Legalism
I don't suppose calling someone a "legalist" has ever been intended as a compliment. The connotation is that said person is cold, heartless and more interested in his rules and regulations than real people living real lives and sorting
out real problems. For a word that does not even figure into the Bible manuscripts, there certainly are a number of religious people making "legalism" a major buzzword in their vocabularies.
Since it is not a
Bible word, we are forced to go to a secular lexicon for its definition. Coined in 1864, legalism is "strict, literal, or excessive conformity to the law or to a religious or moral code (Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary)." It has come also to be
applied to those who imitate the Pharisees in their self-righteousness and arrogance.
Strictness
When one examines the first aspect of Noah Webster's definition, it is
difficult to find the pejorative aspect to this label. Considering that our law and moral code descend from our maker in heaven, it is difficult to argue for anything less than strict conformity to His blessed will. What is so evil about adhering
strictly to the commands of Jesus? "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome (I John 5:3)." The apostle John seems to fit nicely into the dictionary definition of a strict religious
conformist.
The Lord Jesus Christ, author of our religious and moral code, taught, "If you love me, keep My commandments (John 14:15)." The lesson is that a genuine, persevering love for Jesus results in implicit
obedience to his will.
But it is argued that the New Testament of Jesus Christ is not a law at all, but rather a love letter from God to man. That is a very sweet description of the gospels, letters, history and
prophecy and not one that I would dismiss altogether. Indeed, the New Testament is a statement of divine affection and grace upon His children. "Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God (I John
3:1)!"
But the question must likewise be answered, does the love aspect of the New Testament eliminate responsibility to its codes? "This is love, that we walk according to His commandments (II John 6)." According
to the apostle John, deemed the dearest of Jesus's friends and apostles, love and obedience are far from antithetical, but are twin sisters.
James further contends that the will of Christ is the perfect law of
liberty (1:25), in which we should endeavor to walk and obey. Considering the strict moral code that Jesus left behind, Paul implores the saints to "abstain from every form of evil (I Thess. 5:22)." Yet another apostle sounds the virtues of strict
conformity.
A Literal Understanding
Webster adds that a legalist interprets his religious code literally. Again, what is the danger of taking Jesus at his word? Modernists
have labored for years to relegate the Bible to the ash heap of myth and fable, dismissing its moral code as antiquated, misogynistic, homophobic and narrow. If one can reject I Timothy 2 on women's roles, I Corinthians 6:9 on homosexuality and Matthew
19 on divorce and remarriage, does not the entire house of cards fall on the faithful?
Atheists, Catholics and Protestants have all raised their objections lately to a literal understanding of II Timothy 3:16,
that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God." While they are certainly not legalists, shall we join them in their blasphemy and disbelief?
Excessive Conformity
Lastly, Webster says that a legalist is marked by excessive (too much) conformity to his religious beliefs. I will admit that I am uncertain how to be excessive in my love for Jesus. How do I love him too much? How do I submit myself to him excessively?
How do I emulate him in my life too much? How do I honor him excessively? Perhaps God cared for me excessively in sacrificing His only begotten son to atone for my senseless, insulting sin, but how can I ever return my adoration too
much?
Christ said that the first commandment is to "love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength (Mark 12:30)." You see, there is absolutely no
way to love and serve God too much, because we owe him all that we have.
Our attention is turned to Jesus's rebuke of the Pharisees' in Luke 11:42: "For you tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs, and pass by
justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone." But nowhere does Jesus tell them not to obey the tithing law or that their conformity to Moses was excessive. Instead, he shows them a still better way, in
which love and obedience are inseparable sisters.
Jesus does not here condemn their excessive conformity to the law, but their ignorance and rejection of its finer points. Jesus condemned the Pharisees for
supplanting divine doctrine with their opinions. Who are the Pharisees' modern descendants, but those who tolerate sin and practice unity-in-diversity?
Again, conformity without love is worthless (I Cor. 13:1-3),
but so is love without obedience: "He who says, 'I know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who
says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as he walked (I John 2:4-6)."
Living a life supposedly marked by fervent love and negligent obedience is a
lie!
Anarchy or Compromise?
If careful obedience as a way of life is to be eschewed, what is the alternative? Anarchy? No, for as America is a nation, not of men, but of
laws, so the church Christ built is not of men, but of his law, for we are not to think beyond what is written (I Cor. 4:6, II John 9).
If both devoted obedience and blind disobedience be rejected as a manner of
living, all that remains is the middle of the road, home to yellow stripes, dead animals and lukewarm faith. Here, the commands of God are obeyed when convenient or palatable and rejected when troublesome. The inspiration of the word is literal until an
unpleasant conclusion is forced.
The Lord Jesus saw fit to address his concerns over this centrist attitude toward the end of the first century. He accused the Laodiceans of being "neither cold nor hot" in their
works. They were not so strict in their conformity, nor did they understand the warnings and admonitions given in the letter from Paul which they were to read (Col. 4:16): "And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus
(3:17)."
Conclusion
Self-righteousness like that of the Pharisees is not advocated. That aspect of legalism is distasteful and ignorant of grace. But in our rush to flee
the Pharisee, we should not swing the pendulum wildly in the other direction, so that we become disobedient to the will of God.
The world does not like strictness in religion. We prefer it in our sports and
political affiliations, but not in our faith, for it makes some uncomfortable. When the accusation of legalism is cast nowadays, it is in the pursuit of tolerance and unity-in-diversity. The candidates for tolerance include homosexuality, adultery,
social drinking, modern dancing and smoking. Many request unity-in-diversity to cover instrumental music in worship, unscriptural remarriages and women preachers and elders. It is called legalism to demand that we speak as the oracles of God and strive
never to offer "strange fire" to our Lord.
But if we truly love and revere Jesus for both his mercy and power, we won't hesitate to observe all that he has said and abstain from what is
evil.
_________________________
Jeff S. Smith
July, 1997 Volume 3
Issue 3
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