Legalism, Scrupulosity, Perfectionism, Religious OCD: Learning to deal with it all through Christ
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- In this video, Kathleen illustrates the difference between seeking to be made right with God under law versus seeking to be made right with God through faith in Christ's finished work at the Cross. Through Christ, every crooked path is made straight. Through Him, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live victoriously. Through Him, we are made holy.
If you want to watch a longer version on the topic of this message, you can find a recent service held by Kathleen which was recorded live on Facebook during which Kathleen expounded in more detail on the topic of this UA-cam video: / 1130653967379347
Be encouraged! There is hope! There is a way out.
In our relationship with GOD, we can either choose to follow the Law by our own strength or the Grace through Faith.
For me, and since I completely realized that I cannot achieve the righteousness by following the Law all the time as if I break one time the law I am condemned, I decided to follow GOD’s grace in order to achieve GOD’s righteousness based on JESUS completed work and salvation for me on the cross.
Thank YOU JESUS for your Free Gift for me.
I really do not deserve it by any means but I accept it with all gratitude as Your Grace is the only possible way for me to achieve righteousness ❤️🙏❤️
Thank you again for taking time to make these videos, I can not tell you how grateful I am.
These videos are helping me in my walk with God. Thank you for doing what you do. 😇
Hello, you are most welcome, praise God, l am glad to hear. :) God is good.
The Lord told me in dream not to struggle. I carried on struggling with the thoughts even though i was instructed. As a result there has been a downward spiral. Im afraid if he has left me to it. Can i go back to the instruction i feel heavy guilt especially when my mind goes to the thoughts abusing God. I afl for forgiveness but im still afraid....
Dear Abigail, yes you certainly can go back to His instructions and God has definitely not left you. You feel this way because of what you have been going through. However God is right there by your side ready to help you. The devil is the accuser of the brethren the Bible says in Revelations 12:10. We overcome him by the Blood of the Lamb and the Word of our testimony. (See Rev. 12:10-11).
God knows our frame and He knows that we are but dust (see Psalm 103:14). He sees what you are going through and He is a very patient and compassionate God. The Bible says in 1 John 1:9 that if we confess our sins to God, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. It will be important to stand on the promises of God's Word regardless of how you feel. God's Word is true regardless of our feelings. Be encouraged. Therefore, you can be at peace that God completely forgave you and He will even use this experience for your good (see Romans 8:28). Now, you go ahead and receive His complete forgiveness. God loves you so. Please also refer to my reply to your other message. I pray this helps. God bless
I thank God for you, Kathleen! Your ministry and experiences really refresh me in my walk with The LORD. Whenever I'm working, I feel fine, but whenever I'm resting or not working on the weekends, I feel condemnation creeping up, dread starts to bubble up, and it's been a cycle of this for a long while now.
I was born an overthinker, and I've been pressed to give up on coffee because it makes the bad sensations all the more loud. It's been a real battle to rest and be content; it's either I work all the time or I feel accused of being lukewarm for not doing anything.
Thank you for your experiences and the wisdom God has given you on this matter!
You are very welcome @Isaac. J. A. To God be the glory; He is so good and faithful. I encourage you to pray to God and to invite Him in your situation. Explain to Him what you explained to me and ask Him to sort everything out for you. It will be very important for you to understand the difference between the old covenant of law and works, versus the new covenant of grace and faith.
Following is a little something I went through years ago which I believe will help shine some light for you as well about what you have been experiencing:
I believe it was the first year I was born again; the devil was already working hard at trying to lure me away into legalism. It was a Saturday afternoon, I felt tired and badly wanted to take a nap. But at the same time, the thought of taking a nap instead of reading my Bible made me feel guilty. I was somewhat tormented with this inner battle, and I was so double-minded. Should I have a nap, or should I read the Bible? If I read the Bible, I am so tired that I will hardly get anything out of it. But if I go to bed and don’t read the Bible, am I not keeping from doing what I should be doing on a Saturday afternoon as a Christian? After all, if you have free time, you should be reading the Word, shouldn’t you? O the torment that comes with legalism! Finally, I gave into “the temptation,” and I had a nap. But God is so good, I tell you! He is with us at all times, and He sees our struggles. He noticed the struggle and the lie that the Enemy was trying to plant in my soul. And during my nap, God gave me a prophetic dream. The dream was very vivid. I saw many planes hovering in the sky, ready and waiting for the go-ahead to drop a bomb. They were standing by, waiting for a “yes” to attack or a “no” to retreat. Suddenly, they were given the go-ahead. The answer was “yes” to attack, a bomb was dropped from one of the planes, and I awoke. Although I am not one to follow politics, I knew President George W. Bush was about to make a decision concerning whether he should go ahead and invade Iraq or not. Very soon after I received this dream, he made the decision to invade Iraq and gave the go-ahead; the answer was “yes.” God, in His goodness, gave me a prophetic dream during my nap. He showed me that having a nap was okay with Him, and I didn’t need to feel guilty. He wasn’t displeased with my choice and all was well.
