Discipleship is not Legalism

Today we will be continuing our series entitled “Lesson’s in Discipleship” which is taking us through the book of Mark. Now if you haven’t been with us, we’ve been covering Jesus’ early ministry in Galilee, which is the northern portion of Israel. During our study so far, we’ve seen Jesus perform miraculous healings, and we have also learned that Jesus has been preaching and teaching throughout the whole region of Galilee. Well, at this point His fame has spread, and He has drawn the attention of the religious authorities. Which is what we saw last week. Jesus was again teaching in Capernaum, and the Scribes are there in the front row. Well, four men carrying a paralytic show up, and when they can’t get him to Jesus because of the large crowd. So what do they do? They lower the paralytic through the roof right in front of Jesus. Then Mark account says, when Jesus saw their faith He said to the paralytic “Son your sins are forgiven you”.

Now we need to realize what a big deal this statement is. The OT taught that only God could forgive sins. You see, the OT prophets could announce that God had forgiven a person sins, but but it was said that God forgave the sins, not the prophet. So, when Jesus makes this annoucement that the paralytic’s sins were forgiven, He was doing something that only God could do. And the scribes immediately pick up on this. Let’s review a couple of verse from last week.

Mark 2:6–7 NKJV

6 And some of the scribes were sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, 7 “Why does this Man speak blasphemies like this? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”

Notice what the scribes are thinking to themselves. “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” So, they were correct in thinking that only God could forgive sins, but they were blind to the reality that it was God standing right in front of them. Amazingly, they are blind to it even after Jesus tells the paralytic to get up and walk out the door. You see, healing this paralytic was proof that Jesus had the power to forgive sins, and it was proof that He was the Messiah. Simply put, the religious authorities had irrefutable proof that Jesus claims were true, but they their hearts are so blinded that they can’t see it.

So, the healing of the paralytic was the first time we see Jesus have a conflict with the religious authorities. They haven’t accused Him of anything yet, but buddy they are thinking it.

Now let me give you an interesting little tidbit about Mark’s Gospel. In Chapter 2 we are going to see Jesus encounter opposition from the religious authorities 5 different times. This is at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry. Well, at the end of HIs ministry Mark records another 5 confrontations in Chapter 11 and 12. The point is Mark’s gospel is bracketed by 5 clashes with the religious leaders at the beginning and end of His ministry. So these first 5 set the stage that these confrontations will eventually lead to Jesus’ death. And as a quick side note, when we read Mark’s Gospel it teaches us that following the Lord Jesus Christ is is not an easy path. We can expect suffering, hard work, and opposition from the world. This is something that we should expect on the pathway of discipleship.

So, last week we saw the first encounter with the religious authorities when Jesus claimed to have the power to forgive sins. This week we are going to look at another confrontation, and this time it is with the Pharisees. So, we need to understand that Jesus is on their radar now, and apparently the Pharisees were spying on Jesus and His disciples. They are watching them on the Sabbath as they walked through the fields and picking some grain to eat. This is going to lead to the Pharisees accusing them of breaking the Sabbath.

With that being said let’s go ahead and get into todays text. Turn with me if you will to Mark chapter 2, and let’s read verses 23-28

Mark 2:23–24 NKJV

23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

Mark 2:25–26 NKJV

25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

Mark 2:27–28 NKJV

27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Let’s pray.

OK, let’s dig in. Now the first thing we need to understand as we get going this morning is the importance of the Sabbath to a Jewish person. Two characteristics above all others set the Jewish people apart from other nations. These were circumcision and keeping the Sabbath day. Now of course the importance of the seventh day of the week (Saturday) goes back to Creation itself. And when God brought the nation of Israel out of Egypt, He commanded the people to keep this day special. Just as God ceased working after He created the universe, the Jews were not to do any work on this day (Yates, pg. 99).

Well, here is the problem. The Pharisees and Jesus disagree on how the Sabbath should be kept, which becomes obvious in our first two verses.

Mark 2:23–24 NKJV

23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

As I mentioned earlier these Pharisees are apparently spying on Jesus and His disciples. They were looking for something to accuse them of. They were watching and waiting for them to make a mistake. And as they are keeping tabs on Jesus, the disciples obviously got hungry, and they picked a few heads of grain to eat. Well the Pharisees considered this to be work and therefore a violation of the Sabbath. Now it is important for us to realize the disciples actions violated the Jewish oral traditions of the Law, not the law of Moses.

You see, by this time the Jewish nation was bogged down in legalism. In other words, the religious leaders had added many commands that were not found in the law of Moses. So this perceived violation of the Sabbath, wasn’t a violation of the Law of Moses. It was a violation of Jewish religious traditions.

