Legalism is Exhausting: Why the Gospel Sets You Free

[00:00:01] Hey, guys, this is Naim, and you've reached the Mosaic Church Podcast. So excited that you're part of our listening community and love for you to be even more connected. So check out our website. There's more content there and there's more opportunities for you get connected in our ministries and events as well. Also, love for you to share this content. If this is blessed to you. I know that God wants to use you to bless other people with it, so share this podcast you will. Lastly, would you consider supporting this ministry? This is made possible by other people's generosity, and I'd love for you to pay it forward. [00:00:39] Join us to reclaim the message and the movement of Jesus together. So would you consider giving to this ministry? I know that God is able to do immeasurably more through us when we come together. Thank you so much. God bless you. Enjoy. [00:00:56] Hello, good morning. [00:01:01] Happy Mom's Day, right? [00:01:03] You know what? Is it just me, but is having a relationship with your mom can be complicated? Anybody? Can I get an amen? It is. I do. And I've got the best mom. I do. [00:01:13] I got a Pakistani woman. Oh, my gosh, she's so awesome. But you know what the funny thing is? She does some quirky things. Okay, mom does any quirky things? Yeah, yeah. So here's what she does, okay. Whenever she comes to visit, okay, she does all the good stuff, as in cooks for us. But anyways. [00:01:29] But when she leaves, she says she hugs me and she goes, naeem, I just want, you know, if there's anything I have done to offend you, I have done anything wrong, I am just so sorry. [00:01:41] Yeah. The first time she said that, I was like, are you playing a mind game? Like, am I? [00:01:46] Are you saying this because I need to apologize for something? Like, what happened. What happened? And then I realized she just keeps on doing it. And then final, after, like, years of doing this, and she still does it. I finally get it. I finally get it. She always does it. She's like, I'm sorry. I forgive you. You know, I just don't wanna leave here on a bad report or anything like that. And I'm like, what's going on? She wants to ask for forgiveness. See, it would make sense because of the culture she grew up in. She's Muslim woman, and she grew up in a very traditional faith, and she still lives and practice traditional faith. And she kind of lives in this idea of, like, you know, having to make sure she does enough. Right. Enough. Good. To counteract. [00:02:26] Know what I'm saying? She Wants to make a pence, like, or make, you know, whatever. She wants to get it right, get it right. You know what's interesting about Islam and Catholicism? [00:02:36] Catholicism, sorry. Catholicism in Islam is similar because they both had this idea of a rosary. You know what I'm saying? [00:02:43] Yeah. Because Muslims have beads too, and my mom has one too, but she doesn't say Hail Marys because that would be blasphemous for a Muslim. [00:02:51] They're like, mary who. [00:02:53] They would say Bismillah. [00:02:55] So she'll sit there sometimes and she'll say, bismillah, Bismillah, Bismillah. Based on how many times she has messed up in the day. [00:03:02] Yeah, Right. So it's like, hey, you gotta. You gotta. You gotta balance that sin portfolio. You know what I'm saying? You gotta make sure we're good. We're good. So that's her life. [00:03:12] And I've always wondered, like, does she ever have a moment that she goes, you know what? I'm good enough? [00:03:19] Did she ever have a moment in her spirituality that I'm just good enough? Or is there always a constant reminder that I'm just not enough and I gotta do the things to make sure I am enough? [00:03:30] So I wonder if today, your spirituality, not just as a mom, not just as a woman, but as an individual, that your spirituality maybe could be possibly linked to this idea that I'm just not good enough. And I gotta make sure. I gotta make sure that I gotta balance this out. I gotta make sure I do the right things to counter out all the bad thoughts, ideas, the things that I'm doing or have done in my life. Do you live a life. Could it be possible? Do you live a life where you're like, I know I do all these bad things. Whatever it is, I watch this, I do this, I engage in that. Whatever, whatever. So I know I do this. So that's why I'm here. Hello. [00:04:06] I'm not watching online, because that ain't counting. Okay. Depending on my sin, you know what I'm saying? I'm in person. I'm here, I'm here. The song goes up. If there's even. [00:04:16] Even a hint of raising your hand, you're like, both hands up. [00:04:19] You're not worshiping, you're confessing. I did it, I did it. I did it, I did it. [00:04:25] I think what's really interesting about that kind of spirituality is that you constantly, constantly live in shame. [00:04:33] You're just not. You're just not. Maybe you grew up in that. So as we do this series calling Ourselves to like, you know, cleaning out some stuff. I wanna clean out. I wanna clean out legalism in our lives. I want you to imagine a day, wake