If you are avoiding sin and living morally so that God will have to bless and save you, then ironically, you may be looking to Jesus as a teacher, model and helper but you are avoiding him as Saviour. You are trusting in your own goodness rather than in Jesus for your standing with God. You are trying to save yourself by following Jesus. ... It is possible to avoid Jesus as Saviour as much by keeping all the biblical rules as by breaking them.
We can fall into legalism whether we lean conservative or liberal.
Despite all their legal righteousness, then, Pharisees have lives that are, if anything, more driven by the despair of sin… Pharisees know deep down that they are not fully living up to those standards. ... The resulting internal anxiety, insecurity, and irritability will often be much greater than anything experienced by the irreligious.
The solution is grace.
Religion operates on the principle 'I obey—therefore I am accepted by God.' But the operating principle of the gospel is 'I am accepted by God through what Christ has done—therefore I obey'. ... The primary difference is that of motivation. In religion, we try to obey the divine standards out of fear. We believe that if we don’t obey we are going to lose God’s blessing in this world and the next. In the gospel, the motivation is one of gratitude for the blessing we have already received because of Christ. While the moralist is forced into obedience, motivated by fear of rejection, a Christian rushes into obedience, motivated by a desire to please and resemble the one who gave his life for us.
Another difference has to do with our identity and self-regard. In a religious framework, if you reel you are living up to your chosen religious standards, then you feel superior and disdainful toward those who are not following in the true path. This is true whether your religion is of a more liberal variety (in which case you will feel superior to bigots and narrow-minded people) or of a more conservative variety (in which case you will feel superior to the less moral and devout). If you are not living up to your chosen standards, then you will be filled with a loathing toward yourself. You will feel far more guilt than if you had stayed away from God and religion altogether.
This is so true. Both liberals and conservative too often view others with disdain. Separately (and this is very common these days), many who profess Christ but remain untransformed blame the church for their feelings of guilt when in fact they have not received grace and regeneration. Conservatives will tend to force regeneration upon them thereby amplifying the guilty feelings and liberals will tend to jump into blaming the church and accepting the sin thereby denying the need for regeneration and leaving the person ultimately left with guilt anyway.
Keller continues:
Postmodern thinkers understand that the self is formed and strengthened through the exclusion of the Other – those who do not have the values or traits on which I base my own significance. We define ourselves by pointing to those whom we are not. We bolster our sense of worth by devaluing those of other races, beliefs and traits. This gospel identity gives us a new basis for harmonious and just social arrangements. A Christians worth and value are not created by excluding anyone, but through the Lord who was excluded for me. His grace both humbles me more deeply than religion can (since I am too flawed to ever save myself through my own efforts), yet it also affirms me more powerfully than religion can (since I can be absolutely certain of God’s unconditional acceptance).
That means that I cannot despise those who do not believe as I do. Since I am not saved by my correct doctrine or practice, then this person before me, even with his or her wrong beliefs, might be morally superior to me in many ways. ... The gospel makes it possible for a person to escape oversensitivity, defensiveness, and the need to criticize others. The Christian's identity is not based not he need to be perceived as a good person, but on God's valuing of you in Christ.
Amen!
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