found their way into career service within the Armstrong empire. I was an ordained minis- ter of the Worldwide Church of God, found- ed by Armstrong some 40 years earlier. As a minister and faculty member I administered rules and policies for students, some of which I did not adhere to in my own life. That irony, indeed that hypocrisy, would hit me like a ton of bricks in a few more years. There were many rules in the one true church of Armstrongism: No pork or shellfish. No Christmas or Easter. No birthdays. No makeup or cosmetics. No voting or service on a jury. No involvement in politics. No “world- ly” friends (as a young man I found ways to get around this one). No participation or involvement in work or sports on Friday night or Saturday. During these 24 hours of “holy time” virtually noth- ing could be done, except go to church. No shopping. No television. No secular reading. No cooking. In early Armstrongism some people didn’t even make their beds on Satur- day, a restriction that would have been fine with the young Greg Albrecht, but my Ger- manic mother never bought into that one. Armstrongism demanded three tithes: one tenth went directly to the church, another tenth was for families to save in order to observe the Armstrong version of the Hebrew holy day calendar, and the final tenth was given to the church every third year to pro- vide for its poor. It was largely because of these tithes that my mother and stepfather never owned a house. They never felt that they could maintain the mortgage pay- ments in addition to their financial support of Arm- strongism. They always rented, and in their later years they lived in an apartment. As a young man I was taught that I was a special and unique kind of Christian. All other Christians were “so- called” Christians. But my Lutheran family back in Kansas, and the few childhood friends I managed to make outside of Armstrongism were confused. It seemed to them that many of the restrictions and rituals in my life fell in the Jewish tradition. Looking back now, I understand that my religion of Armstrongism was a cult based upon modified Judaism, all in the name of Jesus Christ. My journey to RP021 A PERILOUS SPIRITUAL JOURNEY PAGE 1 M y mother was pouring her heart out to me, fearing that she had unwittingly been trapped by a convo- luted, agonizing religious disaster. She tearfully apologized for introducing me to what later became known as Armstrongism, the legalistic and cultic teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong. It was the 1980’s, and I was a devout follower of Arm- strongism, rapidly climbing the organizational ladder of his Worldwide Church of God. I was in my early 30’s, mar- ried, and with two children in school. Many people “in the world” thought Armstrongism was a cult, but I knew better. I considered myself a more astute judge than my mother, so I comforted her and assured her that we were in the true church—the “one and only true church.” At the time my mother was tearfully confiding in me, I was the Dean of Students of Ambassador College in Pasadena, California. I taught classes and served as the pastor of 500 college students, many of whom eventually A Perilous Spiritual Journey: Forty Miles of Bad Road by Greg Albrecht, edited by Tal Brooke My mother...was profoundly sorry that she had introduced me to what later became known as Armstrongism, the legalistic and cultic teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong. I considered myself a more astute judge than my mother, so I comforted her and assured her that we were in the true church—the “one and only true church.”
Welcome message from author
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
found their way into career service within theArmstrong empire. I was an ordained minis-ter of the Worldwide Church of God, found-ed by Armstrong some 40 years earlier. As aminister and faculty member I administeredrules and policies for students, some of whichI did not adhere to in my own life. Thatirony, indeed that hypocrisy, would hit melike a ton of bricks in a few more years.
There were many rules in the one truechurch of Armstrongism: No pork or shellfish.No Christmas or Easter. No birthdays. Nomakeup or cosmetics. No voting or service ona jury. No involvement in politics. No “world-ly” friends (as a young man I found ways toget around this one).
No participation or involvement in work orsports on Friday night or Saturday. Duringthese 24 hours of “holy time” virtually noth-ing could be done, except go to church. No
shopping. No television. No secular reading.No cooking. In early Armstrongism somepeople didn’t even make their beds on Satur-day, a restriction that would have been finewith the young Greg Albrecht, but my Ger-manic mother never bought into that one.
Armstrongism demanded three tithes: onetenth went directly to the church, anothertenth was for families to save in order to observe the Armstrong version of the Hebrewholy day calendar, and the final tenth wasgiven to the church every third year to pro-
vide for its poor. It was largely because of these tithes thatmy mother and stepfather never owned a house. Theynever felt that they could maintain the mortgage pay-ments in addition to their financial support of Arm-strongism. They always rented, and in their later yearsthey lived in an apartment.
