Stinking Treadmill

I am always amazed at the Christian who calls for us to observe some sort of thing to do for the purposes of righteousness, holiness, and sanctification.  They probably wouldn't call it law keeping or observance of the law but in fact it is no different.  Many times I have heard Christians talk about how muslims lead a very holy life in comparison to the average Christian and how we should live equally as holy, if not more holy lives than them.  All they are doing is putting themselves or someone else on the guilt trip treadmill.  Motivation like this is a very dangerous deception.  Misunderstanding the purpose of the law and trying to keep the law for the purpose of righteousness will lead us directly to a life filled with judgment, condemnation, madness, and death not just towards yourself but towards others as well.

A missionary friend of mine ministering in East Africa right now just wrote a note detailing his meeting with an English speaking native pastor.  The pastor told my friend how muslims were pushing to have their ceremonial laws become part of the constitution there in the country he is ministering and they were pushing for public execution which is muslim ceremonial law for certain violators.  The pastor told my friend that it is increasingly becoming a big problem in the bush and he pulled out his cell phone and showed my friend a video of a man bound and then beheaded with a 10" knife as the crowd chanted "Praise be to Allah."  The man was muslim but had received Christ.

You might say, "well that is what those barbaric muslims do...we Christians would never do anything like that."  Well we have in the name of Christianity done those things physically about 500 years ago.  While we don't do this now physically we do it verbally by laying shaky foundations based upon a works righteousness mindset which does the very same thing.  This performance based mentality torments the souls of many Christians, heaping condemnation, judgment, madness, and death upon the people that otherwise want to love God.

The law will bind you and kill you if you try live by it to fulfill your righteousness and sanctification.  Sure you will succeed at times but you will only be strengthening in your own mind that with enough discipline you can do it.  That self-righteous mindset will only keep you trapped on the treadmill and you will wear yourself and others out.  The law was given to plainly show us that we were unable to fulfill God's righteousness on our own and that we despairing of ourselves to fulfill it, would entrust ourselves to His Messiah, Jesus the Christ.  When Jesus came He brought grace and truth and preached acceptance and freedom to those bound.  Why would we tell others anything else.  Just trust Him.