Saturday, 13 December 2008
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What is Legalism?
Guest post submitted by Zayin_michael
The word is used at the drop of a hat when ever anyone says that we should adhere to holiness and the commands of God. Webster defines it this way: strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code.
Which is kinda funny because many Christians define it this way: Me having to give up anything I like doing and submitting to God.
Well, that may be what they are actually saying but they tend to phrase it more like this: Bondage, slavery to something, trying to earn salvation.
I tried to look up synonyms for legalism in the thesaurus but there were not any, which surprises me because almost every time the word legalism is presented, the person whom threw the word out accuses someone of being in bondage or trying to enslave someone in bondage.
It's difficult to have an honest discussion about such a term on account that most people have an embedded predisposition to a stance. As when I say being obedient to the law of God, most people want to call me a legalist, and say that I am trying to earn my salvation. That is the same line of thinking that links homosexuals to child molesters. Just because someone is gay, does not mean that they molest children, just because I am obedient to my God and what he has commanded me, does not mean that I am trying to earn my salvation.
In fact I would put it this way: Salvation is as a living breathing thing. It is new life. We have had no part in our birth, that was the result of our parents or in this case God giving us new life. We are now "born". What do we do with this life? We need to sustain our life... therefore we need to feed ourselves to sustain our life. Obedience to the word of God is the food that keeps ourselves alive. Without obedience to God's words, we are spiritually starving ourselves to death. So what we see is that eating does not give birth to us, but is something we do to stay alive after we are born... Obedience to God's commands is not something we do to save us, but is something that we do after we are saved.
While perusing biblegateway I found this in an article: Legalism is to elevate our traditions and ideas onto the same level as God's Law. Thus it blinds us to the fact we have been freed by grace. Legalism also serves to be a power and control over others!
By this definition, legalism is to elevate something to the same level as God's law, and not the keeping of the Law itself. It is snares of manmade traditions that has been elevated up to divine command.Can you really call someone a legalist for following the commands of God? I mean after all we are called to not sin and 1 John 3:4 states that sin is the transgression of the law.
Is it legalism to follow the commands of God for sake of obedience? How do you define legalism?
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Comments (18)
I dont' think it's legalism to follow the laws of God. We are called to do exactly that!! However, trying to achieve our salvation that way is where the problem lies for some people.
When I think of "legalism" I think of the Pharisees, who had created so many laws (something like 600?) over and above what God commanded, and those laws became more important to them than the laws of God and the grace of God.
Closer to home I think of a form of legalism I grew up (which thankfully doesn't exist for me and my family anymore) ---- things like "no changing into play clothes on Sunday" "no riding bikes on Sunday" "no playing in the sandbox on Sunday" "no going to the beach on Sunday" ........these were Pharasaical laws that came into being as my parents tried to obey the command "Observe the Sabbath Day to keep it holy" - not realizing the freedom that also comes with the fact that Jesus fulfilled the law.
Anyways - just my .25 cents!
Great post by the way.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
Galatians 5:4 You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.
I believe we are called to be holy, but I believe the only way to get there is through Christ's life living through us. We cannot do it on our own. I believe the purpose of the Christian life is relationship with God. Out of that relationship we should see an increase in our obedience, and I believe that should flow out of our love for God and desire to please Him because we love Him so much. I don't believe we should obey out of fear or dread or just because a rule is there. God is a Father; I don't believe He wants His children living like He's a zoning manual. I also don't believe He wants them living like He has no boundaries. Some things are flat-out wrong; however, I don't have to convict people. If God really is their Father, He will correct them. It is not legalism to live an outwardly righteous life if we live it for the right reasons. I believe it absolutely is legalism if we live it for the wrong reasons (fear, to impress others, to look good, etc.).
James 2:26 As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.
If we don't see righteous fruit in our lives, we better check the vital signs of our faith.
I believe the law we are under now, since Christ, is the law of love. That law should lead us to righteousness and peace and good deeds in Christ. I believe legalism is enslavement to rules, but real Christianity is about relationship with God. Out of that relationship flows good fruit, and we will absolutely obey God's rules when we let Christ's life live through us.
@nicolevw@xanga - I agree! I went to a church where if the men didn't wear a coat ant tie they were looked down upon. The women were supposed to wear dresses, no pant suits, and they had to be below the knee. Men wore their hair short wile the women wore theirs long. All of these "rule" were backed up of course by scripture!
I often wondered if they thought that they were more holy than the Amish! 
Legalism is thinking you can get closer to God or be more holy by following certain rules (standards) even if they can be backed up by scripture! The Pharisees knew the scriptures inside and out. They lived by the letter of the law, not by the heart of it!
"Is it legalism to follow the commands of God for sake of obedience?"
Being obedient is a good thing. In the context of obedience, legalism is usually more a matter of the attitude than the performance.
"How do you define legalism?"
I think it generally has two major uses, although people blur the two often enough. 1) Treating certain issues as conditions of salvation that biblically are not presented as such. 2) Declaring certain actions as immoral where the Bible is not outspoken.
They are very similar actions, though one is tied to salvation (pushing a different gospel) and the other is tied to morality/holiness (infringing upon freedom in Christ).
It can be easy to fall so in love with the idea of grace that we don't strive after holiness. This is unfortunate.