As a young man I was taught that I was a special andunique kind of Christian. All other Christians were “so-called” Christians. But my Lutheran family back in Kansas,and the few childhood friends I managed to make outsideof Armstrongism were confused. It seemed to them thatmany of the restrictions and rituals in my life fell in theJewish tradition. Looking back now, I understand that myreligion of Armstrongism was a cult based upon modifiedJudaism, all in the name of Jesus Christ. My journey to
RP021 A PERILOUS SPIRITUAL JOURNEY PAGE 1
My mother was pouring her heart out to me, fearingthat she had unwittingly been trapped by a convo-luted, agonizing religious disaster. She tearfullyapologized for introducing me to what later became
known as Armstrongism, the legalistic and cultic teachingsof Herbert W. Armstrong.
It was the 1980’s, and I was a devout follower of Arm-strongism, rapidly climbing the organizational ladder ofhis Worldwide Church of God. I was in my early 30’s, mar-ried, and with two children in school. Many people “inthe world” thought Armstrongism was a cult, but I knewbetter. I considered myself a more astute judge than mymother, so I comforted her and assured her that we werein the true church—the “one and only true church.”
At the time my mother was tearfully confiding in me, Iwas the Dean of Students of Ambassador College inPasadena, California. I taught classes and served as thepastor of 500 college students, many of whom eventually
A Perilous Spiritual Journey:Forty Miles of Bad Road
by Greg Albrecht,edited by Tal Brooke
My mother...was profoundly sorry that she had introducedme to what later became known as Armstrongism, thelegalistic and cultic teachings of Herbert W. Armstrong.
I considered myself a more astute judge than my mother, so Icomforted her and assured her that we were in the true
church—the “one and only true church.”
this realization was a profound andarduous one.
The Long DetourAs I was just beginning elementaryschool, my widowed mother waslooking for a husband for herself anda father for me, but more than that,she was looking for context and spiri-tual identity. I was in second gradewhen she married Lewis Greenwood,who became my stepfather. We alltook a long detour from Christianityinto the swamps of cultic religion.Armstrongism proved to be a rigidand remote outpost in the badlandsof religion that gave me some haunt-ing experiences in legalism, all in thename of Christianity and the Bible.
After their wedding, Mom andLewis became members of HerbertArmstrong’s church, then called theRadio Church of God. We moved tosouth Texas to be closer to a cher-ished family that had “adopted” my
mother and me: my mother’s oldestsister Esther, her husband Alvin, andtheir four children. My cousinsshared the endless adventures avail-able on their farm with me, even giv-
ing me the high honor of helpingthem chop and pick cotton.
Although I was only in secondgrade, I was very much aware of myextended family’s disapproval ofArmstrongism. My relatives were always tactful about my mother andstep-father’s strange new beliefs, buteven as a seven-year-old boy I couldsense their displeasure and sadness.
I spent the next 35 years of mylife up to my neck in this specificreligious swamp, in what I havenow come to see, by God’s grace, as40 Miles of Bad Road (with apologies
to Duane Eddy, who back in the dayhad a hit record by the same name). Iattended second and third grade inRosenberg, Texas, and then we movedto Pasadena, California to be at theworld headquarters of Armstrongismand its Ambassador College. I grew upin southern California, receiving thebest indoctrination Armstrongismcould give, in both elementary andsecondary school as well as Ambassa-dor College.
Assigned as a student to Armstrong’scollege campus in England, I met andlater married my wife Karen, whosefamily has its own story of becominghijacked by Armstrongism. Our wed-ding ceremony, at our request, waspersonally officiated by the cult’sleader, Herbert Armstrong.
In England, the rules-happy cam-pus experience Karen and I enduredwas an alternative reality. We, alongwith a number of fellow students atArmstrong’s English campus, were
marching down 40 Miles ofBad Road and deeper intothe bonds of legalism.
After graduation, Karenand I married and were as-signed into “the work” ofArmstrongism. Our service,much like that of the mili-tary, was appointed, withoutregard for our preference.We remained in England,partially because, as I discov-ered later, several senior
leaders in the Englishbranch of the movementweren’t finished with me
yet. They were, in their ownway, fond of us. In their
hard-headed legalistic and culticthinking, they felt that Karen and Ineeded “further training”—bootcamp would have been a more accu-rate description.