I believe the reply that the Lord gave Martha when she was busy with much serving will help shine some additional light on this: "Now while they were on their way, it occurred that Jesus entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha received and welcomed Him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was listening to His teaching. But Martha [overly occupied and too busy] was distracted with much serving; and she came up to Him and said, Lord, is it nothing to You that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me [to lend a hand and do her part along with me]! But the Lord replied to her by saying, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; There is need of only one or but a few things. Mary has chosen the good portion [that which is to her advantage], which shall not be taken away from her." (Luke 10:38-42 AMPC)
Here is what Jesus said concerning the works that God is looking for in John 6:28-29 (NKJV): Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
It will be important that legalism be fully exposed to you for what it really is: Another gospel. Yes we do works, but our works stem from faith and love, and not from guilt and condemnation. I encourage you to purchase the book written by Derek Prince, "By Grace Alone: Finding Freedom and Purging Legalism from your life", I believe it will help you.
I pray this encourages and helps you. God bless!
@@kathleenkaczmarek9190 Thank you and thank God for you and your journey, as well as the wisdom you've been gifted along the way. Your story is eye-opening and inspiring, and how you've explained Mary & Martha in the way you have has me wondering which of the two I am. I know for a fact I've been both, but since every day is a battle, I have to discern what it is that's putting me in Martha's shoes.
This actually even validates some of my own experiences! Knowing how to discern the when and the why of a certain activity is where I really want to explore more often, because we're now so free in Christ.
For me, lately, boredom is something I've been wrestling with. My weekdays are fine; I work, come home, read, journal, and I never have anything on my mind that I can't thank the Lord for. The fellowship is strong when I'm walking with him in my life. When I LIVE life, He's there, and it's beautiful.
But come Friday evening, Saturday, and sometimes Sunday, everything downshifts for the worse. I use to live high-caliber weekends; I always had something going on Friday and Saturday. When I got regenerated last year, those activities progressively became less sinful-thanks to the work of the Holy Spirit. Conversely, as sin in my life depleted, my time spent in prayer, reading the Word, learning about God, and even writing in my journal has gone up tremendously. These are by no means bad things, but lately my concern is how boring everything else in my life is.
I use to write, play guitar, and socialize with a lot of people online--especially now with the pandemic having stripped away a lot of realife opportunities from me. To some degree I still do these things, but I really do not feel inspired, satisfied, entertained, nor hopeful about any of the things I use to do or the dreams I use to have. I can't help but look at all the things I use to do and be reminded of Ecclesiastes. It's all meaningless/vanity, and creative endeavors always point to idolatry rather than to Christ, so my hobbies seem more like hollow ventures.
Legalism is a cancer that does creep back somewhere in my life. The most powerful experiences I've had in my faith journey have usually been convictions of the Holy Spirit, bad run-ins with pride and idolatry, so these things I *am* really overly conscious of. I just want to have fun, albeit within the bounds of what it righteous, but man, I'd love to get off the guilty-conscious hook.
Hi @Isaac J. A., in Ecclesiastes chapter three you will also find verses that say that there is a time to plant, a time to pluck what we planted, a time to kill, a time to heal, a time to break down, a time to build up, a time to weep, a time to laugh… It is important to understand what season we are in. The Bible also instruct us to redeem the times for the times are evil (see Eph. 5:16), so being motivated to do the work of the Lord certainly is a good thing. God has a plan for your life. I encourage you to seek Him to know His call on your life as well.
You may recall reading in the Word where some asked Jesus, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (see John 6:28-29 (NKJV) Therefore, remember that whatever you do need to stem from faith. And when we live from that place, it purifies our motives and help rid our lives from condemnation. The Bible says that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit (see Romans 8:1). To walk after the Spirit is essentially to walk in dependence upon the Spirit. Thus, the solution for you is simply to know God’s will for your life and to follow the leadership of the Spirit of God daily (see Romans 8:14). The Bible says that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (see 2 Cor. 3:17). I encourage you to bring these things to God and ask Him to sort all of this out for you. Then trust Him to do it and He will.
