Legalism Is and
Is Not
How I would define legalism is this way....
1. A reliance on one's own performance to merit favor before God, rather than
relying on Christ's performance at Calvary on their behalf.
2. A legalist is one who binds this view on all
Conservatism...to hold to order and practices that accord with scripture out
of ones own obedience. 2Th. 2:15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the
traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter
Examples of legalism
Most of us are familiar with the famous comic, Jeff Foxworthy. While he has
his famous redneck test ("you might be a redneck if…"), I have
my...not so famous legalist test ("you might be a legalist if…").
1. If you think you must become good enough, or do a certain number of good
works in order to be saved and/or maintain your salvation status with God…you
might be a legalist. If, when you sin you feel as though you cannot come before
God until you have met some sort of probationary period to regain your worthiness…you
might be a legalist.
2. If, when you think about the way God sees you you can only think of your
good or bad works, rather than thinking about your acceptance before God in
Jesus Christ…you might be a legalist.
3. If you elevate Christian traditions (particularly moral traditions) to a
status on par with the teaching of Scripture itself…you might be a legalist.
4. If you require others to live in the same manner as you do, and yet you cannot
find the behavior you are prescribing or prohibiting in Scripture…you
might be a legalist.
Legalism is a Universal Tendency of Mankind
(Warning) I use baptism as an example do to its miss conception, make sure you
read all of my thoughts before you jump in defense loved ones...
Legalism is common to us all In one degree or another because it is consistent
with man's nature. We want to do everything on our own; i.e. we are self-sufficient.
This is even evident in toddlers who commonly say "I do it!!!, I do it!!!"
with great anger and vigor when mom or dad try to do something for them. Human
beings like being in control. That's why we rebelled against God to begin with.
We didn't want God to hold that place of authority over us. So when it comes
to good works we look at them as the way in which we can control our salvation.
If we are bad, we forfeit salvation; if we are good, we earn it.
That is why the message of salvation by faith in Christ apart from good works
is so difficult for us to accept. We want to be able to have some control over
our salvation, to make some sort of contribution as it were, and yet the Gospel
says "Christ did it all, and there's nothing more you can add to it. You
must accept what Christ did for you on your behalf, or you will die in your
sins." That's why Paul noted in Galatians 5:3-4 that if you trust in your
works (circumcision in the case of the Galatians) Christ will profit you nothing.
He said that those who trusted in their works (circumcision) had fallen from
grace. How? It was because they were trusting in what they could do, working
for a reward (salvation) rather than trusting in what God did for them and accepting
salvation as the unmerited free gift of God that it is. Those with a legalistic
mentality forget that God justifies the ungodly (Rom 4:5:), thinking rather
that they must become godly before God will accept them.
Works (in the sense of doing good things with the idea that by doing such you
will earn your favor before God, not in the sense of obedience to God's commands
but out of a love for Him and in appreciation of His act of salvation on our
behalf) are opposed to faith/grace. They are directly apposed! It is like hot
and cold water. You can get both out of the same faucet, but not at the same
time. If you are using cold water, you cannot get hot water. If you are using
hot water, you cannot get cold water. Likewise if you are relating to God on
the basis of your works, you cannot receive grace. But if you are relating to
God on the basis of your faith, there is no room for works. Works require a
reward. Grace does not. We cannot be saved by our works because that is not
the way salvation comes to man. It comes as a free gift only. But you cannot
give a gift to someone who has earned it (Rom 4:1-8). So when one works for
their salvation, God cannot give them salvation because His salvation is free,
not a reward for good behavior. That is why there can be no grace in the presence
of works. To rely on one's own performance for their justification before God
is to fall from grace.
Obedience is Not a Work
Building on my disclaimer in the above paragraph concerning works, many people
misunderstand the Biblical meaning of "works." Too often in Evangelical
circles it is interpreted to mean "anything we (have to) do." This
is not true. A more precise definition would be "anything we (have to)
do to earn our salvation." The key word is "earn." This misunderstanding
can result in some pretty messed up teachings. For example, the Bible seems
pretty clear that baptism is part of salvation (Acts 2:38; Mark 16:16; I Pet
3:21) because it involves the remission of sins and death to sin's dominion
over our lives (Romans 6). It accomplishes a spiritual reality, and is not just
a public confession of faith in Christ. Yet some theologians will do some fancy
gymnastics to get around the clear teaching of Scripture in this regard because
they reason that if baptism is necessary for salvation, to be baptized is to
do something that affects our salvation, making baptism a work. Since Scripture
is clear that we are not saved by works they conclude that baptism is not part
of salvation. That is what happens when a work is defined as anything we do.
