Rev. James Moore & The Mississippi Mass Choir:
"Jesus Paid it All" (8 minutes)

Rev. James Moore & The Mississippi Mass Choir:
"Joy" (9 minutes)

Victory In Praise & Arts Mass Choir: "Stand" (4 minutes)

Dottie Peoples: "On Time God" (5 minutes)

Shirley Caesar: "Heaven" (6 mins 30 seconds)

Rev. Clay Evans & The AARC Mass Choir:
"I've Got a Testimony" (5 mins)

GMWA Women of Worship: "Order My Steps" (5 minutes)

Canton Spirituals: "Glad I Got Jesus" (9 minutes)

Above songs (except "Joy") are all on the compilation album:

Sounds of Blackness:
"Hold On (Change is Coming)" (5 minutes)

Wintley Phipps: "Amazing Grace" and History (9 minutes)

Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions:
"People Get Ready" (There's a Train Page Coming) (3 minutes)

Original URL: http://www.ordinarypastor.com/?p=9767

Erik Raymond — February 2, 2012

I have been thinking a lot about this lately in Colossians. And the context in Colossians states that we as believers are already ‘complete in Christ’ we lack nothing (Col. 2.10). God has given us everything we need in Christ Jesus.

In this admittedly long post I want to highlight some of the dangers of legalism.

What is Legalism?

In its most basic sense legalism believes that we can earn or keep God’s favor by what we do.

1. Legalism Promotes unbiblical standards (self-authority)

Legalism may take things that have been biblically true but not biblically applicable and attempt to make them binding.

The clear teaching here in Colossians is that you are complete in Jesus Christ. To elevate any other standard outside the work of Jesus Christ is to promote an unbiblical standard; it is to make a law that is not binding.

So it may be what you eat or drink, what you do on Sundays, or it may be what you wear for clothes, what kind of music you listen to, or whether you have piercings or tattoos, wear a suit or don’t on Sundays, or home school or not, or whatever.

It is to take something that cannot bring or keep your favor with God and make it binding on yourself and others. This is so dangerous, but it is so prevalent.

2. Legalism Promotes performance (self-righteousness)

In addition to promoting unbiblical standards it promotes personal performance.

Legalism says, “I do or do not do.” Gospel says, “I can’t do, but Jesus did.” There is a big difference.

Legalism promotes the earning and keeping of God’s pleasure based upon what I do or do not do. When legalistic thinking is prevalent you are always trying to cut a deal with God or your conscience. You may feel guilty about what you have done and instead of running to Christ you run to Sinai, the Law, and look for something to do.

Legalism is a relentless task master that promotes your personal performance as your continuing personal atonement.

3. Legalism Promotes Division

We have been studying Galatians in our evening Care Groups. One of the more helpfully illuminating moments for me in this study was the connection between legalism and strife. Or, to put it another way, with the absence of the gospel you have the presence of strife.

In Galatians chapter 4 (vv. 9-20), you see Paul agonizing about the way in which the Galatians have changed in terms of their reception of him and his message.

What has changed for the Galatians since Paul came and preached the gospel to them?

It is their view of the gospel.

Now they hate Paul and chapter 5.13 says, they are ‘biting and devouring one another.’ Why is this?

It is because legalism is a system that thrives on personal performance, personal supremacy, and sadly, the trampling of others. It relentlessly squashes grace, mercy and humility.

Legalism believes the prize is one through personal exertion and sees any who be in the way of the prize not as people to be served but obstacles to be removed.

You may recall that awhile back, on the Nation’s biggest shopping day that there was tragic occurrence at a Wal-Mart in Long Island, NY. Shortly before the doors opened shoppers pushed through the door and trampled the workers in their way. One Wal-Mart employee was crushed in the selfish stampede.

This is the way legalism functions. It is an environment of competition. The Wal-Mart stampede occurred because there were a limited number of Blue Ray’s. We act like there is only a limited number of spots available for us, and so we have cut others down, biting and devouring one another, in pursuit of our prize. We falsely think that the competition is between us and other people, so we set up rules and tear down others; judging and defrauding one another.

