Confessions of a Recovering Legalist
Religious “Legalism” with a capital “L” is heresy. It’s the belief that one’s personal virtue and obedience to religious norms or standards merits God’s favor and/or salvation. This “do-it-yourself” religion is antithetical to the gospel of Christ and the Bible’s grace-based religion. “For by grace you have been saved through faith,” writes the apostle Paul. He goes on to remark, “This is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8). When asked what deeds God requires of men as a condition for eternal life, Jesus surprised his audience with the reply, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29; see also John 3:16, 36; Acts 4:12; 16:30-31; Rom 10:9-13).
Hardcore Legalism
I used to think that I could earn God’s favor and salvation on the basis of my inherent virtue and good works. Of course, I admitted I wasn’t perfect. But I foolishly presumed that my good deeds would somehow outweigh my bad deeds. In this respect, I thought and behaved much like the Pharisees, scribes, and Jewish people of Jesus’ day who trusted in their own inherent virtue and religious performance to merit their acceptance before God (Matt 5:20; Luke 16:14-15; 18:9-12, 14; Rom 10:1-3).
Thankfully, God helped me realize that my sinfulness was heart-deep (Gen 6:5; Jer 17:9; Matt 15:19-20) and that the best of my moral or religious deeds were worthless for earning His favor (Isa 64:6; Rom 3:20; Phil 3:4-9). By His saving grace, I repented of my sin and self-righteousness, placing my confidence and hope in the person and work of Jesus Christ alone. That’s when “Bob the Legalist” died.
Remaining Legalism
Conversion freed me from the penalty and dominion of sin, but sinful tendencies were not completely eradicated from my heart. I still struggled with some of the old tendencies of “Bob the Legalist.” Though I was no longer a Legalist, I still tended at times to think and behave like a legalist (lower-case “l”).
Elevating My Own Opinions
Without biblical warrant I tended to view certain practices as “wrong” and Christians who endorsed or practiced them as “worldly.” Instead of basing my understanding of “worldliness” on the teaching of Scripture (John 2:15-17), I based it largely on my own preferences, prejudices, and personal standards. As a result, I sometimes condemned what the Bible doesn’t condemn and disapproved of other Christians whom God approves (Ezek 13:22; Rom 14:3-4).
Looking Down at Others
I also had a tendency to be hypercritical of Christians and churches that didn’t share all my beliefs and convictions – while remaining to some degree blind to my own remaining sins and weaknesses (Matt 7:1-5). Instead of focusing primarily on the central truths of the gospel, I was overly preoccupied with beliefs and practices that distinguished me from all other Christians and exalted those beliefs and practices to a place of unwarranted priority (Matt 23:23). As a result, I so focused on minute orthodoxy that I lost sight of brotherly love (Rev 2:2-4) and humility (1 Cor 4:7).
Trusting in Human Tradition
Related to the tendency above, I esteemed my own ecclesiastical tradition so highly that at times I forced the teaching of Scripture into the mold of my tradition or failed to hear the teaching of Scripture because I too highly venerated my tradition. Instead of reading my tradition in the light of Scripture, I tended to read Scripture in the light of my tradition. As a result, I proudly thought myself superior to other Christians (Mark 9:38-40; 1 Cor 12:21) and that I had little if anything to learn from them – only much to teach them. Worse, my veneration of human tradition sometimes invalidated the teaching and mandates of God’s own Word (Matt 15:1-9).
Still Recovering
Thanks to God’s ongoing work of sanctification, I hope I understand God’s grace more clearly and am repenting of these legalistic tendencies, which ultimately spring from sinful pride. But I haven’t arrived. I’m still a “recovering legalist.” Ironically, one area I’ve been wrestling with lately relates to my attitude and posture towards other Christians in whom I perceive the tendencies of legalism. Christ has been so patient with me, yet I’ve not always been as patient with them. Instead, I’ve become so preoccupied with what I perceive to be their tendencies toward an imbalanced rigidity, a sectarian spirit, and an inordinate veneration of human tradition, that I’ve sometimes lost sight of God’s grace in their hearts and ministries. This too is a legalistic tendency.
