Legalism and a Life of Faith

Paul in his Epistle to the Romans identified two groups of Christians who were living in two opposing extremes. One group said, since they were saved by grace, they were free to live as they please (Romans 6:1, 2, 15). Another group said, even though they were saved by grace they cannot ignore God’s Law. They must live under the Law if they were to please God. Paul answered the first group in Chapter 6; the second group he answered in chapter 7.

This message deals with what Paul said about legalism and a life of faith of individual Christians and the Christian Church.

It is important to note that Christians cannot live a legalistic Christian life and a life of faith in Christ at the some time. It is mutually exclusive; it is one way or the other. Essentially, legalism is the belief that a Christian can become holy and please God by obeying Laws (Old Testament Laws and any man-made laws). It is measuring spirituality by a list of do’s and don’ts. The weakness of legalism is that it sees sins but not the root of sins. It majors on the minor. It judges by outward appearance and not the inward. Furthermore, the legalist fails to understand the real purpose of God’s Law and the relationship between the Law and the Spirit.

In Romans Chapter 7 Paul was contrasting the way of the Law and the way of the Spirit. He used the illustration of the union between a husband and his wife to show that the believer has a new relationship to the Law because of his union with Jesus Christ:

“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he live? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:1 – 4, NKJV, emphasis added).

Here are some observations:

1. Marriage is a physical union. When a man and a woman marry, they are united for life:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24, NKJV).

As long as they live, the husband and wife are under the authority of the law of marriage (the Marriage Covenant). If the wife leaves her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. But if the husband dies, she is free to remarry because she is no longer a wife. It is physical death that has broken the marriage relationship and sets her free.

2. God’s people married to the Law when they were under the Law – in spiritual union, as in the Old Testament. When Christ came we were set free from the bondage of the Law and “married” to the Lord in grace. God’s people were married to the Law only while they were under the Law. The Body of Christ (the Church) is now married to Jesus Christ (the Head of the Christ) and so the Church must not go back to get “married” again to the Law. The Law did not die, because God’s Law still rules over men. We died to the Law (set free from the Law), and it no longer has dominion over us. If we go back to be under the Law again we are like committing spiritual adultery!

Legalism is Spiritual adultery

Paul realized that there was temptation for Christians who were brought into the liberty of the Spirit by faith to soon slip back into the Law – into a legalistic way of living the Christian life. He addressed this important issue in many of his epistles:

“…. a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Gal. 2:16).

“Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations – do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, ….” (Col. 2:20, 21).

There are many denominational Churches that demand their members to follow the legalistic way Church life – you must not speak in tongue, you must re-baptize, you must not take the Holy Communion in any other Church, you must do this and do that and you must not do this or that. They have the same pattern of worship service every week, in spite of the fact that we are liberated and freed by the Spirit to be led by the Spirit. Paul said we must not to be under the bondage of any legalism.

Legalism will not please God

The trouble is some Churchgoers find great security in their legalistic attitude. They find great safety in all the tradition of their Church life. People are so easily comforted by which is secured and known. So, if you have a written law – this is what you have to do, and this is what you are not to do, you will know what the Church wants you to do. All you need to know are nicely tabulated. Whether you will do it or not is another matter. But at least you know what you are supposed to be doing. A structured type of worship service is a form of legalism. The Holy Spirit is not allowed to have any freedom at all.

A certain amount of form or structure is needed in Church services and living our own daily life in our own home. But the structure is such that it allows liberty and freedom of the Spirit – and not to contain and restrict the move of the Spirit of God.

Paul said, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).

Paul points out two major facts about the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit in a congregation. The first is that the Holy Spirit is Lord. The second is that where the lordship of Holy Spirit in the Church is acknowledged, the result in a congregation is “liberty” or “freedom”.

However, Paul is not teaching or proclaiming go-and-do-as-you-like attitude. That is not what freedom means. True freedom is being set free by the Holy Spirit who is the Lord. Paul said, do not let your life becomes structured by legalism. If it is, you will be falling back to the bondage of the old. You cannot please God through a legalistic form of Christianity. You cannot please God by imagining that He sent His Holy Spirit into your life in order that you might now try to please Him! Paul said God sent His Holy Spirit into your life in order that you might follow the way of the Spirit

Why can’t we please God with a legalistic form of worship? Well, simply because the way of the law does not allow faith to operate! You do not need faith to follow a legalistic structure. You do not need to trust the Holy Spirit. You just have to do exactly what the Law (or any man-made law) says!

The writer of Hebrews said, without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

Therefore it is not possible for anyone to please God with legalism. Therefore a Church with legalistic structure cannot please God!

God wants us to “walk on water”

If we are to have faith then we need to be liberated from the Old in order to trust in the New. This is what “Renewal of Faith” really means. To say, “Lord, I need more faith” is not the answer. God wants us to show him we have the faith to “walk on water” with our eyes fixed upon Him!

Matthew 14:22 – 33 tells the story concerning the failure of Peter when he attempted to walk on the water.

In the beginning Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water when he heard Jesus said, “come”. He fixed his eyes on the Lord as he began to walk on the water. Then he began to listen to his fear and he became conscious of the waves and the wind. The moment he took his eyes from the Lord he began to sink.

“But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matt. 14:30, 31)

My comment is that if Peter who took the initiative to walk on water was a person of little faith, what about the faith of the rest of disciples who were on the boat?

God wants us to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). To live by faith is to step out from the security of our legalistic Christian life and to begin to walk on water – on that which we do not know to be saved except that it is what the Lord God said. If we put our trust in what He said it will not be on water, but on the Rock!

The Church needs to be liberated from the “security” of traditionalism, from the “security” of her legalistic structure, in order that we might live in the freedom God has already done in delivering us from the Law and bringing us into a walk of faith. If we fail to fixed our eyes upon Jesus who is the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) we are going to sink like Peter!