Christ Versus Legalism

 Daniel Yordy – April 10, 2011
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We must always distinguish between the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. One of the reasons is that we do not know the tree of life well. Living in life is not that familiar to us. The world and the church live in the tree of knowledge. That is what is familiar and common.

You see, the same injunction given to Adam remains upon us - do not eat of the tree of knowledge. At the same time, the tree of life remains invitation only. There is no compulsion to eat of it. The truth is, eating of the tree of knowledge is central to Christian thinking; it is almost a "duty" to do so.

I have stated that grace and jeopardy are both part of the nature of God, always circling around each other in dramatic tension. Forgive me if I have not clearly defined jeopardy as it is presented in the New Testament.

Jeopardy is part of life, essential to the nature and being of God. Legalism is part of death, essential to the nature and being of disobedience. Jeopardy is the fact that the tree of life is by invitation only, no one is forced to eat of it. Legalism comes out of the unbreakable grip the tree of knowledge instantly exerts upon those who eat of it.

God put the two trees into the garden BEFORE He put man there. Man stood in jeopardy while he was without sin, walking in fellowship with God. God placed man in jeopardy; there is no sin in jeopardy, nor any legalism. But legalism also comes out of not eating the tree of life.

First, let's talk about the nature and being of God.

The truth and nature of God is filled with many tensions, seemingly opposing things always present and always circling around each other. These tensions in God are entirely different from those things separate from God that God is opposed to. There is no "tension" between legalism and grace, grace is always at war with legalism, yet not as a cosmic dual, but rather with grace always turning its back on legalism, defeating it by the withering blows of ignoring it.

On the other hand, jeopardy is part of the nature of God, that is, God never forces anyone to love Him. Therefore, God's creation is always free to love Him or not, as they wish. In the nature of God, grace and jeopardy always circle each other in a dynamic tension, you can never have one without also, fully, having the other.

God is always an unmoving Rock upon which we stand; God is always a Wind that blows we know not where. Not half and half, but all and all; not sometimes one and then sometimes the other, but always both all the time. We are always standing upon a Rock that is sure and certain and never moves; we are always being blown by a Wind to places we do not expect, His mercies are new ever morning.

Some people want a free-for-all God, one that is always changing, always fickle, always not where you thought He was; they want that in God so they themselves can direct Him, but He is not.  God is an unmovable rock. He never changes, and there is no shadow of turning in Him. You can always count on Him never to re-arrange the playing field. Some people want a stuffy God who never does anything unexpected, a God who fits into the normality of life in this world; He is not. He is always doing the unexpected, showing up where you're not looking, doing wondrous things and then disappearing when you are just expecting Him to do the same thing today that He did yesterday.

God is the same yesterday, today, and forever; God is new every morning.

Hebrews is the book that best expresses the jeopardy of Christ. We can learn there what that jeopardy is and means and then apply it from Hebrews to the rest of the New Testament.

"Let us therefore fear lest having a promise of entering into His rest, some of you should seem to fall short of it." Hebrews 4:1

In Galatians, Paul speaks of "falling from grace"; he is referring to this same thing. In fact, laying Galatians alongside of Hebrews is the best way to understand the tree of life versus the tree of knowledge -  grace versus legalism.

Legalism in every form it takes is falling from grace; it is failing to enter into His rest. Legalism is deceptive and hides itself in many guises.

The greatest problem with legalism in the church is to read the jeopardy of the New Testament and then to define that jeopardy, not as Christ who is our life, but as some form of legalism, some way of "pretending" to be holy. When we understand the jeopardy of Christ, we no longer attempt to turn those verses into obligation and duty.

The best picture of legalism in the Bible is Adam and Eve putting on fig leaves, hiding behind tree trunks, and pointing the finger.

Legalism is hiding from the light; it is every form of pretense, pretending, and fakery, of trying to make ourselves look like God ought to accept us.

Jeopardy is the nature of God that never binds us to Himself, but always leaves us free to return to pretense, pretending, and fakery, if we prefer that to the abandonment of "self" in the light and rest of Christ.

Standing in the light is jeopardy. Yet jeopardy is only one part of the tension of Christ. At the same time as we stand in the light, we are also seated upon the throne of grace in all fullness.

