Legalism is deadly in the believer’s life, producing critical, controlling, cocky, and callous people. In this message we learn what legalism is, and how it manifests itself in our lives.
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The Deadly Effects Of Legalism
Luke 6:1-11
Ever since the church began there have been 2 deadly false forms of Christianity: Licentiousness and Legalism. Licentiousness overemphasizes grace at the expense of obedience to Christ. Licentiousness says “Let’s continue in sin that grace may increase.” Licentiousness says it doesn’t really matter how you lived, because God’s grace removes all our sin. Those who embrace this doctrine, and live continually in sin, have embraced a false form of Christianity, and it will lead to their damnation. Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue sanctification, without which no one will see the Lord.” However, there is another deadly false form of Christianity which is its exact opposite – Legalism. Legalism is the performing of divine or man-made rules in order to achieve or maintain a right standing before God. The legalist goes to the opposite extreme. Instead of emphasizing grace, he emphasizes works, and obedience as the way to earn right standing with God or blessing from God. A legalist legislates his list of rules and regulations upon everyone else, and invests his list with divine authority. Every legalist has a different list, but might include reading the King James only, men must have short hair, women must wear dresses, you must refrain from all alcohol, movies, and makeup. You must spend a certain period of time in prayer and the Bible every day. And the list goes on and on and on.
Well, there were Legalists in the first century as well. In fact, they were the avowed enemies of Jesus Christ, and were chiefly responsible for His death. They were called the Pharisees. In Luke 6:1-11, we are going to examine two brief stories where Jesus and the Pharisees collide. The main point of contention between them was the Sabbath. In the first incident, the Pharisees were uptight because Jesus’ disciples plucked some grain, rubbed it and ate it on the Sabbath day. In the second incident, they were upright because Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day.
What I would like to do this morning is help you to see the deadly effects of legalism. Even as Christians, we can slip into a legalistic spirit, without even knowing it is happening. When we do, it begins to have a deadening effect on our spiritual lives. So, let’s focus on the Pharisees in this passage and see the deadly effects of Legalism.
1. They Were Critical
Luke 6:1-2 reads, “Now it happened that He was passing through some grainfields on a Sabbath; and His disciples were picking the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands, and eating the grain. But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”
Now, what was going on? Jesus and His disciples were traveling through a grainfield on a Sabbath day, probably to attend a local synagogue service. However, they were hungry, and so began to pick some of the heads of grain, rub the grain together to break the hulls, blow the hulls away, and eat the grain. Now, there was nothing inherently evil about this. In Deut. 23:24-25, the Law says, “When you enter your neighbor’s vineyard, then you may eat grapes until you are fully satisfied, but you shall not put any in your basket. When you enter your neighbor’s standing grain, then you may pluck the heads with your hand, but you shall not wield a sickle in your neighbor’s standing grain.” The Mosaic Law actually allowed a person to gather a snack of grapes or grain from another man’s field, just as long as he didn’t go and harvest his crops. This was exactly what the disciples were doing. They were enjoying an organic, high fiber, low-fat, health food snack as they were traveling along. Who in the world would ever object to this?! The Pharisees – the first century Legalists, that’s who. You see, the Jews had come up with literally hundreds of different rules for obeying the Sabbath. There were 39 major categories of things that must be refrained from on the Sabbath, and under each major category there were dozens of specific rules regarding that activity. Well, 3 of those major categories were Reaping, Threshing, and Winnowing, and according to the Pharisees, the disciples of Jesus had broken all three. They plucked the heads of grain – that was Reaping. They rubbed the heads of grain between their hands – that was Threshing. They blew the chaff away – that was Winnowing. They had many other restrictions. A woman was forbidden to look in a mirror because she might see a gray hair and pluck it out. You could travel 3,000 feet, or 1,999 steps, but no further. No burden could be carried that weighed more than a dried fig, or ½ a fig carried two times. Women couldn’t wear jewelry, because jewelry weighs more than a dried fig. A radish couldn’t be left in salt, because that would make it a pickle, and that’s work. In fact, there were 24 chapters on Sabbath laws in the Talmud. One rabbi spent 2 ½ years studying one chapter! And the Pharisees were absolutely devoted to making sure that everyone within Judaism observed the Sabbath.
And then, here comes Jesus Christ, who didn’t care one bit about the Pharisees’ Sabbath laws. We need to keep in mind that all those rules I just mentioned regarding the Sabbath are not found in the Scripture. These were man-made rules and regulations made to define and limit what a person could or could not do on the Sabbath day. All God’s Word says is that you should not work. Just cease from work. That’s it! But man got a hold of that commandment, and developed it into 24 chapters of laws, and then the Pharisees sought to legislate those laws on everyone in the Jewish nation.
But do you see the critical spirit of these Pharisees? “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” Of course, Jesus hadn’t broken God’s Law, but He had broken theirs. They were very quick to criticize and judge and condemn all who did not do what they prescribed regarding the Sabbath.
