Telling It Like It Is

Friday, 20th July 2007

Consider the following passages of Scripture
"You brood of vipers!" (Matt 3:7)
"You are like whitewash tombs" (Matt 23:27)
"You foolish Galatians!" (Gal 3:1)

The first remark was made by John the Baptist.
The second remark was made by Jesus Christ.
The third remark was made by the apostle Paul.

If one were to be on the receiving end of the above, would one feel offended and consider the remarks to be of "strong and rude language"?

I guess so.

So why did the above men utter these rather harsh and angry words?
And why did the Holy Spirit see fit to have them recorded in the Word of God?

Could it be because of the gravity and severity of the matter at hand, that they had to "tell it like it is", and not mince their words or hide behind niceties?

In Matt 3:7, John the Baptist directed his remarks at the Pharisees and Sadducees, who knew the Law like the back of their hand.

In Matt 23:27, Jesus likewise directed his remarks at the scribes and the Pharisees, the teachers of the Law.

In Gal 3:1, Paul directed His remarks at the church of Galatia, because they were going back to the Law.

From the above, it cannot be over-emphasised that legalism goes against the very heart of the gospel.

Fast forward to today. There are still people who insist on keeping the Law, even though they are now under Grace. We cannot mix the two together, because it is akin to spiritual adultery, which is the way Paul describes in Romans 7.

These are also the very people who consider such Mt Zion grace teachings as heretic, labelling their followers as "lawless" and "licentious". It is like they have a culture shock when they come across such believers.

Hmm...in the days when certain customs were considered to be the "right thing to do", it must have been a similar culture shock to see "lawless" and "licentious" people not fasting when others did (Matt 9:14), or helping themselves to corn as they walked through a cornfield (Matt 12:1), or not washing their hands first before eating (Matt 15:2).

So how should our response be to such legalistic people? I say let's follow the example of John, Jesus and Paul and tell it like it is to them too!

If they find the language too "strong and rude", maybe they should instead be examining their own hearts. Amen?