Inside every one of us lurks a little legalist, clamoring to get out. So we keep him in chains and prison until someone breaks one of our rules or in some way violates “the code.” Then, our fire-breathing legalist comes charging out, finger-wagging, pontificating.
Let’s face it, we all love rules. Especially rules for thee (though not necessarily for me).
So far, we have pointed out the struggle of defining legalism from the Bible since no equivalent term is found anywhere in Scripture. Legalism isn’t a Scriptural category, though I deny that there is such a thing. I have argued that we throw the term about too casually and that it poisons any discussion of standards. Our fear of the charge of legalism has a way of preventing a Biblical consideration of standards.
We pointed out that, though legalism is almost always associated with the Pharisees, legalism is not the sin Jesus rebuked in the Pharisees. Jesus didn’t charge the Pharisees with being too scrupulous about the law. He criticized them for not being strict enough. He condemned them for disregarding the law in favor of their traditions. He rebuked them for a blatant double standard. And He urged His disciples to be more righteous than the Pharisees.
We also examined the legalism Paul spoke against in Galatians (which I think is closer to the idea of legalism that Christians should try to avoid – an attempt to increase personal holiness by embracing external standards and law-keeping). Whether or not Paul’s arguments against extreme self-denial in Colossians should be applied to legalism or not is a good question. Paul shows that being subject to ordinances (touch not; taste not; handle not) is a vain attempt at sanctification. But Paul allows strictness in diet and so forth. He tells the Colossians, “Let no man therefore judge you;” “Let no man beguile (disqualify) you” (Colossians 2:16, 18).
This brings us to the next important point:
To some extent, “legalism” is inescapable.
Though some legalism is more overt than others. But the question is not whether you have rules or standards you live by and are perhaps a little uptight about. We all do. This is not a matter of whether we are sometimes wound a little tight about rules, but which rules we are wound a little tight about.
If “legalism” amounts to law-keeping, if “legalism” is a commitment to or loyalty to a standard, everyone is a legalist. Because every Christian holds to a set of standards which they also believe to be faithful to the requirements of Scripture. And unless we carefully guard our hearts, adherence to a standard will produce a sense of superiority about the standards we hold. We tend to view those who share our standards as allies while resisting and repudiating those who differ, whether stricter or laxer. Call it human nature; our fallenness lived out loud. But it is often the case. Furthermore, we tend to call everyone to the left of our standard “licentious” and everyone to the right “legalistic.”
Continue reading “Legalism and Scripture 3: We’re All Legalists”
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