There is an infection that infiltrated many churches, regardless of denomination. This infection is called moralism. I call this is an infection because it is a deadly killer of many Christians. I have witnessed how the joy has been sucked right out of my fellow brothers and sisters in the faith as soon as they accept moralism. What is moralism, you ask? The best definition I could find is that it is "an undue obsession with morality". Christians who have succumbed to moralism may abstain from watching secular movies, listening to secular music, dancing, celebrating certain holidays, and the list goes on. While moralism may seem to be wise, it actually is a trap because it misses the whole point of the Gospel message. In this blog, I shall discuss what justification by faith alone means and how it should have a profound impact on one's mental health. In Romans 3:21-25 we read,
"But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the law and the prophets bear witness to it--the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith"
I would like to point out how all people fall short of the glory of God because we all sin. This means that we are all equal. It does not matter if you are a monk in a monastery or a crack addict in the street. Every single one of us are equally guilty before God. However, for those of us who have placed our faith in Jesus Christ alone, God freely justifies us in His sight. This means that God will not hold any of our past, present, or future sins against us. The apostle Paul tells us this in Romans 4:4-5 when he says,
"Now to the one who works his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness"
When we trust in Christ, our faith is counted as righteousness. This means it does not matter what we have done or will do because God has already declared us righteous in His sight on the account of what Christ has already done for us. It is precisely because of this reason that Paul can tell us that absolutely nothing in all of creation will ever separate us from God's love. As we read in Romans 8:37-39,
"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor Angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all of creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord"
There is not a single thing in all creation, not even anything we say or do, that will cause the Father to no longer be pleased with us. It is because of what Christ has done for us that God is forever pleased with Christians. This truth is utterly profound! And not only is the Father forever pleased with us, but he also sees us as holy and blameless (Ephesians 1:3-6).
So, what does all this mean for our mental health? I believe that once we accept the truth of this doctrine, it will cause us to greatly rejoice and to finally rest. I say that it will cause this because it will cause us to realize that the work of salvation has already been accomplished. This means that we no longer need to do anything to earn our salvation through our vain attempts to maintain a rigid morality. We are now free to participate in certain cultural activities or watch and listen to secular entertainment without fear of judgement. We can now stop striving for salvation through our moral efforts, which could never save us anyway. We no longer need to prove ourselves to God and others because we already have God's approval and He is always pleased with us.
-David Lee Chu Sarchet
Christian Mental Health Advocate
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