Oh, brothers and sisters, be very careful when you find yourself becoming quick to criticize others, especially over something that is not a clear cut issue in Scripture. Be slow to judge and condemn others because they don’t share all of your convictions. Perhaps you have a conviction that you shouldn’t drink any alcohol at all. Do you find yourself judging someone else who doesn’t hold that personal conviction? Perhaps you have a conviction that you shouldn’t view any movies other than G rated. Do you condemn in your heart those who don’t have that conviction? Perhaps you are a King James only guy. Do you criticize all who read from the NASB or NIV or ESV? If you are characterized by a critical spirit, you have more in common with the Pharisees than with Jesus, and that’s a scary proposition.
2. They Were Controlling
We find this to be true, both in verse 2 and in verse 7. In verse 2 it says, “But some of the Pharisees said, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” In other words, stop plucking those heads of grain. You are violating our interpretation of the Sabbath! Then in verse 7, when Jesus is teaching in the synagogue and a man is there with a withered hand it says, “The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.” It was not so that they could glorify and praise God for the healing. It was so that they could condemn Him! The Pharisees were all about controlling others. They were into legislating their view of morality on all others. According to them, no one else had freedom of conscience. All must bow their views to the views of the Pharisees.
Friends, this is another area in which we need to be very, very careful. Are you a controlling person? Do you love to manipulate people and situations so that everyone around you bows to your views of morality? Now, let me be clear. There are some issues in Scripture that are very clear, black and white. There are certain things labeled as sin in Scripture, and those that practice them will not inherit the kingdom of God, such as fornication, adultery, homosexuality, reviling, stealing, covetousness, swindling, drunkenness, idolatry, and sorcery. We are not being legalistic to call these things sin, and call men to repent of them and live a holy life. There is a big difference between that, and telling everyone in your church how short their hair must be, or what they can wear, or what they can drink, or where they can go. We need to be very careful about legislating man-made morality upon everyone else.
That’s what Romans 14 is all about. The apostle Paul tells us that there are gray areas in the Christian life, like the eating of meat, the drinking of wine, and the observance of special days. If God has not spelled something out clearly in Scripture, then we have no right to make up “rules” or “laws” and impose them upon everyone in our church. Paul says in Romans 14:4, “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” Folks when we try to control others to keep our personal standard of morality, we are more like the Pharisees than like Jesus Christ!
3. They Were Cocky
Now why do I say that the Pharisees were cocky? Very simple – they were absolutely sure they were right. They never stopped to ask themselves whether they were mistaken, and Jesus was actually the One in the right. Notice their question, “Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” They were absolutely convinced that Jesus and His disciples were breaking the law by eating the grain. In a word, they were Proud. They were critical, condemning, fault-finding, controlling, and proud.
Notice the 2nd incident. Jesus is in the synagogue teaching on the Sabbath. The scribes and the Pharisees were there. But, why were they there? Did they come to the synagogue because they wanted to be taught the Word of God so that they could demonstrate their love to God through obedience? Did they come to humble themselves before the Lord in true repentance, and sing praises to His holy name? No! The answer is given in verse 7, “The scribes and the Pharisees were watching Him closely to see if He healed on the Sabbath, so that they might find reason to accuse Him.”
The Pharisees did not come to be taught and learn and grow. They came to accuse and condemn! They were unteachable. Oh, it is such a sad situation when you encounter someone who is unteachable. They are cocky and self-assured. When you bring up a doctrinal issue, they bring up what they believe, and are absolutely sure they have the truth, and that they are right and you are wrong. There is nothing you can do or say to cause them to honestly take a second look at the issue, because they are proud and unteachable. If you discuss a moral issue, they do the same. They know exactly what God thinks about every moral issue, and they will argue and fight forever about it. Of course the problem is that they never really listen to anyone else.
When Jesus corrected the Pharisees about their interpretation of the Sabbath Day, how did they react? Did they humble themselves and say, “Oh, I never thought about it that way. I guess I need to study this matter further, and take it before the Lord in prayer, to get more light on this subject”? No, of course not. Verse 11 says, “But they themselves were filled with rage, and discussed together what they might do to Jesus.” Instead of humbling themselves before the Master Teacher to learn of Him, they were filled with rage and started plotting His murder! Oh pride is such a deadly thing! It prevents us from growing in truth, because we think we’ve already arrived.
Recently I was telling a brother that when it comes to secondary doctrinal issues in which I have a firm conviction, my philosophy is to say, “I’m convinced I’m right, but I’m also convinced I could be wrong.” I’m convinced about believer’s baptism, Elder rule, an amillennial return of Christ, the continuation of spiritual gifts, the predestination of certain people to eternal life, and men as the leaders in the home and church. But I also realize I could be wrong, and I’m willing to enter into thoughtful discussion with those who disagree with me.
Oh, brothers and sisters, let’s be very careful that we don’t make the same mistake that the Pharisees made. They thought they knew better than Jesus Christ. Therefore, they became blind and hardened in their blindness, and there was nothing that anyone could do for them. What a sad situation when you can’t learn or grow any more, because you have become unteachable! So, the Legalists of the first century were Critical, Controlling, and Cocky.