Once it was decided that we hadpaid our dues, we were transferredback to the world headquarters inCalifornia in order for me to assumethe much-envied position of facultymember at Ambassador College. As ayoung couple with two preschool-aged children, we were seen as rolemodels who would encourage othersto follow in our footsteps and be soldiers for the cause.
Apart from its devotion to oldcovenant Jewish requirements, itseclectic teachings about the nature ofGod, the myth of British-Israelism,and a host of other fables and hereticalnotions, the legalistic requirements ofArmstrongism held many similaritiesto American Protestant fundamental-ism. A potent strain of the holinessmovement influenced Herbert Arm-strong, convincing him that righteous-ness could be obtained by virtue ofpersonal effort and achievement.
For all of its deviation from histori-cal Christianity, the most toxic of allof the teachings of Armstrongism islegalism. One can never be goodenough in Armstrongism—there is always another rule to obey, anothertask to accomplish, more character tobuild, and another personal problemor secret sin to overcome. Never goodenough—it’s the theme song of BadNews Religion.
The True BelieverLegalism is the common virus that affects all of Bad News Religion—whether it is a cultic movement thatclaims to be Christian, a Christianchurch that adheres to the essentialteachings of Christianity, or a religionthat claims no affiliation to JesusChrist whatsoever. Legalism is thecommon ingredient. Be more right-eous. Be better. Work harder. Give.Serve. Qualify. Improve. Do more.Where the gospel of Good News of-fers hope and redemption, Bad NewsReligion supports self-condemnationand despair.
My experience with cultic legalismhas heightened my sensitivity to thiswatering down of the gospel, this pol-lution of God’s amazing grace. Whydo so many continue to fall for thetrap of legalism? Bad News Religionis both popular and successful becauselegalism is a part of the human condi-tion. It causes us to obsess about beingright. The more we are convinced thatwe are right, we gradually change the
PAGE 2 PTM RESOURCE
Baby Greg Albrecht and his parents, 1948
Loma and Herbert Armstrong in the early days of “The
World Tomorrow,” his Radio Church of God radio program.
emphasis of the gospel from“change me” to “changethem.” It’s the default towhich we humans revert.It’s the way we are pro-grammed. It makes sense,but is the diametric oppositeof biblical teaching.
I continued my journeydeeper into Bad News Reli-gion, and by the early1980’s, Karen and I hadbeen judged to be wor-thy of continued advance-ment in the hierarchy. Bythe time my mother apolo-gized for her role in placingher grandchildren and me inthis “mess,” I had moved up the ranks.
Exclusive and elitist teachings andpractices characterized my life as Imoved up the ladder from a foot sol-dier to a leader in a religion that calleditself Christianity. I did not realize atthe time that I had become the neme-sis of true, good news Christianity. I lacked joy and grace; I was a narrow,judgmental, hypercritical, fault-finding slave of Bad News Religion.
Within a few years, after I rejectedmy mother’s plea to leave the cult ofArmstrongism, my neatly orderedworld started to crumble, triggered byan unforeseen tragedy.
In August 1985 my mother, alongwith my 13-year-old son, traveledback to Texas to celebrate my UncleAlvin and Aunt Esther’s 50th weddinganniversary. On the way home from acelebratory dinner my mother waskilled in an auto accident, along withthe very ones celebrating their fifty
years of marriage. At the last minute,our son had decided to go home inanother car with some of his cousins.
Emotionally shattered, my wife, mydaughter and I immediately flew toTexas to join our son and our grievingrelatives. We attended the funeral inNeedville, Texas (population 600)along with most of the town, beforebringing my mother’s body back toCalifornia for burial.
Five months later, as I continued tomourn the loss of my mother, auntand uncle, Herbert Armstrong died.The cult leader was suddenly gone,
and his death marked the lifting ofhis direct influence in my life. While Iwas close to Herbert Armstrong, Iworked even more closely with hischosen successor, Joseph Tkach.Within a few years after Armstrong’sdeath, I started to see and experienceGod moving in the lives of JosephTkach and a few other close friends,as well as in my own.
I was beginning a long journey outof the religious badlands.
The Difficult Journey Out of theSwampsAs I grieved my mother’s tragic death,I recalled her claim that we were in acult. At that time of grief and loss,God was using personally devastatingexperiences to conclusively demon-strate to me that I could never begood enough to qualify for salvation.Within a year or two it seems thatGod launched a rescue mission for
me, and for thatmatter, many oth-ers within what wasthen known as theWorldwide Churchof God. Looking
back on those dark and painful days,there is no question that the roadthat took me out of the swamps ofBad News Religion was paved withGod’s amazing grace.
