If you recall, I began last week's message with a question: What is legalism? In my experience in the church, there seem to be many misconceptions about what legalism is. I cannot count how many times I’ve heard great expositors of God’s Word referred to as "legalistic" because they were preaching from a text that called Christ’s church to repentance and the pursuit of holiness (Phil. 2:12, 1 Thess. 4:3, 2 Tim. 2:21, Acts 26:18, Col. 3:5, Heb. 12:13, 1 Cor. 1:2, Acts 3:19, Matt. 4:17, James 4:8, Acts 17:30, etc.).
Seeking to follow Christ by bearing the fruits of repentance and growing in grace is the call upon every believer’s life. The irony for those making such accusations is that an outright rejection of God’s law as a guide for Christian faith and practice is, in reality, a rejection of God’s grace in everyday life. Is the law of God a gracious gift given to the people of God? Is the law of God beneficial to us in our daily lives? I pray that your answer to these questions is a resounding yes! I think of the words of the Psalmist: "Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night" (Psalm 1:1-2).
In contrast to this kind of pseudo-legalism, true legalism takes various forms in the church. The clearest form of legalism is an attempt to undermine the essential doctrines of grace—salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. The core issue here is that the legalist adds necessary conditions for salvation that are not revealed in God’s Word. Any attempt to add to what is already revealed in God’s Word is clear biblical legalism. Then, there is a more subtle form of legalism in which the law is viewed outside of God’s loving relationship with His people. This legalist isolates the law from the God who gave it. For this legalist, Christianity is about obedience to rules, devoid of any personal relationship. We must remember that, as far back as the Mosaic Covenant, the law of God has always been given in the context of a loving relationship with His people. When obedience to the law is separated from this loving relationship, there is no love, joy, or passion. It becomes a merely external, mechanical way of keeping the law. The focus is only on following rules, excluding the wider context of God’s redemptive love, in which we received the law in the first place.
The conclusion of the matter is this: love God and love the law, which is a revelation of His character. Love it passionately, knowing that the law is God’s desire for His people—both for His glory and for our ultimate good. Brothers and sisters, the law is a tremendous blessing in that it both points us toward our need for justification by faith and serves as a guide for how the Lord may be glorified in our lives!