up one morning, maybe possibly tomorrow morning, and you go, I don't wake up in shame. [00:04:55] Could that actually be possible? Because if you wake up in shame, I'm not quite sure. If you wake up in a relationship with Jesus, you're like, what? Yeah, I don't know. [00:05:08] I think that's the problem. Because we all like, yeah, yeah, yeah, we believe. And some of us are trying to figure this. [00:05:14] What happens is legalism comes in and just kind of takes over. Just takes over. And today I want to help you clean it out. Legalism is basically this. This idea that you can earn God's love. [00:05:27] You can earn God's love by good works. You earn God's love by good works. And that's it. And religion, friends, I don't know if you know this. All of religion is basically that. It's basically you earn the favor of the God or the gods, you do the sacrifices, you do the whatever, and you look at human history. We have a long journey of just trying to prove to the gods we are worth it. [00:05:52] Your attention for us, your love for us, we can earn it. We are better. We can do better. And your spirituality might be just do better because you grew up in a family that just said, what? [00:06:05] Do better. Just do better, man. Because you on your own are just not good enough. [00:06:13] Isn't that exhausting? [00:06:16] But that's what we live. [00:06:18] If you feel like you can't really get it together, man, that's legalism. You're stuck in it. And if you. I'll tell you this as well. If you find yourself in a place going, you know what? Other people are more closer to God. Other people's prayers are answered, but not mine. I don't think I'm that person. I'm not. I don't think I'm that guy. I don't have those kinds of thoughts. My thoughts, you don't want to know. But I don't have those kinds of thoughts. [00:06:42] And one of the thoughts you do have, though, is this. I cannot be closer to God, like so and so. Or I just can't find myself in a place where I am really close to God, really hear from him, really feel his presence. And that, my friends, is a lie of legalism. [00:06:58] A lie of legalism is, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're not. Because you know what? You don't do enough. [00:07:04] You're not good enough. [00:07:07] See, the problem with legalism is that there that it starts off with good intentions and then they become rigid expectations. But they start off with really good intentions. I remember early on in my life I was like, when I first came to faith in Jesus, I got super legalistic. And I mean, I mean, what I mean by that is I was just like all about the law. Like I wanted to know. So I read not just the ten Commandments, I read the scriptures, the whole Bible. I spent three years of my life. I mean, I had a moment with Jesus one night, changed the course of my life. I was going to be an art major. Not happening. I'm going to do this. I'm going to, I'm going to go after being ministry. I don't know what that meant. No idea. But I man the next college years of my life from 18 on, for three years, I did not date anyone. I was like, I'm not allowed to date. And my friends were. My brother was like, you're not what? I'm like, not allowed to date. I can't date. Like, you're weird. I'm like, no, I'm just close to Jesus. That's all that I am. I, I remember when I first, after three years, even like hanging out with Ashley, she was like, you know, people, we would, friends would hang out and go, go, you know, just wanted to, you know, just go out. And I'm like, I'm not going to go out. And my times with God were like two, two hours was. Yeah, two hours or three hours. They were never like ten. No, no, no. I'm locking myself in the closet. I'm doing this. I didn't even know these things. I got super religious and I don't know why. Because I wanted to honor God. And I think for some of us, we wanna live that way. And some of our traditions that we grew up with, I just want you to know they started off with good intentions. They started off with like, hey, let's be holy, let's be set apart. Let's do some things that not all the culture does. And I get, I get that. I remember the first time I fasted, I was like, I was fasting, praying. I did all the things. Any. There was a hint of it in the scriptures. I did it. I was like, okay, let's, let's just, let's do, let's fast. So I fasted three days. No, no, no food, no food. I think I did, we did had water last day I was on my fast and I did it with a buddy of mine or Two of the guys. And. [00:09:14] And the last day, he was like. [00:09:17] He was like, hey, are you. What's in your mouth? And I was like, it's gum. I had gum in my mouth. And he said, did you break your fast? I'm like, no. [00:09:27] He said, but you're chewing gum. I'm like, yeah, I'm chewing gum. I'm like. And that something in me just got triggered. I don't know, maybe it's because I was right. Exactly. Okay. I was hangry. Okay? So. And I was like, what? He's like, are. You broke your fast. You broke the three day. You broke it. It's. You haven't fasted for three days. I'm like, I. I'm sorry, what are you talking about? First