The second-century philosopher and Christian apologist Tertullian famously stated, “Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves, so this doctrine of justification is ever crucified between two opposite errors.”[i] The modern church has created its corollary and continues to crucify Christ’s liberty-giving justification between the two thieves of legalism and license. (Hebrews 6:4-6; Galatians 5:13; Romans 6:1-14). I argue that church and ministry leaders today do not stop this perpetual crucifixion because of a failure of Biblical knowledge, leadership, and integrity. To explore this concept thoroughly will require a “geek-out” moment as several leadership and Biblical theories are merged. After all, if we want to be Biblical leaders, we must expect this merger at some point, right?
Let’s define some terms to start. Legalism is the denominational church’s tool to bring followers in line with beliefs and rituals as mandatory for salvation or righteous living. I am not picking on any single denomination, as all mainline denominations are guilty of adding legalistic teachings and rituals. These stray outside the Christ-focused Biblical text or misinterpret Biblical teachings. For example, infant baptism was practiced for centuries and, in some churches, is still the accepted norm. The Anabaptist movement met with great violence when attempting to bring adult baptism to the positional norm. However, the Bible is clear that we are to be baptized as an open profession of faith. It is hard for an infant to profess faith in Christ. Therefore, legalism would say, “You don’t want your baby to go to hell if it dies, so have it baptized on YOUR profession of the child’s faith.” The follow-on license was legal torture, excommunication, or even death to those who practiced adult baptism. It was the law in several European countries but was not in the Bible. Sadly, the liberty freely granted by Christ was crucified between the legalism of church doctrine and a license granted by the state.
Now, let’s move this to more modern examples. Legalism: Obey Romans 13 and give all deference to the existing government as outlined because God has placed them in power. License: Killing all the Jews and sending them to camps and the gas chamber is sanctioned by the government and, therefore, permissible. Or perhaps killing 62 million babies is sanctioned by the government and is, thus, acceptable. Extreme examples? Maybe not, as the modern church responded to both with a very Romans 13 approach. I submit that both scenarios were based on a misinterpreted Romans 13 approach. The government is supposed to be good for all, but when it goes against God’s Word, it becomes oppressive against some (Proverbs 29:2). That is not the government spoken of in Romans chapter 13 and Acts 5:28-32.
To further define the impact of Tertullian’s perpetual crucifixion theory, I want to introduce a cultural construct articulated by Friedrich Hegel in the 19th century. Hegel was a German Philosopher and Christian apologist who posited what is now called the Hegelian Dialectic. A dialectic is a form of argumentation. Social/political anarchists like Marx corrupted this specific dialectic to adopt the Machiavellian idea of never letting a good crisis go to waste.
The Western empirical church has unwittingly and, in some cases, intentionally subjected the Gospel to this dialectic. The figure URL link below will provide a graphical representation of Hegel’s concept.[ii] In our Western church example, the agenda is to maintain control over congregations and collections. Therefore, followers are told they can only go to a certain church and follow those denominational requirements to be devout Christians. Thus, the thesis or legalism is that the denomination has the only answer that is culturally acceptable—for example, on abortion. The license or antithesis is convenient in this case and handed to the church by the government. It is “legal,” according to the laws of the land, to have an abortion. To fulfill the synthesis, the church will say nothing against abortion from the pulpit. It will embrace breaking the 6th Commandment because that synthesis meets the agenda and is acceptable to the culture.
A second pertinent example can be seen in the LGBTQ agenda that has worked its way into the modern church. The agenda is generated by the movement and its attempt to normalize the behavior. The legalism or thesis in many churches is that “God loves everybody, and we must therefore be inclusive.” The anti-thesis or license is that culture accepts the gay pride flag in front of churches and embraces drag queen shows. To do otherwise is “hate speech.”. Therefore, the synthesis is that the denominations now have homosexual and trans pastors in their pulpits. Or, at minimum, the churches stop teaching God’s Word on the subject and hold gay pride events. It is the attempted normalization of sin, which is in direct contradiction to the Word of God but makes the denomination culturally relevant—the synthesis. Because of this compromise, the government watchdogs will not remove the church’s 501C3 status, and the church is not on the 6 o’clock news standing for God; it is accepted in culture.
There is just enough truth in these pseudo-gospel scenarios to get nominal followers to buy in. It is true that God loves everyone and does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). But He also hates sin and counts murder of the unborn and homosexuality/LGBTQ as sin (Romans 1:18-32 & 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). Unfortunately, many churches have begun to embrace this Hegelian Dialectic rather than the liberty found in Christ. These churches and their leaders have chosen the easy cultural path rather than standing boldly on the truth of God’s Word. If the church changed its teaching from accepting negative synthesis to the positive truth of Jesus Christ, how much more freedom/liberty would they find and teach? For example, why not place posters and flags outside the church telling of God’s love for the repentant sinners? It does not matter what you have done in your past because once you confess and repent, “There is now, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
By standing on the Word and separating with culture, the church and the denomination may lose some members and revenue, but God the Father will smile upon the teaching of truth. “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free” (John 8: 31 & 32). It is within the church’s power to stop this perpetual crucifixion between legalism and license. The church can break that chain and focus on the liberty of His love and His sacrifice on the Cross. If the four-walled denominations will not do it, you, personally can break this cycle and look to Christ for your salvation and leading. You are the church, not some denomination.
[i] https://www.christianpost.com/news/liberty-crucified-between-two-thieves.html. Accessed 8-16-2024.
[ii] https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=STjPEr0z&id=8D2196CEE4F9E4D96DA171D7BA2C9FA7598E7921&thid=OIP.STjPEr0zofQbw6INnIdoVAHaE7&mediaurl=https%3A%2F%2Fth.bing.com%2Fth%2Fid%2FR.4938cf12bd33a1f41bc3a20d9c876854%3Frik%3DIXmOWaefLLrXcQ%26riu%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fwww.mindbodyheartandsoul.org%252fwp-content%252fuploads%252f2020%252f08%252fThe-Hegelian-Dialectic.jpg%26ehk%3D6lZPcxzEIGIQ0AwQLlKvZJDbkHnPkIciQLU101t01KQ%253d%26risl%3D%26pid%3DImgRaw%26r%3D0&exph=399&expw=600&q=Hegelian&simid=608009572832272287&form=IRPRST&ck=CF57CDAA7D43E673F673CEAB3D3CD6FF&selectedindex=1&itb=0&cw=1728&ch=827&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0&pivotparams=insightsToken%3Dccid_Pg%252BGcfNA*cp_8E72D64380EE8CBC861801233017574F*mid_ED1EEEC7CFB1DEB9DDF2B55B0CCDDCE59886BC2E*simid_608029003282591461*thid_OIP.Pg-GcfNAToX8S7RRxuEkRwHaE7&vt=0&sim=11&iss=VSI&ajaxhist=0&ajaxserp=0. Accessed 8-16-2024
