Legalism is one of those terms often labeled but rarely understood. I’ve been accused of it, and maybe you have too, but what exactly is it? Is it, for example, loving God’s law? If so, count the psalmist guilty, who sang, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day” (Ps. 119:97), but loving the law is not legalism. Or, is it heeding the law? If so, he who said he came not to abolish “the Law of the Prophets” but to “fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17) was a legalist. But he wasn’t.
Tag Archives: Legalism
The Righteous Shall Live by Faith
God desires that all kinds of people be saved, including those with whom you disagree and differ, and “come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4) of the gospel: “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved…For ‘everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (10:10, 13). This is the gospel, good news for you, good news for me, good news for our nation, good news for the world.
Humility Exalted
In Christ’s church, he gifts and uses those called to his service but never for their glory. It is not without significance that even the title “minister” is derived from the word meaning “servant.” For, in the body of Christ, we are all called to serve in Christ: “There is one body and one Spirit…one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Eph. 4:4-6).
Planter, Pastor, Preacher 