Legalism (part 2)

Introduction. In the previous article we saw that the legalism the Lord condemned centered on the Pharisees desire to add further prohibitions to God’s laws. This is the real concern of legalism today. Even good motives did not keep them from the rebuke: “Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” (Pr. 30:6). Although these traditions were designed to keep them as far as possible from sin, Jesus condemned them: “in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ (Mark 7:7). God made His commands as clear as He needed them to be. Any additions were evil. The wording of each command is fixed. God doesn’t need our help either to strengthen them by adding additional commands of men or to loosen them by additional commands that set them aside.

Yet the charge of legalism, lodged today when a command is taken further than someone else believes it should be, can easily become lawlessness. While the Pharisees were guilty of legalism by carrying things too far, those who don’t carry things far enough are called lawless. Lawlessness and legalism are the two extremes of any law. Every law Jesus gave can be carried too far (legalism) or not carried far enough (lawlessness). This is the major reason why the way that leads to life is straitened and narrow. Every decision we make to serve the Lord is hemmed in by these two mandates. We must never go beyond what is written to the right hand or to the left