How Bad Is Legalism?

Recently, I've heard some folks gloss over legalism, as though legalism were just another way of "doing Christianity." God's grace and legalism nullify one another; they cannot coexist. The dictionary defines legalism as "strict, literal, or excessive conformity to law or formula." Strict, literal, excessive. Strict in the sense one does not deviate from it; literal in the sense there is no spirit of the law, only letter; and excessive in the sense a legalist will remain a legalist unto death if their heart doesn't change.  

Have you convinced yourself you're pretty good, that you'd have this "life thing" licked if you weren't surrounded by so many "problem people?" You might be a legalist. If you've never thought to yourself, "I'm tired. I really need to submit to the authority of Almighty God and follow Jesus Christ", you might be a legalist. If you have a difficult time showing mercy and grace and selflessness to others, you might be a legalist. Legalism is nothing more than an attempt to reach godliness or, at the least, goodness. It asserts the key to life is simple: obey the rules (or at least, appear to). Maybe you were raised by a legalist to be a legalist. If you have children, you just might be teaching them to be legalists as well. Hearts that remain in love with rules rather than with relationships are dead in sin. We all have sinned. None of us is capable of getting it right all the time, no matter how good our efforts and none of us will seek after God out of our own desire for Him. But grace is the way out. By God's grace, all can know what it means to surrender, to yield ourselves as living sacrifices, to die to sin, and be raised to new life in Jesus Christ, to receive and demonstrate the grace of God to others, to lead others to life rather than death. But, if hearts don't change, they and all their righteous endeavors will follow the leader straight to condemnation. 

There's another thing that hits a little closer to home with me when I think about how bad legalism is. You see, as a legalist, I was unaware of the things my heart was speaking to God. For instance, there was, "You wait here. When I'm ready, I'll be back to pick You up." God was not only an accessory to my plan, His job was to follow it-- perhaps even make it come true. All week long I'd be as good as I could (or, at least, make sure I didn't get caught when I wasn't); when things got dicey, I'd give Him a shout and He'd get things put back in order. He'd wait for me at church until Sunday, and one day, after I'd finally had all my fun, I'd call Him up and He could do my life with me. A little self-centered, don't you think? Another message I sent to God --if you think the last one was bad, this one's a doozy!-- "I've earned this." Think about that for a minute: I've earned this. I've done all the work. It's all about me. Bad, right? It gets worse. If I've done all the work, if I have earned goodness, God owes me a reward. By the standards of legalism, God is indebted to me! It almost makes me want to duck and cover just typing those words. Think about your employer: you do the work and your employer owes you a paycheck. As long as you are working, your employer is indebted to you. I hope you're making the leap here: as long as you are working, God is indebted to you --or so the legalist believes in his/ her heart. That's some pretty scary stuff.

Friend, if you are enough, it's because the blood of Jesus Christ has made you that way. If you are able, it's because your God is. If you are righteous, it's because the righteousness of Christ has been imputed unto you. Apart from our Redeemer and Lord, we can do nothing and are without hope. Only He is good. And only His grace is sufficient.