The Three Legalisms

I don’t know… A bit heavy on the eye makeup… might cause somebody to stumble…

What does it mean to be a legalist? There are at least three answers to that question. As always, being clear on the definitions of terms is essential to having profitable discussions about those terms. There are at least three distinct kinds of legalism that we must be able to distinguish between in order to truly discuss them profitably.

Justificational Legalism

The first is justificational legalism. This is the belief that we can, by our own good works, by checking certain boxes, by praying the rosary or giving enough to the poor or never eating a bacon cheeseburger- that we can, by being good, earn salvation. This is the idea that we are going to get into the wedding feast because we cleaned our own garments to pearly perfection.

This idea is straight-up damnable heresy- a doctrinal error so severe that it will result in its adherents’ eternal condemnation in hell. We cannot earn enough moral capital to bleach our own garments. They must be washed in the Blood. (Eph. 2:8+9, Matt. 22:11)

Sanctificational Legalism

The second kind of legalism is sanctificational legalism. This idea stays within the realm of orthodox soteriology, at least ostensibly, by proclaiming that we are saved by faith in Christ alone. But once we have left the realm of justification we transition back over to faith in our own works, not to earn our initial or salvific righteousness, but to earn or keep the favor of God- or of man.

This can manifest in two primary ways. One is viewing the teachings or traditions or interpretations of man with as much binding weight as the clear commands of Scripture. The other is basing our peace and joy on- placing our faith in- our own ability to successfully maintain a right standing with God or others, rather than in the sacrifice of Christ to cover our imperfections.

This kind of legalism can be applied to ourselves- “I don’t eat shellfish, so I’m walking in righteousness,” “I work out and eat healthy, I’m a better Christian than my soda-drinking pastor,” “Hey, we have 6 kids and we are homeschooling them, now we are cool at our family-integrated church.” Or they can be a standard we force on others- “no woman should ever wear pants,” “it’s a sin for Christians to drink wine,” “I can’t believe they go to movie theaters,” etc.

It is worth mentioning that none of the above choices are, at root, unBiblical, if they are understood as personal applications, by faith, of Biblical principle. If a father wants his daughters to wear only dresses, or if a Christian has a conviction against drinking alcohol or going to the movies, there is nothing inherently wrong with that. Indeed, so long as it is overflowing from a genuine faith in and love for Christ and not from pride, self-righteousness, or fear of man, it is a good thing that they are pursuing righteousness as they feel convicted by God! (Rom. 14:6, 13)

Where this becomes a problem is when believers begin to judge one another- or judge their own relationship with God- in terms of their own man-made checklists. “I don’t do yoga, so I know I’m not displeasing God.” “That guy does yoga. I don’t think he can really do that and be a true Christian.” “That guy thinks it’s a sin to do yoga. What a self-righteous stick in the mud.”

Romans 14 gives us the example of diet (as well as the observance of days). One man has faith that he can eat anything, another is convicted that he should be a vegetarian. Paul’s answer is not to tell either one of them to straighten up and fly right, but rather to tell them both to trust the grace of God to cover these minor issues and to march on together as brothers for the Kingdom.

A couple of soldiers who spend their time on the battlefield criticizing each other’s swordplay techniques are a couple of soldiers who present no effective threat to the enemy- and a couple of soldiers who are going to get blindsided by the real issues that they didn’t see sneaking up in the bushes behind them.

