Criticism: You Legalists!

Legalists and Legalism
By Chris Good

John 14:15
If you love me, you will obey what I command

1 John 5:3
This is love for God: to obey his commands.
And his commands are not burdensome,

"You Pharisees! Who lets you impose your rules?!" This is often an objection faced by people seeking to follow the rules that Christ by His Spirit has laid down for his people in His Word. The "legalist!" label is rolled out. But what really is a legalist - and what is legalism? Are we guilty of it when seeking to follow Scriptural standards?

1) What legalism is

Many of the Pharisees are often held up in Scripture as examples of 'legalists'. Their legalism took various forms:

Salvation by works: The belief that one can be right with God by living a 'good' enough life in obedience to the Law to merit God's approval (eg: the Pharisee & the drunkard - Luke 18:9-14)
imposing man-made traditions/rules that nullify God's commands (eg: Mark 7:1-23; Luke 6:1-11)
judging people using non-Biblical criteria/rules (eg: Luke 6:37-42)
the hypocrisy of outward conformity to God's Word while inwardly denying it (eg: Matthew 5:20f; Luke 6:1-11; James 1:22-25)

2) What legalism isn't

The opposite of legalism is not lawlessness. Indeed - Scripture defines all sin as "lawlessness" (1 John 3:4). We can be 'lawless' through violating God's Law by disobedience, or by adding our own laws instead - as with legalism. Hence, it is not legalistic to insist that people:

adhere to God's requirements in Scripture. Jesus himself said: "If you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15). Indeed, following Christ's laws/commands as thankful worship is a fruit of the true Christian and part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20)
live lives consistent with their Christian profession (James 2:14-20,26)
worship our Holy God only as He has stated in Scripture - all else is forbidden (Deuteronomy 4:2; eg: Hebrews 7:13-14. Theologians call this the "Regulative Principle of Worship". This principal stands as a guard against the accumulation of traditions and practices adopted on the pretext that they don't conflict with Scripture.)

3) Avoiding Legalism

We can avoid legalism by:

refusing to seek salvation through obedience to the law. Rather we obey God's commands in love in order to glorify Him for having saved us already (Philippians 2:12-13)
rejecting human traditions and practices that are not sanctioned by God's word. This requires us to 'test all things' by God's Word. In doing so we avoid deception (1 John 4:1 cf Matthew 24:23-25; Acts 17:11; 1 Corinthians 14:29; 2 Timothy 4:2-4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-12; etc.)
not imposing our views on fellow believers on matters of Christian liberty (Romans 14)
ensuring that we are loving and obeying God with our hearts as well as our minds. We must avoid the hypocrisy and self-deception of mere outward conformity (Matthew 22:36-40)

Conclusion: Who Are You To Impose Your Rules?!

Legalists are those who seek to impose unbiblical practices or attitudes upon the church and require these for salvation, worship and/or Christian living. Many claimants to new moves of the Spirit are trying to justify an uncritical acceptance of their teaching and practices. In this they are in danger of imposing their own 'laws' over the Spirit's working in the churches by His Word. Today's 'Pharisees' - like those of old - are often blind to their own legalism!

Supporting Article

Legalism: What Exactly Is It?

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Page last updated:
Friday, 19 January 2007