In this we fail to see that the issue is not between us and others but us and God. And no amount of physical or physical exertion on our part can bring us to the coveted place of divine favor. For here it is through Christ and Christ alone.

And this brings us to our final quick feature of legalism…

4. Legalism Demotes Jesus (and his sufficient righteousness)

This really is, at its core, the offense of legalism.

To maintain that you can merit God’s favor outside of the work of Christ is to say that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus either was not necessary or was not sufficient.

To cling to personal merit through doing things (however good or biblical they may seem) is to demote Jesus from his place of supremacy.

Legalism thinks that God accepts us because we do this or don’t do this…no, God accepts sinners because Jesus lived an obedient life in our place and died the death penalty that we earned!

We must see that fastening your grip upon other things is a loosening of our grip upon Jesus. This is the pattern here in our verses:

Colossians 2:8 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

Colossians 2:17 17 things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ

Colossians 2:18-19 18 Let no one keep defrauding you of your prize by delighting in self-abasement and the worship of the angels, taking his stand on visions he has seen, inflated without cause by his fleshly mind, 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.

Colossians 2:20-22 20 If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, 21 “Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!” 22 (which all refer to things destined to perish with use)– in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men?

Colossians 2:23 – 3:1 23 These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence.

And Paul jumps in with some more in Galatians:

Galatians 2:21 21 “I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Legalism is a dangerous system. In it the sheep are hurt, the gospel is veiled, Christ is marginalized, and we are exalted. There is little wonder that the Apostle Paul finds himself agonizing with sweaty earnestness for the church in Colossae (Col. 1.28-2.3).

Pastor Steven J. Cole

Flagstaff Christian Fellowship

123 S. Beaver Street

Flagstaff, Arizona 86001

WHY JESUS HATES LEGALISM

Luke 11:37-54

By

Steven J. Cole

April 11, 1999

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture

Quotations are from the New American

Standard Bible, © The Lockman Foundation

April 11, 1999

Luke Lesson 57

Why Jesus Hates Legalism

Luke 11:37-54

There is probably no sin more tolerated or more widespread in the Christian world than legalism. It may surprise you to hear it labeled as sin. Legalists are thought to be a bit overzealous or “uptight,” but they aren’t usually thought of as sinning in the same sense as adulterers, thieves, liars, and the like. To the contrary, legalists seem to be concerned about holiness.

Yet the Lord Jesus had more conflicts with the legalists of His day than any other group. It wasn’t the adulterers, the robbers and that sort, who put Jesus on the cross. It was the legalists. Later on, the Apostle Paul had the same experience, as the legalists dogged his steps, perverting the gospel of the grace of God.

When you study the life of Christ, it is noteworthy how He deliberately did things to provoke the legalists. He could have healed people on any other day of the week, but He often did it on the Sabbath. He could have been more discreet in violating the Pharisees’ rules, but He did it openly. When a Pharisee invited Jesus to dinner, He could have gone along with their elaborate handwashing custom, but He deliberately ignored it. When they questioned Him about it, He could have been more polite, but He blasted them for their hypocrisy. When a lawyer pointed out that Jesus had offended them as well, He didn’t say, “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to offend you good folks.” He said, “Woe to you lawyers as well!” Jesus confronted legalism as sin.

And yet many Christian churches today are riddled with legalism, but the pastors are too “nice” to stand up to the legalists and say, “You’re not going to do that in this church!” The evangelical church today is plagued by “niceness.” Somehow we’ve gotten the idea that to be like Jesus means always being nice, never offending anyone, never confronting anyone. But clearly, if we want to be like Jesus, we must confront sin. And, legalism is sin!

What is legalism? Some erroneously confuse it with an emphasis on obedience. I have been accused of being legalistic because I preach that we must obey God’s Word. But every book of the Bible teaches that we must obey God. Being under grace does not mean that we are free to disobey God.

