Legalism

Another huge impediment to living a victorious life is legalism. This may seem counter-intuitive. Shouldn't we be living according to the rules of Scripture? Yes we should. Why, then, is following the rules in the Bible contrary to living a victorious life? Don't get me wrong - if you could live by God's laws every day from the day you are born until the day you die, you would then be perfect, like Jesus. But Jesus is the only one who lived that way. No one else has, and no one else could. If you have sinned even once, then you are guilty of rebellion against God and are under the sentence of death. You cannot undo that by following any rules after the fact, even God's.

Knowing this, Jesus came to die in our place to offer us a path to reconciliation with God and the corresponding everlasting life. It is His work, not ours, that provides salvation. The only thing for us to do is to trust that Jesus' death was sufficient for our salvation. Salvation comes only through faith in Jesus, not from obeying rules. And if obeying God's laws does not save us from sin, how could obeying a bunch of rules invented by men do so?

Assume that I dress in expensive suits, hire security to surround me like secret service agents, and claim to be the current President. If I make speeches and issue executive orders and otherwise act like the President, does that mean that I am the President? Of course not. I'm either trying to fool people, or I don't really grasp what it means to be the President, or I am delusional. No matter how much I act like the President, I will never be the President unless I am elected to that office. Likewise, one cannot become a Christian by merely acting like one. Sadly, there are ignorant and/or delusional people out there that do not grasp what it really means to be a Christian.

Okay, you say, salvation only comes by faith, but after we are saved, we need to follow the rules. This was the mindset of the Galatian church in the first century. But Paul calls them out, "You foolish Galatians!", he says, "Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?"¹ You are not saved, or kept saved, by trying hard to follow the law (rules). Following the rules does not make (or keep) you a Christian.

Now some might say, "But doesn't the Bible tell us that we're only Christians if we do 'works'?" They are likely referring to the following: "What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them?... Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds."² Doesn't that indicate that deeds (ie "works", or "keeping the rules") are required in order to be a Christian?

Back to my earlier example: the real President doesn't need to hire his own security because security is provided for the President automatically by the federal government. It requires no effort by the President. Secret service protection is a natural outcome of being the President. So, it must be understood that righteous behavior and Godly deeds are the natural outcome of having the Holy Spirit living within us as Christians. And only Christians have the Holy Spirit living in them. If you are not a Christian, then you will have to work hard to maintain the illusion of being one. On the other hand, if you are a Christian, you have a choice. You can choose to walk in the Spirit or go your own way. Just as the President could make an effort to duck his secret service protection, Christians could ignore the Spirit and do their own thing. In fact, those who live by rules are doing just this! Ignoring the Spirit, even to make the attempt to follow rules, will not lead to victorious living; it will lead to defeat. A Christian who does not live in the Spirit will be miserable because the his spirit is pulling away from the Holy Spirit.

The good news is that it is far easier to live in the Spirit than to be legalistic. When you are legalistic, you have to remember all of the rules and then remember to apply all of them all of the time. You end up spending a lot of time trying to figure out where the lines are so that you don't step over them, and then you ensure that you don't go beyond what is absolutely required. In short, you become Pharisaical. Your whole focus becomes obeying rules rather than being in a relationship with a loving God. What a miserable substitution! Living in the Spirit requires only one thing: listening for His leading and obeying. There is no need to run through a list of rules for each situation encountered. Instead, you do what the Spirit tells you to do, go where He tells you to go, and stay when He tells you to stay. When He turns to the right, we hold His hand and turn right as well. When He stops, we cannot continue if we are holding tight. When He runs, we cannot but run as well if He is gripping our hand. How freeing! How simple! One need not be intellectual or rich or powerful to walk in the Spirit. Anyone, even a little child can walk in tandem with the Spirit.

When you push the Spirit aside so that you can make the effort to live by a set of rules, you find that you cannot live a Godly life because what you are doing is from your own strength (and we have little such strength in ourselves). When we walk with the Spirit, doing the right thing is a natural outcome. If you are living victoriously then you are, by definition, walking in the Spirit. If you are not walking in the Spirit, you cannot live a victorious life. It is binary. As Paul states it, "Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh"³ They are incompatible. You will do one or the other. Thus, to live a victorious life all one needs to do is walk in the Spirit.

Legalism is the attitude and mindset of those who are trying to live by a set of rules rather than by the Spirit. Some people call themselves "Torah-observant Christians", and they try to live by all of the rules of the Mosaic law (the Torah) from the Old Testament. I see two problems with this. First, those laws were given specifically to the Jews, who entered into a covenant with God at Mt. Sinai that they would abide by God's laws. Why a non-Jew would somehow think that the laws therefore should apply to everyone is beyond me. Second, and most importantly, the attitude is one of legalism which is contrary to walking in the Spirit. One need not worry about obeying God's commands when one is walking in the Spirit.

Walking in the Spirit is not an exercise in passivity. It still requires obedience and faith, and perhaps sacrifice, but when we are walking in the Spirit, He gives us the power to accomplish what He tells us to do. If you are not living a victorious life, it is because you are not walking in the Spirit. One cannot both walk in the Spirit and try to earn favor or forgiveness from God. Legalism, in any form, will always usurp living in the Spirit.

