legalism

[teamventure]

lately i've found myself becoming legalistic and i'd like some guidance.
i started my investigation by reading from galations and colosions.


any sharing of your own experiences would be much appreciated, but of course scripture trumps experience as always.


i apologize in advance if i don't answer in this thread as my internet at home is not working.

thanks


i know a lot of people throw the legalism card whenever someone speaks of sin, but i was just hoping people could help me understand the issue a little better as i have found legalism within myself.

 

[Axehead]

Here is a very good study on Legalism. Excellent points are made and much light is given. Look particularly at "Features of Legalism", "Consequences of Legalism" and "The Christian Gospel vs Legalism".



LEGALISM

I. Biblical references to "legalism"
A. The term "legalism" is not used in the Bible
B. The concept of "legalism" is found extensively throughout the Bible.
1. Old Testament
Isa. 29:13 - (Quoted in Matt. 15:8,9; Mk. 7:6,7
2. New Testament examples
Matt. 5:20-28
Matt. 23:1-28
Gal. 2:11-21
Gal. 3:1-3
Col. 2:16-23

II. Defining some terms
A. Nomism - law based structure and standards..., enforced by threat of penalty or promise of meritorious reward.
1. Theological - ...to determine spiritual condition or destiny.
2. Sociological - ...to control human behavior
a. Government
b. Religion
B. Moralism - establishing particular rules, regulations, principles or precepts as the standard ethical values of a social grouping. Legislated morality and ethics.
C. Legalism - social or self-acceptance of the observance of law, and conformity to the requirements thereof, as the basis of...
1. Theological determination of spiritual condition or destiny
2. Sociological/religious control of human behavior
D. Gospel of grace - the good news of the availability of a spiritual exchange whereby the presence of the Spirit of God indwells the spirit of a man, allowing for the character of
God to be expressed in the behavior of a man by the dynamic empowering and enabling of the Spirit of the risen Lord Jesus.

III. Underlying causes of legalism
A. humanistic concept of self-control - "I'm in control of how things go."
B. humanistic concept of self-effort, "works" - trying, striving, "I can do it";
1. "You must do it, keep it, practice it, perform it."
2. Meritorious benefits therefrom; achieve the goal
C. false security needs for defined parameters, limitations, borders
D. work-ethic concept of strict reciprocity - "get what you work for"
E. punitive concept of getting what one deserves
F. traditionalism of maintaining status quo
G. simplism of dividing life into compartments with instant solutions; fundamentalism.
Got a handle on it - all figured out. Instant solutions - don't have to think or trust.
H. fear of freedom, of decision-making responsibility (Rom. 8:15)
I. security need for something that is fixed and static, concrete and tangible. Inordinate need to be safe and right
J. a favorite of sadomasochistic personalities; perfectionists, Pharisees.

IV. Features of legalism
A. Law-based codes of conduct; rules and regulations, dos and don'ts.
B. Performance orientation. Expectations, obligations, duties, observances, routines, procedures,
formulas, how-tos, shoulds, oughts, "thou-shalts"
C. Negativism, abstinence, "Thou shalt not..."
D. Legal sense of obedience, rather than Lordship sense of obedience. Obey rules rather than God.
E. Externalization; outward conformity to standards (Matt. 23:5-7; 25-28) F. Inflexible, rigid. Principle precedes people.
G. Oppressive, demanding. Burdensome (Lk. 11:46; Matt. 23:1-5)
H. Authoritarian, manipulative.
I. Intolerant, violent. Fighting, feuding, hostility, accusations of heresy.
J. Competitive, comparisons, resentments.
K. Exclusivism, elitism, bigotry.
L. Pride, arrogance, self-righteousness, ego-centricity. Badge of honor, status, orthodoxy.
M. Ostentation, show-off. "How do we look?" (Lk. 15:1,2); approval of men.
N. Critical, judgmental (Jn. 7:24; Rom. 2:1), suspicious.
O. Insensitive, unloving, lack of compassion.

V. Consequences of legalism
A. Keeps people distanced and alienated from God. Afraid of God, the taskmaster. Afraid of God's rejection. No assurance or security.
B. Guilt, condemnation (Rom. 8:1), accusation, disapproval (both objective and subjective).
C. Defeat, despair, frustration, futility. "It's a losing battle. I can never do enough, be good enough, do it right and perfect as expected." Burned out!
D. Self-destructive behavior; self-belittling, sense of worthlessness, low personal concept of oneself.
E. Hypocrisy. Play-acting; role-playing; lip-service (Matt. 15:8,9). Contrived piety, perfunctory performance, pretense, ostentation.
F. Minimalization. What do I have to do to get by, to side-step the rules? G. Impersonalization; shallow personal relationships because they relate to law rather that to Person of Jesus Christ and other persons.