Others say that legalism is when we set up any manmade rules. But there are many areas not specifically addressed in the Bible where we need some rules in order to function as a family or church. Parents are not being legalistic when they set a curfew for their kids. Churches are not being legalistic when they follow certain procedures or practices.

So, what is legalism? Legalism is an attempt to gain favor with God or to impress our fellow man by doing certain things (or avoiding other things), without regard to the condition of our hearts before God. At the root of legalism is the sin of pride, because the legalist thinks that he is able to commend himself to God by his own good deeds. Invariably, he is only looking at externals, not at his heart. Also, the legalist’s pride motivates him to exalt himself in the sight of others by his outward behavior, again neglecting to see the corruption of his own heart. Thus legalism denies human depravity and exalts human ability. As such, it is opposed to the gospel of God’s grace. That’s why both Jesus and Paul clashed with the legalists.

Jesus hates legalism because it does not deal with the condition of our hearts before God.

Christianity is primarily a matter of the heart. Everything flows from a heart relationship with God, who transforms our hearts when He regenerates us. The Jewish religious leaders seemingly were seeking after God, but in reality they were self-seeking. They didn’t see themselves as sinners in need of a Savior. They saw themselves as good people because they kept the Law. But in reality, they didn’t keep the Law because they didn’t apply it on the heart level. Thus, Jesus in effect said that if they would be as careful about clean hearts as they were about clean hands, then they would be what they ought to be.

The structure of our text is that in 11:37-41 we have the setting and overall theme, that legalism puts the emphasis on the external to the neglect of the internal. Then, in 11:42-44 Jesus pronounces three woes on the Pharisees in which He sets forth some of the specific problems with legalism. At this point, an expert in the Jewish law speaks up in self-defense, pointing out that Jesus’ remarks not only condemn the Pharisees; they also insult the lawyers. Rather than apologizing, Jesus launches into a series of three more woes on the lawyers (11:46-52). The result was not repentance, but rather increased hostility on the part of the Pharisees and lawyers in an attempt to trap Jesus in something He might say (11:53-54).

THE OVERALL THEME: LEGALISM PUTS THE EMPHASIS ON THE EXTERNAL TO THE NEGLECT OF THE INTERNAL (11:37-41).

Before we look specifically at the theme, take note that Jesus accepted social invitations from unbelievers. But, also note that He did not hesitate to confront unbelievers with their sin! He deliberately provoked this confrontation by doing something that surprised His host. But we need to be careful about how we apply this. Jesus was in a cultural context that understood the bold language of the prophets. Also, He is the Lord and as such has both the insight and authority to speak in this manner.

Paul instructs us, “Walk with [NASB, margin] wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person” (Col. 4:5, 6). The metaphor of salt implies that we can and should be provocative, but we also must speak in a gracious and sensitive manner. But in every social contact with unbelievers, keep your purpose clear. You’re there to be the instrument of the Holy Spirit in convincing the person about sin, righteousness, and judgment, and to proclaim the good news of God’s grace in Christ.

In Jesus’ day, the Pharisees, ostensibly in an attempt to keep God’s Law, had devised and added hundreds of manmade laws. But in so doing, they had shifted the focus from the heart to the outward man. This included elaborate rituals for washing themselves before meals and for cleansing their dishes and utensils. While there was a basis for these practices in the Book of Leviticus (11:33-34; 15:12), the Pharisees had taken them far beyond what God intended. Jesus uses this practice to confront the main issue.

Religion apart from God is always trying to fix the outer man to look good to other men, but it neglects the fact that the Lord looks on the heart. Jesus (11:39) confronted the Pharisees with the fact that although they went to great lengths to clean their cups and platters, they neglected to cleanse their hearts, which were full of robbery and wickedness. The Pharisees despised those who were openly sinful, but God looks not only at the outward person, but also on the heart. Inwardly, the Pharisees were greedy and wicked. Jesus compares this to washing the outside of a bowl and then eating out of it, even though the inside was filthy! The God who made the outside made the inside as well. Genuine religion is a matter of the heart, not just of external compliance.

