Editor’s Note: Cross-posted as this week’s Ask Dr. Brown question.
Holiness is beautiful; legalism is binding; holiness brings life; legalism brings death. They are as different as night and day, and yet at first glance, they can seem similar, because they both stand against sinful behavior and call for holy living. How can we distinguish between the two? Let me first present some thoughts on holiness before defining legalism and its dangers.
According to Samuel Logan Brengle, holiness is “pure love.” According to Samuel Lucas, “The essence of true holiness consists in conformity to the nature and will of God.” Stated another way, holiness is becoming like Jesus in thought, word, and deed, in heart, mind, and conduct. Holiness is something beautiful and wonderful!
God is holy, and so His very being reflects the perfection of righteousness and goodness and purity and wholesomeness and compassion and mercy and justice. As expressed by Ralph Finlayson, “The sum of all God’s attributes, the outshining of all that God is, is holiness” – and we are called to emulate that holiness. As is it written in 1 Pet 1:15 (quoting Lev 19:2), “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’”
To be holy is to be separated from sin and to be separated to God, which means to be separated from that which is bad and destructive and evil and unclean and polluting and to be separated to that which is like the Lord. Sin is spiritual poison; holiness is spiritual health. As William Jenkyn explained, “There is nothing destroyed by sanctification but that which would destroy us.” In short, everything holy is good; nothing unholy is good. Everything unholy is bad; nothing holy is bad.
And yet there’s more: Holiness is our goal, our destiny, our portion. It expresses the very essence of the nature and character of God and describes the highest level of spirituality attainable by man. Listen to the testimony of the Word:
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” (Eph 1:4). “Husbands, love your wives, just as Messiah loved the congregation [or, church] and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant congregation [or, church], without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Eph 5:25-27).
That’s why Joseph Caryl could say, “Perfect holiness is the aim of the saints on earth, and it is the reward of the saints in heaven.” Or, as expressed by John Whitlock, “. . . the Christian’s . . . way is holiness, his end happiness.” Oswald Chambers understood this too, stating that “God has one destined end for mankind – holiness! His one aim is the production of saints. God is not an eternal blessing-machine for men. He did not come to save men out of pity. He came to save men because He had created them to be holy.”
William Gurnall was therefore entirely right when he wrote, “Say not that thou hast royal blood in thy veins, and art born of God, except thou canst prove thy pedigree by daring to be holy.” (You might want to stop for a moment and read that again. What a godly challenge!)
Why then do many believers resist holiness? One major reason is that many of them have been hurt by legalism, and so they immediately associate holiness with legalism.
What then is legalism? Legalism is rules without relationship, emphasizing standards more than the Savior and laws more than love. It is a system based on fear and characterized by joyless judgmentalism, producing futility instead of freedom.
To an unsaved person the legalist preaches justification by works, saying, “You’re a wicked sinner and you need to get rid of all your filthy habits if you want the Lord to accept you.” There is no grace in this message, no exalting of the life-changing, sin-cleansing power of the blood of Jesus, no clear proclamation of mercy.
The declaration of God’s love expressed through the cross is muffled – if it is even heard at all. Consequently, the proof of the new birth is seen almost entirely in what someone no longer does, and this continues to be the pattern for believers within the church: They are judged almost entirely by a few external standards (which, in many cases, are not even expressly mentioned in the Word) and they are monitored by conformity to the particular group’s code of conduct. And the result is external conformity rather than inward transformation – and that means either self-righteousness of self-condemnation (or both!).
Of course, it is absolutely true that God has very high standards, and for anyone honestly reading the Word, there can be no doubt that He calls us to live by very high standards – in our thoughts, words, and deeds; in our attitudes; in our sexuality; in our families; in our relationships; and much, much more. Passages like this are common in the New Testament:
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints. Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving. For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience” (Eph 5:1-6).
