Why It's a Sin For You, But Not For Me

Right now, I am thoroughly enjoying a Hershey's Kiss, wearing make up, listening to Bright Eyes, wearing pants, and drinking a glass of Malbec. And I'm enjoying these all to the glory of God! I have a healthy fondness for all these things (chocolate, good music, comfortable clothes, and a good wine). They are gracious additions to an already undeservingly blessed existence. They are adornments of life. They are not, and never will be, life itself. The only thing my life can be (and should be) defined by is Christ. With an understanding of Christ's redemptive work on the cross, a humbling appreciation for the heaviness of that sacrifice, and love for who God is, I can find temporary pleasures in these things with freedom and with greater appreciation than if I had not known God. Because my delight is in the Lord, the way I enjoy food, drink, beauty, art, skill, relationships, and leisure is radically enhanced, not compromised.

Lately, my attention has been drawn and redrawn to ideology that suggests that enjoying these things is an indication of my lack of spirituality. I'm not talking about religions that impose arbitrary regulations that determine that being seen with a starbucks cup, at the counter of a Macy's Estee Lauder, or purchasing a pair of pants warrants the cold shoulder of your fellow church (or whatever edifice they decide to call it) goers. I'm also not talking about the laws of a selectively "moral" (and I use that term loosely) culture. No. I'm talking about something much more dangerous. I'm talking about brothers and sisters in Christ that impose personal extra-biblical convictions on entire churches that do not build-up or edify and seem to serve no other purpose than to ensure that an entire group is unified in appearing self-righteously awkward.

Folks, legalism is alive and well in the church.

Before I get into how legalism commonly manifests itself and why it's so dangerous, because the term doesn't appear in Scripture, I think it's important to define it to the best of someone else's ability:

"Legalism has at least two meanings, but both express a single root problem. First, legalism means treating Biblical standards of conduct as regulations to be kept by our own power in order to earn God's favor. Simply put, moral behavior that is not from faith is legalism.....[it] is the terrible mistake of treating Biblical standards of conduct as regulations to be kept by our own power in order to show our moral prowess and earn God's favor. It is a danger that all of us must guard against every day.

The second meaning of legalism is this: the erecting of specific requirements of conduct beyond the teaching of Scripture and making adherence to them the means by which a person is qualified for membership in a local church. This is where unbiblical exclusivism arises."

-John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals. (153-154).


I'll just say this about it. We could not attain our salvation through the law. We cannot attain sanctification through it (and much less through the "rules" some fundamentalists seem to be making up as they go along).

So what are some of the common manifestations of legalism? Please note that all these things, can be a source of sin, but are not automatically for everyone.

Forbidding alcohol.
Forbidding tobacco.
Imposing a dress code.
Imposing a particular diet.
Forbidding make up.
Forbidding all secular forms of entertainment (i.e. music, movies, television, etc).
Forbidding certain/all technologies. [I'm not particularly worried about offending people who deny themselves of all modern technologies with this blog].

Like I said, all these things MIGHT be a source of sin for you. If you are prone to addiction, it may be a sin for you to recklessly stumble into a bar. If you feel personally convicted about what you wear, it would be a sin for you to disregard that conviction in defiance of it. If you deduce that what you're watching on television is harmful to your relationship with the Lord, continuing to watch it would be sinful. But if (maintaining these hypotheticals) you impose these personal convictions on other people, judging and criticizing their conduct, you've gone too far.

So what are the dangers of embracing legalistic tendencies? I can think of at least four.
1. It's powered by our flesh and not by faith.
2. It makes obedience to Christ a chore instead of a pleasure.
3. It undermines the work of the cross that has already been done.
4. (Perhaps the most dangerous) It provides a false sense of assurance in salvation/holiness.

Legalism pertains to the limitations of things which the Bible does not specifically prohibit. Adultery is a sin. That is not up for discussion. Having good friends of the opposite sex is not, necessarily. Drunkenness is a sin. Enjoying a glass of wine while you're writing a blog is not, necessarily. Idol worship is a sin. Listening to Billy Idol... well, legalists can have that one. Listening to Bob Dylan is not, necessarily.

I'll spend the majority of the remaining blog addressing the first and fourth danger.

Remember that John Piper quote above? Notice how gave two definitions of legalism, but suggested that they have one root problem? Here's what he says,

"In the first case, we use our own power to make ourselves moral. In the second case, we use our own power to make the church moral. In the first case, we fail to rely on the power of God for our own sanctification. In the second case, we fail to rely on the power of God for the sanctification of others.

Therefore, what unites these two forms of legalism at the root is unbelief -- unbelief in regard to ourselves, that it is God who is in us 'to will and to work for his good pleasure' (Phil. 2:13); and unbelief in relation to others, that God will make His will known and incline them to do it."

-John Piper, Brothers, We Are Not Professionals (154-155).

Our ability to stick to the guidelines is no defense against sin. In fact, I honestly believe that a burden imposed on baby believers to "act moral" only produces frustration at our inability (within our own power) to do so. Yes, we are to act according to what we proclaim, but what is the root of those actions supposed to be? Faith.

Colossians 2:6-7 says, "Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanskgiving."

Works then are the fruit, not the root. Your works are not necessarily evidence of faith. If they were, Paul could not say in Romans 14:23 "For whatever does not proceed from faith is sin."

Secondly, as Christians, it ought to be a pleasure to serve one another and Christ. Legalism does not negate this, but it does threaten it. Legalism produces embittered people who have found no reward in their obedience because their obedience was the means to the reward instead of it being the overflow of a reward they would have already received. Their toil yields no fruit and very often, apart from genuine salvation, they abandon the church having felt that it "didn't work" for them.


Thirdly, legalism cannot earn God's favor. If, as Paul says, God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were undeserving sinners, by nature children of wrath in disobedience to God, he sent his only son to die a gruesome death so that we might be called children of God, receive adoption, and inherit the kingdom of heaven, what makes us think that by abstaining from listening to secular music, we can earn more of God's favor? In our depravity, had he not sacrificed enough to demonstrate his love for us? It seems pretentious, audacious, proud, and idiotic to then think that we need to earn any more of his favor as if he was still holding out on us.


Lastly, legalism can provide a false sense of assurance in both a person's salvation or the progress of their walk with the Lord. The example that leaps into my mind is the lives of the Pharisees. They were the epitome of a salvation dependent on works. They were experts at keeping their definition of the law. Because of this, they were confident that they were in good standing with God. Jesus told them, "And if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the guiltless." Jesus does not desire our works, he desires our affections. When we offer works without the affections, they are the dirty rags, and yet, legalism makes them appear to be worthy of an offering.

Yes, we are to forsake the competing affections of this world. But what does that mean? A true Christian will not remain in a state of indifference for long once he or she notices that worldliness is threatening or compromising the affections for God. (And when he does fight these temptations, it will be through the strength God provides, not of his own fortitude). But the security of his salvation and the promise of his sanctification is not dependent on his ability to keep the law by abstaining from things that are prohibited and much less on his ability to abstain from things that are not.

"[Regarding a righteousness through faith] Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained."

Philippians 3:12-16