Q3. Legalism and Pride

[Pastor Ralph]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him? How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

[JanMary]

On 8/28/2019 at 10:10 AM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him? How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

A. Oh, been there done that, as a new believer. I studied to "catch up" with other believers, and studied "to know what to do, and how to act."  Memorized some verses to impress. My damaged childhood caused such feelings of inferiority that I tried to "be as good" as others by obeying the law. The church we were attending at that time taught the Law, and grace was just a misunderstood word. It wasn't until I was baptized in the Holy Spirit and He began to teach me that the law "kills" and grace "gives life" and that when "I compared myself with others and measured myself by them, I was without understanding or a fool". 2 Corinthians 10:12) What freedom it is to live in Christ and to be growing in Grace and knowing Him and trusting Him alone!

B. When I was "trusting myself and what I knew (very little) and was trying to "grow" myself to "meausure up"...an impossibility which produced guilt and shame and a sense of failure. I was focused on me and my "Performance." What joy I experience every day,  knowing He is always right here in me, around me, loving me, speaking words of love and encouragement to me, growing me in grace and deeds, and that I can at last be me, flawed, imperfect, childlike, curious, but with a new heart and mind, loved as if I'm His only daughter,  ...all to His honor and glory.

[Travis81]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him?

I believe it leads and/or lends to Self-Righteousness which in turn lends to self-sufficiency, justifying more than surrendering, repenting and asking for help.

“Religious pride can keep us from our core need -- knowing Christ in a personal way. We can only draw close by humbling ourselves”

Legalism and spiritual pride also - lends to unjust/flawed judging

How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus? Not to my knowledge, at lease not directly.  In directly, it has by feeling the need isn’t great enough to as for help.

Some people criticize Martha - Luke 10:40 – “But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me.”

I believe it took courage more so than a sour attitude for Martha to interrupt the intimate interaction between Jesus and those surrendered and ready to receive from Jesus. Martha demonstrate confidence, trust and faith that Jesus wouldn’t dismiss or embarrass her. Whatever insult she feels at the time, her faith, confidence and trust  is strong enough to bring the hurt she felt to Jesus. She takes her frustration directly to Jesus the BEST Problem Solver and He reaches her with compassion.

 

Scripture shares when I am weak He is strong, there’s a saying, “if a person avoids the conflict to keep the peace he/she start a war inside themselves. We are not to be confrontational, even so we are to confront things that prevent us from reflecting The Light of Christ.

[RD35]

Legalism is the conviction that law-keeping is the ground of our acceptance with God.  This makes us proud thinking, that we are biblically right and better than the others.  Legalism makes us fail to remember that we are sinners saved by grace.  We become stubborn and are not humble to be satisfied in the grace of God through Christ.  Legalism reduces Christianity to only a set of rules and there is no relationship with Jesus Christ.

[jesus]

Legalism leads to self righteousness  and makes one independent of God. While keeping the Law, and observing  a set of  rules it makes one spiritually  proud in their own abilities and accomplishments. It keeps us from trusting Christ through faith in Him because we rely more on ourselves than Christ Himself.

Faith and complete surrender to Jesus will keep you from pride that resulted from legalism. 

Sometimes I have come to a point that I know the Scriptures well,and self righteousness has creeped in along with pride. Such times I rely more on myself and my abilities than depending on Christ .It has hindered my walk with Jesus.

Jesus asks us to deny ourselves daily and follow Him. That is emptying ourselves everyday at His feet and keep ourselves teachable and not rely on our  own  understanding. Pride makes wise in my own eyes and not trust God with all my heart.

I have realised that humility helps me have a stronger walk with Christ as He must increase and I must decrease. This happens when I obey Him and His Word. 

[Angelmom]

Legalism is destructive to the way we follow Jesus.  If we want to follow the law we need to be perfect, which of course is not possible for we humans due to our flesh vs our spirit.  We become believers of our own self sufficiency and thid leads us to depend on our own ability to control our lives therefore adapting into our spirit pride of life.  To follow in Jesus' footsteps we must follow the law ( Love God and love your neighbors which fulfills the law) but we must do it so that we are not putting our trust in ourselves to be "perfect" but that we are allowing God to direct and control our lives through the Holy Spirit. 

Occasionally, perhaps a little more than that, I have fallen into selfish pride.  At those times I do not feel the presence of God, even though I know he is there, but forget that I should give Him the credit for my success.  At those time I have felt lost and alone..But God who is full of mercy and love has always guided me back to the place where I am reminded that my humility will help me to grow the way He has designed for me.  Being humble and waiting on the Lord in all situations will protect one from falling into selfish pride.