Lastly, now that you are a born-again Christian, there are things you used to do that you won’t like doing anymore, and this is perfectly normal because you are a new creation and you have received a holy nature through the regeneration of the Spirit of God. Be encouraged.
I pray this helps.
@@kathleenkaczmarek9190 Hey, thank you again for your reply. Again, thank God for you and your ministry and content and journey! I just wanted to update you and appreciate the word and info you've shared. My weekends are definitely more relaxed, savoring the grace from above and feeling more in love-free from duty and more inclined to LOVE what I can do.
It's getting better discerning where some of these legalistic/prideful tendencies are coming from. The Holy Spirit definitely is letting me know when I'm hitting my "overload" point.
@@IckAck03 That's wonderful. Praise God! I am glad to hear. God bless!
u r awesome
Does this mean that legalist christians have become unsaved?
Hello Adee,
While it is possible for a Christian to struggle with some degree of legalism and while it is also possible for a Christian to fall into full blown legalism even though they began under God’s grace, I wouldn’t say that one can be a legalist Christian because a Christian is one who is justified by faith in Jesus, while the legalist seeks to be justified by law. The Bible says in Galatians that the law isn’t of faith. It is also important to understand that faith isn’t void of works, but rather that one will work because they are saved when under grace. The legalist, on the other end, works for their salvation.
Someone who no longer relies on the grace of God through faith for salvation but seeks to be justified and declared righteous before God through the works of the law has fallen from grace (see Galatians 5:4). But it is important to understand that such a person can repent from legalism, be forgiven and see their lives purged from legalism by God. The Bible says that we are saved by grace through faith, not of ourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast (see Ephesians 2:8-9). The Bible also says that we are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Therefore, if someone no longer relies on the grace of God through faith, but instead relies on their self-righteousness and self-effort to be made acceptable to God, they are no longer justified by faith, but they are seeking to be justified by law, and the Bible teaches that no man will be justified by the works of the law. The Bible says that God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. The apostle Paul warned the Galatians that if they sought to be justified and declared righteous and to be given a right standing with God through the Law, they were brought to nothing and so separated (severed) from Christ. That in such a case, one has fallen away from grace (from God’s gracious favor and unmerited blessing). Again, the great news is that God will forgive the one who repents from legalism and He will restore such a one to faith in Him as that one trusts Him to do so.
I pray this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions. God bless
@@kathleenkaczmarek9190 Wow that's powerful stuff. Im confused though, if christians trapped in legalism experience worldy sorrow after sin then how does one come to true repentance?
Hi @adee, by asking help from the Lord. If someone realizes they have been struggling with legalism and experience worldly sorrow, they can ask God to purge legalism from their life and to transform their sorrow from worldly sorrow to godly sorrow, and they can ask God to teach them the sound doctrine of grace and ask Him to root them in the finished work of Jesus at the cross for them. God will do it as they continue to trust Him for it and do not give up trusting. They can also cooperate with Him by studying on topics such as legalism versus grace, being justified by faith, the love of God, their identity in Christ and godly humility versus pride. They can also buy anointed books that teach on these topics, and watch anointed videos as well. They can also partake of ministries that teach the sound doctrine of grace and it will also help them. Please let me know if you want me to recommend books and ministries to that effect.
God is merciful and He sees where we are at. If we confess our sins to Him openly and choose to turn from them with His help and by His grace, He forgives us and after that, throughout the journey of recovery where our mind is being renewed with the truth of God's Word, as we are being healed and fully made free, God is patient and understanding throughout the process of recovery from legalism, as we continue to trust Him actively for such recovery and as we hunger for righteousness.
I pray this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions. God bless
I just received one of your books (Law of Redemption) today. Currently reading it. It also referred to another book which I managed to find a PDF copy made by Derek Prince and looked on P60 - under the title of Lethal Legalism. As an ACOA, I think they live by rules as they grow up.
Sounds good. The book from Derek Prince may be "Lucifer Exposed", though the hard copy shows "lethal Legalism" on page 82. :) That's the book God used to reveal to me that legalism was my problem. God bless you as you read The Law of Redemption! Be encouraged that He who began a good work in you will also complete it until the day of Christ (see Phil. 1:6). Take care
My doubt is, watching good movies or listening to good secular music are sin ?? what does it mean by worldly?