The meaning of verse 41 is debated, but Jesus seems to be saying that if we deal with our hearts before God, then everything that flows outward is clean. As J. C. Ryle explains, “Give first the offering of the inward man. Give your heart, your affections, and your will to God, as the first great alms which you bestow, and then all your other actions, proceeding from a right heart, are an acceptable sacrifice, and a clean offering in the sight of God” (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Baker], 3:48-49).

Then Jesus launches into the three woes on the Pharisees:

1. The first woe: Legalism majors on minors and minors on majors (11:42).

The Pharisees were meticulous about giving a tenth to God to the degree that they even tithed their spices! (Rue is a strongscented herb.) While Jesus upheld the obligation of tithing (Lev. 27:30 was used to support the tithing of spices), He condemned them for neglecting the weighty part of the Law, namely, justice and the love of God. As He elsewhere affirmed, the love of God and the love of neighbor sum up the entire Law (Matt. 22:37-40). But the Pharisees would cleverly tell even their parents that they could not help them financially because their money had been devoted to God (Mark 7:11). Technically, they were tithing, but practically, they were neglecting to love their own parents!

Modern day legalists also major on the minors and minor on the majors. Some churches and Christian parents put major attention on rules about petty issues, such as dress codes or certain activities, but they tolerate serious sins, such as gossip, greed, and pride. If we shun people because of how they look, or over certain behaviors that, according to the Bible, are not major, we are guilty of the sin of the Pharisees.

For example, you may be surprised to know what Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, G. Campbell Morgan, Martyn LloydJones, and C. S. Lewis all had in common. Yes, they were all godly Christian leaders who were greatly used by God. All except Lewis were gifted Bible expositors and pastors. But also, at least some of the time they were in the ministry, they all smoked!

Many Christians question your salvation if you smoke! I think that if you smoke, you should quit as soon as possible, because it is not good stewardship of your body. The men I just mentioned all lived before that medical evidence was known. But my point is that there are many Christians who are more concerned with getting people to stop smoking than with getting them to walk in the Spirit and stop doing the deeds of the flesh.

2. The second woe: Legalism focuses on self-glory (11:43).

Jesus next condemns the Pharisees because they loved the front seats in the synagogues and the respectful greetings in the market places. They loved to have people notice how important they were! It made them feel good to be addressed as the Reverend Doctor So-and-so. But pride was at the root of it. They were focused on their own glory, not on God’s glory. Pride is at the heart of legalism; humility is at the heart of true Christianity.

The legalist can take pride in himself and his attainments because he is looking at outward matters, not at issues of the heart. He doesn’t acknowledge that his heart is just as sinful as the heart of the prostitute or robber. If he had been reared in their circumstances or had encountered the problems in life they had faced, he would have engaged in the same behavior, because he had the same heart of lust and greed. No, he sees himself as a notch above these sinners. He has attained a righteous life by his own hard work and discipline. The legalist is puffed up with pride.

Scripture declares that God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Prov. 3:34; James 4:6; 1 Pet. 5:5). One sure mark of the Holy Spirit’s work in our hearts is that we see ourselves as terrible sinners in the sight of God. We see that we deserve His judgment because of our pride, selfishness, and rebellion.

Rather than comparing ourselves with others and concluding that we are basically good, we compare ourselves with God and conclude that no good thing dwells within us. Thus convicted of our great need, we flee to the cross for mercy. But legalists don’t like the message of the cross, because it confronts their pride.

3. The third woe: Legalism subtly corrupts others (11:44).

Jesus compares the Pharisees to concealed tombs. If a Jew came in contact with a tomb or a dead body, he was ceremonially unclean for seven days (Num. 19:11-22). The picture behind these ceremonial laws was that sin leads to death and that the contamination of sin and death spreads to others if it is not dealt with. The Jew who became contaminated by contact with a dead body had to take responsibility for cleansing through the ashes of a red heifer and ritual washing (Num. 19:1-11). Here, Jesus accuses the Pharisees, who were meticulous about such laws of cleanliness, of defiling the Jewish nation through their own spiritual death! The charge must have shocked them!