[t-c]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him? How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

 Legalism is a system where I work towards doing everything just right. As I am able to jump through all these hoops with perfection, I become prideful and puffed up and begin to look down on those who are unable to reach my level of perfection. My faith is in the system and my ability to follow it perfectly. There is no grace in legalism. Faith in Jesus Christ removes the system. I no longer trust in my works or perfection but I now trust in Christ. My faith is in Him. In his perfection and his work on the cross, that paid for all my sins and put me in right standing with God. The two don't mix: one is about rules and the other is about relationship. One is trusting in our obedience to rules to save us; the other is trusting in, relying on and clinging to Jesus to save us.

 

I have, especially when I get ahead of God or try to do things in my own strength rather than relying on God: His wisdom, His will and His strength. The end result is never what it could have been if I had taken a back seat to Jesus"s leadership. 

[haar]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8)

Q. How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him?

A. Legalism and resultant spiritual pride focuses on the persons efforts and achievements and this deprives the individual from dependency on the power of Christ for salvation/ rewards

Q. How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

A. I think I tend to believe in doing things to justify my position in Christ and feel bad if I fail to achieve a task. I am now being reminded that faith in Christ is what justifies me and what really matters.

[newwine50]

. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him?

I noticed in John 5 that there were multitudes of sick people waiting for the water to be stirred.  Jesus went up to a man who had been waiting for healing for 38 years.  Jesus told him to pick up his mat and go home.  He was immediately healed and picked up his mat and went home.  The religious leaders were upset because he was carrying his mat on the Sabbath.  They were also upset because Jesus healed on the Sabbath.  They were more concerned about keeping the law than seeing people made whole.  Jesus was more interested in making people whole than in keeping the law.  I believe this is an excellent illustration of how we can be more concerned about keeping the law in order to look good to others (pride) than in reaching out to those in need of God's healing touch with the compassion of Jesus. 

How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

I spent many years and much money in a legalistic system which looked very good outwardly but didn't have much success in the healing area.    I am now coming back to Christ alone as Paul did. 

[Work in progress]

God wants us to trust Him completely and to depend on Him alone as the only one true God . He wants us to surrender fully to Him in obedience .Our salvation is by grace through faith in  Christ - his sacrificial act at the Cross ,to pay for our sins .Christ gave us His righteousness.We didn't become reconciled to God through our own efforts .

However we try to manage things on our own strength .We try to be self sufficient .We become more legalistic -focussed on  achieving  success in following  the rules (do s n don't ) rather than on obeying the heart of the matter . Spiritual pride sets in when our egos become puffed up with self pride upon achieving success of our achievements and we  rely less on God .This prevents us from developing trust and  intimacy with God.

[Preistina11]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him? Isaiah 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. As long as we want to please man rather than God, we get complacent where we are, thinking we are doing the right thing, and caught up in the man-made system; laws, traditions and even doctrines will lead us to spiritual pride. We become performance based rather than having a relationship with God and doing things from a place of rest.

How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus? I believe the (1) pride of self righteousness, (2) thinking that we are entitled to this or that, (3) not trusting in the provision of the Lord for everything in His time, (4) wanting to work out things for ourselves , (5) not relying on Him and (6) thinking we always deserve better  distances us from God. He knows what is best for us. So, we need to allow the Lord to prune and refine us. Not my will but Yours be done, Lord.

[garymerkel]

"God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble."  I admit I was VERY blessed after receiving Christ at age 11.  I was trained early on about the privilege of being God's child and being His servant and ambassador.  John 3:30 and Luke 17:10 have been guiding verses.  The only times there have been lapses is when I thought momentarily, "I didn't deserve that" - "why was I treated that way" - "does he realize he is violating Scripture" - but God brings me to HIS reality that grace says I deserve nothing and can earn nothing.  Since Jesus was crucified, what should I expect?  Less?  But indeed I have been blessed with wonderful congregations.  Only rarely have things gone sideways that caused major moves in ministry.  Yes, we've gone through an ungodly forced resignation and a couple of push outs, but God has always been faithful in providing and leading to a ministry.  Sheep are sheep and I'm a sheep.  Leading with humility places the responsibility for results on God and over my 47 years in vocational ministry, God has come through in blazing colors!!!  Legalism kills the spirit.  Release the conviction of sin to Him and you stay out of trouble.  Preach the Word boldly with a broken heart.

[Yaneth A]

Relationship with JesusChrist , it is a relationship that’s help us to approach to him . He doesn’t or care about law . He wants us just to loves each other’s , justice , compassionate . 