Tragically, legalists, despite their best intentions, get things tragically wrong. First, they try to change a person from the outside in (whereas God deals with us from the inside out); second, they fail to present a balanced picture of the Lord, putting too little stress on His mercy and too much emphasis on His wrath; third, they do not point the struggling sinner (or believer) to the Lord’s supernatural empowerment, making holiness a matter of human effort alone; and fourth, they add laws, standards, commandments, customs, and traditions that are not found in the Word, making those things even more important than the biblical commandments themselves.
In contrast, true, scriptural holiness begins with the heart and flows from an encounter with God and His Word. It calls for repentance in response to the Lord’s gracious offer of salvation and it offers a way to be holy – the blood of Jesus and the Spirit of God. Biblical holiness is free, although it requires discipline and perseverance. For the legalist, nothing is free. Everything must be earned! That’s why legalism leads to bondage and holiness leads to liberty.
As Ralph Cudworth explained many years ago, “I do not mean by holiness the mere performance of outward duties of religion, coldly acted over, as a task; not our habitual prayings, hearings, fastings, multiplied one upon another (though these be all good, as subservient to a higher end); but I mean an inward soul and principle of divine life (Romans 8:1-5), that spiriteth all these.”
It is that inward spiritual principle that must be cultivated, the principle of intimacy with Jesus, the principle of being renewed in our minds by His Word and Spirit, the principle of being conformed to His image and character, hating what He hates and loving what He loves. As Dr. Kent Hughes expressed in his book Disciplines of a Godly Man, “There is a universe of difference between the motivations behind legalism and discipline. Legalism says, ‘I will do this thing to gain merit with God,’ while discipline says, “I will do this because I love God and want to please him.’ Legalism is man-centered; discipline is God-centered.”
To quote Oswald Chambers again, “A bird flies persistently and easily because the air is its domain and its world. A legal Christian is one who is trying to live in a rarer world than is natural to him. Our Lord said, ‘If the Son shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed,’ i.e., free from the inside, born from above, lifted into another world where there is no strenuous effort to live in a world not natural to us, but where we can soar continually higher and higher because we are in the natural domain of spiritual life.”
Unfortunately, the moment you preach biblical holiness, many Christians put their hands over their ears and say, “That’s legalism! That’s condemnation! That’s manmade religion! That’s the dead letter of the law! You won’t put me in bondage! I won’t listen to stuff like that!” As Robert Brimstead observed, “The idea of living strictly by what the Bible says has been branded as legalism.”
And so, these Christians run from the dangerous clutches of legalism and fall into the deadly grasp of license, that self-deceived state of fleshly liberty, catering to their carnality rather than crucifying it. What a terrible error!
Whatever comes naturally to these “liberated” believers is accepted as normal (and “understood,” of course, by the Lord), while biblical commandments are brought down to the level of their own experience, and anything that brings any kind of spiritual pressure to bear on them is rejected as not being the easy yoke and light burden of Jesus. And when the Holy Spirit brings conviction on people like this, they rebuke the devil for trying to condemn them – ultimately at the expense of their own souls.
To quote Oswald Chambers yet again, “The only liberty a saint has is the liberty not to use his liberty. . . . Liberty means ability not to violate the law; license means personal insistence on doing what I like. . . . To be free from the law means that I am the living law of God, there is no independence of God in my make-up. License is rebellion against all law. If my heart does not become the centre of Divine love, it may become the center of diabolical license.”
What then is the antidote? Flee from legalism, stay far away from license, and run to holiness; reject humanly birthed, external religion, give no place to false teaching that excuses carnality, and instead embrace new covenant, heart transformation — and in the power of the Spirit, supernaturally enabled by God’s grace, deal ruthlessly with sin in your life. That is the path to freedom!
Sin is so utterly awful that only the blood of Jesus could pay for it (1 Pet 1:16-19). We dare not trivialize sin in our lives.
In closing, let me bathe you with the truth of God’s liberating Word. (Yes, I know that this has been a long article, but I think you’ll agree that the subject is quite important – really, the difference between life and death.) Listen to the Word of the Lord!
“Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God” (Rom 6:12-13, NLT).
“Because we belong to the day, we must live decent lives for all to see. Don’t participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy. Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. And don’t let yourself think about ways to indulge your evil desires” (Rom 13:13-14, NLT).