Hi @Amritha Ajith, I love watching good clean movies! That’s probably my favorite thing to do when I have my downtime. The key is God wants to lead you. The Bible says that the sons of God are led by the Spirit of God (see Romans 8:14). And really, this is it right there. Religion says: “You must stop listening to secular music right now!” While grace will teach you and God will guide you by the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Also, God changes us inside from glory to glory and what we once enjoyed we may no longer enjoy later. We are changed from glory to glory as God puts His finger on things at different times on our journey with Him. Therefore, I don’t want to tell you don’t do this, or do that, but instead, I encourage you to seek God and to let Him guide you.
What helps me assess whether a movie is okay for me to watch is, I typically look at the parents guide before I watch a movie to see if the movie falls within what is acceptable for me to watch. That’s one way I use to help me decide what movies I watch. I usually pray before watching a movie as well asking God to cover me with His Blood and protect me, to speak to me through the movie and to show me if I should stop watching it due to something not right. As to secular music, I didn’t stop listening to secular music the moment I became a born-again Christian, but I eventually did. God is the One who leads each of us individually. We have a personal walk with Him. The more you spend time with Him, there will be things that will change. It’s all part of the journey and the process. It is a relationship of faith and love.
Concerning what the Bible ascribes as wordly, I believe 1 John 2:16 (AMPC) can help shine some light and I quote, “For all that is in the world-the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and the lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things]-these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself].”
I pray this helps.
These thoughts really annoying me and drive me crazy on how much they go on on I know God knows my intentions and I shouldn’t be scared because that just attracts these thoughts more but they disturb me so much and everytime I try to resist them it hurts me so much and then I just feel so down and then other times when I’m not thinking these thoughts I feel like I’m just going to hell I had freedom for awhile I stopped being afraid because I knew the truth about these thoughts but now they’re coming back and idk what to do sometimes all I think about is how the rest
If my life I’ll live with these thoughts.
Hello @Fgted 3, I just want to let you know that I saw your comment and I hope to be able to respond to it tomorrow, or by the end of day on Tuesday the Lord willing (Canada Eastern time). Take care
Hello @Fgted 3,
We are in a spiritual war. The devil will come back at times and try us in areas where we have experienced release or freedom in the past. Be encouraged! It just means you are now to press to the next level, going deeper and becoming more deeply rooted in the truth that you have been learning mixed with faith. The more you stand on and believe the truth about who you are in Christ and about the truth that Christ is your righteousness, and the more you learn how to wear the whole armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-18), you will struggle less and less until these thoughts are gone. And if they come back every so often, you will know what to do and it won’t be long that they will be gone again. The first thing to do always is to welcome the Lord in our situation and ask Him to help us, to show us what to do and to deliver us. Then, trusting in Him and expecting Him to work in our situation, we also cooperate with Him by doing what He shows us to do if or when He shows us something to do, and by studying the Word in the areas under attack. We also use our sword in battle, the Word of God. Recurring thoughts usually are about things we fear. Therefore, it is important to dig your heels deep in the truth of God’s Word and to study the Word of God in the area(s) under attack as to grow in faith in those areas so that you will not be easily shaken, but believe more and more the truth in those areas. The more we believe the truth, the less we fear in these areas, and the thoughts lose their power. Quoting Bible verses out loud that expose the lies and rebuke the lies is very efficient to help preserve or increase our peace. Other times, especially when we really know the truth in the area under attack and believe it, sometimes we just need to ignore the thoughts, standing in faith on God’s Word and simply to redirect our thoughts on whatever is true, just, of good report, anything worth of praise . . . we think on those things (see Philippians 4:8). Another thing that is extremely helpful is to speak faith-filled declarations that you can back up with Scripture about your life and your future. This is really efficient. Confess the Word out loud and confess out loud Scriptural declarations over your life, regardless of your feelings at the time. Allow yourself to speak with conviction these Scriptural declarations over your life. It is a powerful thing to do.
Be encouraged, God is able to see you through and He loves you. I pray this helps.
Did you have that revelation after or before conversion?
Hello @Longitude Waves, I had these revelations after conversion.