of all, we're in a social setting. I need some gum. You know what I'm saying? Mentifresh. You know what I'm saying? That's what I need something. And he's like, no, no, no, you broke it. I'm like, I'm chewing it. I'm not gonna swallow it. [00:10:00] And for those of you who do. [00:10:03] Stop. [00:10:04] Stop it. It's nasty. It's still in there. It didn't come out. Okay. So he was like, oh, no, you broke it fast. I mean, and then I'm like, I cannot believe this. I cannot believe this. And so the next couple of months into it, like, the whole thing was these two guys fasted for three days. I did not. Because I chewed gum. [00:10:23] And I'm like, wow, is this the life that God's calling me to live? See, it starts off with good intentions, but it can get really, really bad. And I wonder if for some of us, we are living that way. Because what it does is it distorts the gospel. It changes the gospel. Yeah. It's not good news. Gospel literally means good news. It is no longer good news. It's not because it says you gotta earn or you gotta earn it, you just gotta do. [00:10:51] Not only does that, it just kinda. [00:10:53] It causes spiritual burnout. For some of us. Like, we just like, are always, always trying to. Trying to do the thing and trying to do the thing, and sometimes we're just so tired and like, I just don't know why. It's so exhausting. [00:11:07] And for some of us, we're in this church you're watching online, and because you find yourself in a place where, going, I just need a break, man, from this corporate worship or the church as an institution. I'm just so exhausted because I can never measure up. And then Legalism also just starts dividing us so much. Like, we get so legalistic based on the translation, how we read the Word, how we understand the Scriptures. Like, it just. And then becomes these denominations that basically are like, no, we got it right. Everybody else is wrong. Did you ever grow up with that? A sense of, like, our denominations got it right. [00:11:51] We are the closest ones to Jesus, they are the closest ones to hell. But anyways. [00:11:57] Oh, they speak in tongues. Uh, oh, you know what? Those are demons. Like, what. What's happening here? Because we got so legalistic. The letter of the law, we're like, we're all about the law. I mean, even now. I mean, it's so amazing to me, even now. Even now, there's arguments about women pastors right now. There's. I mean, here at Mosaic, we're like, you know what? You guys have your way, but we're having our way. And that is, we're going to believe the gospel. We're going to believe that God has made us all equal. And we don't have to have living in legalism where we categorize people and go, no, know your role. This is who you are. This is what you do. This is what you do. This is what you do. Cause even in Christianity, sometimes it even seems like, oh, no, you're a pastor, you do this. You're a deacon, you do this. You're a minister, you do this. You're a male, you do this. You're a female, you do this. Know your role and live it. And that's how you're supposed to live. Because if you do that, you please God, and therefore you get closer to God, which is bonkers if that's a word. It's ridiculous. It's ridiculous. Here Paul, one of the guys who understood his audience, and he continually lived his life going, guys, guys, guys, guys. We lived like this before we were Jewish people. We didn't have just 10 commandments, we had 399 of them or so. And we. Because people started making them up about everything based on their. The times. They started making that. We do not live in that. Like, we don't do this anymore. And he started talking about this idea of, like, grace and the gospel because it's good news. And he said, we gotta live a better way in Christ. It's all different. In fact, let me read you this passage of Scripture. It says here in Galatians, it says this. [00:13:42] It says, in faith in Jesus Christ. Right? In Christ. Jesus is what makes us. What? What's that word? [00:13:48] What's that Word. What's it make? Who say? [00:13:51] It makes us equal. It makes us equal with what? Each other. Which again, if you're legalistic, if you have categories for people, you're like, ah, no, no, I'm not like them. We're better. We're better. We're better. I'm better, right? I'm better, right? I do more things. I'm better. And then he goes on, he says, hey, whether you are a what, a Jew or a Greek. [00:14:10] See, right there. That's why Paul died in prison, because he was like. He was saying some stuff to Jewish people. They were like, no, we are chosen. We're the special ones. Listen, talk to any faith out there. Guess who they are. The chosen. [00:14:25] They're the chosen ones. Everybody else, not happening. The chosen. We're the chosen race. We're the chosen. Blah, blah. We're the chosen. Whatever. He says, there's no Jewish or Greek. And then he goes on, he says, there's no. There's no slave or free. [00:14:38] No, no, I'm the master. I own stuff. [00:14:42] No, it doesn't work like that. And then he goes on and says, what? There's what, a man or a woman? [00:14:49] He says, in Christ, it