Jesus Plus

Those truths about legalism that I spoke of in my previous post were reinforced for me by Rob Wilkerson at Miscellanies on the Gospel. I love the way he explains this concept and drives the point home in a post called "Jesus Plus ??: Pivotal Moments of the Gospel in Our Lives":

Jesus is sufficient. He is all we need to have favor with God. Therefore to add anything to Jesus is to deny His sufficiency.

...It is Jesus plus nothing else. Being a Christian is not about Jesus plus homeschooling, Jesus plus hymns only (or Jesus plus worship songs only), Jesus plus King James Version Bibles (or ESV's!), Jesus plus your current denomination, Jesus plus Macintosh computers only (or Jesus plus PC's only), Jesus plus vegetarianism (or Jesus plus no-carb-diet only), Jesus plus fill-in-the-blank-with-your-favorite-parenting-methodology, Jesus plus Reformed theology, Jesus plus Conservatism, Jesus plus Republicanism, Jesus plus Habitat for Humanity, Jesus plus charismatic theology, Jesus plus we-only-pray-in-Elizabethan-English, Jesus plus courtship, or Jesus plus anything. [emphasis original]

If there's a plus sign at all after Jesus in your thought process, denomination, theology, or lifestyle, you deny the gospel. I'm not saying any of these things are wrong in and of themselves. ...But the point behind all of these issues is what motivates them. If any of them are motivated by a sense of gaining God's pleasure, or some sense that we are living holy lives, or some feeling that we are being righteous, or that we are earning our place in heaven, then they are all wrong. All of them. If Jesus and our joy in Him isn't the motivation behind any of these things, there is neither any evidence of grace or mercy behind these kind of lifestyle [choices].

Next: Part 6 - licentiousness