4. They Were Callous
Perhaps this was the most deadly effect of their Legalism. They had exalted their own view of the Law above the needs of people. They had become unloving, and uncaring toward others. Their hearts were hard. The only thing they cared about was whether others adhered to their view of the Law – period!
Want proof? Did they care at all that Jesus’ disciples were hungry? Did it bother them that they had nothing to eat? Did they offer to bring them some food? Were they willing to go and buy some food and bring it to them? No! All they were concerned about was that they were violating their Sabbath rules.
This becomes even more clear in the second incident. Here was a man with a withered hand. Luke gives us the detail that it was his “right” hand that was withered. In all likelihood this man was right-handed. This would have meant that he would be unable to make a living. If he was a carpenter, or bricklayer, or tanner, or cobbler, this paralyzed hand would severely limit what he could do, probably preventing him from making a living to take care of the needs of his family. Did the Pharisees care about his plight? Were they moved with compassion toward him? Had they done anything to make sure that he and his family were taken care of? In all likelihood they hadn’t done a thing for him. What drove them was enforcing their views of morality on everyone else, not in showing compassion toward everyone else.
This is seen even more clearly in their reaction when Jesus healed the man. Were they thrilled? Did they glorify and praise God for having mercy on this poor man? No, they were enraged and started plotting on how they were going to kill Jesus!
Friends, what about you? What is really more important to you – loving people, or legislating people? What concerns you more – that this guy in the church smokes cigarettes, or that he doesn’t have a job? Are you more bothered that this person suffers with chronic headaches, or that they use a different version of the Bible than the KJV? Do you see what I mean? Legalism becomes deadly when we stop caring about people.
Folks, do you see any of these characteristics in your life? Are you critical, controlling, cocky, or callous? If so, perhaps you have imbibed a Legalistic spirit. Perhaps the Lord is calling you to repent of Legalism this morning, and instead to begin to really love people!
Application
Now, having looked at the character of the Pharisees, let’s look at the character of Jesus Christ. What do we see in these two incidents about the perspective of Jesus Christ?
People Take Precedence over Religious Ritual: Jesus was quite willing to allow His disciples pluck grain, or to heal a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Why? Because people mattered more to Him than religious rituals.
Notice how Jesus answered the Pharisees who criticized Him for allowing His disciples to pluck grain on the Sabbath. Luke 6:3-5 says, “And Jesus answering them said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?” And He was saying to them, “the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.” Jesus is referring to 1 Samuel 21, where David is fleeing from Saul with his men. At one point they had run out of food, and were hungry, so David asks Ahimelech the priest for some bread. The only bread Ahimelech had was the “holy bread”, the bread of the presence. The Bread of the Presence was the 12 loaves of bread that would be baked and placed in the tabernacle every Sabbath. These 12 loaves represented the 12 tribes of Israel. In Leviticus 24:9, God says that only the priests were to eat this bread. However, Jesus says that when David and his men were hungry, they were allowed to eat the consecrated bread. Therefore, if one of God’s laws was suspended to provide for human need, then He could allow His disciples to break the stupid, silly rules of the Pharisees to take care of their needs.
The 2nd incident teaches the same principle. Jesus asks the Pharisees, “is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to destroy it?” (Luke 6:9). Now, he said this because he knew what they were thinking (vs. 8). They were saying to Jesus, “You can’t heal this man on the Sabbath”, but it was all right for them to plot His murder on the Sabbath! Jesus couldn’t do good on the Sabbath, but they could do harm on it!
Do you see that to Jesus people mattered more than religious rituals? What about you? Is it more important that you have your daily allotted portion of time in the Word and prayer than it is to actually love your neighbor who is sick and needs someone to bring some dinner over? Is it more important to make it to church exactly on time than to stop and help the guy on the side of the road with the flat tire?
Also, notice that Jesus deliberately defied the Pharisees and their view of the Sabbath. He could easily have waited a few hours till sundown, and then healed this man, but instead he called the man right up front before everyone, including the Pharisees and healed him. Why did Jesus make a point of taking on the Pharisees? Because their views were hurting multitudes of people! He said in Mt. 23:13, “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.” In Mt. 23:15 He said, “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.” In Mt. 23:4 He said, “They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.” The Pharisees were shutting people out of the kingdom of heaven, making them twice as much a son of hell as themselves, and laying heavy burdens on their shoulders. In contrast to all of that Jesus said in Mt. 11:28-30, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” The Pharisees laid heavy burdens on men’s shoulders, whereas Jesus put a light burden on them, and got under the burden and bore it with them.
Folks, do you relate to the Pharisees, the Legalists of the first century? Are you critical, controlling, cocky, and callous? If so, I call upon you this morning to repent. Become a lover of people. Look to Christ. Learn from Him. Instead of being critical, be gracious like Christ. Instead of being controlling, give freedom like Christ. Instead of being cocky, be humble like Christ. Instead of being callous, be loving like Christ. Look to Jesus as your Example, and then trust Him to empower you to live His life through you. Let’s pray.
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