makes us all equal. But yet we categorize. [00:14:55] Because why? Because we live our lives based on the law. [00:15:01] And see, the law. I just want to let you know it has good intentions, but it fails to provide us with the power to actually live transformed lives. [00:15:13] Here's the illustration for you. Okay? Here it is. The law is a mirror. And we all have mirrors, okay? Some of you guys have great relationships with your mirrors. You know what I'm saying? You're like, oh, my gosh. I look at myself in the mirror and go, whoo, you something. You're right. You're awesome. Others of us, we're like, we avoid the mirror. I avoid the mirror. I don't even look at myself. [00:15:34] You should. But anyways, you avoid it, right? But the spirituality of legalism is living your life holding a mirror all the time. The law is a mirror. It tells us who we are and what we look like and where we've been. You look at the law and you go, oh, my gosh, this is what I look like. Because the law of God says, hey, this is who you really are. Okay? The problem with that is that it tells us where we are, but it does not give us the power to grow us into who we could become. It just tells us where you are and what is wrong, what is needed. [00:16:09] Sometimes you look at the law and you go, oh, my gosh, look at this scar. Look at the scar of this relationship. Look at this, look at that, look at that. The problem is, is that, yes, it is a good thing to know where you are. It is great spirituality to kind of go, okay, I know, I know what the law is. The problem is just like this mirror, it's got, you know, you've got your, you know, you're normal. And then you got your 3X. [00:16:33] That's from Satan. You know what I'm saying? [00:16:37] No one needs to look that close. [00:16:39] See what I'm saying? If you're that close, you're too close. That's all I'm saying. But some of us, you know, have lived a spirituality. We know people in our lives, family members who live like that. They're so knit. What Nitpicky. They're like so close. Like, yeah, but what is wrong? I remember when I first started to learn how to pray. I remember praying out loud. And someone asked me, a pastor asked me to pray out loud. And I thought I did a good job. You know, it can be nerve wracking, praying out loud, okay? And then he literally, he did this, okay, prayed. And then he says, all right. And then he's like, amen, okay? And I said, amen. And he said, you know, you know what's interesting about prayer is that if you don't have a passage of scripture in your prayer, your prayer doesn't come account. [00:17:30] And the only scripture I knew then was Jesus wept. And I was doing that right now. [00:17:35] And then he prayed again. [00:17:38] I was like, wow, wow, wow. Legalism. [00:17:47] It just gets in there. He's a good guy. I love him. Good guy. He was just stuck, man. He was just stuck. So what do we do? Number one, what we do is we return to the gospel. The gospel means what good? What good? What good news? Good news. We go back to the good news. What was so good about it? Oh, my gosh. What was good about it was that the gospel was about grace. It was about grace. Jesus entered in and he says, hey, I know your laws. I get that. But I'm introducing something that you cannot, you cannot earn. I'm giving you something you cannot earn. It can only be given to you as a gift. You cannot buy it. [00:18:29] It's not on Amazon. The world is on Amazon, but it's not. [00:18:33] You can't buy it. [00:18:35] If you bought something from Amazon called grace. If you bought something, by the way, I know it says grace. It's not. [00:18:44] It's wages. It's what you've earned. It's just not grace. Just want you to know that. It's something else. Because the gospel is about the good news, the good news of grace. Here's how Paul says it in Galatians. He says this. Okay, let me read this to you. He says, I'm astonished. He says, I'm astonished. I'm astonished that you are so quickly deserting. The one who called, called you to live in the what, grace of Christ. [00:19:16] He says, I'm astonished. I'm shocked right now. He's like. I'm like, what's happening? [00:19:22] What just happened? I went away and then I came back and I gotta clean this stuff up. We gotta do a super spring cleaning here. Because I'm astonished that you're going back. You've deserted your way. Here's what you're doing. You're doing. And you are turning to a different gospel. Which is what? Which is what? [00:19:38] Know what? Help me out. What? No, it's not even good news. It's not good news. It's not good news. You know why? Because on a good day, you're great. On a bad day, you're terrible. [00:19:48] So depending on that, if you don't live your life and your spirituality like that, that's not gonna work. Here's the deal. He said, guys, guys, guys. We grew up Jewish. We know all these laws. We're not that good. It's not gonna work. It's not the deal. It's not the gospel. If you add certain things to it. And the reason why he was bringing this up is because of so many things. But one of them was that these guys were trying to start all the Jewish things. They were like, okay, we believe in Jesus. