WHY IS LEGALISM DANGEROUS?
WHY IS LEGALISM DANGEROUS?
By: Jack Guyler
Here are the 4 primary dangers of legalism…
It puts a person’s focus on themselves and not on Christ. Prior to Paul’s conversion, he was all about himself and wrapped up in his own self-righteousness. Prior to Martin Luther’s revelation that his good works couldn’t save him, he spent all of his time trying to do good works, beating himself up and always feeling like a failure. For both men, when they came to Christ, they began to put their time, attention and affection on Christ rather than themselves because they realized salvation was from Christ alone, not their efforts. Legalism keeps our focus on our efforts rather than on the finished work of Christ
Second, legalism can lead to pride and arrogance and neither of these ever lead to anything good. Think of the story Jesus told of the Pharisee who compared himself to the tax collector and how he got off on his own goodness. It was his own goodness and righteousness that actually kept him from knowing God. The more we become prideful over our ability to keep the rules and appear good is the very thing that convinces us we don’t really need Christ that much. And this is the danger of legalism
A third danger of legalism is that it leads to low self-esteem, failure and devastating depression. Just ask Martin Luther. Until he discovered the truth of Romans 1:17, he was completely defeated and felt alienated from God. But once the truth of Romans 1:17 sank in, he was a free man – no longer under the bondage and fear of one wrong step ruining his relationship with God. As long as you can keep up and keep every rule, you will feel good about yourself. But who can keep that up for too long? No one! So when you start down the other side of this slippery slope, you will find nothing but failure, guilt and depression. Legalism leads to a dark place. The only answer is accepting the love and grace of God!
A fourth danger of legalism is that people can believe that certain things they do and their personal views on various things (i.e. alcohol use, types of movies or music, political views, amount of time spent in prayer, a certain version of the bible to be used exclusively) are the righteous standard for everyone. They ignore principles found in Romans 14 and require everyone to live by their rules, thinking these are what make them Christian or doing these things is what makes a mature Christian. When legalist people press their views upon others, they are seen as narrow and judgmental. The Church has been accused of these things for years. They turn people off to attending church, and worse to following Christ. A mixed message is sent to people. They think if they don’t follow someone else’s rules, they aren’t following Christ. Legalism will serve as a barrier to many coming to Christ and will stunt the growth of those who are trying to follow Christ
