Are Apostolic Pentecostals Legalists? by David K. Bernard Podcast recording (no venue stated in the delivered transcript) Kind: teaching Scripture: Ephesians 2:8-10, Acts 2:38, John 14:15, Judges 21:25 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/david-k-bernard--are-apostolic-pentecostals-legalists Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ if you want to blow the question down to its essence let me first of all give you a reference I wrote a book that addresses this has an entire chapter on this subject it's called practical Holiness a second look so if you want more uh study in this regard I recommend that book but let's define legalism legalism in the Christian context a means uh Salvation by works you think you can be saved by your good works or by keeping the law that's legalism uh and we absolutely deny legalism we do not believe in legalism I think our Common Ground we can go back to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 and 9 it says by grace are you saved through faith it's the gift of God not of Works unless anyone should boast so we agree on that but I would also add verse 10 for we are created in Christ Jesus unto good works which God has before ordained that we should walk in them so while we're not saved by works were saved by faith but it's a living faith that will produce good works that will lead us into good works so legalism then we we would deny the charge that we think we're saved by works we think we're saved by grace it's a gift of God through faith trusting in God and I think in other podcasts I've talked about that sometimes people accused us of legalism because of our emphasis on water baptism and the Holy Spirit but let me explain very clearly we do believe that the New Testament Plan of Salvation is stated in Acts 2 38 repent of your sins be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ receive the holy ghost or the Holy Spirit and when you do there will be this initial sign of speaking in tongues so some people say we're legalists because you believe in these works well let's look at water baptism water baptism is not our work we can't save ourselves the preacher doesn't take away our sins the water doesn't take away our sins our act doesn't take a rare sense but what happens is God takes away our sins so we are just submitting to God's plan God is the one who washes away our sins uh and by the way actually the majority of Christian churches of various denominations have taught that of course the Roman Catholic Church the Eastern Orthodox Church the Lutheran Church which Luther was the one who started the Protestant Reformation on the statement of the judge to live by faith but the lutherans actually still believe baptism is necessary and it's for the remission of sins other Protestant groups do as well like the Churches of Christ in different ones so to say that we are legalists because we preach water baptism first of all we're just doing what the scripture says second of all that is a minority view even within all those groups that call themselves Christian most can understand that it's not our work it's God doing the work and likewise with the holy spirit it's expressly the gift it's a it's a gift and when we speak in tongues that's not us manufacturing it teaching it making it happen that's God doing it and I like to say look don't don't blame me for speaking tongues I didn't choose that God's the one who does that I just tell people to have faith in Jesus repent seek God he's the one that causes them to start speaking in tongues not me so the the new birth as I've just defined it acts 2 38 is not our human Works to save us I do not regard repentance water baptism in the Holy Ghost as works that save us rather God is the one who's doing the work even repentance we can have a New Year's resolution and but that's not really repentance and that's not very effective either repentance is actually a work of the heart where we submit to God but God is the one who changes our desires who breaks the habits of sin in our lives so I look at repentance water baths of the holy spirit that is our expression of faith in God but God is the one who bestows Grace to enable us at repentance we we show up we say Lord I Surrender and he's the one who turns our heart at water baptism we show up and say I'm just here because you told me to be here I'm asking to wash away our sins my sins and he's the one who washed away our sins by the way that's why we always call in the name of Jesus Christ because we realize we're not taking away our sins only Jesus could do that and if he doesn't do it we're we're not going to have our sins taken away um and then when we receive the Holy Spirit again we're just showing up Opening Our Hearts ordering praising God saying Lord here I am fill me but God is the one who fills us I I give an illustration like this let's say that um could you use a hundred thousand dollars I'm assuming you could so let's say I tell you tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock uh meet me at Bank of America I'll give you a hundred thousand dollars now I'm assuming you really want that if you truly believe that would happen you would be there and you wouldn't wait to the last minute you wouldn't Google and see takes 15 minutes to get there so I'll just leave 15 minutes no you would go there an hour early whatever now if you show up I would draw the money I give you a hundred thousand dollars you didn't earn it you didn't do any you know amount of work if at the last minute I said you know I changed my mind you can't sue me there's no contract you didn't work however many hours it would take to earn that so when I give you the money that's Grace it's a gift when you receive the money that's Faith you believe me if you didn't believe me you wouldn't have been there you wouldn't have receive it because you believe me you trusted me notice faith can involve meeting the conditions of the promise Faith Can involve obedience Faith Can involve showing up but just meeting the conditions of the promise or just obeying the terms of the promise is not itself a good work that earned your salvation that gives you a claim a legal claim so I think a lot of people that say we're illegalists they just assume well any kind of response would be legalism well not so even a simple prayer under if you're going to go that route the simple prayer would be a response and of course there are some who believe in unconditional eternal security will