The Problem with Legalism
Romans 2:17-29
1.
So far Paul has offended two groups of people:
a.
The immoral person
b.
The moral person
c.
Paul - the equal opportunity offender!
d.
Paul now turns his attention to the to the
legalist.
2.
What is legalism?
le·gal·ism - excessive adherence to law or formula,
dependence on moral law rather than on personal religious faith.
a.
Legalism can be very appealing to people that
like structure, who like order, people that like to know where lines are so
they don't cross them.
3.
However Paul does have a significant concern
with this form of religious practice;
a.
He has a concern for the person that believes
they can earn their acceptance with God based on who they are, or what they do.
b.
It is religious performance, scrupulous and
meticulous in its outward form, but inwardly, as Jesus described it, ‘filled
with dead men’s bones.’
c.
I believe Paul is qualified to speak to this topic,
as he was once very much a legalist, a Jewish Pharisee, the equivalent of being
a religious lawyer.
4.
Now this section of the letter is addressed to a
Jewish person,
a.
Because the Jewish person would see themselves
as being accepted by God based on:
i. The
fact that there were born Jewish, from the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
ii. The
fact that they had the word of God, given to them through Moses
iii. The
fact that they had the prophets of God; Samuel, Isaiah, Jeremiah,
iv. Because
of their obedience to the law of Moses.
b.
Today there are orthodox Jews who practice the
same faith that Paul is referring to, Judaism, and so yes Paul is speaking to
this group.
5.
But there are also those in the church today,
who may call themselves Christian, but who are in fact practicing a similar form
of religion, that just like Judaism, seeks to please God by their works or
ritual.
a.
They see themselves as being approved by God
because they are members of a certain church or denomination, because they’ve
been baptized, because they take communion each week.
b.
As well, there are Christians who have been
saved by grace, yet for one reason or another have fallen into the practice of
legalism, trying to please God through obedience and good works.
“The essence of legalism is when faith is not the
engine of obedience” - John Piper
6.
And so I do see this section of scripture being
very applicable to us today.
17 Indeed you are
called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, 18 and know His
will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the
law, 19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light
to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of
babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. 21 You, therefore,
who teach another, do you not teach yourself? You who preach that a man should
not steal, do you steal? 22 You who say, “Do not commit adultery,” do you
commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who make your
boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? 24 For “the
name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” as it is written.
7.
Paul is making the point that the person who
believes that obedience to the law, or to any set of rules, will set them right
with God, that person is actually
painting themselves into a corner.
a.
The premise is this: “if I
obey God’s laws, then God will accept me.”
b.
The only problem with that premise is that it is
impossible for a man or woman to perfectly obey the law.
c.
So, when a person attempts to “be holy,” they
soon find out that they aren’t capable of being holy, somewhere along the line
they slip up and sin.
d.
Maybe it's only a little sin, but it’s still
disobedience. Well, of course:
"It's ok, I can repent," but then it happens again, and again.
e.
And what happens if they forget to repent of one
sin?
f.
Or worse yet, what happens if they become
involved in a sin they don't want to give up!
8.
It puts the legalist in a dilemma; Because it’s
impossible to obtain perfect holiness, the legalist is forced to settle for one
of two options:
a.
#1 The pretense of holiness; In other words, if
they can’t really be holy, they can at least pretend to be holy, however in the
process their faith becomes an act, a facade.
b.
#2 A modified form of holiness, and thus begins
the task of deciding what sins are acceptable, and what sins aren’t.
c.
(FYI, this is how Judaism ended up turning Ten
Commandments into 633 laws!)
9.
Either way, it forces the legalist to create a flawed
system of religion:
a.
If they were to admit that they had failed at
being holy, that would mean they no longer have right standing with God, and
their entire theological premise begins to crumble.
b.
This is exactly what Jesus came up against with
the Jewish Pharisee’s.
c.
They pretended to be holy, and had all sorts of
rules and regulations to attest to their holiness, but inside they were “dead
men’s bones”
d.
So Paul is essentially calling the Jewish
legalist (or any legalist for that matter), a hypocrite!
10. Now
it’s easy for us to agree with Paul, because he’s not talking about us (those
people in the church down the street maybe!).
a.
BUT – there is an application for the Christian
today, because there are some in the church that turn onto the road of
legalism.
11. If
you were to look at the church today, there are two primary areas where people
get off track.
a.
“Give me Grace” crowd: Those who say that they’re saved by grace,
and because their sins are forgiven, they can pretty much live however they
want, because they have their "get out of hell" card, they’re free in
Christ.
i. These
are the folks that made a profession of faith, they even attend church, but if
you looked at their lives, there is no discernable difference between that
person and the unsaved person.
b.
“We’ve got Works” crowd: Those who say that they are saved by grace,
but in order to be fully accepted by God, you’ve got to have works, you’ve got
to be obedient.
12. Here’s
the rub: They are both partly right
a.
We are saved by grace, and our sins are
forgiven, we are free in Christ.
b.
And God does care greatly about obedience, and
holiness in our lives.
c.
But being partly right still makes a person
completely wrong!
13. The
person who counts on grace alone, and lives a life of sin, will inevitably experience
continual consequences of the sin in their lives.
a.
Their life will be one that does not honor God,
nor glorify God.
b.
The people who observe their life will think
“there’s no difference in him and me, why should I become a Christian.”
c.
This person hurts the cause of Christ.
14. The
person who strives to obey the law will find that they aren’t capable of living
100% sin-free, and so they have to hide their sin.
a.
