The essence of legalism is trusting in religious activity rather than trusting in God. It is putting our confidence in a practice rather than in a Person. And without fail this will lead us to love the practice more than the Person.¹ Legalism has many faces. Paul’s dealings with the Galatians over this issue was a major theme of his epistle to them. Let’s take a closer look as we continue our study on the Epistle to the Galatians.

[Tweet “Per Jesus, it’s more valuable to heal a man today than to legally wait to heal him tomorrow.”]

What is Legalism?

• “Legalism” is something added to grace either to obtain salvation (new birth, getting to heaven) or spirituality, either to receive it or to remain in it.
• Legalism teaches that sanctification and justification depend on a person’s own efforts thus denying the sufficiency of the cross.
• Legalism is man made rules added to God’s rules.
• Legalism is man made ideas added to God’s ideas.
• Legalism is man made plans added to God’s plans.

How Does Legalism Destroy Faith?

Matthew 12:9–14 (NKJV) 9 Now when He had departed from there, He went into their synagogue. 10 And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him. 11 Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? 12 Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” 13 Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other. 14 Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him.

• The Greek word ‘lawful’ to be authorized for the doing of something, it is right, is authorized, is permitted, is proper.²
• The word ‘lawful’ and the word legal mean the same thing.
• Legalism puts man’s rules above God’s rule’s.
• Jesus healed on the Sabbath many times, and in all of those cases, Jesus could have easily waited until the next day.
• Yet, He chose not to wait but went ahead and violated the Sabbath.
• Why?
• Well, Jesus tells us exactly why.
• Men are more valuable than sheep, period.
• According to Jesus, it’s more valuable to heal a man today than to legally wait to heal him tomorrow.
• People who are drowning in an ocean of sickness need a life raft today, not tomorrow.
• The will of God is always to heal a man today.

2 Corinthians 6:2 (GW) 2 God says, “At the right time I heard you. On the day of salvation I helped you.” Listen, now is God’s acceptable time! Now is the day of salvation!

• When is the day of salvation?
• Right now, today, or now as the scripture states it.
• The Greek word ‘salvation’ means deliverance. It means recovery or preservation from loss or danger, whether physical or spiritual.
• Legalists want you to wait and dot all your ‘i’s’ and cross all your ‘t’s’ before you receive anything from God.
• Legalism is what Jesus meant to dismantle on many occasions like the Sermon on the Mount.
• In that sermon, Jesus said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’
• That was the legal rule, but what was the spirit of the rule?
• What was the defining eternal principle?
• ‘Refusing to lust’ was the basic truth.
• Jesus addressed the subject of murder the same way.
• ‘You shall not murder’ was the legal rule.
• But, ‘refusing anger without a cause’ was the spirit of the rule.
• Jesus ‘Sabbath’ confrontations with the religious community of His day were legendary.
• On several occasions, he healed people on the Sabbath to the heated objections of the religious elite.
• The battle was a real one and still is today.
• Will a man be ‘Spirit-led’ like the New Testament teaches or ‘law led’ as the Jewish Old Testament requires?
• Legalism appeals through it’s focus on the outer man.
• It’s carried out by regimentation, by the discipline of the outward man.
• But, the spirit or the principle of God’s rules can only be lived through the inward heart of a man.
• Legalism is a slithering snake which tries to slide into even good and right spiritual disciplines.
• Repetitive spiritual disciplines, engaged over a long time, can become legal and no longer spiritual.
• That is we do them without connected from our hearts.
• Here it is in Jesus own words.

Matthew 15:8 (GW) 8 ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.

The Council of Jerusalem

Acts 15:1–11 (GW) 1 Some men came from Judea and started to teach believers that people can’t be saved unless they are circumcised as Moses’ Teachings require. 2 Paul and Barnabas had a fierce dispute with these men. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were sent to Jerusalem to see the apostles and spiritual leaders about this claim. 3 The church sent Paul and Barnabas ⌊to Jerusalem⌋. As they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria, they told the whole story of how non-Jewish people were turning to God. This story brought great joy to all the believers. 4 The church in Jerusalem, the apostles, and the spiritual leaders welcomed Paul and Barnabas when they arrived. Paul and Barnabas reported everything that God had done through them. 5 But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “People who are not Jewish must be circumcised and ordered to follow Moses’ Teachings.” 6 The apostles and spiritual leaders met to consider this statement. 7 After a lot of debating, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know what happened some time ago. God chose me so that people who aren’t Jewish could hear the Good News and believe. 8 God, who knows everyone’s thoughts, showed that he approved of people who aren’t Jewish by giving them the Holy Spirit as he gave the Holy Spirit to us. 9 God doesn’t discriminate between Jewish and non-Jewish people. He has cleansed non-Jewish people through faith as he has cleansed us Jews. 10 So why are you testing God? You’re putting a burden on the disciples, a burden neither our ancestors nor we can carry. 11 We certainly believe that the Lord Jesus saves us the same way that he saves them—through his kindness.”

• These scene in Acts fifteen takes place in Galatia.
• The region of Galatia was flooded with legalism.
• The Council at Jerusalem addressed the issue.
• The Judiazers demanded the Jewish law of circumcision be incorporated in the Jesus salvation message.
• These men from Judea were teaching believers that people couldn’t be saved unless they were circumcised as Moses’ taught.
• Paul and Barnabas fiercely disputed with these men because they understood grace.
• The Greek word ‘dispute’ means dissension, that is, a conflict of people’s opinions or actions or characters.
• The dispute was a huge conflict in the early church as the Greek says it.
• One side was for the Law.
• The other side was for grace.
• This issue is still a huge problem today though in many cases it’s not New Testament grace versus Old Testament law.
• The physical law of Moses has morphed with the passage of time.
• Its modern counterparts are easy to spot if you understand the concept of grace.
• We’ll continue on with this in next week’s post.

Acts 15:11 (NKJV) 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

Call to Action:

Legalism is poison to the Spirit led life. That’s why Paul addressed it and that’s why we should be concerned about rooting it out of our lives.

__________

References: