t first glance it looked like a reasonable question: "Which do you think is a bigger problem in the church today: legalism or liberalism?" Perhaps it's even a question we might be tempted to ask ourselves as we try to find a balance in our Christian experience and involvement in church discussions. But as it appeared on the computer screen in front of me,¹ something went off in my head. I began typing furiously, and this is something of my reply:

First, I am a little concerned at the binary created by this question-is liberalism the opposite of legalism? In a sense, yes. But in another way, no. If the question was phrased "law/legalism or gospel/grace," that might work a little better. It seems to me that one could be a liberal legalist-as in applying a liberal interpretation of God's law and using that as the central motivation for life-more easily than one could have a growing appreciation and understanding of God's grace and continue to disregard or diminish God's laws for how we should live.

In this way liberalism is a form of legalism. As one writer suggests: "Liberals are often just fundamentalists with a different set of beliefs."² It simply works that one applies the law "liberally" to allow a certain measure of "Christian freedom"-often perhaps to see how much one can get away with or to do the bare minimum required. Both legalism and liberalism risk becoming self-centered- when we take pride in our standard of commitment or behavior rather than being Christ-centered. In this way either approach is a rejection of God's grace.³ So the better order may not be (reading left to right) "liberalism-grace-law-legalism," but rather (reading top to bottom), "grace-law-legalism-liberalism." In this second model liberalism is placed on the bottom as a watered-down form of legalism.

Of course, the problem with this hierarchical view is that it is only God's grace that can save us, and if we are stuck anywhere below that glorious gift, we are lost. So an even more useful model is that of grace as the pinnacle of the triangle, with liberalism and legalism at opposite points on the horizontal baseline far below.

Historically, Adventists have struggled with legalism. We continue to do so-and our attempts at liberalism are often similarly flawed, with tragic ongoing effects. A worldwide survey of the Seventh-day Adventist Church conducted last year found an acceptance of the church's doctrines above 90 percent, including the stated belief of "salvation only in Christ" at almost 95 percent. In sad contrast was the rating for "assurance of salvation," at just less than 70 percent.⁴

This is an alarming hole in our church's belief system and respective individual Christian experiences. We are good at learning and believing, but it seems many of us fall short of believing in a way that gives us hope and confidence.

God loves us. On our own we are lost and hopeless. There is nothing we can do to make ourselves right with God. He died for us. We accept Him and we have eternal life. Now.

Legalism and liberalism are both problems in our church and in our own lives. For all practical purposes they are the same thing (although depending on your personality type, you might enjoy one more than the other). We can spend our lives fighting about or for one or the other or both and still go to hell. Using the triangle model (discussed above), we realize that as we are drawn upward toward God's grace, we rise above the liberalism/ legalism duality to a higher reality.

This should be our growing experience with God. In Christ-through God's grace-we have assurance of salvation, and we have the foundation for living a useful and satisfying Christian life now and forever.

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¹ Posted as a discussion starter on the South Pacific Division's Underground Forum Web site, www.undergroundforum.org.
² Brian McLaren, A New Kind of Christian (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2001), p. 9.
³ Paul makes a similar distinction in Galatians 5. See particularly verse 13.
⁴ "Three Strategic Issues: A World Survey" (Institute of World Mission, Andrews University, 2002).

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Nathan Brown is a freelance writer and graduate student who lives in Townsville, Australia.