10250 North Freeway @ West Road
Houston, Texas 77037
Tel: (281) 447-8484
Pastor: Dr. Lester Hutson

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A legalist is one who diligently obeys the letter of the law but fails to observe the spirit of the law. He or she is the type who gets so caught up in the mechanics of what they are doing that they forget why they started doing it in the first place.

The Pharisees of Jesus' time are good examples of legalists. They knew the law of Moses backwards and forwards. They even had the law embroidered on their robes. Their whole existence was dedicated to showing the world how lawful they were. In their minds they considered themselves more Godly than any one else. Yet Christ called them 'whited sepulchres... beautiful outward, but ... within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness' (Matthew 23:27).

I worked with an agnostic several years ago who told me of an experience he had with a legalistic Christian. One Sunday morning he was shooting some baskets in a local church's basketball court. When the services were over the preacher came over to him and introduced himself as the pastor. He told this friend that it was ok to play ball on the church's court but to please not do so during service hours, because someone driving by might think him a member. Can you believe that? I was floored. A perfect opportunity to witness had been blown and by the pastor no less!

Let me give you another example of a legalist. When I was in Bible school I rented a duplex from a 70 year old widower named Mr. Ford who lived right across the street. He was a retired soldier who had lost two wives to unnatural deaths and was pretty bitter with life. Whenever the Lord opened the door I would talk to Mr. Ford about God's love for him and what Christ did on the cross for him. And after several months he was beginning to open up and talk more freely about spiritual things.

One day a friend from church, I'll call him Ron, came over for a visit. I didn't know Ron real well but knew him to be a faithful member. During his visit I decided to go across the street to deliver the next month's rent check and asked Ron if he would like to meet my landlord. He said he did, so off we went. After the introductions, Mr. Ford invited us in for a coke. I noticed that Mr. Ford was in an unusually good mood that day and asked him if something good had happened to him. He said, 'sure did, my girlfriend decided to move in with me today.'

Well before I could respond, Ron jumped all over this poor unsaved man and told him that sex outside of marriage was ungodly and that she couldn't move in with him. About two seconds later we were on the outside of Mr. Ford's house with our ears ringing from his angry curses and the slammed door. I was never able to witness to him again. Our relationship was superficial and strained from that day forward.

Ron was a legalist. He saw only the breaking of one of God's laws and not the need for a soul to be saved. He wanted to reform a sinner from the outside in. He forgot that change comes from within a person. Once a sinner accepts Christ and has the Holy Spirit inside him, then the changes can take place.

When we study the life and ministry of Christ we never see Him condemning an unsaved sinner for their sins. He clearly said that He didn't come to condemn but to save (John 3:17). When the adulterous women was cast at His feet did He condemn her (John 8)? NO. When He met with the Samaritan woman at the well did He condemn her (John 4)? NO. Christ wants His disciples to be fishers of men (Matthew 4:19) and not reformers of men. God is the reformer (2 Corinthians 3:18).

SUMMARY

In my opinion the legalistic Christian does more harm than good to the cause of Christ: the winning and discipling of souls. They, like the Pharisees, know and try to practice all the laws and principles of God, but they are also the first to try and reform the lost. They are quick to point out where someone else is failing and spend most of their energy and time trying to reform the world. They have totally missed the point of Christ's life and teachings.

NEXT LESSON

Another equally notorious type of Christian is the elitist. We will look at them in the next lesson.

"It Does Make a Difference What You Believe"