May the Lord grant me to keep in view and never forget the great mercy He demonstrated to “Bob the Legalist” at conversion and has continued to show to “Bob the legalist” so that I might manifest the same charitable spirit toward my brothers and sisters who may still be struggling with legalistic tendencies (Matt 5:7; 7:2; 18:21-35; James 2:13).
B.G.
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Excellent!
Great post. Could you recommend further reading on this topic? How can I continue to uproot legalism and improper traditionalism in my own life and help to graciously explain biblical support for such to others?
Thanks!
Great post. I am with you brother! Especially the legalistic tendencies toward the Legalists. IT truly is ironic.
Kevin
I just found this website. I have to admit that I, too, once fell into this legalistic belief. One does not recognize it in themselves until they break away from it. It is so ugly and so limiting. I’m so blessed that God used what I thought, at the time, was a circumstnce that I’d never recover from , to get me out of it. I was then, and only then, able to see how much Christ truly loved me and others. I pray every day that He will give me His eyes to see people as He sees them and to love them as He does as well. I was just too busy trying to keep allthe rules they had imposed on me and to try to make my family fit the mold they had for us that I couldn’t see this until I got away from it. The Grace Awakening by Charles Swindoll was one of the things that helped me so much at this time. I felt dirty and ashamed of how I had lived, and I thought I was doing what God would have me to. Praise God I have been set free, free to love Him and serve Him and know that He loves me too. That legalistic mentality is ugly and offensive to God.
Bobby,
Perhaps the best post you’ve ever written. Your transparency
and honestly is not only powerful, it is a display of what a real NT Christian looks like and what he looks at.
Thank you my brother.
Thanks, Mike. We’re all in this sinful mess together. May the Lord continue to be patience with us, and may he grant us the grace to show the same longsuffering disposition to others.
Not to be a legalist, but one of those headings has an extra and improper “at.”
I don’t know that believing that others’ ideas are a bit off the mark makes one a legalist. Who knows, you might be right.
Eddie,
Thanks for catching the repeated preposition. It’s fixed.
Regarding your other remark, you should note that I used the phrase “without biblical warrant.” It is wrong to believe that others’ ideas are “a bit off the mark” if you don’t have sufficient biblical warrant for your criticism. Hope that helps clarify.
Thanks for dropping in and reading the post!
Thanks, Bob – Legalism is deeply rooted in us more than most of us realize. The hard thing is seeing it for what it is. The scary thing is that we can think we have bibilical warrant for for things we think and feel that are actually opinionated, arrogant, and ‘traditional’ (repeated preposition intentional). God help us all to hold only to biblically-defined convictions with grace and humility!
Well said! I too have been on this journey for some time. Thank you for sharing your personal struggles so plainly. It is encouraging to me to hear of others that have struggled with the same things I have and have been victorious…or at least have more wins than losses. Thank you.
Thanks Bob for the article. As I understand it, a legalist is one who is trying to earn his/her salvation by works (rather than as a gracious gift – Eph 2:8 ), or one who imposes unscriptural religious values on others and himself. i.e. dietary matters, observance of days and seasons as having a moral and sanctifying significance, or the rite of circumcision as was the case with the Galatians of Paul’s day; and in our day, those who think salvation is by receiving the “sacraments” of baptism and “communion” , or church membership, and any other ritual or work that corrupts the pure gospel of salvation by grace though faith in the atoning work of Christ.
However, I think Christians who have sensitive standards of Christian propriety are often called “legalists” by others. Often these “legalists” are genuinely following the moral standards of scripture. i.e. women are exhorted in scripture to attire themselves in modest apparel, and to conduct themselves with “shame facedness”. I find that women who follow this principle of scripture are often called “legalists” by others who insist on dressing like the rest of pagan society. The old cliche “what is modesty?” is simply a justification to indulge what one instinctively knows is immodest. (Just to cite one example.)
It has been said, and I think rightly so, that a legalist is someone who has a higher moral sensitivity than I do.