VI. The Christian gospel vs. legalism
A. Contrariety of legalism to Christian gospel
1. Legalism is contrary to the Grace dynamic of God in Jesus Christ
2. Legalism is contrary to faith, our receptivity of God's activity; a satanic substitute that supplants faith.
3. Legalism is contrary to the Lordship of Christ, wherein He directs and guides our lives.
4. Legalism is contrary to Christian obedience, which is "listening under" the direction of the living Lord Jesus Christ.
5. Legalism is contrary to the Spirit-led Christian life, wherein the Spirit of Christ enables and empowers. (Eph. 5:18;
6. Legalism is contrary to freedom in Christ, and the liberty that is to be realized in present kingdom living. (John 8:31,32,36; II Cor. 3:17; Gal. 5:1,17)
B. Reaction and response to legalism by Christians
1. Christianity is not a legal, judicial, law-based religion
2. Must not assume that legalism is the only alternative to antinomianism, license or libertarianism. (II Tim. 3:5)
3. Must not assume that legalism is just another innocuous approach to Christian living.
a. Legalism is the basis of religion that binds people up, and ties them back, to rules,
regulations and rituals, thus enslaving them to the sin of self-effort.
b. Legalism is a radically opposite counterfeit of Christianity
4. Legalism is sin. (Gal. 3:3; 5:4)
5. Legalism is idolatrous, setting up an independent standard of law as the basis of rightness, rather than God's righteousness.
6. Legalism is not to be tolerated or condoned, but to be exposed and eschewed. (Gal. 1:6-9)

http://www.christinyou.net/pages/legalism.html

 

[Angelina]

Just put yourself in someone else's shoes....as much as God has been merciful to us, we should also be merciful toward others. Sanctification is a process and some believer's are further ahead in that walk than others.

I'm not sure that we're on the same page here but I'll tell you a situation that happened to me while I was a member of a little Pentecostal Church.

One night while preparing for a night service at our church, a man came in looking rather scruffy and bedraggled and sat down in one of the pews. The other leaders did not come up to welcome him for some reason so I went up and told him that the service will begin shortly and sat down with him for awhile. He told me that he had to get away from his home for awhile because he and his partner were having an argument and he would probably kill her if he didn't. I replied that it was pretty cool that he came to our church for a spell. He then told me that he had just came out of jail for shooting a man and he had a record as long as his arm...I passed it off because I felt that he was trying to scare me or impress me... :unsure: not quite sure.

As we continued to talk we began to discuss salvation and what Jesus did for him on the cross. To make a long story short, he accepted Jesus into his heart that night and walked out a new creation. I found out later that he was well a known criminal element in the area. It didn't bother me because it didn't bother the Lord and as his word says: "while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Jude 1:23
save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.

Hope this helps...

Be Blessed!

 

[teamventure]

thanks for the replys people but i should have included that the legalism i get into is mostly towards myself not others.

thanks again for the replys

 

[Axehead]

thanks for the replys people but i should have included that the legalism i get into is mostly towards myself not others.

thanks again for the replys

That's cool. You know we all deal with this in many and various forms. The Adversary is always trying to bring us into legalism because it takes us away from the Spirit of God. Legalism can be alive in us simply from a spirit of rejection. Under "Features of Legalism", the following are often active in people that have a spirit of rejection. They relate to God more on a level of "performance orientation" rather than as a son who is loved by His Father.

A. Law-based codes of conduct; rules and regulations, dos and don'ts.

B. Performance orientation. Expectations, obligations, duties, observances, routines, procedures, formulas, how-tos, shoulds, oughts, "thou-shalts"

C. Negativism, abstinence, "Thou shalt not..."

D. Legal sense of obedience, rather than Lordship sense of obedience. Obey rules rather than God.

 

[teamventure]

That's cool. You know we all deal with this in many and various forms. The Adversary is always trying to bring us into legalism because it takes us away from the Spirit of God. Legalism can be alive in us simply from a spirit of rejection. Under "Features of Legalism", the following are often active in people that have a spirit of rejection. They relate to God more on a level of "performance orientation" rather than as a son who is loved by His Father.