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But we got to keep the Sabbath because Jesus was Jewish. Oh, what? Yeah. And also, we're bringing back circumcision. Who's with me? [00:20:23] What? They literally. The church started bringing back male circumcision, adult circumcision. You know who signed up for that? No one. [00:20:33] They put it on the app, easy accessible. But no. No one got that. [00:20:38] I'll do it. No, no one. He's come to them. He's like, guys, what is wrong with you? [00:20:44] What is going. What happened? [00:20:47] You just keep adding things. Because we. [00:20:50] We have a problem with grace. [00:20:52] We have a problem with grace. We just want, like, grace and Right. Because you want to feel a sense of. You earned this. [00:20:59] Cause here's how we think we can get rid of shame. [00:21:02] Think about it to be better. [00:21:06] You think you can get Rid of shame. [00:21:09] Because if you're better, so your whole life, you're gonna. You're gonna dedicate your whole life, your spiritual life, to just be better. [00:21:18] And if you do that, he's like, that's the only way to get rid of shame. [00:21:22] And Jesus, the good news. That's why it's the gospel. The gospel is. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You don't have to. That's not the way to get shame. That's actually a way to live with shame for the rest of your life. [00:21:34] It's not. [00:21:36] That's not how you get saved from this mundane life. This is not how you get saved from shame. That's not how you get rid of shame. Just be better. Oh, I'm gonna have a good day. No, no, no. He said, no, it's not how you get saved. That's how you get close to God. He explains it in the next verse. He says this. For it is. For it is. For it is. By what grace you've been what, through faith? And guess what? Guess what? I hate to bust that bubble. And this is what. Not for ourselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But no, I'm really having a good day. I haven't sinned today. Yeah, but it's early, you know, I'm saying, really? [00:22:16] And then he says, what? It is a what? [00:22:22] He said, so I don't know what you're earning, but it's not a gift. [00:22:26] Grace is a gift from God. It's not by what. [00:22:31] So no one can boast. Because I know some of you, you're the ones looking in the mirror going, I'm gorgeous. [00:22:38] Yeah, you'll boast, you'll boast, you'll boast. It's a gift. So if the law, if legalism is a mirror, then I'll tell you what the gospel is. The gospel of grace is. [00:22:49] The gospel of grace is like a bowl full of seed. [00:22:55] Because the mirror is a law that tells me where I am. [00:23:02] But the grace of God is like seed that allows me to grow into who I can become. [00:23:08] And that's why it says, God says, this is how you're going to be saved. [00:23:12] I'm gonna sow grace and sow grace and sow grace all over you and in you. Cause grace is the only thing that will give humanity the power, the potential, the opportunity to actually be more. See, friends, grace is not permission to do less. [00:23:29] It's not permission to do less. Grace is not. Let's not look in the mirror. [00:23:33] That's not grace. [00:23:34] Grace is saying, you can be more. [00:23:39] I'm gonna give you grace. I'm gonna sow grace in you. I'm gonna sow grace. He's like, guys, guys, do you not know, do you not know how your spirituality works? How you get closer to God? It's because of what God has done in you and because of who you are. He continues the verse. He says, for we are. For we are God's what? Handiwork. [00:24:02] In other translations it says, masterpiece created in Christ Jesus to do works which God prepared in what in advance. For us to do. In advance. For us to do. [00:24:15] No, it's. You got it all mixed up. You got it all mixed up. So, friends, we got to go back to grace in our lives. See, the problem is, for some of us, we're living relationships that are dry. We're living, you know, living out like a family unit, like in our own family. And maybe, maybe, just maybe, you're guilty of it. Maybe even you're with your co workers, maybe with your roommate, your family, your siblings, you're not sowing grace. [00:24:49] No one sows grace in your family. [00:24:51] Everybody has a mirror. [00:24:53] Everybody has a mirror. [00:24:56] They're trying to get better and do better and then try and show you why you're not good enough. [00:25:00] They're always walking around with a mirror. And if you grew up in a family like that, I get it, you're stuck in it. You're stuck in it. You just don't know what else to do. You're stuck in it. And God says, hey, hey, hey, please don't go back to it. Please don't go back to it. Just don't go back to it. [00:25:15] So return to the gospel. Secondly is you got to let go. You got to let go of this performance based faith. You just got. You got to, you got to let go of it. [00:25:27] You got to. Because some of you are like, no, no, no, I can do this. I have to do this. I have to do this because. [00:25:33] Because I'm supposed to. I don't