This article is based on an ethnographic study of evangelical churches in a Honduran barrio. It reveals the legalism present and analyzes how this legalism affects the people themselves, how it affects their relations with others, and how it affects their concept of God. The article demonstrates that churches officially state a doctrine of grace, but live out a theology of works righteousness. This situation calls us to ask what went wrong and to evaluate our own preaching and teaching. The final section begins to explore what we can learn from this study and how we can address the problems described.
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