The blood and forgiveness of sins are essential parts of jeopardy. "If we walk in the light, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Forgiveness of sins comes only in the light; it doesn't come into any form of hiding. Forgiveness of sins cannot touch legalism. But at the same time that we stand in the light knowing we are cleansed by the blood, we are also fully seated upon the throne of grace without any thought of sin/no sin whatsoever, but only the Father's purpose - both at the same time.

The cleansing of the blood is not what defines us; it is a "negative." What defines us is the river of life flowing out of us. I read so often people claiming that the reason Jesus came was to reconcile us to God. Well, that certainly was the first task given to Him by the Father, but He performed that task for the JOY set before Him.

The reason Jesus came was the joy of God revealing Himself to His creation through His bride, His body, His company of sons. Reconciling the world to God is the "negative" side of His work; filling the earth with the glory of the Father is the "positive." "Being reconciled" is part of jeopardy; the JOY of the bride is part of sitting upon the throne of grace.

The cross of Christ is jeopardy; the resurrection of Christ is grace. Neither one has anything to do with legalism. The cross is not part of the tree of knowledge; it is the tree of life. 

"There is no law given that can give life." Paul in Galatians 3

As Christians, we are in a similar place as Adam was before he fell. I say, a similar place; not the same place.

Adam had one chance for either the tree of life or the tree of knowledge. If he had eaten of life, he would have been seized by life and made incorruptible forever.

But life remains invitation only. No one is forced to live in life. For us, even after we taste of life, as we did when we asked Jesus into our hearts, yet life does not grab us with an unbreakable grip as the tree of knowledge did Adam, not yet, not until the resurrection of the physical body. Once Adam ate of the tree of knowledge, he was bound by it. Once we ate of the tree of life, we were not bound by it. "Whosoever will may come and freely drink." Drinking and eating the tree of life is never compulsory.

Understand this, when our physical body is swallowed up in life, from that moment on you and I are incorruptible. That means that we are just like God, incapable of knowing sin. It means we are bound into life.

But at the present time, if Christ lives in my heart, then Christ is my life; I have no other life. But I am free to live as if I have a life separate from Christ. I am free to continue in the thinking of the tree of knowledge. Because I am in Christ, the tree of knowledge's hold is broken, yes, but I can still live by it, if I wish. But neither am I bound by the tree of knowledge should I turn my back on life and imagine myself separate from God. I am free to turn and eat of life again.

I am not poised between two natures inside of me. I am poised between Christ, who is my Life, and the imagination that I am separated in any way from Him. In the end, the tree of knowledge is IMAGINATION only. 

What we live in is another aspect of the tension of duality that fills the nature of God - Love and Holiness. Let me explain.

Everyone thinks that Love is nicer than Holiness, I disagree. Love is scary. It is God's love for me that is always setting me free. Because God so highly regards and respects my person, He will never bind me to Himself, but He will always give me opportunity to live as if I am a self separate from Him. It is also God's love that sets me on an equal plane with Himself, face to face, eye to eye, heart to heart. It is God's high regard for me that compels Him to give Himself fully to me, and that is even more scary.

In contrast, God's holiness is so very comforting. Holiness is the grip of God that has seized me and will not let me go. The writer of Hebrews says that God scourges every son whom He receives, but a person who does not know such pain from God is illegitimate, that is, does not really belong to Him.

I am very good at running from God with years of practice. I am a total failure at escaping Him. He has two ways of catching me. The better way for me is when He shows up in the path just ahead and keeps talking with me as if I had never left Him, it's embarrassing, but not humiliating. But oh so often, He uses the trick of putting out His foot for me to trip over, falling flat on my face in the mud. After which He lifts me up, dusts me off, and on we go. I may "feel" humiliated, but He pays no attention and goes on as if nothing had happened.

That grip, by which God has seized me all the days of my life, is His holiness. Holiness shines the light of God upon all my foolishness and never lets me escape. I don't know of anything more comforting than that.

God hovers over us with a fierce jealousy. That is His holiness, and it IS our comfort.

Our problem is this, although God's holiness, His utter devotion to us, has seized our lives in His grip, yet the tree of life continues on as invitation only. God does not force us to eat of it.