think I'm in sure footing. I'm insecure. So your insecurity and my insecurity in the faith is connected to your confidence and ability to do and perform. [00:25:46] Think about it. [00:25:47] As soon as that goes, what happens, you get insecure. [00:25:50] So that's why there are days you're like, oh, man, God loves me. And then there is that. God does not love me. Why? Because I wasn't good enough. And I did not perform. I did not do this. I didn't say the right things. [00:26:01] And so it's always up and down. Always up and down. Always up and down. [00:26:06] Several years ago, I was having coffee with a guy, and I set it up because I was really, really excited about it. I was doing a series on different religions, and instead of just kind of doing the research on them, I wanted to do that, but also sit down with leaders of that faith. So I sat down with an imam, which is a Muslim leader. I sat down with a Buddhist priest. So this meeting was with this Buddhist priest. And I was like, okay. We just talked on the phone. So I was pretty excited about it. I was like, this is going to be fun. It's going to be great. So we met at a coffee shop. And so he walks in and, man, everybody turns and looks at him because he is dressed to the nine. Like, I'm talking about Buddhist, Tibetan monk. You know what I'm saying? I was like, this is the Dalai Lama. No, no, like this. He comes in, I'm like, this is the coolest thing. I'm like, oh, my gosh. I'm like, my outfit is not working here, okay? You look. You look holy. You know what I'm saying? You look like you came down. Like, you are. You are from the gods. Like, you came down. You've given your whole life to this. You know, it looked like everything. Like, shaved head thing. The thing. I'm like, not even wearing shoes, you know, I'm like. And he has slippers on. But I'm like, you know, I'm like, you look like, yes, you've given your whole life. And I go, what have I done for Jesus? Nothing. [00:27:20] Nothing. So I'm sitting there talking, and then we have this great conversation about religion. And as we are talking about works and faith and what faith looks like and what good works look like and all that. And he says, you know, it's the same, you know, because, you know, we do the things. Because when we do certain things in my faith, you know, we get enlightened. We get to a point where. Where we reach nirvana. And just like in Christianity, you know, you do certain things, you can get closer and closer to God. And I said, oh, no, we don't do that. And he was like, what? I said, oh, no, we don't do. [00:27:51] I don't do stuff because to get somewhere, like, I had to get something. [00:27:56] He was like, what do you mean? I said, no, no, no, no, no, no. I get it, though. I get it because I grew up in a different faith, and I get that, like, you have to do certain things because you want to get something, you do things to get something. I said in the teachings of Jesus, I got something. [00:28:13] See? I got something. So that's why I do it. [00:28:17] So I already got everything that I ever wanted. [00:28:24] I got security with God. I got favor. [00:28:28] It's called grace. I got all that. I got all the things. [00:28:32] I got everything I need. I got heaven on lockdown. [00:28:35] I'm good. [00:28:37] I got relationship with Jesus on lockdown. I got God's spirit in me in lockdown. It's not going anywhere. It's not going anywhere now because of that. [00:28:48] I do things because of gratitude. [00:28:53] Have you ever gotten a compliment from someone and you're like, that wasn't real anybody. You know what I'm talking about? You know what I'm talking about. You're like, that was not. That was not real. It was what. It was insincere, right? [00:29:07] You know what happens when you live a life of religious, legalistic life? [00:29:13] Everything smells like that. Everything you do nice. Every good action seems insincere. You know why? [00:29:21] Because you're trying to get something by doing something good. [00:29:26] There's an agenda behind it. [00:29:28] There's always agenda behind it. And God's like, hey, hey, we're not doing that. [00:29:33] No, no, no, no. [00:29:35] That's why, friends. That's why sometimes, as followers of Jesus, we do things and people are. People look at the church and they go, you're not real. [00:29:44] You're not sincere. [00:29:46] You don't mean it. [00:29:48] You're just doing this because you want to be loved and be. And you want to get to heaven or something. You're just doing this just to do it. [00:29:57] And you know what? They're right. [00:30:00] Because some of us are stuck in it. [00:30:03] We're stuck in legalism, and it infects everything. [00:30:09] And so nothing we say is sincere because we're trying to. [00:30:14] We just. We're trying to get to heaven. [00:30:17] We're trying to make sure we didn't get kicked out. You know what I'm saying? Because that last weekend, who. [00:30:23] That's what we're trying to do. [00:30:25] And he's like, hey, this is not how it works, friends. It's not how it works. What does Scripture say? Let's read this to you. Let me read this to