The Subtle Danger of Legalism

Judaizers – it has an ominous tone to it, don’t you think? I can almost hear the theme from Jaws in the background as I write. Who are the Judaizers and what do they have to do with you?

They were the legalists of Paul’s day. They are the ones who came to the grace walking Christians at Galatia with a new slant on things. Their focus was all about behavior, about doing the “right things” that they contended were necessary to move forward in the Christian life.

Their’s was a sinister and subtle plot against the church. The truth is that Christianity is Jesus. Nothing more, nothing less. Being a “good Christian” doesn’t revolved around a list of do’s and don’ts. Being a good Christian means understanding that Jesus Christ is our life and allowing him to live through us. The gospel, then, is a person named Jesus not a performance. It’s a relationship, not a list of rules.

These Judaizers were sneaky. Their message came to the Galatians sounding something like this: “You’ve trusted Jesus Christ? Good for you! That is so important, but now you want to be a good Christian, don’t you? Hmm? Sure, you do. Well, the way you become a good Christian is to follow this list of rules that we want to give you – it’s God’s Law and you have to keep these rules in order to really grow and move forward. Now that you’re saved you’ll want to get started right so we’re going to tell you the things you need to do in order to become a really strong and good Christian.”
Like Paul, I find myself wanting to shout back through history into the Galatian church, “Watch out! Run! They’re trying to fool you! Don’t fall for it!”

That’s why Paul wrote the book of Galatians. He is shouting to them, “No! A thousand times no! Christianity is not about rules! Christianity is about a person named Jesus. He is the only source and subject of the gospel. As you live out of your union with Him, your behavior will take are of itself. Don’t be deceived!”

This same scenario, played out nearly two thousand years ago happens in churches all over the world today. People come to Christ. They love Him and live for Him as naturally as they breath. Then the religious mafia comes along and they are hit with legalism.

“You must read your Bible,” they are told, “every day!” “You should tell your friends about Christ,” they hear. “You ought to pray,” they are commanded, as if they aren’t already doing that.

Little by little, the new Christian finds that the actions which, until now, have been normal expressions of who he is becomes religious obligations, responsibilities that take on a different life than they have had until now. Actually, to be exact, they don’t take on a different life. Instead they begin to smell of death.

The new Christian who has all along been glorifying Christ through his behavior without even thinking about his behavior now stops focusing on Christ and starts focusing on his behavior. The face of Jesus fades into the background and a list of religious rules emerge as the focal point of the new Christian’s life, at which point the modern-day-Judaizers smugly pat each other on the back on move on in search of another victim.
In their wake they leave a mass of sincere believers who are now trying to achieve something they can never achieve – victorious Christian living. Victory in Christ can only be received by faith. It cannot, now or ever, be achieved by following the rules of legalistic lunacy.

Paul went after legalism with a vengeance. Listen to the strength of his words: “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting him who called you by the grace of Christ for a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6).

He didn’t see this matter of legalism as an honest difference of opinion between Christians. It wasn’t “a matter of semantics,” as some have suggested at times. He told them that they were deserting Christ if they followed the way of legalism. Make no mistake about it – when our lives are more grounded in religious rules of behavior than in an intimate relationship to Christ, we have abandoned Him.

Let’s understand what the gospel is not and what it is. The gospel is not a message which tells you that you have to trust Jesus Christ and then live according to certain rules. That is not good news. The gospel is that Jesus Christ has come to give himself to you, to express his love to you, and to express his life and his love through you.

When Jesus is expressing his life through us, there is where real quality of living comes. But if you’re staring at a list of rules that dictate behavior, you are missing intimacy with Jesus Christ because you can’t be looking at a list of rules and staring in the face of Jesus at the same time.

Since understanding that Christ is life, I have come to discover that those things that used to be rules to me were never meant to be viewed that way. I do those very things now, not because I have to, but because it is the desire of my heart to do them. As long as I focused on rules, I stunted my own spiritual growth.

Did you do anything to get saved other than to receive his life? Was it anything other than the grace of God that caused you to enter into salvation? Well here’s what the Scriptures say: “As you have received the Lord Jesus Christ, so walk ye in him.” You see, you simply received salvation through God’s grace. You trusted. You just believed, and that was it. You believed what God said, and you were saved.

The Bible teaches that in order to move forward in the Christian life you just need to do the same thing. Just believe what God says about his life in you; understand who you are and trust in him and him alone; don’t start focusing on a bunch of rules. You say, “Oh, but I’m scared about how I’m going to live if I don’t focus on the rules.” Well, you don’t have to be afraid of that. Don’t insult the Holy Spirit of God who is in you! When you focus on Jesus Christ I promise you, He will not fail you. He won’t fail you. As you focus on him and fall in love with him, he will express his life through you. Enjoying Jesus Christ, that is really living.