Legalism
On a web forum I recently joined there was a discussion about the definition of legalism. Having had a good deal of experience as a legalist, I was interested in the answers. In truth, I was not as interested in the answers as I was finding one answer which rarely comes up in the discussion.
When talking about legalism, especially in terms of Christianity, we tend to think of a legalist as someone who adds something to the Scriptures that is not really there. For example, we read that women are to dress in modest apparel, so we decide that modest is a dress, loosely fitting that has sleeves to the elbows, has a high collar and covers the knees. We've added to the Scriptures.
Another way we might think of legalism is to say that we live by the law. We become consumed with whether or not we are obeying every point of the law, and we judge are righteousness and our standing with God based on that obedience. That usually leads to judging everyone elses righteousness as well.
These things describe legalism quite well, but what they don't do is get to the heart of the matter. Legalism is no different than living by the flesh. In other words, we rely on our good works to show how righteous we are. We measure our goodness and our standing with God based on what we do.
Galatians contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is produced when God's Spirit is working through a person. Though the person is doing good works, he is not getting his strength or desire to do the good works from within himself. His power comes from God's Spirit, and God produces the fruit.
Galatians says that the law cannot touch the fruit of the Spirit. You can't even produce real love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. without God's Spirit. When we try to produce fruit by our own efforts, we end up producing the works of the flesh, also listed in Galatians 5. Among those are jealousy, envy, strife, adultery, etc.
It was interesting to me that among all the knowlegeable scholars giving answers to the question of legalism, only one got it right. His answer was long, but held a simple response. It is only in Christ where we find our righteousness, all other efforts are wood, hay and stubble. I agree.
When talking about legalism, especially in terms of Christianity, we tend to think of a legalist as someone who adds something to the Scriptures that is not really there. For example, we read that women are to dress in modest apparel, so we decide that modest is a dress, loosely fitting that has sleeves to the elbows, has a high collar and covers the knees. We've added to the Scriptures.
Another way we might think of legalism is to say that we live by the law. We become consumed with whether or not we are obeying every point of the law, and we judge are righteousness and our standing with God based on that obedience. That usually leads to judging everyone elses righteousness as well.
These things describe legalism quite well, but what they don't do is get to the heart of the matter. Legalism is no different than living by the flesh. In other words, we rely on our good works to show how righteous we are. We measure our goodness and our standing with God based on what we do.
Galatians contrasts the works of the flesh with the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is produced when God's Spirit is working through a person. Though the person is doing good works, he is not getting his strength or desire to do the good works from within himself. His power comes from God's Spirit, and God produces the fruit.
Galatians says that the law cannot touch the fruit of the Spirit. You can't even produce real love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc. without God's Spirit. When we try to produce fruit by our own efforts, we end up producing the works of the flesh, also listed in Galatians 5. Among those are jealousy, envy, strife, adultery, etc.
It was interesting to me that among all the knowlegeable scholars giving answers to the question of legalism, only one got it right. His answer was long, but held a simple response. It is only in Christ where we find our righteousness, all other efforts are wood, hay and stubble. I agree.
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