“Because we have these promises [of being sons and daughters of God], dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit. And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God” (2 Cor 7:1, NLT).
“For you remember what we taught you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. . . . God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives. Therefore, anyone who refuses to live by these rules is not disobeying human teaching but is rejecting God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you” (1 Thes 4:2, 7-8, NLT).
“Who shall ascend the hill of the LORD? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Ps 24:3-5, ESV).
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matt 5:8).
“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell” (Matt 5:29-30, ESV)
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works” (Titus 2:11-14, ESV).
“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21, ESV).
What a wonderful Savior!
For more information on holiness and legalism, see Dr. Brown’s mp3 series Go and Sin No More, available at the AskDrBrown Online Bookstore by clicking here.
Go and Sin No More
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Samuel Lucas,
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Last month I finished a book called “The Year of Living Biblically” by A.J. Jacobs. I laughed, cried, and was confounded by seeing myself sometimes in the pages of the that book. Mr. Jacobs is still an agnostic, but by his own testimony, his life was changed by the experience. To pursue holiness in your life by using the Bible, pray, books, and friends, will be mixed with “legalism” as you pursue the relationship. In fact, in trying to keep the Biblical commandments you will find you already have plenty of legalism, it just wasn’t in the Bible. To follow Jesus has been filtered by our culture so much that even reading the law provokes resistance among Christians. A man once told me ” If I had to do that ( the law) I wouldn’t be a Christian!”. Paul in II Cor. 3: 14 says:
“14 However, their minds were hardened, for to this day the same veil is still there when they read the old covenant. Only in union with Christ is that veil removed. ”
If the Jews in the 1st century were blind when reading the old covenant, then we have become deaf, because we will not even listen. Look at the scriptures that encourage believers to union the law with Christ:
Mat 5:19 So whoever sets aside one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Ez. 36:27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep mine ordinances, and do them.
Luke 8:21 But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
One way to get to holiness is just by listening to the law and asking your heavenly father – Do I need to do this? How do I do it? – Start the conversation with God, listen and do. I don’t think God’s plan was ever about perfection(He’s got that covered), but it was always about direction.
Excellent article! I feel though, that if a man is truly sitting with Jesus, in His presence and sharing His heart in sincerity and truth, it is impossible to slip into legalism. The cleansing and purging of being with Him will force a checking of motives. If I feel bound, I need to sit with Christ. As Andrew Murray said in his book The Secrete of Christianity, “The training of the disciples was the presence of Christ.”
Eric — yes! Really meeting with Jesus in a quality way is the beginning and the middle and the end.
Ha! Amen, Dr. Brown. This message is so true and so rarely sounded out. This ministry fills my heart with hope and joy!
Blessing,
Justin
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
I would like to know: What is the mechanism to attain this biblical holiness?
Thank you.
wow. i’m printing this article and giving it to friends. i’m so glad following Jesus is not a pendulum that swings back and forth between legalism and lawlessness…thank God for the liberty and the power not to sin! and the mercy we receive when we do.
charles
lee’s summit, mo
Dr. Michael Brown writes; “In closing, let me bathe you with the truth of God’s liberating Word. (Yes, I know that this has been a long article, but I think you’ll agree that the subject is quite important – really, the difference between life and death.) Listen to the Word of the Lord! ”
I absolutely agree that this subject is the difference between life and death. I am grateful to be seeing more balanced teaching on this subject. I was recently asking a question of other christians; “What is the difference between Truth and The Law?” I found that they could not really give me a good answer. Now…Jesus said; “The Truth shall set you free.”
Now the Word teaches that The Law kills. But Truth brings life. So how is Truth different from the law? I believe that Dr. Michael Brown addresses this very issue within this article!