Legalism is one of the biggest problems I see in the church today and throughout its history. Much of Paul's letters (especially Romans and Galatians) addresses this and it continues to this day - the Roman Catholic church seems largely predicated on earning favor through works. Torah-observant and Catholic Christians may be some of the more extreme examples of legalism, but they are hardly unique. Legalism sneaks into many believers' lives in subtle and insidious ways. For instance, many believers who have sinned in some way will spend days, months, or even years in self-castigation over that sin. It is as if they feel that they can pay for their sin by mental or emotional flagellation. But we cannot earn forgiveness - it is a free gift. Trying to earn it by self-recrimination is not only ineffective, but it is throwing an insult in the face of God. We are insisting on paying God for a gift. And our payment is so small in the face of His grace and forgiveness, it would be like someone giving you a $20 million mansion for free and then insisting that we pay them back with the five cents we have in our pocket. It shows contempt for the grace of God to respond to a free gift that way. Yet many people feel they can earn their way into God's favor by being, or speaking out about, how sorry they are.

You want to show your regret for sinning? Then repent immediately. That means you make the decision to turn away from your wrongdoing and walk in the opposite direction. It only takes a moment to get right with God. Moping around for days does not express your sorrow at what you've done - it merely delays the one thing that would truly express your sorrow: repentance. If you find yourself repeatedly doing the same wrong again and again, you may regret it alright, but it also indicates that you have not repented, and you are hoping that feeling bad about it will somehow be payment enough to earn forgiveness.

Along similar lines, another behavior that I've observed (and used to participate in) is when people exhibit false humility. As has been said by others, humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking about yourself less. Humility is not pretending you are less than you are. It isn't about trash-talking yourself so that others can praise you. True humility is exhibited when you remove yourself from the equation and focus on God and others instead. False humility can be a means of trying to gain favor with God by our actions, which is the definition of legalism. God's favor toward us is entirely based upon the work of Jesus on the cross, and faith in Him.

In medieval times, self-flagellation was practiced by some "devout" believers. There were different intentions behind this practice, but it was often used as a means of "purifying" oneself, which is just another form of legalism - seeking godliness through our own efforts. Though not widely practiced today, I'm know some people who take part in a modern variation of this: self-harm. Just as with self-flagellation, there are many factors that play into self-harm - often as a coping mechanism for mental or emotional traumas. This is practiced even among Christians, where I think a contributing factor is that of trying to punish oneself for sin. It is just an extreme form of self-recrimination. This kind of thinking was not uncommon in the first century either, thus Paul categorically states that rough treatment of the body (and any other form of legalism) is of no value.⁴

The term "self-righteous" is often used to denote a person who thinks they are morally superior to others, or acts hypocritically. But I define it as someone who seeks righteousness through their own efforts. Such a person may also act as if they are morally superior and/or they may be hypocritcal, but even if they don't fit into that mold, anyone who tries to be righteous through their own efforts is being legalistic.

Seeking God's favor through our own efforts is a human conceit. It is the root sin of pride. It rejects the free gift of God and replaces it with a human attempt to earn it. However, there isn't anything we can do that can earn salvation or favor. If we could, there would have been no reason for Jesus to die for our sins. But if we walk in the Spirit, following His lead, we will naturally live a Godly life. The whole point of exercising spiritual disciplines is not because they somehow court God's favor. Rather, they provide room for the Spirit to work in our lives. They quiet our hearts, calm our minds, and open our ears so that we can clearly hear His promptings. Then we follow Him where He leads, and He gives us the power to do what He wants us to do.

What is the practical difference between doing something empowered by the Spirit and doing something under our own power? When we work under our own power, we rely on our ability to do it if only we try hard enough. Walking in the Spirit doesn't mean that we don't make an effort, but does mean that our efforts are done with the mindset that we are not capable but we do it with faith that only the Spirit will empower us. Not only do we trust Him for the power, we also trust that the results are up to Him. Constant communion with Him, enabled by humility and faith - this is how we walk in the Spirit instead of being legalistic. It is the difference between being a Christian and merely trying to behave like one.

Let me conclude with one (out of many possible) illustrations from the Bible. When the Red Sea was parted for the Israelites during their exodus, Moses was told to hold out his staff over the sea. He did what he was told. Then the sea parted so that the people could cross. Did Moses part the sea? Did He think "if only I grip this staff hard enough" or "if I hold it this certain way" then "I will make the waters part"? Of course not! How insane would that be? He simply did what he was told, and the power of God did the actual work. Likewise, when we do what we are told, we must have the attitude that we are merely doing what we are told and that God does the work. We don't consider how our great skill, or carefully honed abilities, or personal charisma, or education will bring about anything of lasting value. Rather we realize that it is God from start to finish. Therefore, there is no need to be anxious about it. We are walking with our Friend through this life. He will tell us where to go and which ways to avoid as we are walking. What errors could we avoid, what peace could we know, if we only walked consistently by His side! No need to be uptight. No need to worry. No need to carry around a long list of rules to follow. We follow Him.

1 Galatians 3:1,3
2 James 2:14,18b
3 Galatians 5:16
4 Colossians 2:23