For professing Christians, can you accurately state what legalism IS, and what it IS NOT...?

Question

Thanks in advance for all sincere & polite replies.

May God bless you.

Good point, Hope, about what legalism is NOT.

Unfortunately, many people are of the erroneous mindset that it is legalistic to strive after holiness in our daily living, as a means of honouring the Lord. THAT is NOT legalism. It's called OBEDIENCE to the word of God.

Romans 12:1 - "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service."

"Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body." (1 Corinthians 7:18)

Was Paul being legalistic here?

Was he advocating justification before God by works of the Law, here?

No, Paul taught (particularly in Romans 12:2) good works as a logical response - by the grace of God and in the power of the Spirit - to God's work in our lives, to His glory (see also 1 Corinthians 7:19 & 20).

Some good points, Roger R.

Legalism - You CANNOT celebrate birthdays ( a commandment of men, NOT found in the bible).

Legalism - You cannot watch TV (a commandment of men, not found in the Bible).

Legalism - You must be circumcised and keep the Law of Moses, as well as believe in Jesus in order to be saved, refuted by the apostle in his letter to the Galatians. This is the misapplication of an Old Covenant commandment, which has been abrogated by virtue of the introduction of a New Covenant, the Covenant of justification by grace, through faith in Christ crucified & risen from the dead.

Legalism is NOT - Refraining from lying, stealing, sexual immorality, etc. Refraining from such - NOT as a means of justification before God, but as part of the process of SANCTIFICATION, which is for God's glory - is commanded by APOSTOLIC authority throughout the NT.

Answer 1

Hi there Carl,
Great question!
Legalism is trying to establish your own righteousness and merit salvation based on works of the law.
Legalism is NOT- after being justified by grace through faith, striving to obey the Lord in the power of the Holy Spirit out of a sense of gratitude and love.
Blessings to you!
:)

Answer 2

I think the previous definition of legalism is far too narrow.

I think legalism is anything people do thinking that God will always react to an action or a word in a certain way. Often the actions involved are repetitive or habitual, but they needn't be. Another definition of legalism would be 'a rigged slot-machine theology': You put a coin in and pull the handle and always, out drops something you wanted from God. Another definition would be to say that a legalistic person tries to get something from God based upon a formula, (it makes no difference whether they say that the formula is biblical or not).

In contrast to legalism, faith has an inbuilt element of risk and even danger and also humility. Unlike a legalistic deed or word, the outcome of a faithful deed or word is by no means certain. It does not purport to force God to do anything, it is humble in that sense. Jesus pointed to some actions as faithful; Like the widow who gave away all her money or the centurion who submitted to Christ's authority.

Answer 3

Legalism is a reliance on one's own performance to merit favor before God, rather than relying on Christ's performance at Calvary on their behalf. Many people misunderstand the Biblical meaning of "works." Too often in Evangelical circles it is interpreted to mean "anything we (have to) do." This is not true. A more precise definition would be "anything we (have to) do to earn our salvation."

There is no question that we must be holy, and that holiness applies to every area of our lives. I do not think we can be too conservative when it comes to Biblical morality and applying Biblical principles to every part of our lives. As long as what we are doing is unto the Lord is a good thing. Even if something is not technically a sin in God's eyes, what matters is that the person who refrains from doing whatever it is that they think is wrong is refraining from doing it as unto the Lord. That's what matters-not whether they are right or wrong per se (see Romans 14; I Cor 8, 10). They are doing it for His sake, trying to please Him, and such an attitude is pleasing to God.

What I am opposed to are conservatives turned legalists, damning and condemning everyone who does not do as they do. That is when it turns ugly, and when the title of "legalist" is justified. Conservatism only becomes bad when we think that our works can bring us salvation, or when we impose our extra-Biblical persuasions on others, or judge those who do not line up with our own personal moral standards.

Answer 4

There were legalists in the Bible. They attempted to follow the Law to the letter. They were under the idea that their works would save them. They believed that Moses would favor them for doing it that way.
But Jesus told them different. And it turned out that Jesus was right about that.

Even circumcision which was a covenant made before the Law of Moses was set aside for the better covenant. It was a ritual which had fleshly attributes that is fulfilled in Christ through the Spirit of God. The believer is 'circumcised' through the Spirit, he is 'opened' up to God, not having the cover of flesh to impede his awareness of God. Circumcision is therefore made obsolete.

The legalist will deny this, thinking that circumcision of the flesh is not done away with. Thinking that their performance of circumcision is a 'godly' thing to do, and well pleasing to God.

You see the legalists all throughout this forum. They are the one's who were taught that you have to live by the Ten Commandments. When it is not by the observance of the Law, but through faith that we gain a relationship with God through His Spirit, and not through the works of the Law as is preached throughout much of America.

It is therefore carnal to think that living by the Ten Commandments is going to please God. Because we have learned that without faith in God, it is impossible to please Him. If we turn our hearts and minds to God we become better able to know His will, the Ten Commandments will never do this, it only convinces those who know the truth to know that they are not perfect, and that they are the sinners that they truly are.

The legalist will go through the checklist of the Ten Commandments and say, " Nope! I did nothing wrong!" They convince themselves that they have not sinned. And that is no way to trust in God, it is the way to ruin, fleshly, and prideful.

Answer 5

Some Jehovah's witnesses came to me one day asking why I celebrated Christmas..I told them I was a born again christian before they asked, then they asked me why I celebrate Christmas-- my answer to them was "I am not going to be legalistic" explaining that it does not tell us in the Bible that it is a sin if we celebrate holidays, and that we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. I frankly said "Does it say in the Bible if you have Christmas tree you are going to hell?" they paused and did not know what to say and said
"yeah you're right it does not say that" then they smiled and walked away.