This can also manifest in joylessness because we cannot rest in the righteousness of Christ while trusting in the righteousness of self. “Ugh, I can’t believe I got angry with my wife again! I’m such a failure!” “I don’t know if I should apologize for X… did I do something wrong? Is God mad at me?” “Did I do everything right? Did I make a mistake? Is that gonna cost the customer money in the long run? So then I’m guilty of not working with integrity…”

I’m not talking about brushing sins under the rug. I’m not talking about rationalizing away the conviction of the Holy Spirit or escaping the need to repent when we have sinned against someone. I’m talking about dealing with our own sins and failures by faith and with joy. If you’ve sinned against someone then you need to make it right. But if you’re constantly stressed out by the possibility that there’s something, somewhere, that you haven’t repented of- God is big enough to take care of it. Rest in His grace. (Phil. 4:4-9)

It is instructive that Jesus tells us to go and be reconciled when we know that our brother has something against us… not when we think maybe there was something that we didn’t quite do right that they have no idea even happened but maybe we should tell them so they know so we can ask for their forgiveness because what if God is upset at us because maybe… (Matt. 5:23)

There’s a difference between the conviction of the Holy Spirit (which will line up with the Word of God) and the compulsion of an obsessive inner voice. God is perfectly capable of letting us know when we need to make something right, and if we’re really listening we will hear Him. But if we are living in analysis paralysis, we become like a housewife who is constantly finding something that isn’t perfectly clean or worrying about which appliance will fail next. Relax. When the faucet breaks, you’ll know it needs fixed. Until then, go enjoy making dinner with the kids.

We can’t live in fear that we failed. This ultimately reveals that our trust is not in the work of Christ but in the works of our own hands. If our faith is in our own ability to do it all right, we will consistently be disappointed, and we will have no joy. God’s Grace is enough. We are covered by the blood. We can rest in that. From there we then must pursue righteousness, not in fear of messing up, but by faith in Christ to fix our messed-up-ness.

Accusational Legalism

The third kind of legalism is not actually legalism; it is simply an epithet thrown at people who are trying to apply the Bible to real life. A Christian who says “all women must wear dresses that come a minimum of four inches below the knee” is a legalist. A Christian who says “all women must dress in such a way as to be feminine and modest and to show forth the beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit” is simply upholding Scriptural standards… but will probably be accused of legalism. (1 Pet. 3:1-4)

Furthermore, we are called to discernment. If we aren’t careful, we end up de-clawing the Word of God by rejecting applications that should be obvious in the name of preserving Christian liberty. For instance, to return to the yoga example, a Christian who does yoga with a capital Y- who practices the religious aspects of Yoga- he is participating in idolatry. There is a difference between eating meat sacrificed to an idol and giving thanks to the idol before you take a bite.

What dress a Christian woman wears to church is an area of Christian liberty. But there comes a point where it is not legalism for Grandma McPherson to come over and offer her a shawl… pointedly. And if a Christian actress goes to the Oscars and the headlines the next day are talking about the edginess of her outfit, then we have a clear violation of Scriptural precept even if there is no clear Scriptural prescription.

Watching Game of Thrones while using VidAngel to edit out the nudity is an area of Christian liberty. Watching the explicit sex scenes is watching pornography. That is sin. (And if you can watch that pornography and say that it doesn’t affect you, then that in itself should concern you deeply.) (Heb. 5:14)

Finally, obedience is not legalism. While we do not earn justification by our good works, nor do we preserve God’s love for us by “being good,” we do grow in our relationship with Him by keeping His commandments. To profess faith in Christ without manifesting that faith by obedience is to lie. The Gospel that we are called to present includes “teaching them whatsoever I have commanded you.” A gospel without a call to obedience, discernment, and holiness is a false gospel. Faith without works is dead. (John 15:10, Jas. 2:14-26)

We must not be legalists. But we must be lovers of Christ, and that includes being lovers of His Word. To love God is to love His Law. And as we pursue Christ by obedient faith, resting in His perfection to cover our imperfection, and giving liberty to those around us to the extent allowed by Scripture, we may still be called legalists along the way. (Ps. 119:103)

But there is a great irony there- we are being called legalists because we are not conforming to the demands of a Godless culture. We aren’t checking their boxes. We aren’t living up to their standards of tolerance.

In other words, we are violating their legalisms.

Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matt. 5:11-12)

#Culture #Legalism #Modesty