Getting to the Heart of Legalism
One of my favorite sayings is, “Bad theology hurts people.” Conversely, good theology helps people. Or, more formally, right orthodoxy leads to right orthopraxy, and that’s a great thing! What we believe about God shapes our actions. Every doctrine matters. Some have greater implications on our walk than others, but all of them have repercussions.
I don’t think I’ve written an entire blog post dedicated to it yet. Still, I’ve shared on social media about theological triage and how helpful it’s been to my understanding of church unity and how we ought to hold some views more lightly than others. For example, justification by faith in Jesus is a hill I will die on because that is the Gospel! How gender roles play out in marriage and the church has more room for discussion. Beliefs about end times, miraculous gifts, etc. are things I’m continually studying and tweaking my views on.
But all my beliefs about those impact how I live. Because I believe I am justified by faith in Jesus, I do not lay awake at night restless in my soul wondering if I will make it into Heaven. My standing before God is secured by what He has accomplished on my behalf and Christ’s firm hold on me (John 6:37); nothing can separate me from that. Because I believe the miraculous gifts didn’t cease after the apostles, I do not mock and jeer at the testimonies of thousands of Christians who are well acquainted with them and do not despise prophecies but test them to see if they align with Scripture (1 Thessalonians 5:20).
Every theological belief has practical implications. I’ve written some blog posts about my background in legalism and some of the bad theology that hurt me. But mostly I’ve picked off individual fruits of legalism rather than getting clear about the root. All along, as I picked at things like patriarchy or the stay-at-home daughter movement, I kept coming back to the Gospel. But, I didn’t realize until a couple of years ago how one root of bad theology fuels all legalism. When corrected, it can free believers far beyond the niche topics I was addressing.
This topic is called Law/Gospel Distinction. I was introduced to the concept in various Facebook theology groups and theology podcasts. American Gospel did a series on it and Theology Gals has several podcasts it.
It’s a lot to unpack and I highly recommend listening to one of those resources mentioned. When you confuse the message of the Law with the hope and security of the Gospel, you’re swimming in legalism. When you preach the Gospel but insist your hearers must follow the Law to remain in good standing with God, you have missed the heart of God entirely. When you insist on what we must “do” rather than what is already “done,” you confuse the Law with the Gospel and it loses its sweetness.
Justification by faith, as explained in Romans 3:21-31, permanently shifts our standing before God. The word “justify,” in its Greek form, is a legal term meaning in Christ we have a new verdict before a just judge. Legally, this standing can’t change. It’s final, secure, and independent from our actions following the verdict. It means we can’t lose our salvation. We can’t earn our salvation. We are justified by faith in Jesus, not the works of the Law. This justification doesn’t give us a license to sin but frees us up to be servants of righteousness (Romans 6).
So, when we think we must “do” something to be right with God on a day-to-day basis rather than resting in the reality of what Christ has already “done” and the glorious news that “it is finished!” we are misled. We live in a constant exhausting cycle of fear, guilt, and shame, but the Gospel brings freedom - pure, sweet, easy, rest for our souls in who God is and what He has done. I believe it is legalism that causes some churches to churn out narcissists and apostates by the handful, and it’s only by the grace of God and the Word of God that any genuine fruit comes from these scenarios. I am in awe of how sweet the gospel sounds to ears like mine - well acquainted with the heavy burdens of legalism and shame. But Christ has declared,
“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
Legalism is not bound to one specific denomination or niche belief within those. We may long outgrow certain fruits of legalism and take up others. Maybe I’ll write again soon about how I have been legalistic regarding otherwise good things like regular church attendance and Bible reading. Legalism is a deceptive temptation that no church or Christian is above falling into. We should be aware so we can examine our hearts. And yet, I rejoice in that even when my theology was faulty, God’s grace was greater. My justification wasn’t hindered. Praise God that He shows grace to the graceless!
