The Dangers of Legalism
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There’s
a question that we each have to ask ourselves: Do we desire to walk in
fellowship with the God who created us? We have the opportunity to walk with Him because the work of
Jesus Christ on the cross has satisfied God’s just demands against our
sins. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are given new life
from God Himself— even eternal life— and thus begins our walk of fellowship
with Him. Consider this very important little verse: “As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in
Him” (Col. 2:6). These two clauses communicate a mountain of meaning. It
teaches that our walk in Christ is accomplished by the same means through
which we originally received Him as our Savior. How did we receive Him as our Savior? This salvation is available
by God’s grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. How then, are we to walk with Him? By faith. “As you have
received Christ Jesus [by faith], so walk in Him.” This point can’t be
missed. When we attempt to walk in fellowship with Jesus Christ through our
own efforts and works, we are destined to fail. Just as human works
cannot save a person, neither can human works produce a life that is pleasing
to God. When a person or a preacher attempts to follow or preach a gospel
that includes human works— even human religious works that look good on
the surface—the result is a false gospel. A dangerous false gospel. A
misleading gospel. Add even a grain of human works, and precious blood
of Jesus Christ on the cross is rendered useless. If we have to add to
it, then God did not finish the work that Jesus Christ was assigned to do. And in the area of sanctification, remember our lesson from
Paul's letter to the Colossians. The Christian life is just what it
sounds like it ought to be: a life in Christ. It is lived by faith, daily depending on Him, growing in
Him. And it is through this fellowship with Him that we are used by God
to bear fruit that is pleasing to Him. But, because we are fleshly creatures wanting to have some of the
credit when it instead all belongs to God, we like to inject our own selfish
efforts into sanctification. When we inject works into the gospel, the result is a false
gospel that is dangerous. When we inject works into the
Christian life, the result is a kudzu like problem called legalism. Legalism can be defined as any attempt, however sincere, to live a
life that is pleasing and acceptable to God through efforts to conform to an
extra biblical set of rules of conduct. Paul writes about the dangers of legalism Colossians, chapter
two, which concludes: “These things [legalism] indeed have an appearance of
wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body.,
but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh” (Col. 2:23). For the enemy, fighting this enemy within that is characterized
in the Bible as “the flesh” by our own self efforts may have the “appearance
of wisdom,” but it doesn’t have power. Trying to walk in a manner that is pleasing to
God through fleshly efforts is like trying to control kudzu with hedge
clippers. You can clip at it all the live-long day, but it’s going to
remain active. In the same way,
trying to live the Christian life through legalistic methods doesn’t even
begin to result in a life that produces fruit that is pleasing to God.
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