[hanks]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) 
How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing Him? 
How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?
Once we start boasting about our own personal achievements, pride takes over. When we look upon ourselves as good Christians who always obey, who never break the law, who never do anyone any harm, who always come to church, and so on. We are clinging to a righteousness of our own; but remember that such righteousness is viewed by God as no righteousness at all but rather as “filthy rags” (Isa 64:6). The only righteousness which saves is through faith in Christ. Faith here means utter reliance on the living Lord Jesus Christ as one's only Saviour from sin and one's only hope for heaven. It is based on the revelation of the Person and work of Christ as found in the Bible. It is, therefore, faith in our own righteousness, and resulting pride that prevents us from surrendering all to Jesus. And at the same time acts as a barrier to having a personal relationship with our Redeemer. It is only when we fully put our trust in Jesus that we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ (Rom 3:24-26). 
 

[Old Jerry]

I think that legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting the Christ by faith and knowing him is because we think we have already reached the pinnacle of knowing Christ and we don’t need to know any more. My pride probably has hindered me but I am always trying to learn more about Christ.

[Godswriter]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him? How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

I believe legalism and pride work against us by causing trust in ourselves and works instead of Christ and we don't spend time with Him in return. Our pride tells us we don't need religion or a relationship with Christ because we are already saved and going to heaven and that we don't need prayer either. It has caused me to spend time other things instead of spend time with Jesus and realize I need Him 24/7.

[Donzella Maupin]

This is our world today legalism and pride 1 Corinthians 10:12 when you think you got it is when you fall.  Another scripture is Romans 8:24 Take heed when you think you are standing lest you fall which is pride in operation instead of trusting God.  We need to remember God is the Creator. The scripture that helps me to get through is meditating on Romans 8:28.  People are so good remembering your past and not receiving you as a born again believer.

[ellie-0]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8)

How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him?  

Legalism and pride are opposite of faith and humility so I think they can block access to Christ. Faith in Him is NOT me leaning on any of my own ways - legalism and spiritual pride are some kind of human error (and snobbiness), nothing Godly about it.

If legalism and spiritual pride are in the house, the Lord will not be coming to hang out or kick back there... But He will help us to see our error and He will direct our path if we ask Him - so ask for His direction, His wisdom, and His discernment, and His Word to back it all up in LOVE. 

How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?     

I never felt worthy enough to come to Him - and that's pride too.

My pride was also believing that even though I didn't feel qualified to belong to the popular, acceptable, 'good' people, I didn't feel I was as bad as the worst I'd seen, either (as if there is a hierarchy of sin - but I didn't know any better back then) -  so, it was easier to be at the top of the chain amongst the 'people from the other side of the tracks' than to become acceptable to those the world calls 'good.'

As I walk through the years with my hand in the hand of the Living God I ask Him to expose anything in me that is not pleasing to Him. It's not always easy to receive correction, and sometimes I have to hear it more than a couple times - not sure how 'pride in myself' applies - I'm not aware of anything that I hang onto that keeps me from getting and staying as close to Jesus as I can... Maybe I might not have spoken up for Jesus because I was worried it would cost me something personally in the past - but no more.

God is good! We can count on that. He's working all things together for His purpose no matter what... 
 

[rosegarden]

On 8/28/2019 at 1:10 PM, Pastor Ralph said:

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him? How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

1. We can't know Christ when we are depending on ourselves and our own ways and being prideful in what we do.  It is not what we do to earn the benefits of the Cross, but what Christ has already done.  He already paid for our Salvation, Deliverance and Healing, we just need to believe it in our heart and receive it.  We just need to spend time with Him, thanking and praising Him.  When we trust in ourselves, Christ does not show up and we can't get to know Him and trust Him in every situation. But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)
And this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. (Romans 3:22)                                                                    For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17)

2. I have to know that its His grace that keeps me.  Sure, I make mistakes but I shouldn't let that keep me from coming to the Lord. I repent and come into His presence, knowing that He loves me and that His Holy Spirit resides in me and that He will never leave me or forsake me.  The devil will put the guilt trip on you to keep you away from the Lord.  The blood of Jesus takes care of that and I can go into His presence and meditate on His Greatness, the wonder of His love and thank Him for all He has done for me.
 

 

[blezed]

(Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him? How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

Sometimes, I feel, that because we can quote scripture, participate in all church services, leaders of the church etc that we begin to think that we are better than the person that does not.  That spiritual pride will cause us to believe we are doing this on our own.  I have experienced this where I began to think because I can teach a Sunday School lesson well that I did it on my own. I failed to pray for guidance and understanding of scripture.

