood against truth, lies, distortions, and other things that upset the tranquility and mission of the church. And one of his insidious ways of fostering these problems is to cause the leadership to assume that we just need to give the matter a bit of time to see if it won’t work itself out. Seldom is that the case! Some very minor issues, are best left alone, but when they escalate to major issues, time will work against us rather than for us. We must not fall into Satan’s trap. He is for real!
Curtis Thomas

Legalism is: 1. Distorting the gospel by adding conditions to free grace: Acts 15:1, 7-11; Gal.1:6-7, 2:11-16, 4:8-11, Gal. 5:2-4; Col. 2:16-17. 2. Substituting man-made regulations for the Word of God: Matthew 15:1-3. 3. Majoring on the minors and neglecting the more important issues: Luke 11:42. 4. Over concern with the externals while disregarding matters of the heart: Matthew 23:27. 5. Regarding with contempt or judging a brother based on matters of personal conviction: Romans 14:1-5. 6. Trusting in ourselves that we are righteous based on religious performance: Luke 18:9-14. 7. Hypocrisy, the leaven of the Pharisees: Luke 11:53-12:1. Legalism is not: 1. A zeal for the commandments of Christ: Matthew 5:19; 1 Corinthians 7:19. 2. A ministry that teaches others to follow Christ in obedience: Matthew 28:20; 1 Thes.4:1-2. 3. Strong personal convictions (as long as they are not required of others): Romans 14:2, 5. 4. Man-made restrictions for personal protection from sinful habits (as long as we do not begin to view them as binding on others): Romans 13:14; 1 Corinthians 6:12. 5. A zeal for good works: Eph.2:10; Titus 1:16, 2:7, 14, 3:8, 14. 6. Limiting our liberty for the benefit of others: Romans 14:15, 21, 15:2; Acts 16:1-3. 7. Obedience: John 14:15, 23, 15:10; 1 John 2:3-5, 5:2-4.
Bill Busshaus