Have you ever gotten entangled in Christian legalism?

I once had the pleasure of joining a family at a bbq (braai). Here I met a pastor who was very passionate about the Bible. As the Pastor spoke, I listened with interest so that I may grow and learn. She shared some wonderful images and her perspective of being “saved”. It was black and white for her. Down to following the commandments in the Old Testament.

However, the Church I attend had spent significant time explaining we are free from the “law” now that we have been saved through Christ, so the inconsistency was confusing my poor brain. I felt convicted and was questioning my salvation/behaviour. As we traveled home, I was struggling with the feelings of “guilt” that possibly I was not a “good enough” Christian. Had the Pastor achieved what she hoped for? A deeper searching within myself? Even though it made me quite anxious and angry?

My wonderful husband said, “You know what this is, it’s legalism”. If you don’t know what that means and haven’t worked through it before, it’s just another confusing term. “Legalism exists when people attempt to secure righteousness in God’s sight by good works. Legalists believe that they can earn or merit God’s approval by performing the requirements of the law,” Thomas R. Schreiner said.

This wasn’t the first time I had been “judged” by other more “mature” Christians. I admire people who aim to follow the Lord’s commands and aim to be the best holy person they can be. However, I think it becomes troublesome when the focus on God’s laws becomes more important than the relationship with God and loving others.

Adam and Eve, just after the first original sin

Let’s use Halloween as an example. Of course, I don’t believe that when I dress up I am warding off departed spirits. However, I do dress up and go to parties. (And yes I watch Harry Potter.) One year I felt prompted to pop a sticker onto the sweeties/lollies, aligned with the theme. Except the blood I promoted was the kind that saves.

My rationalisation was that the kids that got my sweeties, might ask their parents what this means and open up the opportunity for a discussion. However, a loved and respected family member was not happy with this activity. She said you can’t mix the two.

Image from Sharon Wood SAW Productions I used for my sweeties

After this bbq (braai), I became curious about the “levels” of Christianity and found something called the Engel scale: (you can find anything on the internet). As I had been once again triggered into a spiral – the stronghold of legalism had caught me again.

The next day after, I hit an incredible low. I looked at all my plans to start Sproetjies, and felt like I had nothing to give and nothing of value. However, God is so good and He is always challenging us to grow, layer by layer, lesson by lesson - as we are ready. (Praise God!)

So keeping my eyes focused on God, I continued reaching for material to learn more. I stumbled on a life-saving video by David Diga Hernandez where he unpacks the 7 Strongholds Christians must learn to break.

He addresses legalism in this. He explained that legalism occurs when we are not entirely convinced of our salvation. I recommend watching it when you have time. Here’s a table I created based on a snippet of the content:

To sum up, we are extremely privileged to be adopted as God’s children, saved through the blood of Christ which redeems us. As redeemed adopted children of God, we are saved however, as we live in this worldly environment, we are challenged to choose to walk in our Godly inheritance or walk in the worldly system (moment by moment). We are sometimes deep on one side or the other, but always saved.

It’s impossible to completely avoid the worldly environment, however as we grow closer to the Lord and keep our eyes focused on our inheritance, we will be convicted to learn more about where we are being held back. As we grow and release things God didn’t intend for us to carry, we will grow closer to our purpose and inheritance. Thats my belief anyway!

By the way, I updated Sproetjies.com.au with some useful resources. The "My inheritance" image above is one of them. These resources have been designed to help you as you seek to grow in your relationship with the Lord. Enjoy!