We are standing now between the two trees, just as Adam did. There is only one way to stop eating of the tree of knowledge, which as Christians comes to us in every form of legalism, and that way is to eat, eat, eat of the tree of life.

Christ is my life; I have no other life.

Eating Christ removes all pretense, all pretending, all fakery.

Here are the three words God gave Adam. Let's consider them carefully.

1.    Do not eat of the tree of knowledge.

2.    Of the tree of life you may freely eat.

3.    Subdue the earth.

We have thought up until now, that Adam messed up when he disobeyed God. That he should have obeyed God's command "Do not eat of the tree of knowledge." We think that way only because our minds are too accustomed to the tree of knowledge. That way of thinking comes out of the tree of knowledge.

No. Adam did not mess up by eating of the tree of knowledge. Adam messed up by not immediately taking up God's invitation and eating, eating, eating, of the tree of life. If Adam had immediately seized upon God's invitation to eat of the tree of life, then the tree of knowledge would have dried up by the root and vanished, and Adam would have proceeded to overwhelm and subdue the earth with the rivers of living water gushing out of his belly.

The more you fight against sin, the more sin will increase. God has not given us the capacity to defeat sin, to "not sin." He has given us the invitation to eat of life. And He has given us the blood so that we can turn our backs on worrying over sin and simply eat, eat, eat of life.

"There is no law given that can give life." Paul in Galatians 3

The law is the tree of knowledge; it is the ministry of death. The law does not create sin; neither did the tree of knowledge create sin. Trying to obey God creates sin, eating of the tree of knowledge creates sin. Sin does not come from either the law or the tree of knowledge; it happens because the one eating of it is NOT supposed to be anywhere near it; the one eating of it COULD BE eating of Life.

Life is NOT found in obeying God. The problem, Paul says, is not the law. The problem was not the tree of knowledge. The problem was not disobedience. Paul said that the problem is that we were never made for the law. We were made only to partake of life.

Let us say that some person has the self discipline to always and only obey what God speaks. God speaks, they obey. God speaks, they obey. Let's now say that they do this for 10 years without a break, for 20 years, for 1000 years. At what point have they partaken of life? They have not. More than that, they now have a claim against God. "You spoke, I obeyed. You owe me something. I "ought to" receive life because I have fulfilled all Your requirements."

Paul said that whole way of thinking is death. Don't live there.

I have no self-discipline. Knowing that, I cried out for years for God to change me so that I could obey Him. Am I prevented from life because He did not? Am I beyond salvation? 

You see, Paul said that the problem with the law is not the law, but it is the nature of flesh. God MADE MAN WEAK. God deliberately crafted man to have infinite capacity, the potential to contain all the fullness of God, but with ZERO ability. The church, then, did something awful with Paul's teaching that the problem is the nature of the flesh. The church decided that since the flesh was the problem, we must get rid of the flesh. Surely, if we get the flesh underfoot, hammer it down on the cross, then we can do all that God says.

Here is the nature of the law, "All that God says, we will do."

But the church has missed the whole point. The flesh is not a problem. The problem is that it was not made for the law. The flesh is made for Christ. The flesh is made to be filled with another, that is, the person and Spirit of Christ.

The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

Then, the church came up with something worse, and that is the idea that the Holy Spirit comes to "help us" do what God says. If that were true, then we would never sin from the moment we are born again. If the Holy Spirit were "helping us" to obey God, then we would ALWAYS be obeying God just naturally, just like the angels. Yet we would remain NOT one person with Him. 

No. The Holy Spirit has three tasks in our life.

1.    The Holy Spirit is always inviting us to partake of Christ, that is, to eat of the tree of life.

2.    The Holy Spirit is always teaching us who and what Christ is, how He is our life, how He is living as us in this world, and how He carries all that we are inside of Himself.

3.    The Holy Spirit is always poised to pour out of our bellies as a river of life as we eat of all that Christ is.

Read Galatians chapter 3. I will not quote further from it here. But in that chapter Paul goes back and forth between obeying what God says, the law, versus faith and life. They sit as two opposing trees in exactly the same way Adam was faced with in the garden.

