Here we go again.

There is so much legalism that gets into people's hearts. Too many people forget that salvation comes through the blood of Jesus not by man made rules.

A thread was just temporary closed on a subject that is very argumentive and that is it a sin for women to wear pants. This is a legalistic issue.
Holiness churches teach this not in reality based on true biblical interpretation but because of the need of certain individuals who need to control the lives of other believers.

As being part of a holiness group for many many years I know for a fact that most of these standards of Holiness as they are called are man made or faulty interpretation of the Bible. When the issue about pants are taught on by Holiness preachers they claim that pants were created for men not women and that is what makes them sin. Yet historically they know they are in error. Also there are islands in the pacific and even in Oriental countries women have worn pants for thousands of years. A general superintendant of one of the largest Holiness movements once said that they could not reach these people because of this issue so they shook the dust of their feet and dropped trying to reach them for God.

You can take so many things and make a legalistic issue out of it. These groups teach that a woman cutting her hair is sin and they take the scripture in 1 Corinthians 11 and twist it. They ignore the fact that God told Israelite men that if they wanted to marry a woman from another nation she would have to shave her head. Also they ignore the fact that in some tribes the women shaved their heads and wore wigs when betrothed so no man would be attracted to them.

Then they say wearing jewelry is sin. Some do allow a wedding ring and watch. Others do not.
They took two scriptures in I Timothy and I Peter and twisted them to fit their teachings and yet ignore all the scriptures in the Old Testament which tells us jewelry was worn by the Jews. There is a scripture in Ezekiel where God himself speaking metaphorically of Israel as if she is a woman declared he was going to deck her in jewelry.

I have heard the following things preached against by Holiness groups.

Deodorant, After shave, colored shirts, colored underwear. Soap. Women shaving their legs and underarms. Tie clasps or tacs. Cufflinks. Earrings. Necklaces. Gold Chains. Shoes with buckles on them. MEn using hair spray or style gel. Colored suits. Pants for women. Makeup for women. Women cutting their hair. Men letting their hair touch their collars or ears. Moustaches. Beards. Caffeine of anykind. Men working in their yard shirtless in the heat. ANy kind of swim suit. Young people suiting out for gym. Any length of shorts for men or women. Jogging pants for either men or women. Bloomers. And on and on and on we go.

Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for all the added rules and regulations they added to the law. He said they made it hard for a person to be saved.
There were laws for laws. That is how legalistic religion can become.

I think people can have personal convictions unto themselves but unless the Bible explicitly teaches something then we should keep our mouths quiet.

Paul spoke about modesty for women. Why was this just directed towards the women? Very rarely do women get sexually attracted by sight. Men lust from their sight senses. It is what men see that they lust after. Yet when I was in the Holiness groups the females wore dresses four inches below their knees and yet males lusted after them. It is what is in the persons heart.

When the clothing issues came up in the Bible there was two purposes. One is that God wants distinction between the sexes and two God wants no one to tempt the other to sin by lusting.

The Bible really is a moderate book. Not legalistic and not liberal.

 

I do not advocate that there are no rules and regulations that Christians are to follow. Paul gave us plenty to abide by as did Jesus and the rest of the writers of the New Testament. I also do not condemn anyone who has personal convictions or believe in holding standards that are there own beliefs as long as they don't try to force them on anyone else unless they are totally and completely Biblical and there is no doubt to the interpretation. Personal interpretations are acceptable only to the individual not to the body of believers.

I have been attending a church where many of the women wear dresses so short that it is embarrassing to have to even see them at all in church dressed this way.

The problem I see with all of this is that we here in American have become so sexualized that churches work on what they think is the most important and that is the outside when the inside is dead spiritually and morally. If a Christian is really walking with Jesus then they will not be tempted to sin through lusting or adultery etc
no matter what is before them. It is when the heart is black with worldliness and carnality that we are controlled by our lusts and desires.
If a man is living for God and loves his wife then no matter what visual image is presented in front of him he won't lust. It doesn't matter how good looking she is or what she is wearing it won't happen.

A couple of years ago I was on a board and I was totally shocked by the attitudes and opinions of young so called Christian men. They were making excuses for their lusting. They would say things like I cannot help it if a pretty woman goes by or I cannot help it in the summer time if I see a woman in a bikini and she turns me on.
I would reply Yes you can help it. If you are living for Christ you won't lust. It does not mean that in the proper confines of marriage that one day you won't have a clean healthy sexual relationship but you don't have to lust. Matter of fact if they cannot control their passion then they don't put themselves where they see anything that makes them lust. They honestly could not see any harm in lusting. This in their honest opinions was part of being human and out of their control.

We can try to legislate morality but it won't work. The only thing that works is being full of God.

When I attended these holiness churches years back the people were under so much legalistic bondage that they rarely smiled. This to me was sad. Not only that but so much emphasis was put on the outside that it was unbelievable the way these people acted. I have never seen in my life women who had such long tongues for gossipping.
It reminded me of something I heard about gossipping women whose tongues are so long they could sit on the front porch and wipe a plate in the back part of the house with their tongues.
The men were dictators. They were control freaks.
They treated their wives so badly.