Legalism Hurts
Galatians 5:2-6 2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
“Isn’t Christianity a Bunch of Rules?”
Matthew 22:37-40 ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Romans 13:8-10 Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore it is the fulfillment of the law.
What is Legalism?
It is spoken or implied message that we earn or keep Gods favor by what we do.
- Do I tithe to the penny and struggle with generosity?
- Do I Mentally Keep Records of My Service to God?
- Do you get hurt if your service is not seen or recognized?
- Do I hear sermons for others? Do I elbow my spouse?
- Am I critical of people who would not act like that if they were a real Christian?
- Do I often get into arguments about the Bible?
- Do I pull out certain OT laws to determine if I am being faithful?
Why Legalism is so dangerous (and hurtful)
- Legalism replaces relationships with rules
Mark 7:6-8,13 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ 8 You have let go of the command of God and are holding on to the traditions of men…”13 “Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down.”
Legalism offers a platform for controlling people to shame others
Matthew 23:4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
Legalism undermines grace.
The Christian life under this motivation becomes performance-centered rather than acceptance-centered. Acceptance-centered obedience comes from knowing we have already been accepted; it is not obeying to be accepted. It is grace-motivated rather than fear-motivated.
Ephesians 2:6-8 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God
Galatians 2:21 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
Legalism focuses on the “looking Christian” at the expense of a heart change
Matthew 23:5 “Everything they do is done for men to see”
Matthew 23:15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.”
Legalism steals our Joy
Luke 11:42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.”
- We are saved by grace.
Galatians 3:10 “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.’ Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because ‘the righteous will live by faith.’”
- Focus on your heart
1 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?