God was opening my eyes throughgrief to see the bankruptcy of anysystem that pretends to impart right-eousness through rules and regula-tions. In my case it took almost 35years to learn this painful lesson—even then it was only by God’s gracethat I escaped Armstrongism. Thoughat the time I didn’t know exactlywhat was wrong, it soon became ob-
vious to me that I wouldhave to leave Armstrongism.Herbert Armstrong was dead—the one person who had socontrolled my life and whohad determined how I un-derstood the world. Themore I studied and prayed,the more I saw error andheretical teaching.
For some time I was upsetwith Herbert Armstrong.But the more I prayed,
the more I believed that Icould not place all of theblame at his doorstep. Anypower he’d had over my lifeI had given him. I had to
look into the mirror to identify theperson who bore most of the blame. Ibelieve that God gently nudged meinto the direction of seeing that wallowing in self-pity and being a victim is living in denial. I had to facemyself, and it was not a pretty pic-ture.
Now I searched for clues. As I pouredmyself into the study of religion,church history, theology, apologeticsand the Bible, the picture of the cult Iwas in became increasingly repulsive. Icame to see the dogmatic claims ofArmstrongism—a religion that claimedto have all the answers—as bogus.
Armstrongism had given me a falseidentity, a goal and a future that wereall illusions. But now, in the late1980’s, each week brought more in-sight into the flawed and brokenfoundation on which I had built myreligious life. I realized that my beliefsystem was crumbling. I discoveredthat the house of Armstrongism hadbeen built upon sand (Matthew 7:26-27). Just as Jesus said, it was raining,the winds were blowing and my spiri-tual house with its faulty foundationwas collapsing.
It was my grief that challenged theassumptions and presuppositions thatformed the basis of Armstrongism, towhich I had dedicated my life. It wasprofoundly painful to admit that thisversion of Bad News Religion couldnot deliver what it promised. I saw itcollapsing all around me.
I never knew my father, though Ihave always respected his memory.My mother, God bless her, saw tothat. Now I came to the painfulawareness that I had never knownJesus either. I was a religious profes-sional. My entire life was based upon
RP021 A PERILOUS SPIRITUAL JOURNEY PAGE 3
The wedding of Greg and Karen Albrecht, performed by Herbert Armstrong, 1969
As a young man I was taught that I was a special and uniquekind of Christian. All other Christians were “so-called” Christians.
a cultic version of Christianity. Andnow, even though I knew the name ofJesus Christ, even though I had mem-orized and quoted his teachings, eventhough I had once taught a collegeclass called Life and Teachings of Jesus, I realized that I had never personallyknown Jesus.
It was one of the many painful buttrue realities that started to dawn onme as Jesus entered the picture. I real-ized that all my life I had been anactor, just reading the script of Arm-strongism. I had played the role assigned to me. Of course I hadn’tthought that I was acting, but I nowrealized a script was all that religion,apart from God, could give me. Theonly thing that any religion not basedon God’s grace can do is to help youread your lines, obey the rules, andjump through the hoops it prescribes.
Finding Jesus—Losing ReligionWhen Jesus introduced himself tome, I met the author. The author wasthe Jesus whose name I knew andwhose teachings I thought I under-stood, but the Jesus I never personally
came into contact with. The Jesus Inever knew was the Jesus I taught tothousands of college students over theyears. Jesus found me. I knew facts andinformation about him, but I hadnever known him. I was so lost I hadno idea where to start looking for him.It was only through his reaching outthat I was able to come to know him.
God’s grace opened my eyes to thereal Jesus and the real gospel. God’sgrace helped me get off the well-wornroad map of proof texts that followersof Armstrongism use to navigate theBible and prove their conclusions. Istarted reading the Bible, and when I
reached for the hand of my Savior, hehelped me out of the swamplands ofBad News Religion. My eyes hadbeen blinded by legalistic interpreta-tions of what I thought the Bibletaught—but now, because the gra-cious light of the gospel illuminatedthe message that had always beenthere, I saw the real Jesus. It was thereal gospel of Jesus Christ.
