There are many people, including many professing Christian people who are determined to bring you under their religious thumb. They are bent on making you a “slave of their conscience”. They have built a neat religious box, one size fits all — without biblical justification and do everything they can to stuff you inside and make you “conform” to it’s dimensions. No Christian has the right to “play God” in another Christian’s life. These are legalists, they may or may not proclaim God’s unconditional love for you but they will insist on certain conditions before including you among the “accepted”, among the “approved elite”, among “God’s favored few”.
I am not taking about people who insist you obey certain laws or moral rules “in order to be saved” ( like being baptized in the name of Jesus only, or insisting you get circumcised, insist you keep the law, insist you speak in tongues, etc.). These people aren’t legalists they are lost. Paul deals with this in Galatians. I’m talking about Christian legalists whose goal is to enforce conformity among other Christians in accordance with their “personal preferences” (how to dress, length of hair, what music you can listen to, t.v. or no t.v., movies, the list is endless).
I’m talking about “life-style” legalists. They threaten to rob you of joy and to squeeze the intimacy out of your relationship with Jesus. They may even lead you to doubt your salvation. They heap condemnation and contempt on your head so that your life is controlled and energized by fear rather than freedom and joy and delight in God. Rarely would these people ever admit to any of this. They don’t perceive or portray themselves as legalists. If any legalist is reading this they are convinced I’m talking about someone else. They would never introduce themselves saying, “Hi my name is Joe or Julie, I’m a legalist and my goal is to steal your joy and keep you in bondage to my religious prejudices. Would you like to go to lunch after church today and let me tell you all the things you’re doing wrong?”
Some of you may be legalists but most of you are the victims of legalism, I have been both.
You may be living in fear of doing something that another Christian considers unholy— even though the Bible is silent on the subject. You may be terrified of incurring their disapproval, disdain and ultimate rejection. Worse you may fear God’s rejection for violating “religious traditions” or “cultural norms” that have no basis in scripture but are prized by the legalist.
If any of this is true you have been deceived into believing that the slightest misstep or mistake will bring down God’s disapproval and disgust, ask yourself:
1. When you are around other Christians, whether in church or at someone’s home or just hanging out, do you feel free?
2. Does your spirit feel relaxed or oppressed?
3. Do you sense acceptance or condemnation?
4. Do you feel judged, inadequate, guilty, immature, all because of your perceived failure to conform to what someone else regards as “holy”? Jesus wants to set you free from such bondage. “You were called to freedom”. Don't let anyone threaten you with their own personal legalism.
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