say yes you know God just picks you apart from your uh any response of course that totally wipes out the biblical concept of faith and repentance and I've addressed that in a different podcast but even if you're willing to concede that a person needs a generally respond in faith well you're basically seeing the point that I am it's just a question of what response does God expect um and some Protestants when pushed they'll even say you don't have to repent there was a debate over lordship salvation among conservative evangelicals that some say well you have to accept Jesus as your lord and savior so by acceptance the Lord you're you're repenting you're promising to obey him even if you don't perfectly fulfill it your heart has a desire and so we're saying no that will be work that would be legalism you just if you just the bare bones say Jesus is my savior he died for my sins and I want him to save me but I have no intention of living for him he's not my Lord I'm not going to obey him I'm not going to repent I'm gonna keep living in sin but I want him to save me and some people say that itself is salvation requiring anything more even repentance would be legalism well you can see how absurd that becomes when you push it to that extent so I so that's the one ground where I think we preach the apostolic Doctrine a new birth that's not legalism that is the new birth experience okay the second reason is because we teach practical Holiness we teach people um you know to dress modestly we we say don't smoke don't drink uh don't watch pornography or other you know even things that may not be pornography but reading and watching and viewing and searching things that are immoral and explicit so these are the kind of examples uh and so they'll say that's legalism because you think you're saved by your works and I would hasten to add if you think that following a checklist can earn your salvation yes you're a legalist but we don't believe that so if you say okay I go to church every Sunday I pray once a day I don't smoke I don't drink I wear modest clothing I don't curse um so I deserve to go to heaven God has to let me in no that that would be legalism we don't believe that now some when we teach Holiness sometimes people may may carry it to such an extreme but I would always and then then you could ask well what if I violate one thing what if I smoke one cigarette what if I drink one beer what if my dress is a little too short what if I a woman trims a little bit of her hair you know she going to hell and I would always like to turn the question around to say we're saved by grace through faith we're saved by our relationship of faith in God not by our good works but if you do have faith faith will lead to obedience where you will desire to do God's word and you will in fact do it because you believe it's right so what does it say about you if you deliberately disobey what the Bible is taught it means you really don't believe and if you really don't believe then yes that calls into question your relationship with Jesus Christ which is the basis of your salvation so while I'm not going to go into well if I do this one thing am I going to hell if I do this one thing if I do if I don't follow this don't follow that I am going to say wait a minute you're asking the wrong question go back to the foundation are you truly living by faith that's the base of your salvation but if you are living by faith you will obey God's word and if you deliberately refuse to make God's word and maybe if you make a mistake and sin or you don't realize something that is wrong and you study and you realize what God wants and you repent you correct that okay fine but if you're deliberately disobeying God's word that tells me you're not living by faith and if you're not living by faith then yes your salvation is in question not because of your performance or non-performance of certain Deeds but because salvation is by grace through faith now Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was a German Theologian actually was executed by the Nazis he made a powerful statement which I think can be applied to conversion but also to the life of Holiness he said only he who believes is obedient but only he who is obedient believes now I think this is a scriptural concept was what we're wrestling with in our Western culture we separate believing something from obeying something so I can believe something in my head even though I have no intention of following it but in the Bible the test of your belief is what you do it's not what you say so if let's say you really value your life and you smoke incessantly which as we all know brings high risk of various diseases including lung cancer what over four hundred thousand Americans die every year because of smoking cigarettes so you know if if you're smoking away and you say Do you believe that's bad for you yeah I believe it's bad for you but I want to do it so we can separate what I believe from how I act but I would say more fundamentally biblically if you really believe that you wouldn't be smoking so I I it depends on how you approach it so I would say saving faith is a relationship not just a mental acknowledgment of something and so you're going to act according to your deepest belief so if you're pursuing Holiness that's a good indication you're really committed to that if you're not pursuing Holiness no matter what you say intellectually that's a good indication you're not committed so Faith involves trust Reliance commitment obedience that's the bottom line and it's a relationship the just shall live by faith now I don't have time to go into all that but I'm just making the connection only he who is obedient believes so once again we're not saying you can perform certain needs to earn your salvation they're Muslim people who dress modestly who don't drink who have a lot of restrictions doesn't mean they're saved their faith is not in Jesus Christ but you know it's interesting legalism can also be defined as living by rules and regulations living by law and if that's the way we pursue Holiness I will say that's wrong we have to live for for God out of love Jesus said in John 14 15 if you love me keep my Commandments we pursue Holiness out of Faith because we believe God's word is true and we should follow it Faith issues fourth and obedience we pursue Holiness because we love God we want to please him uh but here's the the main point I'll make in that regard for some reason people think