Whenever I read these comments on legalism or the debates on legalism that have been discussed here, I always become insatiably curious to ask for one thing. HOW, HOW do you perceive Judaism? Milovany, I think you said in a few words that legalism focuses on how others live their faith instead of focusing on themselves. He returns to the place in a brother`s eye if there is a telephone pole in yours. The law states that the Sabbath must be sanctified and that no work can be done on it. That is an excellent principle. But these Jewish legalists had a passion for definitions. So they asked: What is work? All sorts of things have been classified as work. For example, carrying a burden on the Sabbath means working. But the next step is to define a load.

Thus, the law of writing states that a burden is “food equal to the weight of a dried fig, enough wine to mix in a chalice, enough milk for a sip, enough honey to anoint a wound, enough oil to anoint a small limb, enough water to moisten an eye ointment, enough paper to write a customs notice on it, Enough ink to write two letters of the alphabet, enough reed to make a pen” – and so on endlessly. So they spent endless hours arguing about whether or not a man could lift a lamp from one place to another on the Sabbath, whether a tailor committed a sin if he went out with a needle in his robe, whether a woman could wear a brooch or fake hair, even if a man could go out on the Sabbath with artificial teeth or an artificial limb. if a man could raise his child on the Sabbath. These things were for them the essence of religion. Their religion was a legalism of petty rules and regulations. I grew up in one of these churches. They had a booklet called “The 29 Eminent Teachings.” I imagine that when it was first written, it was supposed to be a guideline for Christian behavior, but as it grew up, it became 29 ways to end up in hell. Mark Ballenger writes, “The way to avoid legalism in Christianity is to have good deeds with good motivations, to obey God`s law out of relational love for Him.” To change our mindset, we need to ask ourselves the tough questions. What are our motivations? What does God say about this? Is this in accordance with God`s law? If we examine our hearts, we will all find that legalism is our concern. No one is immune. Every day will be an opportunity to repent and turn away from our evil ways and thus shape our personal journey of faith.

Closely related to the first, Sproul says that legalism “obeys outward appearances, while the heart is far from any desire to honor God, the intention of His law, or His Christ.” Legalism separates obedience from our relationship with God. Many people think that the essence of Christianity is to follow the right rules, even extra-biblical rules. For example, the Bible doesn`t say we can`t play cards or have a glass of wine with dinner. We cannot make these things the outward test of authentic Christianity. This would be a mortal violation of the gospel, because it would replace the true fruits of the Spirit with human tradition. We are dangerously close to blasphemy by distorting Christ in this way. Where God has given freedom, we should never enslave people with man-made rules. We must ensure that we combat this form of legalism. When I think of examples from the Bible, legalism becomes evident when the Pharisees get angry with Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. They were so caught up in the rules that they couldn`t see anything good about what he had done.

It was happening to them all the time. As a Christian, have you ever been accused of legalism? This word is often misused in the Christian subculture. For example, some people might call John a legalist because they consider him narrow-minded. But the term legalism does not refer to narrow-mindedness. In reality, legalism manifests itself in many subtle ways. Basically, legalism involves abstracting God`s law from its original context. Some people seem to be busy in the Christian life following rules and regulations, and they see Christianity as a set of do`s and don`ts, cold, deadly moral principles. It is a form of legalism that consists only of keeping God`s law as an end in itself. Legalism implies an “other” that I cannot pinpoint on. It is not the standards themselves that are legalistic, but the way they are applied.

There must be a “harsh judgment” against someone or oneself for the line of legalism to be crossed. Let me give you a few examples. Although the Bible explicitly forbids drunkenness, it does not require total abstinence. Make no mistake: total abstinence from alcohol is great. As a Christian, you are certainly free to adopt this as a lifestyle. But you are not free to condemn those who choose to drink in moderation. You can discuss with them the wisdom of such a decision and its practical consequences, but you should not condemn it as sub-spiritual or as falling short of God`s best. I think Tim Challies said that legalism is “the fear of freedom,” and I think that`s a good place to start, because I`m more or too concerned about legalism by the letter of the law or too preoccupied — and extends that letter — than with the spirit of the law. A friend`s uncle avoids his daughter because she divorces her husband for infidelity.

Let`s say that if she remarries, she will go to hell. This is legalism. After reviewing these three types, we can see that it is not bad to have a personal preference or to choose to read a particular version of the Bible. It becomes a problem when one begins to believe that one`s way is the only way to attain salvation. David Wilkerson sums it up well with this statement. “At its core, legalism is the desire to appear holy. He tries to be justified before men and not before God. I don`t really understand why there`s a difference.

In fact, where we are in life right now, I feel more comfortable trusting the tradition of my church than my own personal feelings and interpretations. When I wonder if I should do something or not (not all the little things, of course, just something in front of me that I feel contradictory about), I often ask my priest for advice/advice, knowing that his advice is based on the interpretation and faith of the apostles and church fathers over hundreds of years. There is something about the immutable tradition. I understand and respect the fact that not everyone will agree with this. He continues, “Therefore, we must try to live our lives according to these commandments. Such behavior is not legalism. Legalism is a servile observance of the law in the belief that it deserves merit. For me, this is legalism. Supplement to be done if it is not desirable or necessary..

and could actually hinder the future of what I did. Like in a year where school gets used to homeschooling children “reporting” when they don`t have to. Then the behavior is expected. I think this means extra-biblical teachings/instructions/dictations, but with the myriad of interpretations on the Bible, what really counts as legalism? To understand the second type of legalism, we must remember that the New Testament distinguishes between the letter of the law (its outward form) and the spirit of the law. The second form of legalism separates the letter of the law from the spirit of the law. He obeys the letter but hurts the spirit. There is only one subtle difference between this form of legalism and the one mentioned earlier. Ester Maria, even if someone lives rigidly and strictly, it`s not legalistic in the sense that I think this thread refers.

I think the legalism we`re talking about here is whether or not you believe in everyone in the same standard that you live in. Many of the examples mentioned here are not black-and-white rules that everyone agrees on, and this is where interpretation comes into play and application becomes confusing. To further illustrate what legalism can look like, R.C. Sproul describes three forms of legalism. Okay, but what`s an example of a man-made law that fits your definition of legalism? It is not difficult to find a biblical justification for many, many things, nor difficult to find a scripture that could be interpreted to justify something. We see almost the same scenario in Mark 3:1-6. Again, it was the Sabbath and Jesus dared to heal a person with a parched hand. And once again, the Pharisees were in turmoil that Jesus broke their cherished traditions. We will come back to how Jesus responded to their accusations in a moment. But now notice the spirit of legalism that animated these men.

As an Orthodox Christian, it may seem to strangers that we live our faith with many rules. It may seem that we have a lot of “things” and extra things to do. We go to church a lot. We have morning and evening prayers. We fast for more than half the year (which for us means not eating animal foods, oil or wine).