Legalism (part 3)

Here is another question you may ask: Are we expected to follow the whole law?

As I said before, the law (all of it) is a good and righteous thing, and I believe that as you follow and study the law, you will begin to see why God wrote it, and it will bring you closer to Him. And as you strive to have a clean heart, you may discover elements of the law that you wish to attempt to follow. But God, when he sent his son, did not intend for Christians to still have to follow all the law, nor does he expect us to. If any man could follow the law completely, he would not need salvation through Christ, and that would nullify the scriptures, for they say:

“…There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Ro. 3:22-24)

“Everyone has turned away, they have together become corrupt; there is no one good, not even one.” (Ps. 53:3)

One must consider why the law was made.

“What shall we say, then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! Indeed I would not have known what sin was except through the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, ‘Do not covet.’” (Ro. 7:7)

The law was created to show us that we cannot earn salvation, and to show God’s love through His son’s death. It is only through faith in Him that we can escape the law’s demands.

“Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.” (Ro. 3:31)
In the same way, God’s desire is that we follow the law flawlessly, but we have already concluded that this is impossible. Does that mean that we should go one without even trying? Of course not!

“Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.” (Php. 2:12)

God never said it would be easy, much less effortless. You are eventually going to have to work through your salvation.

Hopefully, you will begin to see the two extremes, both being far from the truth. Legalism would tell you that you have to follow the whole law in order to ensure your salvation. Instead, we have been freed from bondage to the law. The opposite would tell you that this freedom allows you to live a sinful life without restrictions, all the time still being under God’s saving grace. This is obviously wrong as well.

So then, should we rely on our works? Absolutely not!

“All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.” (Isa. 64:6)
Our deeds alone are worthless, but at the same time:

“As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead.” (Jas. 2:26)

Allow me to coin a new term, here. There is a lazy, selfish attitude that says: “Sinning will not matter to God; he has already saved you. Do whatever you want, even if the Bible speaks against it. You are now completely above the law.” I’m going to call this heretical idea ILLEGALISM, for it is the opposite of legalism.