New Salem Baptist Church

Legalism

April 27, 2025

Scripture reading: Galatians 3:1-3; 9-10.

There is a deadly doctrine that has plagued God’s people throughout all ages. Some would call it an attitude more than a doctrine. It is both. We see that Jesus confronted it and the apostle Paul did, too. It is legalism. Today, we will define it, explain it, and reveal its dangers.

I often like to begin explanations by telling what something is not, before I tell what it is. The reason for this is that there are many subjects for which there are misconceptions. So, it is sometimes better to dispel the misconceptions before moving on to the right conceptions.

[I] Legalism is not simply following God’s. moral law. There at least two different kinds of law revealed in the Bible. Sometimes you will see three or four types of law spoken of in Christian literature, but the Bible itself only clearly differentiates two kinds.

There is moral law which reflects the character of God Himself, It lives in perpetuity. There is also ceremonial law which was meant to communicate God’s gracious salvation to his people. The ceremonies pointed forward to Christ, such as animal sacrifices, or taught that God’s people must be holy, that is, different from the nations around them. As such, the ceremonial law was temporary. Whereas, the moral law is eternal.

A brief look at two passages will confirm this distinction.

            And Samuel said,

            “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

                        as in obeying the voice of the LORD?

            Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

                        and to listen than the fat of rams.

(1 Samuel 15:22 ESV)

Notice that Samuel says that sacrifices, which were commanded by God, are one thing and simply obeying is another thing. These two things are set in distinction to one another. The burnt offerings and sacrifices were ceremonies that pointed forward to Christ. When Samuel wrote this, God’s people were required to make them.

But, the Spirit said through Samuel that to obey God is better than making sacrifices. This obeying is obviously obeying the other commands of God, that is, the beautiful and satisfying moral laws. Our sinful nature sometimes causes our hackles to be raised at certain laws of God, but deep within we know that God’s moral law is good and what we really need! As Paul says, “The law is holy and righteous and good.” (Rom. 7:12)

Another verse that shows this distinction:

            For neither circumcision counts for anything nor uncircumcision, but keeping the commandments of God.

(1 Corinthians 7:19 ESV)

Circumcision was a ceremonial law. Keeping the commandments of God refers to God’s moral law. These commandments are found in both the Old Testament and New Testament. In fact, when Paul wrote this (about 55 AD) the only thing the church had was the Old Testament! (The gospels, according to both internal and external evidence, were not written nor distributed until after 55 AD.) Therefore, when Paul writes that we are to keep the commandments of God, he is referring to the commandments of God in the Old Testament.

The apostle John says the same thing:

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, (1 John 2:3-4; ESV)

So, we see that legalism is not seeking to obey the commandments of God.

Neither is it being legalistic when we influence others to obey God, especially others in the household of faith. We are our brother’s keeper with respect to helping them walk in the ways of the Lord. We ought to encourage them when we see them living faithfully, and we ought to rebuke them, with tenderness, when we see them astray.

Neither is it legalism to declare that one must repent of their sins in order to be saved from the consequences of their sin. Jesus himself declared this as did the apostles. One must repent to be saved. It is not legalism to affirm this.

We have expressed what legalism isn’t. What is it?

Legalism is believing that one could or should earn God’s approval by performing the requirements of the law.

[II.] There are four types of legalism and each one is bad. I will reveal why each one is bad shortly.

[A.] There is what is called salvific legalism. If you have never heard that adjective before, it is not hard to discern the meaning. Salvific comes from the word salvation. It simply means having to do with salvation. How is one saved? Or, to use more common biblical terminology, how is one justified?

Legalism proclaims that in order to be saved, or justified,[1] we must do something. Not believe something, but do something. We must adhere to God’s law. This is the very matter that the apostle refuted in our Scripture reading. Let’s also look at what he writes in Galatians chapter 2:

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.^[2]

Paul could not be any clearer. We are not justified by following the law. We are justified by faith, that is, by trusting in Jesus Christ. This was so important to Paul that he reaffirms it in more than one letter:

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,.^[3]

To teach that one must conform or attempt to conform to God’s law to be justified, as the Roman Catholic Church does and as the Church of Christ does, as well as every cult, is to practice legalism.

