In reference to the Bible, legalism refers to a religious approach emphasizing strict adherence to a set of rules and regulations, often to the point of neglecting the spirit of the law or the grace of God. Many believe legalism refers to any form of biblical law-keeping, which should therefore be avoided. The word is often used pejoratively, especially against such practices as keeping the Sabbath or adhering to other laws given in the Old Testament. However this use of the word is incorrect.
It is not legalistic to obey God’s laws correctly. To be legalistic is to misuse God’s laws in a way never intended. The Pharisees, an excessively strict branch of Judaism whose religious interpretations dominated popular thinking at the time of Christ, added many of their own humanly devised rules and regulations to God’s laws, which had the effect of misrepresenting and misapplying them.
For example, the Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath. They criticized His disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath (Matthew 12:1-2, Luke 6:1-2) and Jesus for healing on the Sabbath day (Matthew 12:9-14, Luke 6:6-11). These accusations stemmed from the Pharisees’ strict interpretation of the Sabbath laws and their opposition to Jesus’s actions and teachings. To the Pharisees Jesus could not be from God because He did not line up with their traditions and prejudices. This mistaken approach to God’s law led many to reject Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah. Jesus did not break the Sabbath, as outlined by God under the Old Covenant. As He publicly stated, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).
In Matthew 15:5-6 Jesus reproves the Scribes and Pharisees by citing an example of their approach. These religious leaders were using a loophole in Jewish law to avoid supporting their parents by declaring their resources were “Corban,” meaning dedicated to God, thus absolving them of the responsibility to help their parents. Jesus criticizes this practice as nullifying God’s commandment to honor one’s parents for the sake of their tradition, declaring: “in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9).
The Apostle Paul also wrote extensively about those who perverted the proper intent of God’s law. This is particularly apparent in the book of Galatians. Some false teachers subverted the Galatian churches by wrongly insisting circumcision and the keeping of the law were sufficient requirements for justification and salvation, apart from faith in Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:4 and 6:12-13). Paul condemned this erroneous teaching, noting that obedience to the law had never made eternal life possible (Galatians 3:21). He made it clear that justification—being made righteous in God’s eyes and thus gaining access to eternal life—is only available through Jesus Christ (Galatians 2:16; 3:1-3 and verse 22), and that the forgiveness of sin requires a sacrifice.
Even the strictest observance of the law cannot remove the need for that sacrifice. However, the law of God remains the righteous standard by which all mankind will be judged, and is not annulled or abolished by faith in Christ (Romans 3:31), as many falsely believe. Solomon concluded the whole duty of man is to “fear God and keep His commandments” (Ecclesiastes 12:13), and the Apostle John agreed when he concluded that if we love God we will keep His commandments (1 John 5:3). Jesus told the rich young man, who came to Him asking what he could do to have eternal life, “If you want to enter into life, keep the commandments” (Matthew 19:17).
To summarise, substituting any humanly devised laws for God’s laws, as the Pharisees did, is legalism. Also, to rely on keeping any law in the belief that it will make one righteous in God’s eyes, instead of faith in Christ, is also legalism. However, to obey God’s biblical commands in a proper attitude is not legalism as Jesus stated in Matthew 5:19: “Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”
