Bible verses:

“If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.”
– Colossians 2:20-23

“But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?”  – Galatians 4:9

(This is a continuation of a series. See post 1.)

Legalism: the enemy of love

Have you ever felt you need to earn it? That you need to be better for God to accept you? That you need to work on your commitment to Christ in order to be accepted? I have, often. And I’m gradually learning what it means to be saved by grace. Truth to be said, I don’t feel very qualified to write this post – but I’ll try – by grace 😉

Another principle that the world ticks by is legalism, or in other words “you need to earn it”: whatever that may be, whether it is money, fame or success, or … religion. Interestingly, when this surfaces in religion, it does not actually look bad on the surface! When Colossians is talking about principles of this world in the context above, it is not actually talking about bad behaviour, per sé, but rather about man-made rules. This also applies for the Galatians passage. Both talk about legalism. So importantly: you can do what is “good”, or appears to be good for completely the wrong reasons!

Because legalism can look good, it may not seem so dangerous. However, the idea that we need to earn things to be good enough for God can be very dangerous. As Timothy Keller mentions (in Galatians For You), it leaves us radically insecure, always wondering where we stand before God. It can also make us egocentric, and comparison-prone. It can lead to conflict, as we think we are better than others, and we try hard to “better” them. In fact, at the extreme, legalism in a lot of religions, including Islam, can lead to radical behavior and terrorism, the same behavior Paul was involved in before his conversion.

Legalism leads to the opposite of love. Legalism comes from radical insecurity – and fear. It says in 1 John 4:18 that “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
When we know that we are no longer under condemnation in Christ Jesus we no longer need to fear punishment. Romans 8:1 says exactly that: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” So instead of serving God in fear, we can now serve God in love. In Luke 1:4, Zechariah says that the Messiah has come “that we might serve him without fear.” We can do this, because we know our standing with God: we have been made righteous and holy. This is not because of anything we have done, but because of what the Lord has done for us.

Love is what the gospel is all about. Jesus says the main commands in the law are that we love God and that we love one another. In fact, He even asks us to love one another in the same way He has loved us, which is to the point of death (see John 13:14, John 15:12). Paul later corroborates this emphasis on love: “These three things remain: faith hope and love, but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13). And John tells us that God is love and whoever abides in love, abides in God (1 John 4:16).

But we cannot love from an attitude of fear, of having to earn our right standing with God. We cannot do things for God out of love for Him if instead, we are trying to earn our salvation. If we are still trying to earn things, we are egocentric (see also Galatians For You). We are doing things for our sake, not for His. We also don’t fully understand God’s love for us if we are still trying to earn things – His love has not sunk in deep enough! Because He loves us. He loves the broken, striving, emotionally unstable person who thinks they’re not good enough. But He doesn’t want to leave that person in mood-swings and uncertainty about their standing with Him; He wants to clothe that person with the mantle of His love.

When we receive that love, we can spread that love around – not because we have to but because it happens. Because the water of God’s spirit cannot be contained, as Jesus says in John 7:38: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”. Because we will be full to bursting of what He has done in our lives. And because we make choices to serve Him – out of our love for Him and for others. As it says in 1 John 4:19: “We love because He first loved us.” Note what comes first!

Do you still feel under condemnation? Pray that God’s reality may sink deep into your life. And realise that a feeling is not the reality. You are a beautiful child of God. Proclaim His truth about your life aloud. You may want to look at your identity, who you are in Christ, as I have. There are good books about this subject :).Blessings!