[B.] The second type of legalism is receptive legalism. It is also called “sanctificatory legalism.” Besides being another long adjective which has to be explained and remembered (it has to do with how we are sanctified), it is rather misleading. The expression, “sanctificatory legalism,” is not a good term because it is necessary to know and adhere to God’s law in order to be sanctified. We do so by the power of the Spirit who changes our heart to love God’s law. Therefore, receptive legalism is a better phrase.

Legalism in this sense has to do with our relationship with God after being justified. It is the idea that in order for God to receive us, or fully accept us, after we have come to faith, we must obey Him. Make no mistake, God is displeased when we disobey him. He is working in our lives, getting us to forsake all sin and be conformed to the image of his Son. But his love and acceptance of us is not contingent upon our obedience.

There are few so-called Christian groups that teach one must obey the law in order to be saved from the eternal wrath of God (the “lake of fire”), but it is more common to hear that we must obey God to be acceptable to him after we are justified. If it is not overtly taught, many Christians feel this way and behave as if it were true. I have felt this way many times.

But Paul refutes this notion too:

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?[4]

As we saw not too long ago in the book of Hebrews:

For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.[5]

Even when we have fallen into sin, we can and should be bold to come to God and obtain mercy. God accepts us in our failings and weakness. To think or behave as if God’s reception of us depends on our obedience is legalism.

[C.] The third type of legalism is pharisaical legalism. As you can imagine this is named after the Pharisees, the religious sect during the time of our Lord’s first advent. But this legalism is still with us.

The Pharisees were the fundamentalists of their day. They were the conservative ones. They believed that the Bible was the infallible word of God. They believed the whole Bible of their day, meaning the Old Testament. This was opposed to the Sadducees, who believed only the five books of Moses as inspired. The Sadducees were the liberals of their day. That was why they were sad, you see?

The problem with the Pharisees wasn’t their theology so much (although that was off the mark too). It was that they added their own rules and laws and expected people to follow those rules and laws.

This type of legalism is also called man-made legalism. But this is not the best expression because all types of legalism are man-made. The expression man-made is used because this kind of legalism has to do with rules and laws that men make up and expect people to follow, just like the Pharisees.

But the Lord Jesus was very much against this. [READ Mark 7:1-13]

Notice that Jesus says that all the rules that the Pharisees had established were “the commandments of men.” Because they were imposing the commandments of men they were worshipping God in vain. That is, they were worshipping God in a futile and fruitless way.

The Pharisees’ intentions (and the elders of ancient Israel before them – because Jesus is quoting Isaiah) were probably good. They added rules and laws of their own in order to “help” people obey God’s commandments. God commanded that his people rest on the Sabbath, so the Pharisees created all kinds of laws so that the people could better do that. They created commandments about washing in order to be clean and holy.

Jesus is opposed to imposing rules and laws upon others. But this is exactly what many evangelical pastors do today!

• God commands women to be modest, so pastors make up rules on how to dress or forbid swimsuits to be worn.
• God commands us not to be drunk, so some churches make up rules against drinking alcohol altogether, seemingly forgetting that Jesus drank wine.
• God commands that we not exercise greed, so some Christian groups insist that it is wrong to gamble or to purchase government tickets that offer prizes to winners, even though the income generated by those sales goes to good purposes, such as education.
• God commands that a woman’s adornment should be the “hidden and quiet person of the heart,” so some groups say that wearing make-up is a sin.

But none of these rules are in the Bible. They are man-made. These rule-makers know better than God what behaviors are acceptable and not acceptable. If they were wrong or sinful then God would have said so. He didn’t. Men did.