But using this unbiblical definition of works would not only make baptism a
work, but would make repentance a work as well because it is something that
we have to do as well. But if repentance is a work, salvation becomes impossible.
Put pointedly, some Evangelicals have confused works with obedience. We need
only ask ourselves "Who is doing the work in repentance and baptism? It
is us, or is it God?" Clearly it is God. What do we do? We just make a
decision to turn our lives around and confess our sins, and a decision to get
in a tub of water. We are simply being obedient to His word. We are not contributing
anything to our salvation. We are merely putting ourselves in the place where
God can give us His salvation freely. That is why Paul spoke of the "obedience
of faith" (Rom 1, 16) True faith leads to obedience, but that obedience
is not a work because the obedience itself does not earn us anything. Clearly
when we repent and get baptized we are contributing nothing to our salvation.
There is no work involved, only obedience. God is the one performing the spiritual
work. Using the common definition of "works" and applying it consistently
would lead us to conclude that we don't have to repent, be baptized, or obey
any commandment found in Scripture. Clearly such is not the case. When we repent
God is the one forgiving us. When we are baptized God is the one performing
the spiritual work. When we live right we do so only because God gives us the
grace to do so, and out of love for the God who saved us. It is only if we are
being obedient with the idea that our obedience demands that God reward us with
salvation are our works "works" in the Biblical sense of the word.
Conservatism is not Legalism
Another thing Christians often confuse is conservatism for legalism. This is
unfortunate. There is a difference between a morally conservative individual
and a legalistic individual, although to most Christians they are one and the
same. The difference is not in their actions per se, but in how they think about
their actions (mentality). The legalist thinks his right behavior grants him
favor before God that He otherwise would not have had, or he thinks his right
behavior can keep him saved. A morally conservative individual understands that
no amount of good works can earn one favor with God and that no one can do good
works without the grace of God, but also understands that we are to do good
works because we have been saved (Eph 2:9-10). For this individual good works
are an act of love toward a gracious God because we have been saved by Him,
not personal achievements that we must meet in order to be saved.
There is no question that we must be holy, and that holiness applies to every
area of our lives. Too many Christians, however, fail to apply Biblical holiness
principles to their lives consistently. They do not apply them when it comes
to where they go, what they say, what they watch, what they listen to, what
they do, how they look, etc. When they encounter other Christians who are concerned
about those areas and are applying Biblical principles to the same it is easy
to label them as legalists, or simply as conservatives, and have sort of a disdain
for them as though they are too radical. I do not think these people are all
that conservative, or too radical. I think the majority of us are simply too
laxed when it comes to being holy. Those we often look at as conservatives or
ultra-conservatives are simply being consistent in their holiness, not relegating
it to certain parts of their lives while ignoring the application of holiness
to others. But when you are on the far left, those on the right look like they
are far far away, even if they are only moderately to the right!
I do not think we can be too conservative when it comes to Biblical morality
and applying Biblical principles to every part of our lives. I am not opposed
to ultra-conservatives in the least. What I am opposed to are conservatives
turned legalists, damning and condemning everyone who does not do as they do.
That is when it turns ugly, and when the title of "legalist" is justified.
As long as what we are doing is unto the Lord is a good thing. Even if something
is not technically a sin in God's eyes, what matters is that the person who
refrains from doing whatever it is that they think is wrong is refraining from
doing it as unto the Lord. That's what matters-not whether they are right or
wrong per se (see Romans 14; I Cor 8, 10). They are doing it for His sake, trying
to please Him, and such an attitude is pleasing to God.
Listen to this old preacher, ok I'm not that old....
Conservatism, or ultra-conservatism only becomes bad when we think that our
works can bring us salvation, or when we impose our extra-Biblical persuasions
on others, or judge those who do not line up with our own personal moral standards.
By Russell Scitern
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