INTRO: I’ve tried to be very clear and practical at each point in this topic about what legalism is, what it does, and what it looks like. We spent the last message covering the statements a legalist might say, the specifics of legalism as far as the actual fundamental definitions of this way of thinking, and then we considered one powerful verse (Galatians 4:9) that simply condemned legalism as spiritual backsliding, enslaved to works, and motivated by man’s approval.
Legalism is potentially such a damaging, deceitful, and depressing way to view the Christian life. We should all agree that the goal of preaching and teaching the Word of God on this subject is that we all come away with some sound, biblical principles that apply in the broader scheme of things. I say that because I am going to step on some toes today. What better way to commemorate the 1-year anniversary! I will step on toes in order to point to biblical principles – the goal is Bible truth. Across the spectrum of Christianity and within this church in particular, we are all going to arrive at differing standards, viewpoints, preferences, and convictions. By the way, that’s fine. We are not a cult or a gang, we are a church! You may have some standards and rules in your life that someone else does not have in their life, but that’s okay, as long as we are focused on Bible principles.
I. The Steps to Legalism (16, 20)
– I’d like to begin part 2 by painting another picture of what legalism looks like. You don’t want to follow these steps! This a suggestion of what NOT to do.
A. Make rules outside the Bible. (wire-rim glasses, beards, no songs before 1940.) I have a good preacher friend who said last week on social media, “If you still preach against preachers having facial hair...send me your address and I will be happy to send you a Bible.” The common thread of all forms of legalism is a major emphasis on man-made rules and regulations and a major de-emphasis or disregard for the Word of God and the grace of God. In fact, if the Word of God says the opposite of a hard-core legalist, the legalist will not submit to the Word of God, but will adhere to his own system of rules and regulations.
B. Push yourself to try and keep your rules.
C. Reprimand yourself when you don't keep your rules.
D. Become proud when you do keep your rules.
E. Appoint yourself as judge over other people.
F. Get angry with people who break your rules or have different rules.
– This is a sure path to legalistic living. The first part of Colossians 2 talks about how we are complete in Christ. Paul established the same basis in the early chapters of Galatians. Colossians 2:8 - Beware lest any person spoil you or take you away from that foundational truth and put you back into the rudiments of the world and the traditions of men. This is the same language that is used in Galatians 4. In fact, the word “rudiments” in Colossians 2:8 and 20 and the phrase “weak and beggarly elements” found in Galatians 4:3 and 9 are the same Greek word stoicheia. It means to conform to virtue or piety. The point it is making in these two passages is that there is an ever present danger of focusing as a believer on conforming to rules rather than transforming through a relationship.
– Charles Swindoll in his book on grace puts it this way, "You want to mess up the minds of your children? Here's how - guaranteed! Rear them in a legalistic, tight context of external religion, where performance is more important than reality. Fake your faith. Sneak around and pretend your spirituality. Train your children to do the same. Embrace a long list of do's and don'ts publicly but hypocritically practice them privately, yet never own up to the fact that its hypocrisy. Act one way but live another. And you can count on it – emotional and spiritual damage will occur."
II. The Symptoms of Legalism (20-23)
– These verses quote the language of the false teachers who warned, "don't touch that, don't taste that, and stay away from this!" We don't follow false thinking or the world's system to achieve spiritual growth. If you died with Christ to the elements and rules of the law, why do you put so much focus on them still? Look at verse 23 where it emphasizes that they might make you look good (show of wisdom) and promote your self-made religion. They may give off an appearance of spirituality but they really have no value in stopping your flesh or helping you achieve true spirituality and inner victory over the flesh.
A. You lack joy. “Legalism wrenches the joy of the Lord from the Christian believer, and with the joy of the Lord goes the power for vital worship and vibrant service. Nothing is left but cramped, somber, dull and listless profession. The truth is betrayed and the glorious name of the Lord becomes a synonym for a gloomy killjoy. The Christian under law is a miserable parody of the real thing.” (The Paralysis of Legalism, April, 1963)
– A legalistic home is one where joy and love are seldom shown or spoken. The home will have an unbalanced emphasis on rules and may be unable to provide biblical answers to legitimate questions. Kids are likely to rebel when they leave.
– It's impossible to be legalistic and joyful at the same time. Joy comes from knowing that your sins are forgiven, misery comes from trying to earn forgiveness from God. Legalists don't smile, they just grimace. Legalists either live in a state of perpetual discouragement or self-righteous hypocrisy.
– Legalism can take a vibrant faith and make it dull and lifeless. Instead of finding freedom through Christ, many believers become burdened by the church and the external conformity they feel pressured into..
B. You feel like you’re never doing enough. You always have this vague, nagging guilt that comes from feeling like you're not doing enough for God. You're not evangelizing or praying or reading your Bible enough. You should be fasting more and serving more. Remember that time you were able to rest in God's presence? Oh wait, that never happened because you can't rest, you need to do more!
– You feel that God is always unhappy with you. You know that technically, God accepts you because of Jesus' death for you. But just because God accepts you doesn't mean he has to be happy with you. You feel like you got into God's kingdom through a technicality or loophole, and now he just tolerates you, like some sort of divine probation officer.
C. You’re hard on others. Criticism is the native language of the legalist. You aren't aware of God's grace toward you and so you don't give much grace to others. You're like a shark who can smell the slightest drop of sin in the water. When you see someone struggling with sin or not adhering to the standards you hold high, the criticism frenzy begins. A legalist is always hyper-critical of anyone who doesn’t conform to their rules.