you. Next scripture. Here, it says. Here. This is so funny. He says. He says, you crazy Galatians, crazy. Now, this translation is interesting because I picked it because the other translations said stuff like stupid, foolish. This is the funniest one, okay? But Paul is out of his mind. He's like, this is a letter. Imagine getting this as an email. He's like, you crazy Mosaic ers, okay? You're crazy. He says, did someone put a. What did Harry Potter come in and do something? [00:31:06] What happened here? [00:31:08] Have you taken leave of your senses? Like, what's wrong with you? Something wrong? Something happened? You get. You fell. You fell down. What happened? He's like, something. What. What crazy again has happened? For it is obvious that you no longer have the crucified Christ in clear focus in your lives. It's like, it's clear. It's clear because of what you're doing, because of what's happening. What's happening. And then he goes on. He says, his. His sacrifice on the cross was certainly set before you clearly enough. Like, you know why you got grace, right? You know what all he did, you know, all this things. You know, he opened up a relationship with you, with God. You know this. It's set before you. Let me. Let me. Let me. [00:31:54] Let me put this in the question. He says, how. How did you. How did. How did your new faith begin? Like, how did you start this thing? [00:32:03] How. How did you. Like, was it like, I have decided to follow Jesus? No turning back? Anybody know that song? No turning back? If you don't know it, you shouldn't anyways, because you didn't decide. You didn't decide Jack. Okay? You weren't like, hey, look at me. [00:32:20] A lot of billions of people, but you looked at me. I did this. [00:32:25] He's like, hey, how did it start? How did your relationship start? Is it because you did so much good that God's like, oh, you okay? Let's check you out. [00:32:33] Did it start like that? He's basically saying, did you start this? Okay? And he says, was it. Was it by working. What, Working your heads off to what was it? Is that how it happened? You're like, yeah. Was it though it Was it, he says, or was it by responding to what? [00:32:50] To God's message? Was it. What was it? Which one was it? Was it on you? You did it? [00:32:55] Or was it God's message of grace and mercy? [00:32:58] What was it? Was it because you looked hard enough and you go, like, I gotta change stuff? Or was it because God sowed so much grace in your soul it had to grow into a relationship with Jesus? [00:33:10] Like, oh, what started? What happened? [00:33:13] What happened? What happened? And he says, what are you going to, what, continue this? What, this craziness? [00:33:21] He said, it's lunacy. It's ridiculous. What are you doing? [00:33:25] What are you doing? And then he Says this. He says, for only. For only what? [00:33:30] Crazy people at this point? I'm like. He's like, he's acting it out. I think. He's like, only crazy people. [00:33:37] People who would think. Who would think. Who would think they could complete by their own efforts what was what began by God? He's like, ah, you. You crazy. Like, you didn't start this. [00:33:54] You didn't decide this. [00:33:58] You got this as a gift. [00:34:01] It wasn't you. [00:34:03] It's always been him. [00:34:05] He'll always be him. [00:34:09] You didn't do this. [00:34:11] He says, if you weren't smart enough or strong enough, spiritual enough to begin this, how do you think you're supposed to, like, perfect it? Like, who's gonna finish this? [00:34:23] Do you think? [00:34:25] Do you think that's the case? [00:34:27] Do you think that's the case? [00:34:29] He's like, nah, man, it doesn't work like that. It does not work like that. [00:34:35] So I wanna give you a couple of thoughts here before we end this thing, okay? Two things. Number one. Number one, you gotta resist the temptation to measure and correct. [00:34:45] You got to start doing that. You got to resist the temptation to measure and correct. [00:34:51] And you got to start with yourself. [00:34:58] Hear me? You got to start with yourself. [00:35:01] If you have thoughts of, like, when you do something wrong and your whole day is filled with rehearsing that wrong thing, and you're like, I just. I suck. I'm a horrible person. And we've said more worse things in our heads, right? [00:35:16] If you do that, can I just be lovingly. [00:35:20] Can I lovingly correct you a little bit? I know. Even though I said don't do it. [00:35:32] That's crazy. [00:35:34] It's crazy. [00:35:36] You've left the gospel. [00:35:38] You want to have your own faith because you. [00:35:43] And you want to live in shame. And he never, never called you. To live in shame, never called you. [00:35:50] We don't need to end our lives, you know, slowly getting into his presence, going, I know, I'm sorry. [00:35:58] No, because of what Jesus has done, you can just hold your head up high and go, listen. I know, but, wow. I'm here because. Here's a mature faith. Okay, for you real quick, here's a mature faith that actually gives you the power not to correct and measure. Here's how