A. Law-based codes of conduct; rules and regulations, dos and don'ts.

B. Performance orientation. Expectations, obligations, duties, observances, routines, procedures, formulas, how-tos, shoulds, oughts, "thou-shalts"

C. Negativism, abstinence, "Thou shalt not..."

D. Legal sense of obedience, rather than Lordship sense of obedience. Obey rules rather than God.

wow Axehead you named it. that spirit of rejection things is where i'm at. thank you so much.

 

[williemac]

One thing that I noticed on this subject is that with most ideas and doctrines that some consider to be legalistic, those who promote them disagree. As we have seen, the term "legalism" is not found in scripture. But one term that is found is "leaven".

I find that there are very few if any who oppose the idea of grace. That is because it is found in scripture. But what happens is that many will use the "but" word. Herin lies the start of the real problem. The enemy is not stupid. He is subtle. He will allow the understanding of grace to exist so long as he can interfere with the understanding, with the use of leaven. This is not too hard to do scripturally, given that those who are outside of the kngdom of God are identified by, and condemned for, their sin. So this is often also applied to those in Christ who have been set free from that curse. This of course is not biblical.

As well, the covenant of grace did not begin until after the death and resurrection of Jesus, so there are plenty of passages to draw from that can be used to apply the "buts" to the grace message.

In fact, Jesus Himself made more than a few statements that were under the confines of the covenant of law, so many will quote Him and insist that what He said was new covenant. Therin lies the leaven; the mixing of the two covenants together. This causes confusion, and interference, and hinders the effect that the cross is to have on the mind and heart of the believer, anywhere from a minor level to a place of bondage.

Are those who are having trouble with legalism, in reality being bitten by the leaven bug?

We might want to start a new thread that addresses the question of whether or not a person can lose his salvation (the life he has been given through faith) because of sin. Often there are those who will insist that one can indeed lose his place in the family of God, but the argument never gets to just how this will occur.

I firmly believe that once the new birth occurs in an individual, sin cannot take away what was given. The contrary belief to that, I feel is the underlying premise that gives ammunition to leaven; Therefore I will suggest this; as long as we accept the idea that as new creatures in Christ, sin can still seperate us from God and from eternal life, we are sitting ducks, vulnerable to the leaven of the law. in my humble opinion.

I should add to that concerning performance. The other idea that comes along is that we can be rejected or lose our salvation because of poor or insufficient works. In any case, one fear that supports either of these two doctrines is the fear of rejection. I think that the sacrifice of Jesus is designed to eliminate that fear from our hearts. I think leaven (legalism) keeps that fear alive. blessings, Howie

 

[Justin Mangonel]

Hi T,

My bout with legalism stemmed from learning about the Bible without experiencing God Himself. I knew all the rules but could not see to live up to them. All the little things I did to avoid sin just made me feel worse when I did sin. I became so concious of my faults and short commings I become unconcious towards God. The Law which I was learning only made me aware of failure.

What helped me to to experience God directly and when I did I found out He was not nearly as worried about my failures and i was. In fact I felt His love and total acceptance (mind you this was well after I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.) The interesting thing about this is that as I felt His love and let His love flow through me to others I found that those things which beset met just faded away. They joy of my salvation returned and i felt free again.

Blessings,

Justin

 

[Axehead]

Hi T,

My bout with legalism stemmed from learning about the Bible without experiencing God Himself. I knew all the rules but could not see to live up to them. All the little things I did to avoid sin just made me feel worse when I did sin. I became so concious of my faults and short commings I become unconcious towards God. The Law which I was learning only made me aware of failure.

What helped me to to experience God directly and when I did I found out He was not nearly as worried about my failures and i was. In fact I felt His love and total acceptance (mind you this was well after I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior.) The interesting thing about this is that as I felt His love and let His love flow through me to others I found that those things which beset met just faded away. They joy of my salvation returned and i felt free again.

Blessings,

Justin

Justin, thank you for your important contribution. We have the makings here for a really good thread and one reason is that teamventure is demonstrating honesty and openness and so are you, Justin.

And Williemac, your post has not gone unnoticed. Leaven or Mixture may be a result of a deeper root in our life that must be dealt with. One thing we have learned from the Hebrew children in the wilderness (type of Christian) is that once you are brought into the Land, we must possess it (make it our own) and there are enemies in the land that need to be driven out. That entails the renewing or our mind and the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. The day you are saved (delivered from Egypt), is when the real work begins of walking out the Gospel, everyday.

I will contribute more about the spirit of rejection when I get a chance. Just remember, these eyes that God gave us are for looking outward, not inward.

"Looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our Faith."

Axehead

 

[teamventure]

yes, thanks williemac. i never understood i'm mixing the new covenant with the old until now. very enlightening.