Which brings me to my first point for today’s lesson.

Discipleship is about intimate fellowship with Jesus, not legalistic rule keeping.

One of the amazing things we see in this passage is a real life example of this statement in action. We see Christ with His disciples. The disciples are in fellowship with Christ, and we see that as they follow the Lord, God is meeting their physical needs. He is providing for them. We see Jesus here as the Good Shepherd watching over His sheep, and on the other hand we see the Pharisees. They are out of fellowship with God, and they are bound by legalism and religious tradition. Now, before we go any further let’s talk about what legalism is. Because believe me legalism is alive and well in the church today.

What is legalism?

Legalism can be defined as seeking to gain confidence in one's salvation by focusing on God's commands and personal works, rather than faith alone.

We might also say that legalism is seeking to win God’s approval by commandment keeping and good works. This is what the Pharisees were all about. They thought they could established rules for every situation in life, and if they followed all these rules this would eventually earn them eternal life. In other words, they thought keeping the law was the way to enter the kingdom. And one of the things I want us to consider this morning is the fruit that this produces in their lives.

The first thing I want to point out is the Pharisees religious legalism has blinded them. They are so blind that they are accusing God Himself of allowing His disciples to break the Sabbath, the Sabbath which Jesus created by the way. In other words, they’re are talking to the Lord of the Sabbath, the one who created it, gave the law for keeping it, and they are trying to trip Him up on a technicality. No wonder Jesus says to the Pharisees, “Woe to you blind guides”. The spiritual leaders of Israel of spiritually blinded.

Here is another fruit their legalism is producing, pride. It is causing them to look down on Jesus and His disciples. It has produced spiritual pride and self-righteousness. They are up on their high horses condemning these men for feeding themselves on the Sabbath day. So, not only are they full of pride and condemnation, but they also lack love and concern for others. These men were hungry, they needed to eat, but in the Pharisees mind they had broken a ceremonial law. Do you see how unloving that is? They couldn’t care less about these men. In fact, I’m sure they despised the disciples. We know they hated Matthew because He was a tax collector. There was no one more hated in Jewish culture than a tax collector, and the other disciples were uneducated fisherman.

What a ragtag group of followers Jesus has put together, and it is driving the Pharisees crazy. They think they are so much holier, righteous, educated, and honored that they wouldn’t even associate with these type of people. So, let me summarize the characteristics we see from the Pharisees.

The Fruits of Legalism

Spiritual Blindness

Pride

Condemning Others

No Love

No Mercy

Now I want you to know that there is a reason why I am spending so much time on legalism. I’m spending time on this issue because as believers we can drift into legalism. We can drift into legalism and when we do it ends up producing these same fruits in our lives. You see, the Pharisees thought the way to earn acceptance before God was to focus on the rules, and it lead them into spiritual blindness. Well, even as believers, who understand we are saved by grace, we can stumble into this pit fall. And it all begins when we start focusing on commandment keeping instead of Christ.

Well how does this happen? One of the ways it happens is by embracing the theology that we must look at our works to prove whether or not we are “really saved”. This is an extremely popular viewpoint today, and I want to give you example of how this theology works.

Let’s say Johnny comes to his pastor and says, “Pastor I read John 3:16 last night and the words jumped off that page at me. For the first I understood that Jesus died for my sins and now since I believe in Him I have eternal life. I never have to worry about going to hell again.” Now instead of hugging little Johnny and praising God the pastor says this to him. “Gee Johnny that is great news, but I need to explain something to you. Johnny, you might not have really believed. You see, we will need to wait and look at your behavior for the next few years and see if your life reflects what you say you believe. Then after some time has passed, if we see good works being producing in your life then we can gain more confidence that you really are saved.

Johnny walks away from the conversation crushed. He had full assurance that He was saved, but now He doesn’t. And now instead of serving Jesus from a place of gratitude and love, he is focusing on doing good works in order to gain some level of confidence that he is saved. Remember the definition I shared.

Legalism can be defined as seeking to gain confidence in one's salvation by focusing on God's commands and personal works, rather than faith alone.

So, let’s continue on this our example. Johnny is now determined to prove that He really is saved. So he wakes up everyday striving with every ounce of his being to follow the rules and make sure he doesn’t commit any sins. Now, he begins to look down on other people who say they are believers, but don’t follow all the rules like he does. But sadly, Johnny doesn’t have any joy and peace in his life. There is no joy, peace, and love in his life because there are days when he isn’t sure he is saved. You see, Johnny isn’t sure he is saved because because now no matter how hard he tries, he can’t stop sinning. Therefore, his Christian life is full of fear and doubts that he may be going to hell.

Legacy this is legalism, and legalism is not the pathway of discipleship. Let me say this again. Legalism is not the pathway of discipleship.

