WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF LEGALISM?

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF LEGALISM?

By: Jack Guyler

What did legalism look like in the days of Jesus and the early church?

• Jesus told a story about a Pharisee and a tax collector. The Pharisee thanked God that he wasn’t like other people – that he was better than others because he followed the rules of tithing and fasting. He proudly touted his superiority over the tax collector who was clearly a sinner. Unfortunately for the Pharisee, according to Jesus, it was the tax collector who was truly justified before God because he trusted his righteous position before God to what God had done for him whereas the Pharisee trusted in what he did for God. And according to Jesus, there was a big difference between the two!

• One day the disciples came upon a blind man and they asked Jesus, “is this man blind because of his own sin or the sin of his parents?” In other words, he was being punished by God and they wanted to know who was to blame – his parents or him. This is another example of legalism because according to legalists, if you follow the rules, God will show favor upon you with good things and if you don’t follow the rules, God will punish you

• One day Jesus wanted to heal a man in pain but the Pharisees said He couldn’t do it because it was the Sabbath. He could have healed the man either the day before or the day after, but not on the Sabbath. In other words, the man could not be relieved of his pain because this would dishonor God on the Sabbath. Does that make sense? Jesus didn’t think so either. Jesus wasn’t a legalist. He loved God and always obeyed God. So Jesus went ahead and healed the man on the Sabbath because He knew the heart of God was to bring healing and comfort, not follow a law that was being misappropriated

• In the early church, there arose a dispute between a legalistic group that required Gentiles to be circumcised if they were going to follow Jesus and the other group who said it was enough for Gentiles, especially since they weren’t Jewish to begin with, to just believe in Jesus for their salvation. The church council declared that legalism could not be allowed to keep the Gentiles from coming to Christ and that they were to follow the scriptures that taught “salvation is by grace alone”

What does legalism look like today?

It can take many forms, but here are a few examples…

• Some churches I have known had the requirement that drinking, eating food or laughing was not allowed in the church building. They believed it was dishonoring to God for people to do any of these things in the building – that somehow these would dishonor God’s house. These same people ate, drank and laughed before church or after leaving the building. There is no guideline in scripture that prohibits this. This was just their preference being imposed on other people. It stifled people from building community, having fun, inviting friends and talking with others. This is a case where legalism was defeating the very mission of the church

• Another example is how people dress. Some impose upon others that they have to wear certain clothing and avoid others because it might reveal too much skin. Tattoos are another point of contention for many legalists. They believe – but it is only their belief – they are ungodly and that people shouldn’t have them. Again legalism here is keeping the church from inviting and accepting people who don’t know Christ into its fellowship. Rather than becoming a channel of God’s love, they become a barrier

Here is what R.C. Sproul says legalism looks like:

1. Focusing on God’s laws more than relationship with God

“Legalism forms where one is concerned merely with the keeping of God’s law as an end in itself…Legalism divorces obedience from God’s love and redemption.”

2. Keeping external laws without a truly submitted heart

“Legalism obeys the externals while the heart is far removed from any desire to honor God, the intent of his law or Christ”

3. Adding human rules to divine laws and treating them as divine

“Sproul says, Jesus rebuked the Pharisees at this very point saying, ‘You teach human traditions as if they were the word of God.’”