There are many christians today who will throw so many rules at you. Rules that are not biblical, but rather man made so that they can feel as if they are closer to God. But what does this accomplish? Nothing. In all honesty it accomplishes people who become very boring and arrogant through life, but most importantly will draw you away from God.
Sad.

I agree with what Beekay said too. His answers are always good.

Jesus says:
Matthew 23:13
"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in.

Answer 6

Broadly put, legalism is the belief one has to do something -- ANYthing -- in order to either be, or remain, saved. This leads to many false doctrines, such as one can lose one's salvation (thus denying we are saved by grace, through faith), or that we have to 'clean up our acts'/get baptised in water/pray a certain prayer a certain number of times a certain number of days to a certain saint/wear a scapular of 'Our Lady': all the above are things to which certain elements within the church subscribe. This is dangerous, and may mean they are not actually saved as they are relying upon something other than Jesus to save them.
This is why the Bible tells us how simple salvation is; Jesus will never let any believer go. Therefore I tell you to ensure you are trusting in Christ's atoning death, & ONLY in Christ's atoning death, for your salvation.

May God bless all who seek Him.

Answer 7

From my understanding so far, legalism is the deserving system. That is, we do good works to earn God's favour, love and acceptance.

Conversely, legalism is not grace, which is the undeserving system. Grace means we don't deserve God's favour, love and acceptance, because of our human imperfections, but we get them simply by believing Jesus has forgiven our sins and made us right with God.

Legalism can make a believer either proud or depressed. If he thinks he has done good works to make God love him more, he may become proud, and even look down on other people who seems to be less moral or obedient than him. On the other hand, if he thinks he has failed in some ways, he will feel depressed and thinks he has lost fellowship with God.

Grace, on the other hand, keeps a believer humble, because he knows God blesses him not because he has done good works but because of what His Son Jesus Christ has done for him at the cross.

Legalism can make a believer cold, hard, stingy and calculative. Jesus told about a Pharisee in a temple who prayed within himself about the good works he has done, like fasting, and looked down on the tax collector, who prayed "God, be merciful to me, a sinner."

In comparison, grace changes the believer from the inside out - when he knows how much he is forgiven of his sins, he will end up loving much. It's like what Jesus said of the woman who knew how much she was forgiven, and she showed her gratitude by wiping His feet with her hair and her tears.

Answer 8

Hello,

It all hinges on justification, on the grounds of salvation.

Legalism is any attempt to mix salvation by faith alone and salvation by works. If we act or believe that anything other than Christ's righteousness is necessary for salvation we are adopting legalism into our lives.

That said, the faith that saves will produce good works in our lives. These works will be evidence of our faith, but they will contribute nothing to the merit produced by Christ's righteousness given to us by grace through faith.

So, Legalism is more about what you feel is required for salvation, but it is also not legalistic to expect works to follow as evidence of faith (as long as you don't forget that the works in themselves aren't meritorious).

I hope some of that helps.

Answer 9

Yes! As A Born Again Christian.... I can answer.... Your Question!

LEGALISM.... is a False Codex of Beliefs... that rely on Compliance.... Rather than the WORD OF GOD!

As an Example.... as Jesus had to contend with the Jewish Religious of His day....!

(Luk 6:1-to-11) And it happened on the second chief sabbath, He went through the grain fields. And His disciples plucked the heads of grain and ate, rubbing them in their hands.

(Luk 6:2) And certain of the Pharisees said to them, Why do you do that which is not lawful to do on the sabbath days?

(Luk 6:3) And answering, Jesus said to them, Have you not read this, what David did when he was hungry, and those who were with him;

(Luk 6:4) how he went into the house of God and took the showbread, and ate (and also gave to those who were with him) which it is not lawful to eat, except for the priests alone?

(Luk 6:5) And He said to them, The Son of Man is Lord also of the sabbath.

(Luk 6:6) And it happened, also on another sabbath, that He entered into the synagogue and taught. And there was a man whose right hand was withered.

(Luk 6:7) And the scribes and Pharisees watched him to see if He would heal on the sabbath day, so that they might find an accusation against Him.

(Luk 6:8) But He knew their thoughts and said to the man who had the withered hand, Rise up and stand in the middle. And he arose and stood.

(Luk 6:9) Then Jesus said to them, I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil, to save life, or to destroy it?

(Luk 6:10) And looking around on them all, He said to the man, Stretch out your hand! And he did so. And his hand was restored whole like the other.

(Luk 6:11) And they were filled with madness, and talked with one another as to what they might do to Jesus.

The Legalism.... is Putting FORTH.... Standards that Are NOT God's Standards.....! Verse 2 !

Jesus responded ..... Verse 3 !

Legalism.... IS TRYING TO EARN SALVATION.... which is.... ONLY....By Grace... Ephesians 2:8-9-10.... Titus 3:5.... and other verses!

In countless Discussions with the Religious Jews... in All Four of the Gosples.... JESUS... has to Confront their Hypricicy and Duplicity.... and State..... " IT IS WRITTEN ! "

Please see my Blog / 360... for more! Simply click onto my AVATAR....picture of the London Underground and then my 360!

In Christ Jesus.... Roger R.

Answer 10

Trying to be justified before God by any of our works is what it is.
Doing good works out of love for God is what it is not.

Galatians 2:16
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

Romans 9:31-33 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.[a] Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.

Matthew 5:16
Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Ephesians 2:10
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.