So often I hear other christians taking the bible and ‘applying’ it to themselves. Now the Word says…”Walk by the Spirit and you shall not fullfill the desires of the flesh.” It does not say to ..”apply the word and you shall not fullfill the desires of the flesh.” If we try to live up to the bible in and of our own strength and try to prove to God and everybody that we can clean ourselves up… WE HAVE MISSED THE POINT. If we try to apply THE WORD without the Holy Spirit and try to live up to it in our own strength we are being legalistic. We still do not understand THE TRUE GOSPEL. I have confronted christians who I see doing this very thing and who are leading other christians down that PATH OF DEATH. This is deception. It may have an ‘appearance’ of good. It may appear NOBLE. Certainly God is impressed! But He is NOT. It is mearly “holding to a form of Godliness and DENYING the very power thereof!” Satan is sooo subtle! The GOOD side of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil is just as deadly as the most blantant evil side if not more so!
This subject gets me going. As if you can’t tell! I could just proclaim and affirm this from the mountaintops! It took me years of seeking… of knowing that something just was not quite right with the gospel I was trying to live! I prayed…”God, how do I enter that REST you speak of?” He answered me. Another ministry that affirms this message is MorningStar Ministries with Rick Joyner. This is where I got set free and began to see the true gospel. Rick has a book out called; “There Were Two Trees In the Garden.” I had never heard anything like it from any pulpit. It set me free instantly! This teaching by Dr. Michael Brown is right along the same lines! There is just something about TRUTH when you really taste it! It’s unlike anything you have ever experienced. It does set you free instantly!
Amen… I better stop here. Because I could write a book of my own!
-Laura
Denver, Colorado
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Great article. A love relationship with our Lord makes a big difference. Titus 2:11-14 is some good scripture to look at also
The key is love, and holiness becomes happiness!
There is sooo much to be said on this subject. I have not arrived yet but press on in this manner. I seek the face of our Beloved Adonai, abhor quenching the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), rest in Yeshua’s outrageous love so that I too may love outrageously, and study His Word in rhema fashion. Yeshua said the law and the prophets could be summed up in this: To love the Lord our God with all of our heart, all of our soul and all of our might and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And also, “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true GOD, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:3 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.” John 13:34 (Now this is an impossible commandment to keep unless we know and live in the outrageous love of the LORD.) “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:35 “And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:13 =holiness.
What holiness is not is: political correctness, self-righteousness, watered down versions of GOD’s Word picking and choosing what we like or do not like, and judging others with a measure we do not want GOD to judge us with.=unholiness
People scream legalism today whenever they want to engage in sin. For example, Christians have no business listening to secular pop music, secular rock, secular r and b, etc.
I know you are screaming legalism, but the fact is that you are unsurrendered to the Lord.
This matter of sexual orientation, practice, and God’s definitions of boundaries placed on his creation is so charged with identity matters for those invested in sin’s short term enticement, as such without essential knowledge of eternal promise established in the National conscience in our day. We find much of that promise etched into slogans on government buildings constructed for the most part in what now seems a distant National past.
On the one hand, creation authority with the blessing of marriage is clear enough in establishment, on the other so many souls feeling the depths of sexual identity self procurements above a higher orientation of heart and mind than that of self speaks to the pervasiveness of sin and death creeping in to our whole way of living as a people.
It seems strange the inner and societal conflicts involved in going against the Word of God and His establishments, being so presently passionately disposed, pursued, with a problem addressing will as a component of character abandonded as to giving priority to self control and surrender of the will to a conscience higher than self.
When our President weighed in on freedom of choice over boundaries on being human something different was etched into our National consciousness than is found placed in high view on old goverment infrastructure buildings, as faithful slogans appearing there, etched without permission of our people of faith’s abiding conscience. That this imagination occurred to change our outlook as a people by decree of one man without co-consultation, and therefore, without basis of our Nation’s own constitutional law shows just how far self will has exceeded the blessed bonds of what was once the common threads of true community and mutual care.
What concerns me the most in raising a family here now, is how readily indifference to faith, hope, and love comes up from a different will of National purpose, and so as to bending the knee to anything goes–where a strong disagreement to the present drift is not now permitted through a clearly declared and resistant confrontation within our common milieu of work, home, and school. Godliness is presently forbidden by the unspoken rules regarding the boundaries placed on each person’s walls, rather than each person’s vulnerabilities.