Initially, the authentic gospel ofGod’s grace made me ashamed andangry—ashamed because I had beenlost in legalistic swamps for so longthat I had no clue about the realgospel, angry because grace exaltedJesus and diminished me. Grace wasin my face with the powerful and un-equivocal message that my gooddeeds did not amount to a hill ofbeans (an idiom I learned on a farmin the Lone Star state). I faced the pa-thetic, ugly truth that I had no ideaabout what I thought I had beenpreaching and teaching.
By God’s grace, over the course ofseveral years, I slowly came to anotherpainful conclusion. The spiritual reali-ty of new life in Christ is that while
he lives within us and produceshis righteousness in us, we stilllive in this body of flesh. Hegives us new life now, on thisside of eternity, yet we remainconfronted with the dauntingchallenge of the physical hereand now. I discovered that mypast framed the reality of who Iwas, and my past would always
be part of who I would be. The pasthad happened and it was real. It wasugly, nasty, but real.
Reclaiming the Past God’s grace helped me to accept mypast. Healthy Christians who havebeen touched and healed by theGreat Physician are not in denial. Thepast is not our present, but it is a partof our lives. The past happened to meand to you, whether we like it or not.The great news is that God not onlyrescues us presently, he redeems ourpast. He uses our past and where wehave been for his glory. He reclaims
all of the days of our lives for his ownpurpose. Part of what we are is whatwe used to be. By God’s grace our pasthas been redeemed and we are raisedup with Christ to new life.
Saul became Paul. Chuck Colson ofWatergate became Chuck Colson ofPrison Fellowship. Augustine the sin-ner became Augustine, mighty manof God. Martin Luther the priest became Luther the reformer. The pastis a prelude. It may be painful andembarrassing. It may be ugly. It maystink (the swamps of Bad News Reli-gion have their own distinctivearoma!). The past is what we were before—before Christ.
I learned that God’s amazing gracewill take the bad stuff of your life andtransform it for his glory and his pur-pose. That’s the amazing thing aboutGod. He is in the rescue and reclama-tion business. Nothing we have doneis beyond his reach. He breathes newlife into what is cast off and seemsgood for nothing.
According to the false gospel of reli-gious legalism, your only hope for salvation is to atone for your past byproducing a lifetime of good worksand meritorious deeds. Don’t let BadNews Religion convince you thatGod is so mad at you that only a life-time of obedience to religious rulesand regulations could ever redeemyou from your past. You will simplybe exchanging one of the swamps ofBad News Religion for another.
The Lethal Virus of LegalismThe spiritually lethal virus of legalismthat attacks God’s grace can be foundin any belief system or structure thatpromises God’s blessings in return forhuman efforts and performance. BadNews Religion is based on the con-viction that if we do more and tryharder we will be able to manipulateand obligate God into accepting ourgood deeds as at least partial paymentfor our salvation. The hypothesis of Bad News Religion is that our performance of religious duties andobedience to religious laws gains us ahigher standing with God than wewould have otherwise enjoyed.
Hindus have their obligatory prayerwheels and ritual cleansing in theGanges, Muslims have prescribeddaily prayers that must be given atspecific times, required pilgrimages toMecca and dietary restrictions. Inprimitive animism, legalism exacts its
PAGE 4 PTM RESOURCE
God has gently directed me to see that the religious people Iadmired were just as flawed as I was and still am. God’s gracerips the veneer off the cheap façade of religious externalism...
pound of flesh in practices that demand food to be left for householdspirits and compels the use of amuletsto repel evil spirits.
By contrast, authentic Christianityproclaimed by the gospel of JesusChrist is unique among all religionsin that it offers a completely differentdimension in our human quest forsalvation. The genius of Christianity is not its unique doctrines nor its unequaled ceremonies, but the Person ofJesus. Because of Jesus, humans aresaved from the religiosity of believingthat they must save themselves byproducing good deeds.
This is a dramatic difference, caus-ing many Christians to claim that realChristianity is not actually a religionat all; it’s more accurately defined as apersonal relationship with JesusChrist. That claim and definition arebiblically accurate, and offer no roomfor the obligations and religious enslavement of Bad News Religion.However, the fact remains that whenthe term religion is used, authenticChr i s t i an i ty i s included in thegeneric definition.
The real issue authentic Christiansmust face is the fact that much ofChristendom has been infiltrated andeven co-opted by legalism, and there-fore has degenerated into just anotherreligion. The sad truth for many isthat their relationship with theirlegally incorporated denomination,congregation or human leadership oftheir church is actually far more realand significant than their relation-ship with Jesus. Simply claiming thatwe have a personal relationship withJesus does not grant us immunityfrom Bad News Religion if we remain slaves to earthly organizations.