Now, the word of Paul that I keep repeating is a paraphrase of verse 21. "There is no law given that can give life." "I will do what God says" cannot produce one ounce of life inside of us. All it produces is a claim of obligation against God.

We partake of Christ by faith. Faith is a powerful human capacity. However, we never think of faith as something separate from Christ because we never think of ourselves as someone separate from Christ. My faith is His faith; His faith is my faith. I can say, "My faith," and it means nothing other than His faith. I can say, "His faith," and it means nothing other than my faith.

Faith is the capacity of man, of human nature, of the flesh, if you will, to EAT of Christ. We eat of Christ by seeing every part of ourselves in Him and by seeing Him in every part of ourselves at all times. The hearing that is Christ is found only in seeing first. To listen for a "voice" coming to you, while you "see" yourself separate from Christ is not life, it is death. And we "see" by faith, by a bold and presumptuous LEAP off the cliff against what we see with our natural eyes or feel with our human feelings.

God has in no way given us the task to resolve the problems and issues of the tree of knowledge. God has invited us to eat Christ. All legalism comes from Christians trying to resolve the issues and problems of the tree of knowledge. God said, "Don't live there."

But even God's command to us is not life. There is no life found in the command, "Do not live there." There is no life found in obeying that command. Neither, even, is there any life in the invitation to eat of life. We can hold the invitation ( we can be born again) all we want. But life is found only in eating of life, not in enjoying the invitation.

ADAM COULD HAVE LIVED FOR 1000 YEARS IN THE GARDEN, OBEYING GOD BY NEVER EATING OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE.

And he would have remained separate from LIFE.

Life is NOT found in obedience to what God says. Granted, it would have been far better for Adam to have obeyed God and not eaten of knowledge, far better. But Adam's obedience could not possibly have fulfilled God's purpose; his obedience would have brought him no closer to life than when he was created.

There is no command to eat of the tree of life. Eating of the tree of life is not found by obedience to what God says. Eating of the tree of life is 100% of faith, it is invitation only.

Faith is bold and presumptuous. Faith strides into the presence of God, says, "I will have some of this," takes boldly, and EATS of life.

The blood of Jesus allows us always to turn our backs on all the issues and problems of the tree of knowledge. We do not escape sin by not eating of the tree of knowledge. We escape sin and death by boldly eating, eating, eating of LIFE.

 A brother recently asked me for further clarification on what, exactly, is the tree of knowledge. He wanted further understanding so that he could more fully avoid it. I wanted to answer his request, but at the time, I did not know what else to say. Suddenly, after writing the first part of this letter, then setting it aside, and now returning to it, my eyes are further opened, and I see more clearly than I had. That's why I love to write.

God put the tree of life and the tree of knowledge side by side in the center of the garden. We cannot eat of the tree of life without turning our backs on the tree of knowledge. We cannot eat of the tree of knowledge without turning our backs on the tree of life.

The tree of knowledge was 100% God. The Lamb was slain before the foundation of the world; God knew everything there is to know about sin and death before sin ever entered the universe - though God Himself does not "know" sin. The law is pure and holy and good.

Angels were created to obey God, man was not. God created man weak.

Now, understand that our weakness is our glory. You see, God wanted to reveal Himself to His creation. That means that God must live IN ANOTHER. God does not live IN angels; they are servants in His house. For God to live in another, that other must be his own person, yet, that other must be willing to be God's person in full and complete union with his own person.

God's person does not replace our person; His person comes into perfect marriage union with our person. That is not a union of "obedience," but of complete equality. The carnal (tree of knowledge) subordination of women is part of the curse, not of the reality of Christ. God conforms Himself to us BEFORE we could ever be conformed to Him. God became flesh first.

Angels are powerful; they can do what they were created to do. Man is weak. He is created to contain and reveal God. How can man do that? No possible way.

You and I CANNOT do what God created us to do. We simply can't. God created you to contain God. Can you do that? God created you to reveal God. Can you do that? How absurd to even think such a thing.

That is what Paul meant when he said the flesh is weak. The flesh was made to contain God, not obey Him. One who contains God walks in union with God and God with him. One who obeys God walks separately from God, lining himself up with all that God says.

