On Legalism
Legalism or pharisaism is a concept that most Christians would agree to be a negative when mentioned in casual conversation, yet rarely will you hear specifics. What this means is that people can talk past each other, while both may say that legalism is bad what they think legalism is may be different resulting in miscommunication. A descriptor I have heard from a friend of what legalism was is “any rule that is added for salvation.” I disagree with that descriptor because if anything is added to what is required for salvation then that crosses the line from legalism into heresy.
Then what is legalism? It is any rule and/or requirement that is expected of Christians that is not found within scripture. This is why we should be like the Bereans in Acts 17:10-12, The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so. Therefore, many of them believed, along with a number of prominent Greek women and men. We should desire to be in total obedience to God through the scriptures nothing added or subtracted.
The reason I have called legalism pharisaism is because in practice legalism is the modern-day version of what the pharisees were doing in Jesus’ day. The leaders add extra rules to either guard their followers from accidentally sinning and use the addition of rules to make themselves seem holier than their congregation. This is an extreme example because I believe most of the time when believers fall into legalism it is out of an earnest desire to be obedient and pursuing that goal without carefully considering scripture.
Legalism is perhaps one of the most sinister false teachings due to how easy it is for it to creep into solid scripturally sound meetings. This often happens when a Christian sees something they don’t like then without any analysis label it as evil when there is in fact nothing scripturally wrong with it. Now it is totally ok to have personal preferences, convictions, and tastes but those things must be separate from doctrine. But if a Christian teaches a personal preference, conviction or taste as a doctrine, something all believers should do that is not found within scripture then they teach as 1 Timothy 1:3 would call it a false doctrine.
As teachers we must always remember the warning in James 3:1-2 Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. We cannot afford to get sloppy or allow our pride to get in the way of us receiving correction.
Mind you 1 Corinthians 8 warns us to be careful with our liberty while we may understand something to be fine to do as a Christian that thing may be a stumbling block for a weaker believer. A stumbling block is just something that is not a sin but could lead a weaker believer to sin. For this reason, we should try to be mindful of what are points of tension within Christianity and examine anything to see if there is any way they could lead someone into sin. Just because someone does not like something you do does not mean you are making them stumble, examining every interaction for every situation will be a little different.
The ultimate problem with legalism besides the fact that in a practical sense it is adding to scripture is that it heaps burdens upon believers that God himself did not heap. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and YOU WILL FIND REST FOR YOUR SOULS. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Yet through legalism the church will add to your burden. When a Christian then leaves the faith and they proclaim they have never felt more relief that tells me that there had been an issue with where they had been assembling with other believers. The goal when we gather should be for that to be a time of learning, worshipping, and fellowshipping that leads to a feeling of spiritual rest and rejuvenation.
Be careful that in your attempt to get rid of legalism you also don’t throw out actual scriptural commands. Our goal should be to guard against legalism and to be as orthodox and fundamental in our obedience to the command and expectations of us as Christians found within scripture.