• Yes, we can dress immodestly. But what constitutes immodest attire is between the person and God, not church leaders commanding others how to dress.
• Yes, one can drink alcohol in excess and thereby enter into sin, but forbidding all consumption is nowhere to be found in the Bible.  Moderation is the key.  It’s a man-made commandment to forbid all alcohol.
• One can be greedy and thus be in sin, but one can also purchase tickets that offer a prize or prizes and not be greedy. Very few Christians object to raffles, where tickets are sold and the money goes for a good purpose. Schools and even some conservative churches will have raffles. But if the government sells tickets, its wrong according to some. Of course, one can also fall into sin my unwisely overspending on such things. The Bible never addresses gambling. Like dress, this is best determined by the purchaser, not church leadership. And, like alcohol, moderation is the key.
• Wearing make-up is up to the woman, not church leaders.

[D.] The final form of legalism is dispositional legalism. One could reject these other forms of legalism but be so caught up in following every minute detail of the law that one would be constantly focused on doing instead of living. Outward performance trumps inward reality. This form of legalism is also called externalism.

What are the dangers of legalism?

[1] The great peril of salvific legalism is that a person may actually miss salvation! In attempting to earn their way into heaven they miss it altogether. For some, this appears to be too harsh. How could God reject someone who is trying hard to make it to heaven? The answer lies in trusting what God has spoken. When one tries to do things their own way rather than heeding what God has clearly said, this is nothing but further sin. It is just disguised as human effort.

[2] The danger of receptive legalism, that is, thinking that God only accepts you if you obey him, goes two ways. Most commonly, the person who believes this has a feeling that God rejects them because no one’s obedience is perfect. Do you see how feeling that God does not accept you not only makes life miserable but will paralyze you from living for the Lord?

But another danger is in thinking that you have “arrived” and that begets pride. So either a feeling of rejection or pride are the fruits of legalism.

[3] The danger of pharisaical legalism, that is, following or promoting man-made commands, is manifold:

[a] As we have seen, following man-made rules results in vain worship. That is, God then sees our worship as unacceptable and fruitless. Jesus dislikes the following of man-made rules.

[b] A common manifestation of this sort of legalism is judgmentalism. The rules of one Christian group will differ from others. So, if a member of one group sees a member of another group doing something that is against their made-up rules, they will judge them. They look down upon them. But Paul addressed this also:

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath.[6]

And, Paul asks, why do you submit to decrees, such as…

“Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.[7]

[c] A third result of this kind of legalism is the loss of freedom we have in Christ. We have the freedom to enjoy life and pharisaical legalism robs you of that. (See Gal. 5:1 and I Tim. 6:17)

[d] It also brings a loss of gladness. By forbidding what God allows one oppresses themselves as well as others.

You cause the grass to grow for the livestock

and plants for man to cultivate,

that he may bring forth food from the earth

and wine to gladden the heart of man,

oil to make his face shine

and bread to strengthen man’s heart.[8]

[4] The result of dispositional legalism are the same as that of the former: judgmentalism, loss of freedom, and loss of gladness.

Since legalism is pernicious what are we to do? Of course, we are to avoid all of it. Specifically, we ought to recognize if we have fallen into it or are in jeopardy of leaning towards one of these errors. If so, there are some simple, practical things that we can do to come out.

• If you have been trying to earn your way into heaven, all you need to do is stop striving and trust in what the Lord Jesus has done for you.
• If you have been thinking that you need to obey perfectly for God to accept you then meditate upon these verses: Galatians 3:1-3; Hebrews 4:15-16; Hebrews 10:12, 14, 19-22; I John 1:8-10; I John 3:1.
• If you have been following man-made regulations or expecting others to do so, then meditate upon these passages: Mark 7:1-13; Col. 2:16, 21-23; Gal. 5:1; Romans 14:1-14.
• If you have been focusing on outward conformity to God’s laws rather than inward reality, meditate upon I Samuel 16:7; Psalm 19:14; 51:10; Prov. 17:22; Gal. 5:1.

The word of God is powerful and changes our hearts. Therefore, by meditating upon the passages that address legalism we will be changed and delivered.

“Lord, help us to escape every form of legalism and to enjoy all that you have provided. Lighten our hearts and our lives. Amen.”