The angels who obey God have a hold on God. God is obligated to take care of them. That's how angels are supposed to live. Obligation cannot exist in the relationship between God and man. That relationship is found only in invitation on the one side, and the boldness and audacity of FAITH on the other.

So the answer to the problems and issues of the tree of knowledge is so very, very simple. Eat, eat, eat of Christ. Boldly sit upon the throne of God. See yourself as Christ and as no other. But something has happened in the very act of eating of the tree of life. Your back is turned to the tree of knowledge. You didn't think about turning your back on the tree of knowledge, it just happened that way, a natural, normal outcome of eating of the tree of life.

In fact, when you sit upon the throne of God, you have not turned around to face or to deal with the tree of knowledge in any way. Quite the contrary, now you are poised as the fountain of the river of life that alone can fulfill the other command of God, "Subdue the earth."

Christianity has convinced itself that its mission and calling from God is to deal with all the tangled issues, all the unending problems arising out of the tree of knowledge. That's why Christians imagine they should move into human government, riding the back of the beast. Christianity has convinced itself that the whole point of God is to obey His command, "Do not eat of the tree of knowledge."

Let me share a story concerning the fellowship I was part of called "the move of God." The man who birthed that fellowship, Sam Fife, taught the revelation of Jesus Christ. However, he did not see all things clearly; nevertheless, he was much less worried about "sin," and much more convinced of the power of the Holy Spirit and Christ in us. Nevertheless, his word contained that mixture. On the other hand, he preached the defeat of death by FAITH.

Yet he died, killed in a plane crash in Guatemala in April of 1979. I attended the first big convention after his death, at Bowens Mill, Georgia, in July. A dear brother led us in a powerful victory song filled with a mighty anointing in which we continued to proclaim the defeat of death in spite of what our "eyes" had seen.

But the man who then became the leader of the move, as we saw later - with an iron grip, stopped the victory celebration. Right off the bat he made it very clear the direction the move would now take. He said, "You will not defeat death until you defeat sin, until you stop sinning."

Sam Fife had been looking more and more at the reality of LIFE as the victory over everything. There was a brother from Jamaica who was teaching a powerful word of Christ our life, a word that Sam Fife loved. This brother's word of Christ our life in the October 1978 Bowens Mill convention had galvanized everyone, myself included. The move was poised to go either way. Yet from Sam's death on, the brother from Jamaica was never invited back again.

The entire fellowship, without even realizing it, turned their backs on the tree of life and faced the tree of knowledge. "Defeat sin first, then you can think about life." Understand, though, that life still filled the hearts and understanding of many, and it was long years before the word of "defeat sin" won out over the power of life. Today that fellowship is mostly like Brer Rabbit, as stuck to the tar baby as one can get. I am speaking of the fellowship in its overall leadership, not of many individuals who continue with it and who still believe and long for life.

The furthest extent that "Defeat sin first, then you can think about life," went in my knowledge was in the words of a sister to me, one whom I have known well for many years. "I cannot look at what you are saying about Christ in me, getting rid of anti-Christ in me takes all my focus."

To eat of the tree of life is to be utterly UNconcerned about "myself." There is no issue there. To eat of the tree of life is to leap off the cliff utterly into the person of another. If Jesus said, "Not My will, but Thine be done," then that is my only nature. I have no other nature or way of being. I do not "follow His path" as one separate from Him trying to copy Him. He is the only life I am. As He is I am. Jesus in Gethsemane was simply the eternal showing itself in time.  Since Christ is always choosing the Father's will, I am always choosing the Father's will; there is no other possibility. I do not have a life separate from the present person of Jesus in all the revelation of the Father. The cross IS finished. 

What is the jeopardy of the believer? The jeopardy is that I am not bound to life. I am free to concern myself with solving the issues and problems of the tree of knowledge. The answer to jeopardy is faith. EAT, eat, eat, of life with all boldness and never ever stop.

Defeating sin IS eating of the tree of knowledge. Putting the flesh under foot IS eating of the tree of knowledge.

So now we can address legalism. Legalism has two parts. The visible and obvious aspect of legalism is all the Christian attempts to "defeat" sin, to resolve all the issues and problems of the tree of knowledge. We know what that means all too well; there is no need for me to detail it here.

