Legalism
Charges of legalism are common among both believers and the world. Often the term is misused, but it is an important one to understand. The legalist thinks that righteousness can be summarized as a list of dos and don’ts. If you do this list and refrain from doing anything on that list, you’ll be good to go.
What if I told you that the main issues with the Pharisees was that they weren’t righteous enough rather than that they were too concerned with good? How can that be, since they had a super long list of requirements for righteousness?!
For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:20
The problem with legalism is not the length of the list. Some of the most extreme legalists of our time have very short lists. They’ve refined their definition of morality down to a very succinct obligation to do only a few things they like and avoid a few others that they hate. The problem with the legalist, rather, is that they believe that they can define righteousness!
God’s perfect standard is set, and the only way a person can reach it is through faith in Christ. You can spot a legalist by asking if they consider themselves good enough. I would say “good enough to go to heaven” except many legalists today spend their whole life denying God. According to God’s standard, Jesus is the only human good enough just the way he is. Therefore, if anyone else thinks he is, he is applying his own standard rather than God’s.
Purpose of God’s Law
Why did God give us commands then? If only faith in Christ is sufficient for righteousness than why do we need to know anything else?
First, to the believer, the commands we find in scripture are how we can get to know God’s will and nature. We learn about the righteousness of God that is ours only through Christ by learning about how God would have man live. Our salvation is just the first step in an eternal life with our Lord. Our minds are renewed by comparing the way of the world to the commands of God, so that we can comprehend his will better.
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
Romans 12:2
Secondly, the law is a benefit to unbelievers as well! How does the law of God benefit those who don’t follow it?
Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
1 Timothy 1:8-11
The law demonstrates the need of the gospel to the lawless! There is a Christian discussion going around online right now about how great a risk “cultural Christianity” is to the gospel. The idea being that any enforcement of God’s law upon a nation would make its people feel “good enough” that they wouldn’t understand their need for Christ.
The reality is the exact opposite. People will always be inclined to believe they are good enough as long as they follow the standards of their culture. If people are defining their own right and wrong, legalism becomes more easy for people to swallow because the lists will be tailored to what they’re already doing.
If, however, a culture adopts God’s laws it will be more apparent that we all need Christ because his commands are just and we are not good by nature. We will always be fighting a Pharisaical attitude in any culture. The struggle is just harder when being a Pharisee means just giving in to whatever base desires a person has.
Whether the fight is easy or hard, we must give the message that none of us is sufficient in ourselves to be right with God. At the same time, we can offer people the promise of being made right through the sacrifice that Jesus offered on our behalf! The good news is so good because of the bad.