The application is that the sin of legalism contaminates unsuspecting people. It turns off unbelievers and keeps them from the truth of the gospel, because they can see the hypocrisy of the legalists. It contaminates young believers, who are mistakenly taught that if they do certain things and do not do other things, they will grow in holiness and be pleasing to God. But invariably, the things that they are told to do and not do are not the important issues of the Bible, such as the love of God and neighbor (as summed up in the Ten Commandments). Rather, they are petty things, often things that Scripture does not directly command.

One reason many kids who grow up in Christian homes later reject the faith is that the parents and the church have been shot through with legalism. Instead of the joy of knowing God and of having our sins forgiven through His grace, the focus was on the rules and the outward conformity that had to be maintained so that everyone else would think that the kids (and parents) were good Christians. I’m not saying that Christian homes should not have any rules. But the emphasis in our homes and church should be on the joy of knowing God. As Paul says, “the kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 14:17).

At this point, an expert in the Jewish Law who was at the dinner spoke up. Probably he thought that this young rabbi did not grasp the full implication of His words. He was not only indicting the Pharisees; His scathing words also insulted the lawyers and the entire Jewish religious leadership. But rather than apologizing or backing down, Jesus laid into the lawyers with three more woes:

4. The fourth woe: Legalism burdens people with peripheral commandments (11:46).

The lawyers had taken the commands of Scripture and had multiplied them into hundreds of minute adaptations. But, like lawyers in every age, they had also come up with legal loopholes that enabled them to skirt around their own rules, while the average guy was still burdened with them. For example, on the Sabbath the lawyers determined that you could only travel 1,000 yards from your home. But if a rope was tied across the end of the street, the end of the street became his residence and he could go 1,000 yards beyond that. Or, if before the Sabbath a man left at any given point enough food for two meals, that point technically became his residence and he could go 1,000 yards beyond that.

On the Sabbath, you couldn’t tie a knot, because that was work. But a woman could tie a knot in her girdle. So if you needed to draw water out of the well on the Sabbath, you couldn’t tie a rope to the bucket, but you could tie a woman’s girdle to the bucket! (These examples are in William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke [Westminster Press], p. 158.)

The Sabbath laws were given for our benefit, so that we would set aside one day in seven for worship and rest. I believe that modern Christians err by throwing out the entire Sabbath principle. Most Christians treat Sunday just like every other day. But some err by coming up with specific lists of what you can and cannot do on the Lord’s Day. The main issue is our heart before God. We are to honor Him one day each week by ceasing from our normal routine and worshiping Him.

Legalism burdens people with peripheral issues and rules. Biblical holiness frees people by pointing them to the beauty of God’s holiness and love. As 1 John 5:3 states, “This is the love of

God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.” When we obey out of a heart of love for God, even though it is not always easy, it will always result in great joy and blessing.

To summarize, Jesus is elaborating on the theme that legalism puts the emphasis on the external to the neglect of the internal. He has shown that it majors on minors, it focuses on self-glory, it subtly corrupts others, and it burdens people with peripheral rules.

5. The fifth woe: Legalism dodges the personal application of God’s holiness, but pretends outwardly to honor it (11:47-51).

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day did not submit their lives personally to the message of the Old Testament prophets, but they built monuments to them to make it look as if they honored them. But Jesus lumps the current leaders with their ancestors who killed the prophets. He is saying that the current leaders are finishing off the job that the earlier generations started. As in all the other woes, the underlying problem is that though outwardly they act as if they honor the prophets, inwardly they do not repent of the very sins which the prophets condemned.

When Jesus refers to the wisdom of God (11:49), He is not quoting any specific Scripture, but rather is summarizing and personifying all of God’s wisdom as revealed through the prophets. Abel was the first man to die because his righteousness convicted his brother of his evil deeds. In the arrangement of the books in the Hebrew Bible, Zechariah was the last prophet to be killed (2 Chron. 24:20-25). Jesus is saying that the blood of all the righteous men who were martyred in the Old Testament would be charged against this current wicked generation, because they rejected God’s revealed wisdom about their sin. This may point to the awful judgment on Jerusalem in A.D. 70 or it may also include the final judgment. The point is, legalists don’t apply God’s holiness to their hearts; they just put on an outward show of honoring it.