Dear sister,
I started reading your book the law of redemption. And I can finally say that you cover the spiritual aspect behind ocd, dpdr, anxiety and all. My encounter with God has been the same way as yours but I made a wrong turn. Some of my peers, spiritual leaders, told me that I had a dog spirit around me. I never fully understood what that meant, then they mentioned something about witchcraft. I never also understood what that fully meant till yesterday as I was reading your book. My form of witchcraft was rebellion and legalism, but mainly rebellion. I started feeling a total disconnection from The Lord, I suffered from anxiety, dpdr, fear, unable to sleep, and many more. But most importantly, I never fully wanted to surrender to The Lord because of fear. I’m still struggling on knowing how to repent and trusting Jesus entirely when your brain is not fully there. I don’t feel like I mean it, nor I really want to, but just need to from knowledge. I’m in a very slippery road. I’d like to get in touch with you for advice(alixjead@gmail.com). But overall I fully and truly appreciate your book, for now I can tell that I fully understand what’s happening to me, I just lack a lot in order to trust God again and surrendering to His will entirely. The numbness is driving My faith and willingness away. I want to give it, I just don’t know how to give it all. I’ve been in this mess for 4 years now. Kinda starting to lose touch with reality. What kills me is that I have a perfect form of Godliness, but don’t have anything in me. I’m lacking His presence but yet scared to receive Him sometimes, after everything that I have done and still doing.
Dear @Daniel Alix, please be greatly encouraged that knowing the root cause of your problem is "half the battle" so to speak because you are no longer fighting in the dark. Praise God for His wonderful goodness and faithfulness. When you get to the chapter about the root of rebellion, I believe it will greatly help you. I too struggled a lot with rebellion. God has brought me a long way, and I know the He is perfecting that which concerns me. The Scripture that God used to help me take my first step toward Him again when it came to rebellion was Jeremiah 3:22 CEB (and you will also read about it when you get to that chapter), and I quote it here, "Return, rebellious children, and I will heal your rebellion. “Here we are; we come to you, for you are the Lord our God.” The aforementioned verse really helped me because I felt I wasn’t able to stop being rebellious. Because of that, I felt I couldn’t take my first step back to God. I felt I had to fix my rebellion problem before I could come back to God, but I was unable to do it. With that Scripture, God showed me that He would be the One to heal me of my rebellion if I committed it into His willing and healing hands. All He wanted was for me to come back to Him the way I was and trust Him to heal me of rebellion. Little by little God has worked wonderful things in my life and we know from His Word that He who began a good work in us will also complete it until the day of Christ (see Phil. 1:6). Therefore, rejoice in that God is welcoming you to Himself with open arms and He wants you to cast your cares of rebellion and legalism into His capable hands; place yourself on His operating table in faith, and trust Him, the One who created you, to do it. Then cooperate with Him through studying Bible verses that will help renew your mind from rebellion and legalism to submission, trust, faith and love. From glory to glory, I can testify that God is willing and able to do it, only continue to believe Him and never give up. I encourage you to watch my other UA-cam videos as well, I believe they will also help you. If you have additional questions you can email me here: paulkathleenkacz@gmail.com. Rejoice! Your life has taken a whole new trajectory, glory be to our Savior! He is so good. Be thus encouraged dear one. God bless!
How are you experiencing dpdr? I have it for months now, non stop..sometimes more, sometimes less.. I hope you're better and having progress in your relationship with God. God bless you..
@@saraj2 quite honestly, my episodes that I used to suffer from DPDR are all over. I’m now learning how to get back on my feet and trusting Jesus but I’m not where I used to be. It’s hard, but I’m taking it one day at a time. Please just don’t give up and honestly, trust his promises. He is there for He will never forsake you. Stay encouraged in His promises.
@@danielalix438 I won't :) I trust Him, although it is hard not to feel or hear Him, that feelin of isolation and apathy is sometimes tormenting..but I learn to set my focus on Him and take rest in the peaces I have.. I have huge hope, I live on that :) I am happy you're out of dpdr and finding your way to Jesus.
@@saraj2 Amen. Not hearing Him and feeling Him are the worst. You are so right. But one thing He thought me is His Providence is still in effect. Though I wasn’t feeling nor hearing Him, I could see His works and answered prayers if I pay attention to what was happening around me. I sure have great testimonies of those. What I hated the most was the pain, the inability to focus, the fact that I was forgetting who I was and more which I know you can relate to. But in due time, in His time, sooner than later, you got this sister. I’m glad that your hope is intact in Him. Good to hear🙏🏿