Ok, we talked about what legalism is, and now we need to talk about what legalism is not.

Obedience is not legalism

I want to make this point crystal. We as believers are obligated to live by all the commands that we find in the New Testament. The Apostle Paul was the furthest thing from a legalist, and He lists all kinds of commands in his letters that we are to obey. So here is the question that I want to answer.

What is the difference between Legalism and Obedience?

Here is the short answer.

Legalism focuses on the commandments instead of the Commander.

When we drift into legalism our focus is on the commandments, but when we are walking in obedience to the Lord our focus is on the Commander. Make no mistake, the only way we can live godly lives is by making Jesus the focus of our lives, not the commandments.

Well, what does this look like in our daily lives? What does focusing on Jesus look like? When we are focused on Jesus we are seeking to learn from Him. This means that we wake up everyday and make it a priority to learn from Him. It means we spend time with Him. It means we are setting aside that time to read the Bible and study the word. It means that we have a healthy prayer life, and it means we come to church every time the doors are open wanting to be taught the word. It is means that we do these things even when our flesh doesn’t feel like.

You see, the discipleship process is about learning from the Master. It is about studying our Bibles so that the Holy Spirit can take the word of God and use it to transform us inwardly. True growth in holiness and learning to walk in obedience is a supernatural process that God completes on the inside. The Holy Spirit takes the word of God and uses it as a tool to shape us into the image of Christ. It is a supernatural miracle that takes place every time we open the word of God. Simply put, God’s sanctification process works from the inside to the outside. God changes us inwardly and enables us to walk in obedience through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Let me make another point here.

Legalism tries to clean up the outside, but has no power to transform the inside.

The mistake we often in the Christian life is worrying only about our outward behavior. Right. We want everything to look perfect on the outside, and we don’t our brothers and sister to know all of the problems on the inside. This is a hallmark trait of legalism. This is what the Pharisees did. They cleaned the outside of the cup and dish. Remember what Jesus says to them?

Matthew 23:25–26 NKJV

25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

What point is Jesus making here? He is saying that you make sure your outward appearance is sparkling clean. You want everyone to think you are the perfect example of righteousness, but inwardly you are full of sin and self-indulgence. In other words, you’ve made everything about you. Remember our sinful flesh always makes it about us, and no amount of cleaning up our outward appearance will make that any better. Cleaning the outside will never clean up the inside, and it is the inside that Jesus wants to clean up. Legalism focuses on the outside of the cup and dish.

What does Jesus tell them to do in verse 35? He says, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside will be clean also. Here is the point. God is the only person who can clean up the inside. He is the one who transforms us inwardly. Simply put, when we let God clean up the inside, then those changes will appear on the outside.

Ok, here is the third and final point regarding the difference between Legalism and Obedience. The difference is our motivation.

Legalism seeks to earn or prove one’s salvation through commandment keeping.

Now I need everyone to pay attention here because this is the most important point that I’m going to make today. Following the Lord on the pathway of discipleship should be motivated by love and gratitude for Jesus. Let me say that again. Following the Lord on the pathway of discipleship should be motivated by love and gratitude for Jesus. This is so important because this is truly the only proper motivation for following the Lord. It breaks my heart to see so many Christians constantly looking inward to try and figure out if they are “really saved”. It breaks my heart because even though they don’t realize it, they taken their eyes off the Lord, and they made it all about themselves. This never works. Listen to me. We have a promise from the Lord Jesus Christ that a soon as we believe in Him we have eternal life. The only place we go for assurance of our salvation is the word of God. Jesus promises eternal life to whosever believes in Him for that life.

John 6:47 NKJV

47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.

This is a promise that we can stake our eternal destiny on. If we believe we have eternal life simply because our faith in Jesus, we have it, period. We can full assurance that we have been saved.

So here is the point. In order to follow Jesus based on our love and gratitude for him, we have to know that belong to him. In other words, we can to have full confidence that He was given us eternal life, and that we are eternally secure it Him. The second we start thinking, “well I need to look at my works and I need to wait a few years to see if I really believed, then we are falling from grace. Now our motivation has changed from love and gratitude to fear and doubt. Now we are performing good works trying to earn or prove our salvation. Now we have drifted into legalism, and it will either lead to spiritual pride or burnout. Here is the net net. The pathway of discipleship is about following Jesus because we know that he saved us. If we don’t know that, and we are trying to gain confidence by our works, we have drifted in legalism.

Ok, I’ve got to get off this rabbit trail and get us back to our passage before I run out of time.

So, just in case you forgot where we were the Pharisees think they have caught Jesus and his disciples in the act of breaking the Sabbath. So, they ask Jesus why he allowed His disciples to do what is unlawful on the Sabbath, and here is how Jesus responds.

