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Legalism: The Biggest Threat to Church Unity

By Jeremy Myers
54 Comments

Legalism: The Biggest Threat to Church Unity

There is no greater threat to the unity of the church than legalism.

These are strong words, but history, tradition, experience, and Scripture reveal that where legalism spreads, disunity prospers.

Thankfully, God has provided an antidote to legalism through the free gift of eternal life which is received by grace along through faith alone in Christ alone.

legalism threat to unityJust as legalism breeds disunity, love and unity flourish where grace and faith multiply. The more we emphasize grace and faith, the greater our unity will be. For this reason—and simply for the sake of the truth—a strong stance on the simplicity and freeness of eternal life by grace alone through faith alone is essential.

To see this, it is important first of all to know what legalism is.

Legalism Defined

Lots of people have heard about legalism, but few know what it is. Here is a basic definition of legalism:

Legalism is when people use the law of God in an attempt to gain favor with God.

legalism definedAt it’s core, legalism believes that God is angry with humanity, and that the way to make God like us again is to obey His laws. And if everybody could just obey God’s laws all at the same time, then God might love us and be happy with us again, and blessings from heaven will flow down upon us once more.

So at it’s core, legalism has some seriously faulty views about God, about sin, about the law, and about how people can get into a good relationship with God. All of these faulty views are what makes legalism so dangerous and divisive.

Legalism is Dangerous

Legalism is dangerous because it begins with the premise that God is mad at us and He gave us His law so that we could get back into His good favor.

But if Jesus tells us anything about God, it is that He is NOT angry with us. To the contrary, He loves us deeply and longs for nothing more than to reconcile us to Himself (2 Cor 5:19). It is not He who needs to be reconciled to us, but we to Him. In other words, He is not the one who has abandoned us; we have abandoned Him. It is not He who left us, but we who left Him.

By sending Jesus to this earth, God bridged the divide that we placed between Him and us. Out of His great love for us, He has come to where we are, because He knew that we would never (and could never) come to Him.

But the basic premise of legalism contradicts all this. Legalism teaches that we have offended God so deeply that He is angry with us… He even hates us… and so we must try to please and appease God by doing things He likes so that maybe, somehow, hopefully, God will love us once more.

Not only is such legalistic theology terribly wrong, it becomes terribly divisive.

Legalism is Divisive

Legalism is divisive because as soon as one person thinks that they are starting to obey God’s law and make God happy with us again, that person begins to think that the reason God is still angry with the world is not because of his or her sin, but because of everyone else’s. So if everyone else would just clean up their life and start obeying God, then God will start to love us again. As soon as legalists begin to make some headway in their own life in the “Obedience to the Law” department, they set themselves up as a manager in the department, and try to get everybody else to follow the rules as well.

But this isn’t the most dangerous or divisive element to legalism. What makes legalism so divisive is that nobody actually thinks they are legalistic.

Though there are countless Christians who are legalistic, you will never meet anyone who claims to be a legalist. This is what makes legalism so sinister. It sucks the life out of Christians who believe they stand for the truth of Scripture and the Gospel. Legalism run madly toward death, all the while thinking they are pursuing life.

legalism and obedienceSince nobody believes that they are legalistic, everybody believes they have a healthy balance between law and grace, between faith and good works. A legalist then, is anyone who places a greater emphasis on law and good works than you do. On the opposite end of the spectrum, we criticize those who take grace too far. Those people are licentious, we think. They place too much emphasis on grace and in so doing, give people license to sin.

In this way, since only “other” people are legalists, and each of us is only trying to get people to obey God and live within the principles of the Kingdom of God, the hidden legalist in each of us (myself included!) becomes judgmental, critical, and divisive in our treatment of others. Legalism tears Christians apart because it sets up laws and rules as the means by which we maintain relationships between one another and between ourselves and God. And part of the divisive nature of legalism is that nobody can agree on the rules that must be observed. Everybody has different rules and regulations that must be maintained in order to fellowship with someone else.

Legalism’s Antidote

So what is the cure? What is the fix? What is the antidote to legalism?

Since legalism is so sinister, and since it is so hard to define, one might think that combating legalism is not worth the effort. Some might be tempted to think that it is not legalism that divides Christians, but the struggle against legalism that causes the problems. If some people are legalistic and others are licentious, wouldn’t it be better, for the sake of unity, to just throw up our hands, shrug our shoulders, and say “Live and let live”?

