Legalism in the Church
Professor
English 101
5 March 2014
Legalism in the Church In today’s society, Legalism is a major issue within the church. Legalism is the idea that good works and keeping God’s commandments will help you enter into the Kingdom of God. Yes, it is good to keep God’s laws, and yes, Jesus spoke, “If you love me, then you will keep my commandments” (English Standard Version, John 14.15), but He did not say that keeping these commands would help you achieve salvation. Legalism is not only a false doctrine, but it rips and breaks churches apart; thus, one must realize how to reform and restrain from Legalism. Legalism breaks up the Church in so many ways. First, if a church is involved in Legalism, then the majority of the attention will be focused merely on obeying God’s law. This is a disillusion. “Obedience to the Law of God is, of course, a true Christian ideal, but Christianity (through Jesus) has restored the Law to its proper place. It is neither the first nor the last concern for the Christian believer” (De Vries 18). When Christians’ main concern with the Church is obeying God’s law, this leads to discouragement and confusion because all men are fallen; thus, there is no way that everyone can live a perfect life. All men are going to fall short of the glory of God; when people are set to certain standards that perfection is the only way to achieve salvation, it discourages people into a mindset that they will never enter into Heaven and that God will never be pleased with them. Because of this discouragement and confusion, people are only driven further away from the church and from truly forgiving love of God. Legalism also causes strife among churches due to the misconceptions of God’s word. Many churches around the world have fallen into this belief and have become separated from the love of God. Legalism is a false doctrine that has corrupted and negatively influenced many Churches today. Still, to this day, mankind still believes that God’s acceptance
English 101
5 March 2014
Legalism in the Church In today’s society, Legalism is a major issue within the church. Legalism is the idea that good works and keeping God’s commandments will help you enter into the Kingdom of God. Yes, it is good to keep God’s laws, and yes, Jesus spoke, “If you love me, then you will keep my commandments” (English Standard Version, John 14.15), but He did not say that keeping these commands would help you achieve salvation. Legalism is not only a false doctrine, but it rips and breaks churches apart; thus, one must realize how to reform and restrain from Legalism. Legalism breaks up the Church in so many ways. First, if a church is involved in Legalism, then the majority of the attention will be focused merely on obeying God’s law. This is a disillusion. “Obedience to the Law of God is, of course, a true Christian ideal, but Christianity (through Jesus) has restored the Law to its proper place. It is neither the first nor the last concern for the Christian believer” (De Vries 18). When Christians’ main concern with the Church is obeying God’s law, this leads to discouragement and confusion because all men are fallen; thus, there is no way that everyone can live a perfect life. All men are going to fall short of the glory of God; when people are set to certain standards that perfection is the only way to achieve salvation, it discourages people into a mindset that they will never enter into Heaven and that God will never be pleased with them. Because of this discouragement and confusion, people are only driven further away from the church and from truly forgiving love of God. Legalism also causes strife among churches due to the misconceptions of God’s word. Many churches around the world have fallen into this belief and have become separated from the love of God. Legalism is a false doctrine that has corrupted and negatively influenced many Churches today. Still, to this day, mankind still believes that God’s acceptance
Cited: Borght, Eduardus Va Der, ed. The Unity of the Church: A Theological State of the Art and Beyond. Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP. 2010. Print. De Vries, Simon J. “The Distortion of Denominational Ideals: Legalism.” The Reformed Journal (1959): 18. Print. The Bible. Biblica, Inc. 2011. Print. New International Version Bible.