@stuartandabby@xanga - two thumbs up!
While perusing biblegateway I found this in an article: Legalism
is to elevate our traditions and ideas onto the same level as God's
Law. Thus it blinds us to the fact we have been freed by grace.
Legalism also serves to be a power and control over others!
I think that is one of the problems. When churches or people come up with laws that are not scriptural, such as "watching tv is a sin". This is an area where it could become a sin but not necessarily is a sin. So, we need to let the Holy Spirit convict the person if they have made it sinful.
Another problem is interpretation. Someone may interpret the bible as saying it's a sin to drink alcohol and another person thinks it's ok as long as you're not drunk, which the bible says is a sin.
I think the bible clearly says that we need to be obedient. We need to be concerned about ourselves first before we start judging other people about whether or not they are obedient enough. We always want to exhort those that are weak in faith out of love.
Legalism in a Christian context is treating laws regarding custom and morality as if they are of greater importance than the two greatest commandments: Love God and Love thy neighbor.
Essentially, it is being a follower of the law rather than a follower of Christ.
I would hope that those who are mature in their faith would have come to a balance in their lives such that they obey the law out of love for God.
The Word talks about the "perfect law of liberty" I personally think that law is love because the Word says that if we love the Lord the Lord our God with all our heart and all our mind and all our strength then we are following the greatest commandment.
If we love we wont do what we arent suppose to do and do what we are suppose to do by nature of love. Love has certain criteria and when we are following it we are being obedient in every way.I think this is a great topic. The term "legalism" is often misused.
I think it can have some general meanings. 1) it can refer to the belief that we are still under the Old Covenant. and the most common, 2) that we are bound to certain rules and laws that aren't in the New Testament. i.e. we have to go to church every week, we have to read our bibles every day, we can't drink alcohol.
I agree that too often the term is used to justify sin.
Such neat thoughts! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. Your last two questions were: "Is it legalism to follow the commands of God for sake of obedience? How do you define legalism?"
To the first question, i would state a firm "no." We follow the commands of God because it is our reasonable service for all that He has given to us, and done for us. It's a love service. We do it because we know that's the way to eternal life and communion with God. Following God is not strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code. Following God should be done out of LOVE.
As for the second question, the first thing that comes to my mind is the image of churches that make their own man-made rules in equal standing with God's laws. I have seen this in many churches... but it's hard to address, because the laws in themselves are not a sin, but how do you explain to someone like that the freedom we now have in Christ? (not freedom to do whatever we jolly well feel like, but rather we now have the Spirit of God who gives us discernment... and thus freedom from the oppression of binding man-made rules and regulations.)
Not sure if any of this makes sense, but these are my thoughts.
legalism... AKA Pharisees... AKA Judiazers... AKA religious freaks with a moral stick so far up their anal-retentive behinds that everything to them is sin... well everything that they don't do... makes you wonder how they walk down the street....
it's really quite simple... legalism in this sense is:
Jesus + _______.... fill in the blank...
for instance... anyone who wears jeans (ladies), go to amusement parks, wear makeup (ladies), shorts (men), or have hair longer than their neckline (men)... are in sin (according to a movement I used to be a part of called the Pentecostal Holiness Movement, glad it's just a movement and not a monument, clearly they have moved on)...
Which means... righteous based on the merits of one's own accord or doing... plus the imputed work and the person of Jesus....
legalists are all over the place....
how do you approach a legalist???
according to Mark Driscoll and another friend named Mark I know, you mock them, laugh at them, make fun of them, poke at them... let them know how much of a joke they are so they repent of their legalism and lighten up and take God more seriously than their silly selves...
How do you approach a legalist? The way Christ would... Not by mocking them or making fun of them, but by setting them straight in a firm, but loving, way.
You're right, they are all over the place, but mostly in the church, sadly. The Church is not how it was originally designed to be. :( Just my .01-1/2.
I believe legalism is holding onto the rules and statutes held within the bible in an effort to become or stay saved. We are saved by grace and not one person can justify him or herself. Obedience to the word out of love for God is different. I am thankful for the mercy of God in my life.
Nicely said. I heard one definition somewhere that has kinda stuck with me, is legalism is where you get the do's and do not's in higher priority than loving God.
nothing wrong with following the law and what we have been commanded to do, as long as it comes out of love for God and we don't expect doing it to "make" us love God.
Good thoughts. It's important to clarify what legalism really is. Sometimes people do have the idea that legalism means striving to obey God, and they use it as an excuse to not worry about His commands.
My college has certain rules that I think are excessive--for instance, no social dancing and no alcohol. I wouldn't call it legalism, though. The school clearly states that they are not enforcing biblical standards, just standards for community living. Even though I don't think these rules are necessary, I believe I am obligated to obey them. I don't think that's legalism; I think it's obedience to God's command to obey authorities.
Just to throw this quote out there, "Holiness without love is legalism. Love without holiness is compromise."
@nicolevw@xanga - We live our own lives, and make our own choices. Christ doesn't do anything for us, he gives us strength, so that we can become righteous. Not being under law doesn't mean not having to keep the commandments. It means we no longer have to shed blood for our sins. Jesus became the sacrifice to fulfill that. We still have to get rid of sin, and make the choice to do so. Ive been called legalistic too. God bless