The apostle Paul wrote: “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Cor 3:17). If you have not experienced this freedom, ask the Holy Spirit to fill any area where the law has distorted your understanding of God. Agree with Jeff above that works do not lead to sanctification and that legalistic works do not seem to fully recognize this point, but when we look at the Synoptics, Galatians, James, Revelations and other books of the NT, we see that the principles of proving salvation and sanctification are a life of some good works. Second, the NT speaks of being separated from the world, not in place (i.e. in monasticism), but in actions and appearances for non-believers. If these premises are true, then it seems that legalism has to do with a misunderstanding of causality in sanctification. In fact, appearing and acting sanctified actually causes sanctification. The legalist might conclude: “Either way, it wouldn`t hurt anyone to take this approach anyway!” But the reality is that legalism is what Paul warned against in Romans, Galatians, and Acts 15. Obedience to God`s law does not save or sanctify at this time. The attempt to maintain the law of sanctification or redemption in the age of the church is legalism. The third type of legalism adds our own rules to God`s law and treats them as divine. It is the most common and deadly form of legalism. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees at this very moment, saying, “You teach human traditions as if they were the Word of God.” We have no right to overwhelm people with restrictions where He has no explicit restriction.
The sad thing is that the legalist does not know that he is more attached to legalism than to the Lord Jesus. They are more concerned with making their voices heard and followed than with the Word of God and following the Lord Jesus. While I generally agree with these points, which define legalism, as an alien to Protestantism, there seems to be an overemphasis in many Protestant circles on avoiding legalism. I would like to see a follow-up article on the defining characteristics of antinomianism. Do not fall into the trap of ruthless Christianity. If you see any of these warning signs in your life, invite the Holy Ghost to free you from legalism. Stop struggling, repent of pride, and ask God to open your eyes to the reality of His incredible grace. I totally agree with you, Doug. If you hadn`t said anything, I would have done it. While there are many things I agree with you, Sheila, that it is normal for people to believe something that is directly against what the Bible clearly says is extremely dangerous. I`m sure there are many Christians who love Jesus and believe in the gap theory, but it always contradicts Scripture. Just because something is not in the Apostles` Creed does not mean that there are no more vital concepts in the Bible.
When the Apostles` Creed was written, there were no major evolutionary arguments against creationism. It was written in the 300s!! Almost everyone believed that the universe was created by gods or gods. Evolutionism did not become an important theory until the 1800s. I encourage you to do more research before using this as an example. Answers in Genesis is a great resource, as is Creation Ministries International. These pages can explain much better than me exactly WHY the gap theory is wrong and why it is so dangerous to fall into the trap of believing that 7-day creationism is not important. This is NOT legalism, this is Scripture! While I understand your concerns about legalism better than you know, please don`t encourage people to ignore biblical truths! Instead, encourage them to explore the scriptures themselves, read different perspectives, and draw their own conclusions through prayer, fasting, and the help of the Holy Ghost. Moreover, comparing Genesis to the epistles of the New Testament is simply not a fair equation. Genesis is a history book. Disclosure of facts and details of events that occurred.
Epistles are exhortations from the apostles to early Christians with information about how they should live to follow Jesus. And here, the predominant theme is love for others, with additional information on how to do it.