6. The sixth woe: Legalism misses the true knowledge of God and misleads those who seek to know Him (11:52).

The key of knowledge refers to the personal knowledge of the living God through His revealed Word. As Jesus said, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3). True religion is a matter of knowing God personally and growing in that relationship with Him. Legalism is a matter of going through rituals and of keeping rules, but it’s devoid of the personal knowledge of God.

In many well-meaning but legalistic Christian homes, parents mistakenly think that the way to keep their teenagers in line is to lay down and enforce a lot of rules. But the way to keep your teenagers in line is to lead them to a personal knowledge of the Holy One. He’s with them when you cannot be there. If they truly know Him and know the great love of Christ who gave Himself for their sins, they will want to please Him, beginning on the heart level. As our kids grow in their walk with God, we should be able to ease up on the number of rules, not impose more. Our goal is to get each child to live under the lordship of Jesus Christ, in a growing personal relationship with Him. Legalism takes an external approach; biblical Christianity focuses on the heart relationship.

Conclusion

Some years ago, a church in Portland near a college wanted to develop more of a ministry to the students. They weren’t sure how to do it, but they tried to make them feel welcome. One Sunday, the church was packed and the service was already underway when a young man with unkempt hair, blue jeans, a T-shirt, and bare feet walked in. He came down the aisle, looking for a seat, but he couldn’t find one. Finally, he just sat down on the carpet at the front of the church. It created an uneasy atmosphere in this crowd of people who were mostly dressed in suits and dresses, seated in their rows of pews.

Then, every eye noticed an elderly man in a suit walking slowly toward the young man. Everyone wondered, “Is he going to scold the young man for dressing like that for church? Is he going to ask him to leave?” There was a heavy silence in the church as everyone focused on this scene. Finally, he got down to where the young man was sitting. With some difficulty because of his age, he slowly sat down next to the young man and worshiped there on the carpet with him. (Told by Becky Pippert, Out of the Saltshaker and Into the World [IVP], pp. 177-178.) It was a great example of not looking on the outward person or majoring on the minors, but of accepting the person as God does.

Remember, Jesus hates legalism because it does not deal with the condition of our sinful hearts before God. But Jesus loves grace, because it is by His grace that He transforms sinners into saints who love God and who love others.

Discussion Questions

1. Why do Christians tolerate legalism and even see it as a virtue rather than as a serious sin?

2. What warning signals tell us if we’re drifting into legalism?

3. Is it hypocrisy or legalism to obey God when we don’t feel like it? Why not? Just what is legalism?

4. Should we imitate Jesus in deliberately provoking and confronting people? Consider Col. 4:5-6 and 1 Pet. 3:15 in your answer.

Human life on Earth is subject to opposing powers:

God

Defined by the essential characteristic of omnipotence (ultimate power)
Loving by nature
His Will is a state of eternal perfect truth, peace and harmony (Heaven)
As a consequence of His loving nature, He endows man with free will rather than exerting absolute control over man, even though it is within His power to do so
Free will allows individuals the ability to choose to align their will with God, or to oppose His Will and rebel against God (sin / evil)
The existence of evil at a holistic level is therefore within the ultimate scope of God's Will. Freedom is risky, but God thinks it's worth the risks.
Tends not to reveal His presence or influence to man in any way that would convince man unequivocally of God's actual existence, power and nature, because armed with such knowledge man would be sure to choose to align his own will with that of God, thus rendering the choice a product of coercion rather than of free will.
Therefore, God tends only to reveal His presence and power to man via miniscule hints that suggest His presence, but leave a sufficient degree of doubt possible to the reasoning mind of man so that his free will is preserved.
Without a sufficient degree of opposition to God's own Will, man will have no opportunity to make a free will choice to align his will with that of God, so God requires that an opposing force of sufficient power, influence and intelligence be introduced into the equation.

