A Contagious Ministry Has an Absence of Legalism: Determining to Be a Place of Grace
By Pastor Chuck Swindoll
A church that is strong in grace is attractive for many reasons, not the least of which is the absence of legalism.
Just as most non-Christians don’t understand the good news of Christ, most Christians do not understand the remarkable reality of grace. I know of no activities more exhausting and less rewarding than those of Christians attempting to please the people around them by maintaining impossible legalistic demands. What a tragic trap, and many believers are caught in it.
When will we ever learn? Grace has set us free!
That message streams throughout the sermons and personal testimonies of the apostle Paul.
Determining to Be a Place of Grace
According to author Steve Brown, legalistic churches and grace-oriented churches are as different as taxidermists and veterinarians. If you take your sick dog to the wrong place, you’ve got problems. Some would claim, “Well, either way you get your dog back!” True, but in one setting your dog collects dust and never moves. In the other, he’s busy barking and eating and jumping . . . he’s ALIVE! He’s the real thing!
The point? Let’s choose to be veterinarians. Let’s determine that our churches will be places of grace.
A church of grace is:
- alive
- positive
- joyful
- anticipating God’s work
- willing to risk
- free of judgmentalism
But make no mistake—the church of grace is not free of holiness. There’s a vast difference.
The Magnificent Freedom Grace Provides
Once people have trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, we need to release them. Release them into the magnificent freedom that grace provides. I don’t mean leave them alone without biblical instruction or guidance. I mean:
- Don’t smother them with a boatload of non-biblical rules and rigid regulations that put them on probation.
- Don’t lock them up in some holding tank until they “get their lives straightened out.”
- Don’t enforce rules about what to wear, what to look like, what to eat and drink, what entertainment to enjoy, and what movie-ratings Jesus would watch.
Please. That’s a straitjacket of religious bondage! That’s not a contagious place. It’s a frightening place. It’s bondage!
The day a church stops being strong in grace is the day the church loses its magnetism.
Truth sets people free, remember?
Copyright © 2025 by Insight for Living and Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide.
About the author
Pastor Chuck Swindoll
Pastor Charles R. Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word. He is the founding pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, but Chuck’s listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. As a leading program in Christian broadcasting since 1979, Insight for Living airs around the world. Chuck’s leadership as president and now chancellor emeritus at Dallas Theological Seminary has helped prepare and equip a new generation of men and women for ministry.