No, I don’t think so. Why not? Because Scripture seems intent on combating legalism wherever it is found. If legalism is one of the greatest threats to Christian unity, and legalism is found in every one of us, and Christian unity is something we should strive for, then legalism is worth fighting against.

In fact, it could be argued that much of the New Testament was written to combat legalism. Jesus fought against the legalism of the Pharisees and Sadducees. The apostles fought against legalism in Acts (e.g., Acts 15), and the Apostle Paul fought against legalism in most of his letters. So if they fought against legalism, we should to.

breaking the bonds of legalismHow? Most people try to combat legalism with a different form of legalism. I have seen arguments break out between a behavioral legalist and a doctrinal legalist. The first person thinks we make God happy by what we do, while the second person argues that we make God happy by what we believe.

I think it is time to back away from all of these rules and regulations, and look at how the Bible seems to combat legalism. And how is that? By emphasizing grace as much as possible.

One reason legalism is so divisive is that Christians seem so intent on putting limits and restrictions on grace. The moment we set limits to God’s boundless grace is the moment we wrap ourselves in the dark bonds of legalism, but the moment grace is unleashed and unchained, legalism shrivels up and dies.

So what is the antidote to legalism? Grace. Radical grace.

Do your best to never limit or restrict grace in any way. Let grace be extended to point of shamefulness. Let us live indiscriminate, shocking, outrageous, scandalous, senseless, irrational, unfair, irreligious, ridiculous, absurd, offensive, infinite, free grace.

Let us live life as a contest to see who can be the most gracious, loving, kind, and forgiving, and teach others to do the same. If we are going to follow the example of Jesus (and of God), we must extend grace to the point that people accuse us being friends to tax-collectors and sinners, to the point that they complain of how we allow people to get away with anything, of how we liberally shower blessings upon friends and enemies alike, and how we even show love and mercy upon those who wish to do us harm.

Such outrageous grace is what God shows us, and how we can live toward others. This kind of grace is the antidote to the legalism in all of us.

This post was part of the November 2018 Synchroblog.

Here is the list of other writers and authors who contributed to this month’s Synchroblog. Go read them all to see what others think about church unity.

  • Heathens and Heretics – Glenn Hager
  • What have we Become? – Rocky Glenn
  • Unified Through Life – Jordan Hathcock
  • How Can Churches Exemplify Unity in a Divided Country? – Mike Edwards
  • Practicing Unity – Tim Nichols
  • Christian Unity – Joseph A.

God is Redeeming Theology, z Bible & Theology Topics: church unity, Discipleship, eternal life, free gift, free grace, grace, law, legalism, synchroblog, Theology of Salvation

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4 Ways the Gospel Creates Unity in the Church

By Jeremy Myers
8 Comments

4 Ways the Gospel Creates Unity in the Church

Once we begin to understand how the gospel creates peace, mocks our vain claims to self-importance, and teaches us to live as agents of joy and delight in the world, how will these truths begin to create unity among the bickering factions of Christianity?

Let me propose four ways the gospel creates unity in the church.

First, the gospel teaches us that truth is only true if carried out in love.

church unityWhile we can agree that there is no love without truth, it is essential for doctrinally-minded Christians to remember that there also is no truth without love. True truth will always express itself in love.

If you are warring and fighting with your brother, especially over doctrine, it is probably a good indication that you have misunderstood the truth of that doctrine. True doctrine and theology leads always and only to love (1 Cor 13).

Second, the gospel brings peace to the various sides of the “works vs. faith” debate.

The debate has raged over whether or not the gospel requires works as a way to earn, keep, or prove one’s eternal life.

Yet this debate comes from a simple categorical mistake of confusing a small part of the gospel with its entirety. If two people are arguing about what qualifies as true “fruit” and one has apples in mind and the other has oranges, but they keep using the world “fruit” the argument quickly becomes quite messy.

Gospel debates are like that. The gospel is a wide-ranging message about what God has done for the entire world through the life, teachings, crucifixion, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It not only contains truths about how a person can go to heaven when they die, but also about how a follower of Jesus can live here on earth.

So if one person is thinking only about the parts of the gospel that tell a person how to go to heaven when they die or receive eternal life (faith alone in Christ alone), while another person is thinking about the parts of the gospel which tell followers of Jesus how to live on this earth (discipleship, obedience, faithful living), but both persons keep using the term “gospel,” the argument quickly becomes quite messy. But when we understand that the gospel contains both truths, about how to receive eternal life and properly live this life, then we can stop arguing about the role of faith and works in the gospel and see that both have their proper place with proper results.