well if we get rid of legalism the alternative is license in other words everybody do whatever you want to do uh but the Book of Judges the last verse tells you what happens when everyone does write in his own eyes the result is not Holiness the result is gross sin and and you can read the Book of Judges to see how terrible all those sins were so the Bible does not depict that as the solution but I would say the alternative to legalism is love because love imposes an internal law which is more strict on you than the law so when we say we don't we're not legalists but we pursue Holiness some people assume oh you're a legalist because you you have all these teachings but really all Christian groups do that if you teach that fornication is wrong if you teach that abortion is wrong if you teach that adultery is wrong those are rules right so we don't think following those rules saves us but following those rules does tell us a lot about are we living by faith and are we living out of love for God and if the answer is no then yes our Salvation is in Jeopardy so in essence the people that call us legalists because we teach modesty of dress or gender distinction and dress or ladies letting their hair grow along men cutting their hair short they call that legalism well what about their rules are they willing to throw out all rules are they willing to support transgenderism are they willing to say men should wear dresses or you know are they willing to say adultery should be a personal choice if if uh if drunkenness should be a personal choice so if they're not if they're not willing to say that then by their own terms they are legalists but I would argue following Holiness is not legalism and and here's why you replace legalism you replace the law by love and Love Actually is more strict on you than the law would be to illustrate uh to have a Biblical marriage and have a good marriage you must obey the rule Thou shalt not commit adultery that's the law but just keeping that law while it's necessary to have a good marriage it's not sufficient I could be abusive verbally physically I could disrespect disregard and and fail to care for my wife neglect her and still keep that law so I could keep the law and have a very unhappy and dysfunctional marriage but if I love my wife that I'm going to cherish her respect her I'm not going to beat her I'm not going to uh yell at her I'm not gonna mistreat her and if I fail in anything I'll repent be and why because of love not because the law demands it you know you know I you know if my wife wants me to do something I'd say well I didn't promise that in our marriage agreement that's not the point the point is do I love her I'm going to take her concern seriously am I going to respect her so in this illustration love causes me to be far more strict on myself than the law could ever do so actually the law is a minimum requirement the law is good it's not bad if all else fails in in a moment of Temptation or carnality that law do not commit adultery could stop me from destroying my marriage and my relationship with God but just that law is not going to give me a good marriage and good relationship God it takes something more it takes love and so the same thing in my relationship with God so if I say well you know what's the minimum I can get by with and be saved that's legalism what's the minimum I can do by get by with him sing in the choir or teach Sunday school or be a voting member uh you know how can I drink one beer or maybe one sip of one beer or how many is too many can I drink smoke one cigarette or how many do I select before I go to hell if the pastor says wear your dress here if I if I go a half inch do I go to hell well if that doesn't suit me to hell what if I go a half inch above that half inch you know you can argue yourself out of any thing and so in the practical application of Holiness you might say some lines are arbitrary in the sense that you know it's not not everything is Heaven or Hell there's a line here but legalism says I want to get as close to the line as possible which means of course I'm going to fall on the wrong side often or I may misjudge it love says I'm not talking about how close the line I get I'm talking about how close to God I can get so if I'm looking at legalistically can I approve if you smoke one cigarette you're going to hell well there's no scripture for that but if I look at from love if I really love God um I wouldn't want to harm my body I would I would not want to do something that addicts me I want to be submitted to the Holy Spirit I would not want to set a bad example for others if I love my kids if I love my neighbors that I'm trying to save then I'm not going to do things that are questionable or borderline or be a bad example so love removes that whole debate now we're not talking about what's the scripture for doing this one thing rather it becomes what is the whole of scripture say what is the will of God for my life what is the choice that draws me closer to God what is the choice that blesses my family that sets a good example for my kids that helps me Be an Effective Soul winner so really most of the issues of Holiness become very easy when you approach it for the point of view what does love ask of me so I would absolutely deny the charge that we're a legalists I would caution us not to allow ourselves to slip into legalistic thinking that we sometimes can do are not to teach and preach in a legalistic way but when it comes to the Plan of Salvation it's The Obedience of faith that is the key and it's God doing the work not arguing work when it comes to the pursuit of Holiness again it's we're we're serving God out of Faith which leads us to obey what God's word teaches and we serve God out of love which leads us to draw closer to him more than required so to speak more than what the law would dictate we're not interested in the law we're interested in going far beyond the law to seek the will of God for our lives if we have that attitude then we can have confidence that we're saved by grace through faith we don't live under condemnation we live under the grace of God but if we are trying to pursue our selfish will then yes at one point or the other we're going to live a disobedient life which means we're not living by faith which means we don't have the Assurance of Salvation we're not legalists instead we have Assurance of Salvation as we walk by faith and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit