In the recent past, I read Grace Walk by Steve McVey and found it to be an absolutely awesome book. I am a person who defaults to relating to God as judge which leads to legalism and thinking that I need to earn His forgiveness and love. Grace Walk is McVey’s transformation from a similar lifestyle of action and works into someone who walks in the Spirit and does things because they overflow from his understanding of how the Christ system works. I can’t say I was transformed in the same huge way but my default mode of relating to God certainly changed for the better.

I am currently reading another McVey book in the Grace series, Grace Rules. “Rules” in the title is a verb, not a noun. Think of a surfer yelling “You rule, dude!” It’s that kind of rule.Grace Rules focuses more on Grace vs. The Law. I just finished a chapter that uses an analogy of marriage to highlight McVey’s point. I’ll put a few of the paragraphs that jumped out at me below. Hopefully they will entice you to get the book but mainly I hope they get your mind churning and cause you to ask yourself where you live on the continuum between grace and legalism like they did me.

Trying to overcome sin by changing one’s behavior is typical of a person whose life is ruled by law. Remember that law is a system whereby someone tries to make spiritual progress or gain God’s blessings based on what he does. In a life where grace rules, victory over sin is experienced by the expression of the indwelling Christ within us. The mere absence of expressed sin is not victory. Jesus Christ within us is our victory. Until a Christian understands his union with Christ, his default setting will be a legalistic lifestyle. His whole life will revolve around rules.

The bolded sentence really hit me because I thought that the absence of sin (a particular one or many/varied ones) is the goal, the state of victory.

When a Christian gets frustrated because Jesus won’t give him a list of rules, he may turn back to Law and ask, “Will you tell me what to do?” Mr. Law is always ready to make a connection with a Christian with wandering eyes – one who looks away from Jesus. So a believer may find himself married to Mr. Grace (Jesus) and yet involved again with Mr. Law. What is it called when a person is married to one partner but involved with another? Spiritual adultery. That’s what a Christian has when he builds his life around rules. The Bible clearly teaches that we are dead to the law. We have no relationship with rules anymore. Our life is Jesus Christ. 

Wow, McVey gets right to the heart of things! 

So why do many Christians live by laws? In Colossians 2:23, Paul says it is because “these are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion….” The religionist loves rules for one simple reason – they make him look good. It’s all about appearance. A legalist enjoys the special status he holds among his peers because he seems to keep all the right rules. It is a matter of pride. 

Again, some hard-hitting truth.

Like I mentioned above, these two books have made a huge impact on my understanding of what the Christian walk is supposed to look like. McVey brings up another point regarding forgiveness but discussion of it warrants another entry here. I’ll get going on it ASAP.  All of the points McVey makes are right there in scripture, things most of us have read numerous times. I pray that we will read God’s word slowly and purposefully so as to let it sink in and stick in our souls. 

Have a merry Christmas and let’s cherish the best gifts of all, Jesus’ birth and our adoption into His family! Jeff