Third, the gospel is about learning more about Jesus AND doing more with Jesus

unity of the Body of ChristWhen we see that the gospel contains a whole host of truths and doctrines to believe and teach and also a broad spectrum of behaviors to practice and obey, those who believe Christians should be listening to more sermons and attending more Bible studies can nod and smile toward those who prefer to be out feeding the poor and tending the sick, and vice versa.

Both sides recognize that if they are truly following the gospel, there will come a time when their roles must reverse, or at least become more balanced.

There is a time to study, and a time to serve; a time to learn, and a time to love.

The gospel reminds us that we are all one family

Ultimately, the gospel teaches us that no matter what, we are all one family. And just like any family, there will be internal disagreements, struggles, and arguments. There may need to be some discipline that takes place, some separations that must occur.

But when these arguments and breakups happen, the gospel reminds us that we are still family, and that despite our hurt feelings, theological disagreements, and interfamily strife, the goal of the gospel is reconciliation and redemption, not just of each of us to one another, but ultimately and eventually, the redemption and reconciliation of all things under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

But church unity is not easy

None of this means that the development of unity is easy. In fact, unity is a bit like humility: both vanish the moment you think you’ve achieved it. Unity, like humility, can never be our goal. Unity is a byproduct of living within the gospel.

Unity occurs naturally as a result of following Jesus as He leads us into peace with God and each other, into a gentle mocking of our own pride and ambition, and into a full-fledged delight at the beauty and wonder of life in this world.

When viewed this way, the gospel is a truth that binds us all together in unity, whether we are high church or low church, mega church or house church, or some mixture in between. The gospel is not something that divides, but unites, and brings us together into the unity of the faith.

The Gospel According to ScriptureWant to learn more about the gospel? Take my new course, "The Gospel According to Scripture."

The entire course is free for those who join my online Discipleship group here on RedeemingGod.com. I can't wait to see you inside the course!

God is Redeeming Life, Redeeming Theology Bible & Theology Topics: biblical living, church unity, following Jesus, good news, gospel, unity

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Simple Church is Now Available!

By Jeremy Myers
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Simple Church is Now Available!

Simple Church Unity

I contributed two chapters to this book and am really thrilled to see it finally in print.

Far too often, those who are no longer part of the “Institutional Church” are only known for what they are against. Simple Church contains 26 thing we are FOR.

Simple Church is about what we all have in common

But it is not just what simple church practitioners have in common (in fact, we may not all even identify with that title), but what every form of church has in common with each other.

In my opinion, this is a ground-breaking book which will help build unity to all forms of Christ’s church upon the world. I am thrilled to be part of this project.

Here is the list of contributors, many of whom you might recognize. Nearly all of them are bloggers or authors.

  • Bobby Auner
  • Edwin Aldrich
  • Chris Jefferies
  • Steve Scott
  • Chuck McKnight
  • Sam Riviera
  • Eric Carpenter
  • Arthur Sido
  • Travis Klassen
  • Stephanie Bennett
  • Kathleen Ward
  • Alice Carpenter
  • Brian Swan
  • Will Rochow
  • Alan Knox
  • Guy Muse
  • Keith Giles
  • Bonar Crump
  • Steve Sensenig
  • J. Michael Jones
  • Kathy Escobar
  • Jeremy Myers
  • Christopher Dryden
  • Miguel Labrador

And of course, there is a Foreword by Wayne Jacobsen.

If you are part of a traditional church and have wondered how to grow in unity, or if you just want to know what church unity is all about, or if you are part of a house church, missional church, simple church, or something that doesn’t look like church at all but is still connected to Jesus, then this book will invite you to grow in unity with other brothers and sisters who might follow Jesus a bit differently than you.

Simple Church UnityHere is what some people are already saying about Simple Church: Unity Within Diversity:

From Miguel Labrador:

I tend not to like compilation books, but this one is very different. Granted, I am one of the authors, but after reading it I was shaken to find a unity within it that exceeded my expectations. It flowed well. I am on my second pass through the book and I was thinking that to mistake this book for another house church, simple church, or even organic church book would be A MISTAKE. There’s much more to this collaborative canon than meets the eye.

From Chuck McKnight:

I just skimmed through the contributor bios in the back of Simple Church. Looks like almost half of us are either foreign missionaries or missionary kids (myself included in the latter).

The book is available now on Amazon. Go order a copy today and let me know how it changes your interaction with other believers. 

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Books by Jeremy Myers, Books I'm Reading, church unity, simple church, Theology of the Church

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