[Queen Mc Daniel]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him?

1. Legalism is Self-righteousness under the law causing one to depend on a set of rules to achieve their outcome  rather than trusting the gift, given by grace through faith. Rules tell us we can accomplish anything we want, thus, causing spiritual pride, instead of trusting in Christ.  

2. How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

       In the past, i tried to trust in head knowledge and found out, knowledge without the leading of the Holy Spirit's direction was pride in my self

   

[Linda Stanley]

Legalism and the resulting pride prevents us from trusting Christ because we are relying on ourself our own judgement, not asking God what we should do. we do our own thing.thinking everything I do is right. This will keep you from drawing close to Jesus because you think you don't need him if you can do everything yourself.I myself would fall flat to the bottom without Gods help.

[Uncle Dave]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him? How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus? http://www.joyfulheart.com/forums/topic/1832-q3-legalism-and-pride/

We end up believing in ourselves as we see ourselves doing what is right instead of trusting the fact that Jesus already took care of the penalty for any wrong we might partake of. That is not to say we shouldn’t do what is right, but the fact remains that we need trust Jesus and not our good behavior.

Pride has so many times kept me from drawing close to Jesus. When I first came to know Jesus, I would be quick to point out to others all their wrong doings and the biggest problem was that I was expecting perfection from other Christians and could not accept that they screwed up, and of course I was quick to blame their influence on me for not trying to stay on the narrow path. It took some really hard-hitting falls before I came to terms with the fact that nobody was perfect and that I was accountable for no one but myself for my actions. Fact is, you can’t say you love your neighbor when you’re always criticizing them and putting them down (even if you’re just doing it non-vocally) and when you’re not displaying love, you’re doing the opposite and that means if you really want to get close to Christ, the only way one is really going to learn is to go down hard. How many times I went down hard. I am still a long way from where I would like to be, but I have found it is much better to communicate with Christ (and that means listening to what He has to say) than to kick against the goads.

[Stanley Tavaziva]

When Paul spoke of “all these things,” he was referring to his credentials, credits, and successes. We need be careful of considering past achievements so important that may get in the way of your relationship with Christ.

After Paul considered everything he had accomplished in his life, he said that it was all “worthless” when compared with the greatness of knowing Christ. This statement had value in Paul's life: A person’s relationship with Christ is more important than anything else. To know Christ should be our ultimate goal and considering values. We need to place anything above our relationship with Christ and get our priorities right 

[Lottie]

Q3. (Philippians 3:7-8) How do legalism and the resulting spiritual pride prevent us from trusting in Christ by faith, and knowing him? How has your pride in yourself kept you from drawing closer to Jesus?

I believe that sometimes we get too proud of our church involvement and the things we do. We put more emphasis on works than we do on our relationship with the Lord. works mean nothing if your heart is not in it. If all you are doing it for is to show off or to think it is going to get you ahead of others in the end. All Jesus cares about is our motives; are we doing it for Him or for some other reason. We put too much emphasis on how long we have been a church member or how long out families or relatives have been with the church. All these things do not matter one iota to God. Not your credentials or your many tasks you do in the church or what you do outside the church; as much as why you are doing them. It angers me when i see a church advertising to the world what they did for someone. We are supposed to let others praise us and not ourselves. 

Legalism or putting our rules on others does not please God. The only one who has any right to do this is God, himself. Who are to think we are better than others? Or to tell them how to dress, what to eat or what activities to do? We are not the creator of the universe. We should only be imposing the rules and commandments that are written in the  Bible. And most importantly, we should not take any verse out of context. Read everything in the context it was set in and ask the Lord to illuminate your mind. 

When we do all these things we not only offend God but others as well. We cannot draw near to God when we have a prideful attitude. Let God be the judge of others; it is not easy but it must be done. Otherwise, we are in danger of becoming like the Pharisees in the Bible.

As for me, I thought that I was better at watching how many sweets I ate before. I thought I did not need His help to overcome my addiction. He showed me how wrong I was when i overate at the church picnic this past summer. He showed me I need Him to do it. He also showed me how proud I was in wanting to be independent and not wanting anyone else see the state of my house a month or 2 ago. I decided to walk to the grocery store and get what I needed for the week instead of go on the Thursday bus. I walked home with three heavy bags and halfway home my shoulder was screaming. I sacrificed my health for myh case of pride. In the long run only what God thinks should matter to me but I am not  there yet.