Legalism is Hypocrisy

Yesterday, I had the privilege of sharing God's Word at South Shore during the Sunday morning worship service. We are currently in a series on Grace called "Rooted." It's all about living a life that is rooted in God's Grace and it is based on the truths we find in the book of Galatians.

We looked at Galatians 2:11-21 where we see a confrontation between Paul and Peter as Peter was drawing back from eating with the Gentiles for fear of the Jews. There are many implications to be drawn from this passage, but one that I thought very important was the fact that legalism is hypocrisy because it is not "in step with the truth of the Gospel." (Galatians 2:14)

Legalism says that I have to live better, do more and sin less in order to be loved by God. Legalism says that in order to be a 'true Christian' you have to live a certain way or else you're a hypocrite and God doesn't love you as much. That's what Peter was communicating to the Gentiles here. He was saying with his actions that the Gentiles needed to follow Jewish rituals and laws in order to be fully accepted.

Peter would have never said this with his lips. As a matter of fact, he was a key voice of the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 that decided the Gentiles did not have to follow Jewish Law; that salvation was through Jesus Christ alone. So, he would have never said this with his lips, but he said it through his actions.

Often, so do we.

We expect those around us to worship God like we do. When they don't, we judge them for it and treat them differently. We act as if God agrees with us and they better get our act together before everyone questions their salvation. That's legalism. That's hypocrisy. It doesn't line up with the Gospel of grace that says the only approval we need is given to us through Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross.

We don't act right to gain God's approval or love. We have been freed from our sin and Christ now lives in and through us in order to bring glory to the Father. We no longer have to measure up, because Jesus already measured up for us. We don't have to beat ourselves, because Jesus was already beaten and bruises for our sin.

Legalism places a yoke of slavery and oppression on people that is out of line with the Gospel. And often the person we place this bondage on is ourselves. We go about our day measuring our holiness and goodness based on the things we do or don't do. If we miss spending time in God's Word we somehow feel less than Christian. So the next morning we vow to read and pray double to 'make-up' for our shortcomings. When will it ever be enough though? When will we ever 'make-up' for our shortcomings? When will we, in our own power, become holy?

We think we are simply trying to motivate ourselves to love God more, but the truth is we are sucking ourselves dry of any ability to follow after Jesus. Check out Paul's words in

"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh." Romans 8:3

Legalism is like trying to drive a car with no engine. The law has no power to make us holy. It has no power over sin and we end up as my friend Jay Sanders would say, "broke, busted and disgusted." We think we are trying to help ourselves, but we are simply hypocrites with no real power. To walk in the Spirit is Power and where the Spirit is, there is liberty (2 Cor. 3:17).

To walk in step with the Gospel is to recognize that our lives are not our own. Jesus has taken our sin and given us righteousness. He placed His Spirit in us to enable us to have the freedom to love Him more. If you're going to try harder at anything; try harder to surrender. When you sin, repent, receive His grace freely and walk on in the power of the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead.

Too often we fight hypocrisy with legalism. But that's a pot/kettle situation. We must fight hypocrisy with the Gospel that says I am so loved by God that He forgave all my sin and have me all of His righteousness. I am a child of God, I am free. Free to obey. That's what it looks like to be crucified with Christ and have Christ live in you.