you do it. You have to have this moment. I pray you have this moment. You have to have a moment where you go, you feel two emotions that are totally opposite but totally passionate. And it says, this first emotion is, I am so depraved. [00:36:29] I am so incredibly messed up, and I am so incredibly loved. [00:36:37] At the same time, when you have that moment in your life where you grow. Oh my gosh, I'm wow. And then wow. Why does wow. That is like I'm fully accepted, loved by God un conditionally. When you have those. Not that we live our lives not looking into the mirror because we're scared of the law. No, no. We look at that just to tell us where we are, but we don't. We know that doesn't give us life because correcting our actions doesn't give us life. Here's, here's what Paul says to this other church. He says this, he says, he says we do not tell them. Like we don't pastor people, we don't talk to people like this, that they must obey every law of God or die. [00:37:22] He's like, we don't do that anymore. I know we used to every. Yeah, he says we don't do that. But we tell them. We tell them what? There is life for them from the what? [00:37:33] From the Holy Spirit that lives inside of them. Then he goes on, goes on. He goes, hey, hey, let me tell you the old way. The old way. The old way. You guys remember the old way? The old way, your parents way was trying to be saved by keeping the what? The ten Commandments, he says, but it ends in what? [00:37:53] It ends in death. [00:37:54] Ends in death. That is one sure way to kill your passion for God. [00:38:01] Always have this around, okay? It's ten Commandments. It's this, this, this. He says in the new way, the new way, the Holy Spirit gives them life. [00:38:14] That is the new way. So that was one. The second point I wanna give you really quick, and that is this. Initiate the habit of being gracious and merciful. [00:38:24] Initiate the habit. And then again here. Hear me? You looking at me? Hear me. [00:38:29] Start with yourself. [00:38:31] Start with yourself. You have to start with yourself. [00:38:37] No one else can make you believe that you are loved by God. No one else can make you believe that God has sowed so much grace and mercy. And I know you've lived your life with a mirror, but man, you've got so much grace sown in your spirit. And here's why I know this. Because when you invite God into your life, the first thing he does, he deposited a seed of his Holy Spirit presence inside of you. And then he gives your, your body, you know, a glow up. He basically says, hey, now you are the temple. [00:39:14] Not these amazing buildings. No, you're the temple. [00:39:17] I could put my spirit anywhere. But you're the temple. I could sow the no, you're the temple. You are that important. [00:39:24] You. [00:39:25] I'm putting it in you. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead, the same Holy Spirit I'm putting inside of you. So as we close, I pray this passage over you. I pray you live this way. And this is what it says. It says, speak. I pray that you speak. [00:39:40] Speak. Speak and act. That your words and your actions will be like people who will be judged by the law that sets us free. [00:39:54] The only law that you would judge yourself with is the one that gave you freedom. And it was the law of grace and mercy. [00:40:04] So what if you did that? What if you lived without shame, man? I'm praying that over you. [00:40:10] Let me pray that. [00:40:12] Let's. Lord God, thank you for your love for us, God. That's the beautiful thing. We don't deserve it. And yet we have it fully completed. [00:40:26] God, you've looked at us and you've had mercy and grace, and then you're not looking away. [00:40:34] You're not looking away. [00:40:36] God, we have this warped theology that somehow, God, you can't take watching us do destructive things, that somehow you close your eyes and somehow you look away when we're going through really painful things because our pain is making us do some really terrible things. [00:40:59] We think that you look away from us because you are so holy. You cannot look at sin because how warped that is, God, because if you did that with all of humanity, you would never look at humanity because there's so many of us. [00:41:18] But, God, you look at us in the middle of us, our brokenness, our sin, our depravity in our wrongdoings. You look at us with compassion. [00:41:34] God, I pray that as we end today, today would be the day that we would say, shame, I'm leaving you at the cross. [00:41:41] Shame, I'm nailing you to the cross. Us. [00:41:44] Shame. I'm not. I'm not walking away with you, God, I pray you do this. I pray as we respond, God, that you would have your way with us. [00:41:55] Have your way with us, God. Allow us to feel you in a way that we've never felt before. God, allow us to do that. [00:42:03] Allow us to do that, Lord. God, I pray, God, allow us. [00:42:07] Listen. Let's stand. [00:42:12] Thanks for listening to this message from Mosaic church in Charlotte, North Carolina. [00:42:17] For more audio and video content, visit us at MosaicChurch TV.