But sin always has a way of being exposed (Num 32:23 be sure your sin will find you
out)
b.
The people observe this will say “that guy’s a
hypocrite.
c.
Add to that, legalism always appeals to the
pride nature of a person, who wouldn’t feel a sense of pride if they believed
that by their own efforts they’ve been able to achieve the approval of God?
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should
boast. Eph 2:8-9
d.
This person hurts the cause of Christ!
15. The
next thing Paul takes aim at is ritualism:
25 For circumcision
is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law,
your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 Therefore, if an uncircumcised
man keeps the righteous requirements of the law, will not his uncircumcision be
counted as circumcision? 27 And will not the physically uncircumcised, if he
fulfills the law, judge you who, even with your written code and circumcision,
are a transgressor of the law? 28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor
is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is
one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the
letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
16. Paul’s
message here is directed at the Jew who would say that because he is Jewish,
and has been circumcised, he is acceptable to God.
a.
Circumcision was a big deal to Jews, a man that
wasn't circumcised was not considered to be Jewish, could not worship in the
temple, and would not be accepted before God.
b.
Matter of fact, during Paul’s time Jewish
Rabbi’s taught that their father Abraham was posted at the entrance to hell, so
that he could check to make sure no circumcised man entered!
17. This
reveals the problem with legalism and ritualism: They only please MAN.
a.
Because legalism is an outward conformity, it erects
a façade of holiness that others can see and approve of.
b.
Same with ritualism; it becomes a stamp of
approval for others to see and approve of.
You have died with Christ, and he has set you free
from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the
rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such
rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them.
These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious
self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in
conquering a person’s evil desires. Col 2:20-23
(NLT)
c.
In other words you can follow the law all of
your life, and perform all of the rituals, but they won’t change you on the inside.
18. To
get a better picture of this, we only need look at Paul’s letter to the church
at Galatia,
a.
The Galatian church had been invaded by the
“We’ve Got Works” crowd.
b.
Jewish teachers had come into the church and
taught that you needed faith in Christ, AND to follow the laws of Moses in
order to be saved
c.
(Including
the requirement that they had to be circumcised, which I’ll bet the men of Galatia
weren’t too happy about)
d.
What did Paul say to them?
I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him
who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel… Gal 1:7
...knowing that a man is not justified by the works of
the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus,
that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law;
for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. Gal 2:16
e.
Did Paul tell them to obey better? No, he pointed them to Christ, and the fact
that they were justified by FAITH alone
19. Here's
why Paul had to deal with this issue in several churches; because legalism can be difficult to distinguish from true holiness.
a.
That’s because the actions of the legalist, and
the actions of someone who is walking in true holiness are often similar; both
are walking in obedience to God to the best of their ability.
What’s the big deal?
20. You
might ask: What’s the big deal? Why does it matter as long as there is
obedience? It matters greatly, for two reasons:
a.
Reason #1 is because legalism goes against what
God wants to do FOR US.
b.
The motivation of the legalist is to save himself,
he’s working to prove their worthiness before God.
c.
In other words, instead of having relationship
with God, they’re working for God!
d.
That would be like my son getting up and saying
“Mr Ritter, I’m going to mow the lawn so you’ll know
I’m your son. “OK, but when you’re done, lets go shoot some hoops.” “Sorry, after I’m done I need to wash your
car, because I want to be accepted by you” “um, OK, but after that wanna go see
a movie?” “Sorry, after that I’m going
to clean the house, I know that’ll make you happy…”
e.
That’s not a son, that’s a yard boy. If I wanted a yard boy, I would have saved my
money, not had children, and hired one.
It would have been much cheaper!
f.
No I want relationship with my children!
21. God
isn’t looking for workers; He loves us and wants a relationship with us!
a.
When Jesus taught His disciples to pray in
Matthew 6, He started it out “Our Father, who is in heaven…” - that was a crazy
radical statement, because no Rabbi would say God is our “father,”
b.
Jesus was making a bold statement “God loves
you, and He wants to be your FATHER!
c.
That’s why Paul wrote:
For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to
fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba,
Father.” Romans 8:15
22. #2
reason legalism is a big deal is that it goes against what God wants to do IN
US.
a.
Saving faith is an inward act, faith is a heart
decision, and the cool thing is, saving faith produces the outward evidence
that the legalist so desires!
b.
Saving faith allows the Holy Spirit of God to
enter into us, which changes us from the inside, and produces outward obedience
to God.
c.
Saving faith brings a heart of obedience, which
turns the purpose of the law and the ritual from being acts that “approve us”
to acts that “confirm us.”
23. The
same is true today of the rituals that we practice today in the New Testament
church
a.
Baptism doesn’t save us, it is an outward act
that testifies of an inward change,
i. It
declares that we’ve chosen to follow Christ, the old man has died, and the new
man has risen in the image of Christ.
b.
Communion doesn’t save us, it’s an outward sign
of an inward reality;
i. Christ
died for us, and so we celebrate His death through which we have gained life.
c.
Obedience to the law doesn’t save us; Obedience
is an outward indicator that God is working IN US to conform us to the image of
His Son Jesus Christ!
24. That
is what Paul meant when he wrote:
28 For he is not a
Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the
flesh; 29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the
heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from
God.
25. Here’s
the reality; God does not desire for our relationship to be based on ritual, or
obedience.
a.
These things will not satisfy our Heavenly
Father, as His desire is to have a relationship of the heart, of the spirit.
Copyright © 2013 Clay Ritter. This data file is the
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