Church of Christ and Legalism

But there are other ways to define legalism. Another form of legalism is also common in Scripture, when believers are told that they must follow the rules established by man rather than (or incidentally) the rules of God. Not only does our fallen human nature tend to resist God`s law, but we also tend to make our own laws. Antioch, by the way, was a fairly large city, a city with a lot of diversity. There was a large Jewish population in Antioch, but there was also a large non-Jewish population. In fact, most historians believe that the church of Antioch was divided in the middle – half Jewish and half pagan. I confess to you this morning that there have been times in my life when peace was more important than the Gospel. What I will share with you, I say with shame in my heart and a lot of embarrassment. The first church I preached in was a small rural church in West Tennessee. It was one of those churches where they had done the same thing the same way for about a hundred years, and one of the things this all-white church had done was to live with prejudices in their hearts. Should we choose to live by our own standards and therefore be judged by the works of the law (in which case we all fail), or will we choose to live in faith, abide in Christ, and thus stand before Him without being ashamed? (1 John 2:28) We have a choice. A life lives the attitudes and actions of the Pharisees, ultimately trusting in itself and leading to hypocrisy. The other life lives by the grace of God (cf.

Titus 2:11-12), takes God at his word and thus responds to these accusations of legalism. In short, this kind of legalism is an unbalanced focus on the law. This is legalism in tone. So we can call this healthy legalism. Yet if you ask the average Christian to define legalism, the answers may not come so quickly. What exactly counts as legalism? How do we know it when we see it? The confusion is exacerbated by the fact that the term can be used in different ways. People can use the same word, but imbue it with very different meanings. Concern about the legalism of clay may explain why we have so many exhortations to pastors to be gentle with their flocks and not to dominate (1 Tim 3:3; 1 Peter 5:3; Matthew 20:25). Our services should not be defined by our “cracking”, but by a patient and gentle guard. Many people think that the essence of Christianity is to follow the right rules, even rules that are extrabiblical.

For example, the Bible doesn`t say we can`t play cards or have a glass of wine with dinner. We cannot make these questions the external test of authentic Christianity. It would be a mortal violation of the gospel because it would replace the true fruits of the Spirit with human tradition. We are getting dangerously close to blasphemy by distorting Christien in this way. Where God has given freedom, we should never enslave people with man-made rules. We must ensure that we combat this form of legalism. And that`s why this passage in Galatians is so relevant. Does the Church really understand what the gospel is? Because if we do that, three things will happen: “Legalistic! Pharisee! These must be among the most annoying costs to bear. This usually happens when you try to press certain points regarding the need to obey God. Thus, the office can easily become a way of not having to deal with passages that teach the need to do something, such as being baptized.

But look at the accusation from a biblical point of view. For our purposes here, we will use the accusations of “self-righteousness” and “legalism” to be fundamentally the same, as they are often given interchangeably. Paul was also very aware of this form of legalism. In Romans 14, he wanted to make sure that Christians did not judge each other on “contentious issues.” Some Christians ate meat, others did not (verse 2). Some Christians followed some holy days, others did not (verse 5). Some Christians drank wine, others did not (verse 21). Paul says there was a time in the church in Antioch where Jews and Gentiles were closely related. They sat at the same tables to eat.

They interacted with each other in a way that showed they had a common bond in Jesus Christ. And Peter was right in the middle of this beautiful mix. You need to understand this about legalism – legalists are excellent at the art of bullying. One of the most important ways for legalists to enforce their will is to pressure people, insist and threaten them. So while Peter had to accept some criticism for doing the right thing in the past, he was apparently no longer in the mood to deal with it, and when these men came from Jerusalem, Peter stopped eating with the Gentiles so that he would no longer have to listen to their criticisms. Of course, it is true that there is a place to emphasize people`s sin. And it is also true that God cares a lot about Christian obedience. But the people in these churches know that something is wrong, even though they may not be able to articulate it completely. Greatly appreciate your teachings.

Well anchored and in search of the soul. I turned to legalism and asked God to reveal me whenever I tend to go in that direction. Well, it doesn`t seem like a big deal for us, but this church had never done anything like it before. This lasted about four Sundays, and then the preacher was called to meet the elders. They told him, “You can`t do that anymore. Well, you see, we don`t think it`s wrong, but some of the brothers here are upset about it. I mean – it won`t fit into the rules – legalism because it`s not a man-made rule, because sex before marriage is God`s law. But the culture of purity is so toxic. Why would a person do that? Why are people so sensitive to the legalism of rules? Because it gives us the opportunity to feel better. Notice that whenever we add a rule to the Christian faith, it turns out that it is the rule we prefer and the rule we follow.

And it allows us to be part of the “In” group and consider others as part of the “Out” group. The Campbells, Stones and others had noble and good ideals. They dreamed of Christians of all stripes who worshipped together in a primitive way, thus incorporating the message of the gospel and Christian morality into the culture that one day the whole earth would improve spiritually and morally, so that in alexander Campbell`s mind, the church`s influence on society would usher in Christ`s gentle reign on earth.