LEGALISM AND ITS DANGERS

 

  

 

What is legalism? We often use this term to identify two different problems:

1.    Adding & Subtracting from the Word.

2.    Earning Anything Good from God 

1.    The Pharisees, Catholics, Mormons, Theistic Evolutionists, and Jehovah Witnesses, among many other groups, either add to the Bible other authoritative sources or subtract from it, like the Theistic Evolutionists who dismiss early chapters of Genesis as non-historical. They claim that these chapters aren’t about history but theology to neutralize the many areas of conflict between the Bible and the theory of evolution. However, whenever other parts of the Bible comment upon these chapters, they affirm their historicity.

However, the Bible firmly warns against adding and subtracting from the Bible. We do this without actually adding or subtracting verses from within the Bible, whether Church traditions, commentaries, or even our pastor. The Berean synagogue had been commended because its members had checked out everything that Paul had taught against the Words of God—the Hebrew Scriptures. God through His Word—both Old and New—must be our ultimate authority: 

·        Revelation 22:18–19 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.

·        Deuteronomy 4:2 You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you. 1 Corinthians 4:6…not to go beyond what is written…

However, there is nothing wrong with our traditions—celebrating birthdays and anniversaries—as long as they do not rival or contradict the Bible.

The rabbis had complained to Jesus that His disciples weren’t following their traditions regarding hand-washing. However, Jesus responded that the rabbis had even placed their traditions above the Scriptures. Consequently, their worship was useless and even a betrayal of Israel’s God:

·       Matthew 15:3–9 He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”

The rabbis didn’t have to tamper with the Bible by physically adding or taking away verses. It was enough that they had elevated their own traditions to the level of the authority of Scripture by minimizing their authority as the Words of God.

The second usage of the term “legalism” is no less serious. It challenges a common belief at the foundation of the Bible:

2.    The hopeless attempt to earn the love and approval of God by obeying His law perfectly. 

But don’t we reap what we sow? Isn’t obedience a source of God’s blessings? Doesn’t God honor those who honor Him through their obedience to the Word? The answer to all these questions is “yes.” Then why can we not take credit for what we “earned” through our obedience? We cannot do so! Jesus warned:

·       Luke 17:10 “So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’ ”

·       We only deserve one thing from our God—death: Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Oral Roberts had taught that when we obey God, we are establishing a savings account in heaven from which we can withdraw as we will. Consequently, we are entitled to these blessings since we had earned them, right? Why not? Because we must also give thanks for our hard work and our gifts. All these good things are the fruit of His Spirit and not our own:

·       James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

·       Consequently, Paul even gave God the credit for his hard work: 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.

God deserves the credit for any good that comes out of our hard work. However, the human belief is that we must earn whatever good comes out of our lives. This was also Israel’s belief. Consequently, they saw little need for the Savior:

·       Romans 9:3-33 Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works [own righteousness]. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Indeed, the law was to lead us to righteousness but not in the way that Israel suspected. The law was intended to destroy self-righteousness and pride by showing us our utter need for the Messiah. However, natural man loved the darkness of the lie rather than the truth of Christ. Even as a Christian, I too had lied to myself. I knew enough that salvation is given as a gift. However, I convinced myself that I was more righteous than others. While God had provided the means of salvation from the Cross of Jesus Christ, I provided the faith, taking credit and boasting about my spiritual discernment. It was only later that I had realized that I needed to credit God even for my faith granted me through regeneration of the Spirit:

·       Ephesians 2:8–9 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the GIFT of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

 It eventually became clear to me that ever faith could become a source of boasting if we fail to understand that faith is a part of the saving Gift of God:

·       Philippians 3:3, 7-9 …[We] put no confidence in the flesh…But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things [in which I had previously trusted]  and count them as rubbish [as meritorious], in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

Repentance is also a part of this Gift: 2 Timothy 2:24–26 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

·       A woman had testified:“I yearned to be the perfect Proverbs 31 woman. I was going to please God in every way I could so that He would love me, but I became tormented because I could never be perfect enough. I spiraled down into shame and disappointment until I understood that God already loved me merely because I trusted in Him. Therefore, I no longer try to be perfect.” (?)

While, this woman had come to many liberating insights, God’s grace does not free us from the requirement to seek to be perfect in holiness.

·       1 Peter 1:14–16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, in ALL your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

This requirement can feel like bondage until embrace the extent of God’s love and forgiveness:

·       1 John 1:8–9 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is a passport to the freedom to fail and to adore him all the more for His love and faithfulness. It also gives us license to invest all of our trust in God as we continue to seek to please our Savior and Lover in all things:

·       2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from EVERY defilement of body and spirit...

This pursuit will often prove painful and discouraging. However, it will eventually convince us that God loves us despite our unworthiness:

·       Ephesians 3:19–20 …know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Is it possible to spend too much time contemplating God through His Bible? We hear it said, “To be too heavenly minded is to be no earthly good.” While it might feel this way at times, there is no Scriptural support for this belief. Instead, Scripture meditation equips us to live for Him. It is like buttoning your shirt up by starting with the right button. Consequently all the following buttons  will fall into place. Conversely, by starting with the wrong button, every subsequent button will be out of place.