thoughts on legalism and pragmatism and minimum stands of living

so i think what i will do before writting a full essay is to write out my thoughts on the subject to at least get them down and then to see what other input i can recieve in order to write a more fully developed essay.

thoughts on legalism:

what is legalism? as defined by dictionary.com it is
1.
strict adherence, or the principle of strict adherence, to law or prescription, esp. to the letter rather than the spirit.
2.
Theology.
a.
the doctrine that salvation is gained through good works.
b.
the judging of conduct in terms of adherence to precise laws.

legalism creates a minimum of standards because its sets up a salvation by works philosophy

deeper study into the laws written in the bible reveals them to not be a list of requirements but a pointing towards a greater purpose. Christ interprets the ten commandments to show that it is actually two commandments love God and Love your neighbor.

in one read through the bible you can realize that God wants you to Follow all his commands and the only way to be righteous is to do so God set us up with a pass or fail course and guess what everyone fails except christ

Analogy of God as a college professor and mankind being the students in his class

what is pragmatism? as defined by The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical DictionaryCopyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
A way of approaching situations or solving problems that emphasizes practical applications and consequences.

practical application is quite often efficiency

so right now i've just got a lot of thoughts and questions and i'm not sure they can be answered but i'm going to search for as long as i live to find answers to the questions that come to my head. recently i started listening to a series of sermons by John piper called spectacular sins and their global purpose in the glory of Christ. i would recommend this series to everyone.
so right now i'm going to list the things going on in my head, or at least attempt to, that i woudl like to at some point get more information to write about in future posts. i also want to put these things out so that anyone else who reads this can ponder them as well and maybe find inspiration to write on the same subject or to add to another subject under consideration.
1) Cop out christianity and how it affects both christians and non christians,
2)legalism and pragmatism and how christians use these to create a minimum standard of living
3)God as an idol formed in the image of man and man's attempt to Cover it up
4)God's Plan for sin to Allow him to bring more Glory to himself
5)Life as we know it is not God's Contingency plan

so for now thats what i've got i'll periodically post with more thoughts that come through my head and i'll also try to write on the things that i post