John Piper wrote this on the meaning of legalism. I enjoyed his thoughts. Joe
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First, legalism means treating Biblical standards of conduct
as regulations to be kept by our own power in order to
earn God's favor. In other words legalism will be
present wherever a person is trying to be ethical in his
own strength, that is, without relying on the merciful help
of God in Christ. Simply put, moral behavior that is not
from faith is legalism. The legalist is always a very
moral person. In fact the majority of moral people are
legalists because their so-called Judeo-Christian
morality inherited from their forefathers does not grow
out of a humble, contrite reliance on the merciful
enabling of God. On the contrary, for the legalist,
morality serves the same function that immorality does
for the antinomian, the free-thinker, the progressive,
namely, it serves as an expression of self-reliance and
self-assertion. The reason some Pharisees tithed and
fasted was the same reason some German university
students take off their clothes and lie around naked in
the park in downtown Munich. The moral legalist is
always the elder brother of the immoral prodigal. They
are blood brothers in God's sight because both reject
the sovereign mercy of God in Christ as a means to
righteousness and use either morality or immorality as
a means of expressing their independence and
self-sufficiency and self-determination. And it is clear
from the N.T. that both will result in a tragic loss of
eternal life. So the first meaning of legalism is the
terrible mistake of treating Biblical standards of
conduct as regulations to be kept by our own power in
order to earn God's favor. It is a danger we must guard
against in our own hearts every day. And please know
that my old self is just as prone to it as anyone.
The second meaning of legalism is this: the erecting of
specific requirements of conduct beyond the teaching
of Scripture and making adherence to them the means
by which a person is qualified for full participation in the
local family of God, the church. This in where unbiblical
exclusivism arises. There is no getting around the fact
that the church does not include everyone. We do
exclude people from membership because we believe
worship should imply commitment to the Lordship of
Christ the Head of the church. But exclusion of people
from the church should never be taken lightly. It is a very
serious matter. Schools and clubs and societies can
set up any human regulations they wish in order to keep
certain people out and preserve by rule a particular
atmosphere. But the church is not man's institution. It
belongs to Christ. He is the Head of the Body, and he
alone should set the entrance requirements. That is very
important!
Legalism is a more dangerous disease than alcoholism
because it doesn't look like one.
Alcoholism makes men fail; legalism
helps them succeed in the world. Alcoholism makes
men depend on the bottle; legalism makes them
self-sufficient, depending on no one. Alcoholism
destroys moral resolve; legalism gives it strength.
Alcoholics don't feel welcome in church; legalists love to
hear their morality extolled in church. Therefore, what
we need in this church is not front end regulations to try
to keep ourselves pure. We need to preach and pray
and believe that "Neither circumcision nor
uncircumcision, neither teetotalism nor social drinking,
neither legalism nor alcoholism is of any avail with God,
but only a new creation (a new heart)" (Gal. 6:15; 5:6).
The enemy is sending against us every day the
Sherman tank of the flesh with its cannons of
self-reliance and self-sufficiency. If we try to defend
ourselves or our church with peashooter regulations we
will be defeated even in our apparent success. The only
defense is to "be rooted and built up in Christ and
established in faith" (Col. 2:6); "Strengthened with all
power according to his glorious might for all endurance
and patience with joy" (Col. 1:11); "holding fast to the
Head from whom the whole body, nourished and knit
together "¦ grows with a growth that is from God" (Col.
2:19). From God! From God! And not from ourselves.
For the Grace of God that bringth salvation hath appeared unto all men, TEACHING us that denying ungodly and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and Godly in this present world.
As has been said in a couple of other current threads on here, we should live after a godly manner and not after an ungodly manner.
It appears that Mr. Piper could be seen as putting anyone who dares to live differently than those who know not God, as being a legalist. Holiness isn't always a self righteous, hyporcital, display of "better than thou" attitude as this article seems to put forth. I am forever amazed at how quick we are to bring down and accuse one who dares to have convictions and the backbone to live by those convictions. Rather than trying to pull one down to our level, pull ourselves up to his higher lever. IMO It is better to err by doing more than asked of God, than to err by doing less than what he desires.
Legalism
