Have you heard of the term “legalism” in your church? Well, what is LEGALISM? For one thing, “legalism” is NOT rules. Rules are not wrong. The Bible is filled with rules: “Thou shall not” (Exodus 20:2-17), “Do not” (Romans 12:12) “Do nothing” (Philippians 2:3), etc. We are commanded by God to obey His rules (John 14:15, 21; John 15:10) and this obedience is called “holiness.” ALL followers of Christ are commanded to pursue and walk in holiness - which is the sanctification of heart and life (daily dying to self and daily becoming more like Christ through obedience to God). (Romans 6:19; Ephesians 4:24) So, what then is “Legalism”? Legalism is establishing rules OUTSIDE of Scripture and JUDGING people who are not conforming to these EXTRA Biblical rules. In other words, legalism is adding rules NOT in the Bible and judging people for them. Some examples of legalism are: One Christian believes home schooling is the only way to teach children, while another Christian family believes public school is ok; one Christian church believes women should only wear skirts to church while another believes pants are ok; some Christian women believe wearing makeup is wrong while other Christian women do not; some Christians belief in worshipping on Saturday while others believe only worshipping on Sunday, etc. Judging people for eating certain kinds of food. This is LEGALISM. (Colossians 2:16-23) The Bible makes it clear that we are not to pass judgment on our brother or despise our brother because he is not conforming to EXTRA biblical rules that we put in place and God did not. (Romans chapter 14) What Christians should do instead is pursue what makes for peace and mutual upbuilding (Romans 14:19) and each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up (Romans 15:2) and not to tear him down by man-made rules. (Mark 7:8)
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 20:00:46 +0000