Growing up in an independent fundamental Baptist Church, I was exposed to quite a bit of legalism. Over the last few decades legalism has taken on a broader meaning than its first intent. The definition of legalism is the gaining of salvation through the adherence to a set of laws. The church I grew up in was not so. We were always taught that salvation was by Jesus alone through faith alone. So in the strictest definition we did not practice legalism.
We were called legalistic because there were certain rules that were placed on us by the church that were not found in the Bible. For example, I remember going to Astroworld in Houston in the heat of summer with jeans on because we "as Christians" were not allowed to wear shorts. The crazy thing is I wore shorts every day of my life just not at church functions.
Legalism can take on many forms and creep up on you before you realize what happened. Today we understand legalism to be any set of rules that is used to determine one's spirituality. Legalism would say today, "If you do ___________ then you will be closer to God and God will accept you." For centuries men have been setting up these sets of rules and laws to be able to determine who is the most spiritual or superior in their spirituality. This is a dangerous game to play. It is the same game that the Pharisees were playing in Jesus' day and he called them hypocrites (and that was the nice term he used).
We know that if a person says you must were a suit to worship God that is described as legalism. But what about the guy who says you can't were a suit? He is just as legalistic. Is the person who has a quite time with the Lord in the morning more spiritual than the guy who reads his Bible twice a week. We would think so, but that really depends on a persons heart doesn't it? Generally I believe that it is better for a person to spend a daily quite time with the Lord, but I can't say that it is going to make you more spiritual. The fact is, a child of God is spiritual and accepted into the beloved by the blood of Jesus Christ. It is nothing that we can obtain or gain, we just are.
Here is the danger of legalism. The church has used sets of rules and laws to control people for centuries. There have been many denominations that have set up these rules to use and manipulate people into doing whatever they want. These rules usually come back around to money at some point. Jesus turned over the money changing tables in the temple because the temple had established rules that you had to use temple money to tithe and buy sacrificial animals and they were cheating people in the exchange rate. We would call that a racket today. But what about things like coming to church, or serving on a serve team, or giving a tithe, or taking communion, or taking bible classes. I think all these things are helpful in the walk of a christian but they are not required. And when a person is made to feel guilty or less of a christian because they don't do these things or others, we have crossed the line into legalism.
So have your quite time, study your Bible, take communion with your local assembly, and serve your church not because it makes you any closer to God but because you are close to God. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Eph. 2:13)
Visit us at Reliant Ministries
We were called legalistic because there were certain rules that were placed on us by the church that were not found in the Bible. For example, I remember going to Astroworld in Houston in the heat of summer with jeans on because we "as Christians" were not allowed to wear shorts. The crazy thing is I wore shorts every day of my life just not at church functions.
Legalism can take on many forms and creep up on you before you realize what happened. Today we understand legalism to be any set of rules that is used to determine one's spirituality. Legalism would say today, "If you do ___________ then you will be closer to God and God will accept you." For centuries men have been setting up these sets of rules and laws to be able to determine who is the most spiritual or superior in their spirituality. This is a dangerous game to play. It is the same game that the Pharisees were playing in Jesus' day and he called them hypocrites (and that was the nice term he used).
We know that if a person says you must were a suit to worship God that is described as legalism. But what about the guy who says you can't were a suit? He is just as legalistic. Is the person who has a quite time with the Lord in the morning more spiritual than the guy who reads his Bible twice a week. We would think so, but that really depends on a persons heart doesn't it? Generally I believe that it is better for a person to spend a daily quite time with the Lord, but I can't say that it is going to make you more spiritual. The fact is, a child of God is spiritual and accepted into the beloved by the blood of Jesus Christ. It is nothing that we can obtain or gain, we just are.
Here is the danger of legalism. The church has used sets of rules and laws to control people for centuries. There have been many denominations that have set up these rules to use and manipulate people into doing whatever they want. These rules usually come back around to money at some point. Jesus turned over the money changing tables in the temple because the temple had established rules that you had to use temple money to tithe and buy sacrificial animals and they were cheating people in the exchange rate. We would call that a racket today. But what about things like coming to church, or serving on a serve team, or giving a tithe, or taking communion, or taking bible classes. I think all these things are helpful in the walk of a christian but they are not required. And when a person is made to feel guilty or less of a christian because they don't do these things or others, we have crossed the line into legalism.
So have your quite time, study your Bible, take communion with your local assembly, and serve your church not because it makes you any closer to God but because you are close to God. "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ." (Eph. 2:13)
Visit us at Reliant Ministries
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