Legalism                 Audio    MP3    Download

---what is it?  Is the ICG legalistic?  Is the entire Church of God legalistic?

This term is often misapplied.  It is applied to different situations. It is often used as a term of accusation and/or condemnation.  In truth, legalism is a manmade manifestation.  Legalism or being legalistic is a term rightly applied to the Pharisees.  These individuals took the perfect law of God and added countless laws, rituals and procedures to them.  Let me give you an example.

God's Law says to keep the Sabbath and to keep it Holy.  You will find scriptures explaining how this is done.  Namely, not working and not doing your own thing on this day.  Now if I were to issue a list of Sabbath keeping ordinances to the congregation on how I expected the members to keep that Sabbath, this would be legalistic.  Such ordinances were in effect in Jesus' time and He knew they were a burden to mankind.

Today we see people applying the term to people who simply keep the Ten Commandments.  How could one say that the Law was a burden or that Christ was legalistic?  That would be wrong.  Everything God does is perfect and He made and maintains the Law.  Notice a dictionary definition:

"Strict, literal adherence to the law or to a particular code, as of religion or morality."

Legalism is a concept thought up by man and used to impress man.  It was not made by God and does not impress God.  God is impressed when man, by faith, invokes something He made or set in order.  Man's way is burden.  God's way is prosperity and blessing.

By having man apply himself to a particular code, such as thousands of ordinances on how to keep the Sabbath, man misses the entire design of the Law.  The Pharisees and others who added ordinances to the Law so they could look more righteous in keeping them before the eyes of man, missed the fact that Law was designed to point man to Godly principles which can be invoked.  You know them as fruits of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23).  By keeping man tied up in ordinances, they don't even have time to learn about and invoke the principles of God, which leads us to the character of Jesus Christ.

The ICG and the true Body of Christ are not legalistic.  We add nothing to the Law.  We do not write up, teach or enforce codes or ordinances.  We preach and teach the putting on of Christ by moving through the Law to Godly principles.

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