![\"Freedom.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jesuscreed\/assets_c\/2010\/02\/Freedom-thumb-333x267-11864.jpg\")
<\/a><\/span>We are looking into the matter of legalism in the Christian life and in the Church. We have argued that the issue in legalism can\u2019t be reduced to having rules, but today I want to look at this issue of rules.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Legalism always ends up adding<\/b> something to the gospel. What might those things be? Laws, rules, regulations, experiences, education, cultural taboos or political parties. So, yes, legalism is about laws or practices or beliefs that are added to the gospel, and the result of the addition is that it compromises the sufficiency of Christ or jeopardizes the adequacy of the Spirit.<\/div>\n
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Legalism often is noted by an overemphasis on performance <\/b>that, in some way, calls into question the sufficiency of what Christ has done and what the Spirit can do.<\/div>\n
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Legalism always erects boundaries between people<\/b> and puts a boundary between people who are designed by God and called by God to be at one. For Paul, this was seen in the Judaizing believes wanting the Gentiles to become Jews and, if they didn\u2019t, then they were not accepted. Paul\u2019s simple word against all of this is one: We are one in Christ (Gal 3:28).<\/div>\n
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Legalism creates an atmosphere that is pervaded by judgmentalism<\/b>. Judgment, yes; discernment, yes. But legalism ramps this up and a judgmental spirit pervades a person \u2014 always judging others \u2014 or the church \u2014 always assigning who is in and who is out. Yes, discernment: the issue here is whether or not a person is accepted because of what Christ has done and how the Spirit can lead.\u00a0<\/div>\n
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Legalism\u2019s concerns are nearly always good things<\/b>. The beliefs or practices are added to the gospel, and they are usually good things: not drinking too much or not putting yourself into a place of temptation or extra rigor in one\u2019s spiritual disciplines \u2014 all these things could be, and frequently are, good things. But, legalism takes these things to the next level and calls into question the sufficiency of our acceptance in Christ and the adequacy of the Spirit\u2019s power to guide us.<\/div>\n
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Legalism often goes beyond the Bible in order to protect the Bible<\/b>. The additions we so often encounter in legalism are often ideas or behaviors that go beyond what the Bible says, and those extras are designed to keep us from getting near the Bible\u2019s \u201crules\u201d and \u201claws.\u201d \u00a0\u201cKeep the Sabbath,\u201d the Bible says. When does begin? Let\u2019s say it\u2019s 5pm on Friday evening. OK, that\u2019s reasonable. At 5pm, one finds another working: Breaker of the Sabbath? Well, not necessarily. 5pm isn\u2019t what the Bible says. I could go on.<\/div>\n
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Legalism, finally, often has a reverse logic: if I don\u2019t break the law, then I am righteous<\/b>. That is, \u201cnot breaking\u201d becomes equivalent to \u201ckeeping.\u201d But one can \u201cnot break\u201d and not keep. I have not, the hypocrite says, had sex with another man\u2019s wife, so I haven\u2019t broken the law. I\u2019ve kept the law. But, no, Jesus says, the law is about loving your wife and it\u2019s about your mind and your heart\u2026.<\/div>\n
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Well, these are my points about defining legalism.<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Liberated from Legalism 2<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"We are looking into the matter of legalism in the Christian life and in the Church. We have argued that the issue in legalism can't be reduced to having\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/jesuscreed\/2010\/03\/04\/liberated-from-legalism-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Liberated from Legalism 2\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We are looking into the matter of legalism in the Christian life and in the Church. 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We are looking into the matter of legalism in the Christian life and in the Church. We have argued that the issue in legalism can\u2019t be reduced to having rules, but today I want to look at this issue of rules. Legalism always ends up adding something to the gospel. What might those things be? […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":197,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n