– Legalism makes us narrow and divisive. The legalist insists that everyone live up to the standard they have adopted. In other words, everyone needs to be like me. When we think this way, we miss the delight of diversity in the church.
III. The Snare of Legalism
– Here are a couple of statements that remind us of the subtle dangers of legalism. These keep us grounded and balanced in treating this topic fairly and accurately.
A. Remember that standards are not sinful. The first snare of legalism is that it tempts us to throw out all standards and convictions. Probably the greatest misunderstanding there is in regards to legalism is that legalism is simply being overly strict. We love to label anyone that dresses more conservatively, prefers a certain style of music, or who doesn’t mind attending church every time the doors are open a legalist. The thinking goes that anyone who has more rules and standards in their life than I do must be a legalist because they are more strict than me. Listen carefully now...it’s easy to swing the pendulum too far the other direction. It’s easy to find someone who confesses to have "really struggled with it" in the past, and who now is apparently delivered of its powers. The way they show everyone they are not a legalist is by dropping every single boundary line and standard of separation they once had. It’s easy to hear someone like me preach on legalism or hear some other Christian you know wax eloquent about how it’s “rules over relationship” so that you come away thinking that “Jesus loves me so much, He doesn’t care how I live or what I do.” Besides, "legalism is bad, and most Christians are judgmental prudes. But Jesus is totally cool. Maybe I should I get a tattoo just to prove to everyone that I am totally not a legalist" – or so the thinking goes. That’s not true and that’s not what the Bible teaches at all. The antidote to legalism is not dropping every standard you have in your life. You can have standards and not be a legalist. In fact, I biblically recommend it.
– There are some things in the Bible that are always wrong in the sight of God. These things are not open for debate or discussion. These specific things are not a matter of legalism, but a matter of wickedness.
B. Realize that all believers are susceptible. A really scary part of legalism is that it comes in all shapes and sizes. It doesn’t follow our stereotypes, it follows us. The coat and tie wearing Christian and the skinny-jeans wearing Christian call both be guilty of it to the same degree. And while a legalist calls someone a liberal and the liberal calls someone a Pharisee, the devil laughs.
– As I said, it’s possible to have standards and not be a legalist. At some point, those who swear they are not legalists have to quit making it their mission to expose all the legalists in the world because then it becomes another form of legalism. At some point, I have to let a person have their standards and trust that through the grace of God, they’re doing so apart from any desire to be legalistically approved by God because of those standards.
– If we say that those who are into legalism are missing the point of the gospel and then we make our entire Christian life (that’s supposedly more full of grace than theirs) revolve around exposing the dangers of legalism, then we also missed the point of the gospel and we are just into a form of reverse legalism. Same song different verse.
IV. The Solution to Legalism (16-19)
– Let’s go out today with a plan to get victory over legalism. The purpose of Colossians is to keep Christ at the center of your heart and life. Legalism puts standards and rules at the center of your heart and life. Legalism is the natural result of a person who has Christ off center.
– To use language from Colossians 2:17, standards are just shadows. They may bring us closer to God and protect us from sin, but they are no substitute for the actual relationship.
– The purpose of OT laws, holidays, and feasts was simply to point toward Christ. Paul calls them shadows of the real thing – Christ Himself. Once Christ came, He dispelled the shadows.
– He mentions dietary restrictions – ham, pork. Drink restrictions – Mormons don't drink coffee, tea, or soda. Day restrictions – Sabbath versus first day of week.
– Our spirituality is linked to Jesus Christ – period! It has nothing to do with what we do or don’t do; it has everything to do with our relationship with Him. Don't ever allow anyone to judge your spirituality by what you do or don’t do.
– The things in verse 16 are examples of shadows, or standards that illustrate our devotion to Christ – but it is the Substance that matters! Christ is the big deal!
– Do you center your life around a shadow? No, do you husbands love the shadow of your wife more than the real thing? No!
– Verse 19. Christ is the head. A legalist is not properly connected to Christ as the head of his life.
– So what’s the solution? The solution is to stop approaching Christianity as a cold, ritualistic system, and instead focus on developing a genuine, close relationship with God. We don’t get to know Jesus through keeping rules. We get to know Jesus by maintaining a relationship.
– And listen, viewing Christianity as the most important and life-changing relationship we have doesn’t give us a license to sin. On the contrary, it gives us the greatest motivation to love our Savior and be obedient to Him. Every day becomes not about following rules, but pursuing a relationship.
Illus: 40 men all dressed in matching khaki pants got off an old rattletrap brown bus in Houston, Texas. Some had scars on their faces. Some of them looked tough, the kind of man you would not want to meet in a dark alley. Others looked like clean-cut, all-American boys or church kids. They all had two things in common. Each man had served time in prison and each man stepped off that bus in freedom. Freedom had been a long time coming.
It became apparent that adapting to freedom would require some adjustment. They were so used to forced regimentation that some of them really did not know they were free.
As children of God, we sometimes do not quite comprehend the fact that we have been set free by our Savior. Some of us are imprisoned by the memories of a sinful past. Other handcuffs are self-imposed. Other Christians are incarcerated by legalism. Their Christian life will struggle to break free from the invisible prison bars of legalism.
If you are living in a legalistic prison of your own making, you can walk through the doors of freedom today. "Stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Gal. 5:1)
– It is harder to have true spiritual maturity as a free son or daughter in Christ than it is when your Christian life is reduced to a set of rules and regulations. Please understand, I am not against rules and standards – you should know that – but they are shadows. They can never take the place of a substantive walk with Christ.
