Don't Go Back to Rules!

In my talk today, I want to warn you against what I have come to believe is the commonest hindrance to being led by the Holy Spirit. And if I gave you 50 guesses, most of you would not guess what I have in mind. So, I’ll tell you. The hindrance that I see as the commonest is legalism, religious legalism.

I’ll give you two possible definitions of legalism so that we have some idea of what I’m talking about. They’re related, but they’re distinct. The first one is seeking to achieve righteousness with God by keeping a set of rules. That’s legalism. I was speaking to a rather large audience somewhere, and I made this statement rather casually in my talk, “Christianity is not a set of rules.” And I saw the astonishment on the faces of most of those Christians, and I realized I’d said something that they’d never considered. But I’ll repeat that. “Christianity is not a set of rules.”

“Christianity is primarily a relationship with a person.” That person is Jesus, and the relationship is through another person, the Holy Spirit. The second possible definition of legalism would be this: imposing requirements for righteousness which God Himself has not imposed. God has laid down in the Bible what He requires to achieve righteousness with Him, and nobody, no church, no group, no one has any authority to add one requirement to God’s requirements. And to add even one requirement is to trespass in the area of legalism.

The Holy Spirit is Lord, and He will not share His Lordship with a set of rules. I’m going to say that again because most of you have never even considered it. The Holy Spirit is Lord, and He will not share His Lordship with a set of rules. Give you a very simple little parable or example: two different ways of finding your way to a certain goal, a certain destination. One way is a personal guide. The other is a map. These are two pictures. The personal guide is the Holy Spirit. The map is a set of rules, the law, whatever you want to call it.

Now, the human nature is such, through the fall, that every one of us would rather rely on ourselves than on the Holy Spirit. You see, the essence of the fall and the essence of sin is not primarily the desire to do evil. It’s the desire to be independent of God. And so, when we’re confronted with the map or the guide, we say, “Well, give me the map. I’m clever enough. I can find my way.” Now, the map is absolutely perfect. “The law as given by Moses is a perfect law.” If you keep it all, you’ll make the way, but nobody has ever kept it all.

So, we set out with the map, and we feel so strong and confident and healthy, and the sun is shining, and we see the road before us. But about 48 hours later, something’s gone wrong, and it’s pitch dark, and it’s raining, and we’re on the brink of a precipice, and we don't know whether we’re facing north, south, east, or west. And we say, “Help!” And a gentle voice says, “Can I help you?” You know who that is? The Holy Spirit. “Oh, Holy Spirit, I really need you. I’m desperate.” “Well, give me your hand, and I’ll lead you out of this situation.” And sure enough, He does.

And then, next day, you’re walking on the road with the Holy Spirit at your side. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, you can see the highway, and you think, “Well, really, I was dumb. I could have made my way out of that mess without all this.” And you say to the Holy Spirit, “Listen, I’ve got a wonderful map here. Would you like that?” The Holy Spirit says, “Thank you, son. I don’t need the map. I know the way.” As a matter of fact, He says, “I was the one that made the map in the first place.”

Well, after a little while, you think, “I just don’t like having this person lead me by the hand all the way. It looks a little demeaning.” So, you think to yourself, “Well, I could have made it. I could use this map.” And while you’re thinking that, this guide has disappeared, and he’s nowhere to be found. So, off you go again with the map, and 48 hours later, you’re in the middle of a bog. And every step you take, you’re sinking deeper, and you know that it won’t be long before you won’t be able to take another step. And you say, “Help!” And the Holy Spirit says, “Can I help you? Give me your hand. I’ll lead you out.”

My question is, how long do we have to go on like that? How long do we have to go on spurning the Holy Spirit and going back to the map, which we are not capable of using aright? It’s not that there’s anything wrong with the map. The problem is with us, not with the map. You see, the New Testament continually warns us against seeking to achieve righteousness by keeping law.

“Because by the works of the law no flesh will be justified in God’s sight, for through the law comes the knowledge of sin.”

God says emphatically, “No human being will ever achieve righteousness in my sight by struggling to keep the law.” You say, “Why was the law given?” Well, one main reason was, “The law was given not to make us righteous, but to show us that we’re sinners and we need God’s grace and the help of the Holy Spirit.”

“For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace.”

Notice the implications of that. If you’re under law, sin will have mastery over you. If you want to be free from sin, you cannot be under the law. You have to be under grace, and the two are mutually exclusive. You’re either under the law or under grace, but not under both.

“If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”

And remember, being led by the Spirit is the only way to maturity. So, if you want to achieve maturity, you cannot afford to do it by trying to keep the law.

Now, rules have a place in life. That’s very clear. How do we relate to them? Well, I would just offer you this simple thought: If rules are scriptural, and if you’ve been made righteous by faith, that will enable you to keep the rules. But you do not achieve righteousness by doing so. Grace will not mix with law. Paul uses a picture in Galatians. He speaks about the two sons of Abraham: one by a slave woman, Ishmael, one by the free woman, Sarah, whose name was Isaac. And he said, “When Isaac came, Ishmael and his mother, Hagar, had to leave.”

“Cast out the bondwoman and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be an heir with the son of the free woman.”

So, there’s the alternatives, and see, they’re mutually exclusive. If you want Ishmael, the law, your fleshly ability, there’s no room for Isaac and the grace of God. If you want the grace of God, there’s no room for the law as a means of achieving righteousness. You see, this was the error of the Galatians. They’d known Jesus Christ, they’d received the Holy Spirit, they’d experienced miracles, but Paul said to them in Galatians 3:1 following,

“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?”

Then he says, “This only what I want to know from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” I want to tell you frankly that I think that’s the commonest single problem in the church. People begin by the Spirit. They have a revelation and an experience of the grace and power of God through the Holy Spirit, and then they go back to the map. They are not willing to continue relying on the Holy Spirit. Paul points out that going back to the law brings a curse.

“For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse.”

I believe many, many Christians, individuals, denominations, churches, are under a curse. They’ve forfeited the blessing of God because they’ve dishonored the Holy Spirit and gone back to their own efforts. There we return again to the words of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 17:5, but these are the words of the Lord through Jeremiah.

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, and whose heart turns away from the Lord.’”

You see, there are only two alternatives, but they’re mutually exclusive. We can try to find our way by the map, or we can be led by the guide, the Holy Spirit. But the Holy Spirit, being Lord, being God, is not going to share His Lordship with that map. He’s the one who gave the map. He knows the map far, far better than any of us do. He understands all the motivation and the reasoning for the map. But if you want to grow to maturity, the only way is to be led by the Holy Spirit. If you want to be led by the Holy Spirit, you are not under a system of law. You do not achieve it by keeping any set of rules. Lots of Christian churches today say, “We’re not under the law of Moses,” but they’ve made their own set of rules. In fact, almost every denomination has its own little law. I want to tell you, if the law of Moses couldn’t do it, which was given by God, no religious denominational law can do it either. There is no hope that way of achieving maturity. You need to repent if you’re in that condition, turn back to the Holy Spirit.