Satan

A created being according to Bible doctrine
Ultimately subordinate to God at the holistic level, therefore not co-equal
Exercised his own free will choice to defy God's Will and attempted to elevate himself to the status of God. This fulfills God's need for the existence of an opposing force, and God therefore grants Satan significant influence in worldly affairs.
Seeks to rule and dominate man, but must operate within the constraint of respecting each person's free will just as God respected his.
To maximize his power over humanity, key areas of operation for Satan are government, banking and religion.
Extreme degrees of pressure, torment and influence can be brought upon man in an attempt to obtain man's free will choice to surrender to Satan, so long as the pressure is not so great as to leave man no other choice, which would be a free will violation (see Job).
Most rational men would not knowingly make an explicit choice to give up their freedom, therefore Satan must be an excellent salesman and "seal the deal" using any and all means possible, and he must convince man that such a decision is something other than what it actually is
Deception is therefore the fundamental tactic, upon which all other tactics and operations will be built.
100% deception would constitute a fraud, and therefore a free will violation. Since God's law requires Satan to respect human free will, Satan may create a pervasive environment of deception, but somewhere within there must always be a disclaimer of truth in order that free will is not actually violated. Satan will minimize such disclaimers as far as possible ("the fine print,") but they must nevertheless be present. Therefore, if man decides to ignore the warning and purchase Satan's bill of goods, he can be held accountable for having made an informed choice. Satan's disclaimers in the midst of deception may take any form, and no two situations will be alike -- they will be tailored to the individual person and their situation -- just as God's "hints" described above are.

Major Tactics of Satan

Appeal to man's doubts concerning the existence of God. If man doubts the existence of God and perceives Satan as all-powerful, man will conclude that it would be foolish to oppose Satan and therefore will submit to his domination (cults, organized crime, totalitarian governments).
Appeal to man's doubts concerning the existence of either God or Satan. If man doubts the existence of non-human powers, and believes man is the highest form of intelligent life, he can be led to deify his own God-given faculty of reason, which Satan can then use against him. Reason and logic absent from God can be used to convince man that Satan's will is the rational, logical and in fact obvious choice (atheism, communism).
Appeal to the yearning of man to be closer to God by masquerading as the agent and steward of God ("an angel of light" as the Bible puts it). If Satan can convince man that he is not actually Satan but is in fact God, he can then encourage man's natural inclinations toward good in areas of no importance to gain credibility, then use that earned trust in an attempt to influence and divert man's key decisions in areas that do bear upon Satan's goal of co-opting men's free will (some organized religions and quasi-religious organizations).

The Bible

codex-sinaiticus

The Bible consists of several dozen books and letters that were written by human beings who, in some cases, claimed to be under the divine inspiration of God. Some of these books, particularly those of the Old Testament, document the laws, customs and other practices of ancient people related to their religious worship, many of which seem to have nothing to do with a God that is decent or just. For example, certain Old Testament books call for the execution of people by stoning or burning at the stake for things we that wouldn't even consider crimes today, such as cursing one's parents or breaking the Sabbath.

Many religious people today, having succumbed to Satan's influence, will tell you that God Himself requires you to follow these rules, but Jesus' own words show them to be deceivers:

mark-2--23-28-sabbath-keeping

Satan, however, will seek out susceptible types of people who do not understand Jesus' message and convince them that, simply because these ancient customs were recorded in what they have been taught to call "God's Word," it follows that God must want people to follow all of those laws today! Satan will inflate their egos and senses of self-righteousness, and try to get them to enforce these laws on others. This is called legalism (1) (2), and is a trap that people from many different religious backgrounds fall into. Here is one example from a news clipping dated October 2012:

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chimp ears Satan teaches these susceptible people that they need to blindly accept these ancient religious texts as "God's Inerrant Word," and that it is literally true in every respect, no matter what truths God otherwise may be trying to put into their hearts today. Satan hopes that these people will stay fixated on the dead letters of these ancient, often-barbaric texts and never realize that, by doing so, they have closed their hearts to God and shut Him out from communicating with them directly -- in the present!

