Perceptions #28

"What Is Legalism"

by Norman Bales

What is meant by the term "legalism?" As a label, legalism has one thing in common with liberalism. It's a convenient handle to bash anything you don't like. We often complain about the "encroachments of liberalism," but within Churches of Christ, conservatism stretches over a rather broad spectrum of viewpoints. I don't know very many people who would deny the supernatural origin on the Bible. Most of the people I know accept a miracle creation, the validity of the Bible's miracle stories, the virgin birth of Christ, the literal resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the second coming and a literal heaven and hell. Those viewpoints are conservative by any stretch of the imagination. The term "liberal" has historically applied to people who didn't believe those things. Difference of opinion about Biblical translations, worship styles and how much grace we ought to be teaching are not part of the liberal-conservative dichotomy.

Legalism is a term used to describe a mindset that places rule keeping at the heart of religion. It operates on the premise that salvation is earned through human performance. Most of us are experts at recognizing it in others and totally inept when it comes to seeing it in ourselves. I rather suspect that Joseph Aldrich was on target when he said, "We are all legalists at heart."

I have never met a professed Christian, legalist or otherwise, who would not concede the truth that salvation is by grace. However, many people believe that justification in God's sight is a proportional matter. In their view grace takes up the slack between our poor performance and the requirements of God. In other words salvation is partly by grace and partly by works. The New Testament will not allow us to reach that conclusion. In Romans 11:5-6, Paul maintained, ". . . there is a remnant chosen by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." Like oil and water, grace and works don't mix.

Legalism reduces Christianity to rule keeping. Acts 15 gives a brief account of a meeting in Jerusalem that was called to discuss Gentile conversion and circumcision. The basic issue at stake was a mindset of legalism. According to verse 5, ". . . some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, 'The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.'" You can't find a more classic illustration of the legalistic mentality. Note Peter's response in verses 10-11. "Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are." The apostle categorically repudiated human effort as the basis of salvation.

Legalists fear loss of respect for the Bible, especially the commands of the Bible. Without a doubt, we do have commands from God expressed on the pages of scripture, but we need to be wary of reading the New Testament as a law code or treating it as a list of specifications for a divine construction project. If you read the Bible that way, you'll end up with something else besides the Lord's intended message. The message will be something other than the gospel, because it will transform the New Testament's good news of a Savior who died to cover our sins into a message of bad news - justification on the basis of human hearts. If we are legalists at heart, we need to make sure we're on target with the gospel and not a message of people lifting themselves up by their own bootstraps.

"God makes a home for the lonely. . ." Psalm 68:6

Norman's e-mail address is:

nlbales@allaboutfamilies.org

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