But legalism has a far more subtle aspect to it. Legalism is also the practice of obeying God's command, "Don't eat of the tree of knowledge." It sounds like a wonderful thing to practice; it just never leads anyone to Life. The one who is busy "not eating" of the tree of knowledge still has his back to the tree of life.

God has given us a window, an open door. We have the blood. The blood does not save us, it redeems us. The cross does not save us, it reconciles us to God. What does that mean? It means that we have this brief window of time in which we are 100% free to worry about the tree of knowledge NOT AT ALL. So what if you messed up and did something "wrong." Never, never, never, do we try to resolve that issue. Asking forgiveness of someone we have hurt is not "fixing sin." It is the overflow of the river of life. We simply turn our backs entirely on the issue of "did you obey God, did you disobey God, did you obey God, did you disobey God."

As we walk in God, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

But that is not life and we are not saved by being cleansed of disobedience.

We are saved by His life. Salvation is eating, eating, eating of the tree of life, with no regard for the tree of knowledge in any way whatsoever.

Christ IS my life; I have NO other life.

I will boldly eat of Him without any reference to sin vs. no sin whatsoever.

Let me finish this letter by explaining once more the jeopardy of Christ. There is absolutely a task we MUST DO in order to live. And Doing that task is our choice. We do not "choose" between obeying what God says versus not obeying what God says. Nevertheless, the gospel of faith does have ONE requirement, one thing we must DO in order to live.

We must eat of Christ. Eating of Christ is at present invitation only and therefore it is always something we must choose to do.

The command of the gospel, the obedience of faith are found in these words.

• " We are partakers of Christ IF we keep the confidence of our joy high all the way through."
• "Count it all joy when all sorts of difficulties hit you."
• "Give thanks in all things."
• "God always leads us to exult boastfully in the victory of Christ in us BEFORE we see it with our eyes."
• "Christ lives in our hearts by faith."
• "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ."
• "Christ, who IS our life."
• "I live, only it's not me, it's Christ, yet it's just as much me, there is no distinction."
• "Christ and I are one."
• "As He is, so are we in this world."

One fantastic thing about the tree of life is this. What if we forget to "eat" of Christ, fall into a dump of discouragement, and get mad at God? So what! It means absolutely nothing. The moment the Lord Jesus Christ wells up in our hearts again we go right on in the full and overwhelming confidence of His joy.

But the "command" of the gospel is not a command. It is by invitation only. We are perfectly free in God to trouble ourselves over the tree of knowledge, over the law, over hearing what God says and being sure to do it, over "not missing God." We are perfectly free to do that all we want, creating every form of legalism the flesh can devise. That is the jeopardy in which we stand. Christ is invitation only; God never forces life on anyone.

What did David do when he was caught in sin? He strode straight into the Holy of Holies and grabbed hold of the cherubim above the mercy seat.

That is presumption beyond all measure. That is FAITH.

God killed others who tried it; He killed them because they were pretending. They had no interest in life; they just wanted to use God as a fig leaf, a way to look "good" in front of others. Can someone murder and say, "Christ as me"? Of course they can. I read someone on Facebook ripping a dear brother to pieces with hideous and unfounded accusation - and then justifying himself by claiming, "Christ as me."

That's another issue entirely. God killed Nadab and Abihu; He killed Annanias and Saphira. We don't play games with Christ as us. No one who reads this letter is in that column. But wow! - Let's get back to David.

David pleased God; he was real, he was a man after God's own heart.

God is just like David, and He accepts no one less than Himself.

God is not interested in the outward obedience of humans walking as beings separate from Him; He wants our person.

God made us weak, completely unable to do anything, including keeping His law, that's why He doesn't want us messing around with it. God created us to contain Him, to reveal Him, to be one person with Him.

The mechanism by which that union happens is the stark presumption of FAITH.

Eat, eat, eat of Christ, without any thought of the tree of knowledge.

And groan for the resurrection, as Paul says we do, for when our physical body is swallowed up in LIFE, we are forever bound to life, with no knowledge of sin whatsoever. In the resurrection, we are no longer part of God's creation; rather, we are the containers and revealers of the person of God Himself in all fullness forever.