Authentic Christianity places Jesusas the very center and core of Christi-anity. According to the gospel of JesusChrist, Jesus alone is the foundationof salvation. All salvation flowsthrough him and from him. Becauseof Jesus’ cross and the righteousnesshe produced, we are saved by grace.God’s goodness and grace saves us,not our own works.
Preaching and teaching that judgesChristians solely upon external actions almost inevitably leads to ma-nipulation for the purpose of creatingguilt and shame. We humans aresuckers for religious con games thatassure us our efforts will have a signif-icant impact upon our salvation. A
heavy, unremitting emphasison sin as defined by behavioris a one-way road that leadsto legalism. An obsessive con-centration on overcomingsinful actions expects unat-tainable standards of conductand in turn sets us up for fail-ure. Once we experience theinevitable failure, authoritari-an “church discipline” appliesthe coup de grâce of guilt andshame. And once individuals aremanipulated into a state of shameand guilt legalism has its way withthem.
Let me put it this way—it is possi-ble to be the church member of theyear simply on the basis of conform-ing to all of the codes and standardsof your denomination and congrega-tion, while at the same time beingfilled with greed, hatred, lust andenvy. Legalistic religion cannotchange the heart—only God can dothat. Legalism enslaves you by convinc-ing you of what you are already inclinedto believe. Your deeds, your power,your performance, your contributions,and your effort are capitalized uponby Bad News Religion. Legalistic reli-gion beguiles you by making you feelimportant. Legalistic religion attacksour spiritual Achilles heel.
Is Grace Too Good to be True?Grace helped me see that calling one-self a Christian while insisting thatthe work of salvation is a combina-tion of what Jesus did plus human accomplishment or solely the latter isa travesty and a perversion of thegospel of Jesus Christ. God’s grace denies all heretical ideas and philoso-phies that proclaim human effort tobe necessary to gain God’s favor.
God’s grace threatens the status quoof the world we think we have undercontrol. If you—or people you love—are enslaved by any kind of move-ment, group, church or denominationthat incessantly drives you to do moreand more for God with your goodnessand deeds—I have good news for you!If you are exhausted by futile attemptsto measure up, and frustrated by end-less harangues that tell you to just try
harder—you need to look more close-ly at the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• If you feel like a hamster endlesslyrunning around a wheel inside a cagein a vain attempt to conquer all ofyour problems so that God will loveyou…
• If you think that real Christianityseems to be an irrational, patheticdog-and-pony show, much like whatyou have seen on television…
• If you believe that God clinicallyjudges and records your daily per-formance and that your salvation isalways hanging in the balance…
• If you believe that God has a giantDow-Jones ticker-tape-like spiritualscoreboard in heaven, with angelsconstantly recording and updatingyour spiritual performance…
• If you have been convinced thatGod is mad at you and takes somekind of perverse pleasure in danglingyour feet over the hot coals of hell…
• If you have allowed some authori-tarian, charismatic pastor or leader tohave influence and power over youbecause that person has a “specialanointing”…
• If you are burned out because ofunreasonable legalistic demands…
The incredibly good news is thatJesus Christ can and will make youfree.
Grace is the good news that nothingyou can do will makeGod love you morethan he already does.And, conversely,
When Jesus mercifully took me by the hand to show me the way out ofthe religious swamp of Armstrongism, I thought that my battles with
legalism were in the past. I found out that there are many detours thatlead to the swamplands of religious legalism.
We humans aresuckers for
religious con gamesthat assure us ourefforts will have asignificant impact
upon our salvation.
RP021 A PERILOUS SPIRITUAL JOURNEY PAGE 5
there is nothing you can do that willmake him love you less.
Grace does sound too good to betrue—but it is the plain truth of thegospel of Jesus Christ. Legalistic reli-gion is opposed to grace, because gracewill put Bad News Religion out ofbusiness. Christ-less religion, centeredon rules and performance, is opposedto God’s amazing grace.
The pied pipers of legalistic religion
will lead you into the muddy watersof despair and ruin. Don’t listen tothem! It is my prayer that God mightuse this article to open your eyes andsoften your heart, to help rescue afamily member or loved one who istrapped and to help you be on yourguard for the lethal virus of BadNews Religion.
