The Law. Oppressive? Guilt producing...
Illustration
The Law. Oppressive? Guilt producing? A thing to be avoided? Inhibiting? Stultifying?
A psychiatrist, concerned about legalism, said to a pastor: "Rules and regulations in the church have broken many of my patients." Then he added, as if in final victory in the argument about the value of the Law, "I hate the Law."
While there is a partial truth in the assertion that many have been abused by legalistic religion, that doesn't mean that the Law was intended to inordinately break people. The Law, as given by God originally, was intended to break false pride and thus afflict the comfortable.
But the Law comes from the heart of God, who "abounds in steadfast love." Properly understood, the Law causes us to bow our heads before the earth and worship the Lord, just as Moses did.
A psychiatrist, concerned about legalism, said to a pastor: "Rules and regulations in the church have broken many of my patients." Then he added, as if in final victory in the argument about the value of the Law, "I hate the Law."
While there is a partial truth in the assertion that many have been abused by legalistic religion, that doesn't mean that the Law was intended to inordinately break people. The Law, as given by God originally, was intended to break false pride and thus afflict the comfortable.
But the Law comes from the heart of God, who "abounds in steadfast love." Properly understood, the Law causes us to bow our heads before the earth and worship the Lord, just as Moses did.
