Legalism is something Scripture clearly encourages believers to avoid. This article, the highest clicked from Monday’s post, highlights four characteristics of legalistic thinking in Christianity.
Four Characteristics of Legalism.
After you’ve read the article, see a few of my thoughts below.
1. Don’t fake it with sin.
The Bible encourages us to confess sin to other believers. So, find someone you trust and talk about the sin you struggle against. That will prevent trying to look good compared to others and keep you real toward sin.
2. How critical are you toward others?
Or, maybe the better question: do we actually have compassion towards sinners? If we’re in a culture with other believers that is very quick to point out the faults of others, compassion will be hard to come by.
3. Sometime baby Christians need a lot of structure.
This is not to excuse legalism, but for a time in the life of newer Christians, they may require a lot of structure. The goal, however, is to mature away from the need for so much structure as the heart is transformed.
If someone wants to pursue holiness, the main cause should involve a heart changed by Christ. Someone pursuing outward change should NOT be primarily influenced by someone telling them “this is how Christians behave”.
Think. Do you want to be holy? Do you want to please God more than people?
Act. Let your life change flow from Scripture, not pressure. Put up safeguards in your life that you need to grow, not one-size-fits-all prescriptions to avoid sin.