All You Need is Grace“Grace is something you can never getbut only be given. There’s no way to earnit or deserve it or bring it about any morethan you can deserve the taste of rasp-berries and cream or earn good looks orbring about your own birth…. A crucialeccentricity of the Christian faith is theassertion that people are saved by grace.There’s nothing you have to do. There’snothing you have to do. There’s nothingyou have to do.”—Wishful Thinking,Frederick Buechner
Grace is the unseen power of Godat work in the lives of those who accept Jesus as sufficient and enough.Sadly, though, God’s grace is often diminished or even dismissed by theexternal emphasis of religion.
Years ago, I remember thinking thatthe best and most deeply convertedChristians were those who seemed tobe in control of their lives, whowalked straight and tall and who
seemed to be models of perfection.Even as a young pastor, I thoughtthat God must have specially chosensome of these people who outwardlyappeared to have remarkable courageand conviction, so that they couldbuild character through their virtuesand show the world by their obedi-ence what Christianity was all about.I was impressed with these talentedmen and women and what they were
able to accom-plish. God has
gently directedme to see thatthe religious peo-ple whom I ad-mired were justa s f l awed a s Iwas and still am.God’s grace rips
the veneer off the cheap façade of religious externalism, exposing it asfraudulent deception. In fact, legalismdoes not permit its followers to admitto any imperfection, forcing them tolive a lie. Because of the lies of le-galism, many of its followers never realize that religious externalism is adelusion, the spiritual equivalent ofthe Emperor’s new clothes.
I believe that God doesn’t call thequalified, he qualifies the called. Thefact is, God doesn’t call anyone whois qualified—he never has. Suchhuman beings don’t exist!
The Difference Between the Old andNew CovenantsFor Christians, the heart of God’samazing grace lies in the differencebetween the old and new covenants.The book of Hebrews contrasts theold and new covenants, continuallypointing to the superiority of the newcovenant in Christ. Hebrews insiststhat God’s grace is sufficient for us;God’s grace is all we need!
The book of Hebrews teaches one ofthe foundational lessons of real Christi-anity: God does for us what we cannotdo for ourselves. Hebrews insists thatChrist is superior to the religion andrituals of Judaism (or, by implicationany religion) and the requirements of
the old covenant. Hebrews demon-strates that the new covenant Jesusgave is founded on better promisesthan the old covenant (8:6). He-brews teaches that if there were“nothing wrong” with the oldcovenant, there would have been noreason for the new (8:7). Hebrewssays that the old covenant is “obso-lete,” and—written just a few yearsbefore the destruction of the Templein Jerusalem that was so central inJudaism—predicts that requirements
to keep the old covenant would“soon disappear” (8:13).
The old covenant, in someform, is often the authority thatchurchianity appeals to in an attempt to “improve” Christiani-ty, to “organize” God, and tomake Christians “better.” Hebrews
explains what is important and whatis not important for Christians. He-brews leads us to authentic Christian-ity, distinguishing it from religionbased upon externals.
The tenth chapter of Hebrews con-trasts Christ’s sacrifice on the cross—and his perfect atonement for oursins—with the endless cycle of ritualsand animal sacrifices under the oldcovenant. Christ’s sacrifice is onceand for all (9:25-26).
Do you realize there was one pieceof furniture missing in the Jews’ tab-ernacle and later in their temple?There was no chair. No place to restfor a moment. The lesson? The workof the priests of Israel, the priests ofthe old covenant, was never done. Itis impossible for human beings everto do enough things to atone for theirown sins. There was not enough timein the priests’ workday to offer a suffi-cient number of sacrifices to make thenation of Israel righteous.
Hebrews tells us, Day after day every priest stands and
performs his religious duties; againand again he offers the same sacrifices,which can never take away sins. Butwhen this priest had offered for all timeone sacrifice for sins, he sat down atthe right hand of God (Hebrews 10:11-12, my emphasis).
When Jesus came as our High Priesthe completed all the work that need-ed to be done. His last statement fromthe cross was “It is finished” (John19:30). It’s over, once and for all! Nowit is up to us to believe that. ❑
Adapted—originally printed in the Summer 2010issue of Plain Truth.
PAGE 6 PTM RESOURCE
When Christ came as our High Priest, he defeated death and thegrave. He died and rose again so that we too may have the
same victory, and that’s the only way we will have this victory.
Related Documents
