{"id":225,"date":"2026-03-09T10:06:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:06:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/?p=225"},"modified":"2026-03-09T10:06:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T10:06:08","slug":"are-you-a-legalist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/09\/are-you-a-legalist\/","title":{"rendered":"Are You a Legalist?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Words like legalist, legalism, etc., are not used in the Bible. Labeling someone a legalist is little more than name-calling unless you define the term. What is a legalist? What is legalism?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pharisees in the New Testament were legalists. They elevated human tradition to the status of divine law. For example, they carped at Jesus\u2019 disciples for eating without first ritually washing their hands (Matthew 15:2). Hygiene wasn\u2019t the issue, but removing ceremonial uncleanness with a dab of water. God\u2019s law said nothing about it. The tradition was harmless but making it mandatory and condemning others who didn\u2019t observe it was sinful. Making laws where God made none is legalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Human tradition sometimes contradicts God\u2019s word. The Pharisees used one of their traditions to evade their responsibility to provide for their aged parents financially. Jesus rebuked them: \u201cYou have made the commandment of God of no effect by your tradition\u201d (Matthew 15:6).\u00a0 That\u2019s legalism.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jewish legalism also held that one merited<\/u><\/strong> God\u2019s favor by law-keeping. Jesus illustrated this in His parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector (Luke 18:10-14). The Pharisee proudly listed his good deeds. He deserved God\u2019s approval, right? Wrong!<\/u><\/strong> while we certainly ought to obey God, even our best efforts fall far short. We are ever in need of His mercy and grace.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve been called a legalist for insisting on careful study and application of God\u2019s word. In my friend\u2019s church, bishops must be celibate. When I pointed out that the Bible says a bishop \u201cmust be . . . the husband of one wife,\u201d my friend said I was being a legalist! Yet it is his church\u2019s tradition that has made God\u2019s word of no effect!<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 If careful study and application of the Scriptures make one a legalist, then I plead guilty as charged. Better to be called a legalist than an illegalist! In the final analysis, though, searching the Scriptures and following them to the very best of our ability, while relying on the grace of God and the blood of Jesus to wash our sins away, simply is not<\/u><\/strong> legalism!<\/span><\/p>\n

–Joe Slater<\/span><\/p>\n

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\r \t\t\r \t\t\"\"<\/a>\r \t\t  <\/span>\r \t\tSend article as PDF<\/span>\r \t\t  <\/span>\r \t\t\r \t\t\r \t<\/form>\r <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Words like legalist, legalism, etc., are not used in the Bible. Labeling someone a legalist is little more than name-calling unless you define the term. What is a legalist? What is legalism? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Pharisees in the New Testament were legalists….<\/p>\n

Continue Reading… Are You a Legalist?<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","wpcat-1-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=225"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/225\/revisions\/226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakesidecofc.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}