Mark 2:25–26 NKJV

25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

OK, we need some quick background so we can understand what Jesus is talking about. Saul was Israel’s first King, but because of his disobedience the Lord tells him, that someone else is going to take his throne. Well, that someone was David. And Saul knows that it is going to be David so He decided to have David killed. So, David is fleeing for his life from King Saul, and he and his men have no food. They are in a life threatening situation, and verse 26 says they went to the house of God… and ate the showbread. Now the showbread couldn’t be eaten but anybody but the priests, but the high priest allows David and his men to eat it. Why were they allowed to eat it? Of course their are different views here, but I think the high priest allows David and His men to eat the bread becuase physical necessity takes precedence of ceremonial law.

Jesus Himself confirms that the greatest law was to love the Lord your God if all you heart, with all your mind, and with all your soul. And that the second greatest was much like it. To love your neighbor as yourself. Here is the point, if ceremonial regulations come before loving our brother, then we have drifted in legalism. Should the high priest have let David and his men starve when their was bread right there? No. He shouldn’t have, and I bet these Pharisees weren’t willing to accuse David of a sin by eating the showbread. So, the Lord has them stumped here. I bet they didn’t have a comeback for this. But the Lord isn’t through. Look what He says next.

Mark 2:27–28 NKJV

27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

Verse 27 is a crucial verse for us to understand. You see, God didn’t create the Sabbath for it to be a burden for His people. He created it for their benefit. The Sabbath was intended to be a day of rest for God’s people. Listen, He gave His people a day to rest from their labor, but the Pharisees had turned it into a burden. Ironically all of their added regulations made it work. Trying to meet all of their tedious oral traditions turned a day that was designed for rest into a religious burden that Israel had to carry. My brothers and sisters this is what legalism does. It turns following Jesus into a burden to heavy for any man to carry. Jesus is flat out telling them I created the Sabbath for man’s benefit. It was not designed to burden them down by trying to keep your religious traditions. And here is my favorite part, verse 27. I’m going to call this the mic drop verse. Then Jesus says, “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath”. Boom. I bet their heads almost exploded when Jesus said this. You see, only God could be Lord of the Sabbath. Keeping the Sabbath was probably the most sacred of all the Jewish laws. To claim to be Lord over the Sabbath was to say I am God. So now we’ve seen Jesus claim two things that is only possible for God. Number 1 He pronounced the paralytic sins forgiven, and now He has claimed to be Lord over the Sabbath. There is no way these men are going to let Jesus live after these claims.

Final point as I work to close. Legalism creates impossibly heavy burdens to carry. I can’t imagine having to look at all the commands in the Bible and think if I don’t keep these for the entirely of my life then I am probably going to hell. What a terrifying way to walk through life. I can’t imagine trying to carry that burden. Church here is the good news. Jesus accomplished all the heavy lifting. Amen. Through His death on the cross He removed the sin barrier between God and man. Now, that His work is finished He is free to give eternal life to whosoever believes in Him for that Life.

John 3:16 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

That is the best news humanity has ever been given. We can have eternal life simply by believing in Jesus. And now that we have eternal life we have God dwelling inside of us, and it is His power that enables our pathway of discipleship. Please don’t loose focus. Don’t get sucked into thinking I have to do this and that to really know that I’m saved or to stay saved. The Lord Jesus doesn’t want you to carry that heavy burden. Remember what the Lord says, in Matthew chapter 11.

Matthew 11:28–30 NKJV

28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

Israel was drowning in legalism thinking they had to obey not only the Law of Moses, but all of the Oral traditions as well. To way to earn salvation that way is an impossible task. It is a burden no man can carry. Jesus says, “I will give you rest”. Church we can rest in Jesus knowing that our eternal destiny is secure in Him. You will never convince me that God wants is Children wondering everyday if they belong to Him or not. We can have full assurance based on God’s promises in the Bible.

Now it is time for us to follow Jesus based on our love and devotion for Him. This is verse 29 which says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me...” You see, will must willing devote to the pathway of discipleship. Now that we have been born again, we should willing take Jesus yoke upon our necks and serve Him. We should learn from Him. We don’t serve Him trying to earn or prove we are saved. We serve and learn from Him because we love Him and belong to Him. This is the pathway of discipleship. We love Him because He first loved us.

Final point and I’m done. If you have believed in the Lord Jesus Christ you are born again and are eternally secure in Christ. Nothing should ever make you doubt that. Now because of what He has done for you, because you are so grateful to Him...serve Him. Listen to the words of the Lord Himself. Take My Yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light”. Amen and Amen. Let’s pray.