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life. (2 Cor. 3:5-6 KJV)

Indeed, rather than attempt to follow the teachings of Jesus and emulate His behavior, many people today, including a large percentage of those who outwardly profess to be "Christians," find it easier to just attend their particular religious organization and ignorantly quote rules like the Pharisees did. Of course, they will pick and choose the laws that they think they can get away with forcing on others due to popular support, but ignore others when they are inconvenient. For example, even the most ardent legalist today will not usually try to convince you to put your children to death for disobedience, because they realize no rational person today would have the patience to listen to such nonsense.

Lets put the Christ back in But many of them will still fight devilishly hard for legalistic enforcement of ancient Sabbath-keeping rules (e.g., modern blue laws), or, let's not forget that old-time favorite, advocating hatred, intolerance, and outright violence against homosexuals. But by doing so, they are still following the example of the Pharisees instead of the teachings of Jesus, even if they wear a cross on a necklace or have a Christian-themed bumper sticker on their car. These outward signs are meaningless and might impress their neighbors, but they do not fool God, who knows what is truly in their hearts (Matt 7:21-23, Matt 6:1-18, Matt 7:13-14). Many of these people never think very long about the fact that it was the Pharisees -- the religious authorities of the day -- who conspired with the government to have Jesus put to death.

But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away. Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. (2 Cor. 3:14-17 KJV)

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See also: Galatians 3
See also: Commentary: Matthew 5:17-19 and "The Law"

Matthew 23

In the above quotation from the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells the religious legalists that they are "vipers" who are bound for the "damnation of hell" (Jesus's own words!) You need to stop and think about this for a moment, and reflect upon whether Jesus might be trying to tell YOU something through this message. The fate of your soul may depend on it!

let-he-who-is-without-sin-cast-the-fist-stone Satan's tactic of legalism can only be successful if he can get people to stop talking to God directly and praying sincerely for God's guidance in their lives. For the trick to work, Satan needs people to believe that they already KNOW God's Will and that it is their job to enforce it on others. If he can get them to worship "every jot and tittle" recorded in the Bible INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY WORSHIPPING GOD HIMSELF, then Satan has got them firmly in his clutches. They are damned, while remaining the entire time totally convinced that they are warriors for God.

Satan will also find lots of people who didn't fall for the religious legalism scam. When he approaches these people, he will very cleverly use the opposite approach and say, "look at those religious fundamentalists, trying to impose their beliefs on everyone else. They are obviously very dangerous, violent and backwards people for believing what they do. If there is a God and He is just, He would not be promoting these horrible doctrines. It is clear that this whole business of people believing in God is an outmoded idea that has no place any more in this day and age. Let us band together to stamp it out once and for all from the face of the Earth." And many people, some quite intelligent, will agree with the logic of this argument and turn away from God entirely. And they, too, will never realize that they have been tricked.

jesus saves_brick God does not personally appear to most of us in a cloud of fire, pointing His finger at us and instructing us "This is My Word and you must follow it!" The reason He does not do this is because He has given us the free will to make up our own minds.

Since Satan's purpose is to oppose the Will of God, he will do whatever he can to discredit God and sabotage God's work. Satan does not necessarily care if you believe in God or not as such; rather, he is more concerned with whether or not he can con you into working against God's Will, regardless of whatever religious or philosophical framework you are coming from.

Matthew 7: The Narrow Gate

king-james Daemonologie is the book written and published in 1597 by King James VI of Scotland (later also James I of England). Is it possible that the barbarous "witch hunts" of past centuries were a reaction to a real and credible threat, and not merely the product of deranged religious hysteria as our modern occult-fascinated society teaches? The results of these "witch hunts" were horrific, but it is also a mistake to ignore the subject simply because hysterical people centuries ago took things too far.

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Click here to get the free PDF version.

Modern English version available at Amazon.com

Subcategories

Footnotes (Religion - Other)

Reference materials on general religious subject matter.

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