Did you know that if you are a legalist, you are separated from Christ? This is what Paul said to the Galatians. Some were trying to be saved by the law, and Paul told them they were preaching a false gospel and that they were separated from Jesus. Did you know that if you are a legalist, you are proud and you think there are good things in you? These are lies that need to be removed before you can become a true Christian. Find out the five ways how to not be a legalist.
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector illustrates this point well. Was Paul a Pharisee? He was by name — but Paul became the ultimate example of a non-legalist. In the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, we see that the Pharisee thinks he is good, while the tax collector knows he is a bad person. On which side are you?
The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector
Luke 18:9-14 — “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’”
1. How to Not Be a Legalist — Accept That You Are Not Good.
The only way to cleanse yourself from legalism is to recognize that you are not good and that only God is good. Unless you do so, there is no hope for you. If you asked one hundred people on the street, “Are you a good person?” — how many would say yes? Almost everybody. This shows that legalism is nearly everywhere in society. Some countries are more legalistic than others.
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows that you can call yourself a Christian and still be a bad person. The name Christian means nothing in itself. The Bible says there is none good, not even one — they have all gone astray; there is none that seeks God.
The Bible also says that unless we are connected to the root, the branch has no spiritual life in it. The Bible says that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Let us accept the fact that there is not one good person on earth — not even one.
All our good works are like filthy rags. You can do your very best, and without God it is still corrupt, because the intentions are wicked, selfish, and corrupt. When Jesus was taken, all the apostles fled. We are but men. We are dust. We are clay. Humans are not God. There has never been a truly good human being since the creation of the world.
Some humans are less evil than others, but they are still evil, because inside every human being there is nothing inherently good. Paul said, “I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells. When I want to do good, evil is present in me.” If Paul — perhaps the greatest Christian who ever lived — could say that, how much more are you and I evil?
Was Paul a Pharisee? Yes — but God changed Paul to see his own sinfulness and to receive the righteousness of Jesus. Paul had killed Christians, and in his legalism he thought he was doing a good deed.
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows that some Christians do recognize they are evil and can receive the righteousness of Jesus by faith. Unless you ask Jesus for His righteousness every day, you will fail.
2. How to Not Be a Legalist — Accept That You Are a Sinner.
Have you ever sinned? Then you are not a good person. Some churches teach that your good works cancel out your bad works. No — Adam and Eve sinned one time and they died. The same applies to you and me. For one sin alone, you and I deserve to die.
“The wages of sin is death.”
Sin is the transgression of the law — not human law, but God’s law. We need to keep human laws as well, because God says so. We are sinners, and all humans have sinned. It is significant to know that Jesus never sinned while on earth. This is why Jesus could pay our price on the cross.
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows the Pharisee beating his chest and saying, “God, I am a good person — I do this and that.” It is telling to see that legalists believe that by doing things they receive righteousness. This reveals their wicked heart — they try to buy God’s favor and receive righteousness through their own deeds.
This proves that legalists and Pharisees are not truly good. If they were good, goodness would already be something they are — they would not need to point to their deeds to claim it. The very act of saying, “I do this, therefore I am a good person,” proves that legalists are evil.
Was Paul a Pharisee? Yes — but in Galatians, Paul said: “That no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident.” Men may be seen as good in the sight of other men — but what matters more, to be accepted by God or accepted by men? James 4:4 says: “Don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?” Accept that you are a sinner.
3. How to Not Be a Legalist — Accept That Only Jesus Is Good.
When the rich young ruler came to Jesus and called Him “Good Teacher,” Jesus replied: “None is good but God.”
Here we see another legalist whom Jesus is trying to help see that he was attempting to gain salvation by works. The Bible is clear — only God is good. When men do good deeds, it is only by the power of God. Man is merely a channel. God does the work. Man is only a channel for good or for evil.
Revelation 19 says of Jesus: “True and righteous — and in righteousness He judges and makes war.” To the Pharisees, Jesus said, “Which of you can convict Me of sin?” Yet in the eyes of the world, Jesus was considered evil, because the Pharisees said He had a devil. This shows how corrupt and mistaken human judgment truly is.
4. How to Not Be a Legalist — Accept That Only Jesus Has Righteousness.
The good news is that Jesus has the solution. Jesus wants you to see that you are not good, you will never be good on your own, and that only in Jesus is there a power called righteousness by faith — a power that can clothe you in His righteousness.
It does not mean you will never sin again, but that when you fall, you get up and walk again — not in your own power, but in God’s power and righteousness. Yet it is possible, through Christ, to overcome sin.
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows how many people claim to be religious yet are evil, selfish, proud, and completely blind to their own spiritual condition. In different countries we see the same thing — religious people and atheists alike, all over the world, think they are good. They do not realize that only God has the solution: the righteousness by faith that gives power to do good and to be good.
Was Paul a Pharisee before his encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus? Yes. We see that God struck Paul with blindness — because legalists see themselves as good in their own eyes. God sees things in a completely different way than humans do.
The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector shows that human principles and self-righteousness are worthless to change the heart. Human dogmas are powerless to make someone truly good. Human laws and edicts are powerless to transform their citizens into good, honest, and kind human beings.
5. How to Not Be a Legalist — Accept That Unless You Do So, You Cannot Go to Heaven.
This is an extremely serious topic, because many religious people believe that by accepting Jesus they will automatically go to heaven. That is not true.
Jesus said to the foolish virgins: “I do not know where you are from. Depart from Me, you who work iniquity.” Is it the same loving Jesus who took little children in His arms who is saying to fifty percent of Christianity, “Go away”? Yes. The five foolish virgins represent half of all Christianity.
Many shall come in His name saying they:
- Prophesied
- Cast out devils
- Did many wonderful works
With today’s numbers, this fifty percent of Christianity could represent approximately one billion people. They helped the poor. They went to church every week. They fed the hungry. Yet Jesus will tell them, “You do not have the wedding garment. Those works you thought you did by yourself, and you did them to receive the glory of men.”
Jesus said: “How can you believe, you who receive honor from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from God only?” Jesus also said: “Not he who commends himself is accepted, but he whom the Lord commends.”
The man who came to the wedding feast wearing his own garment had his own righteousness and his own works. He was confident he could enter because he was a Christian and had not done much evil. But he had his own righteousness, robbed God of His glory, and in doing so thought himself to be God — just as all legalists do.
Unless you ask for the righteousness of Jesus, you will be left with your own. You cannot have both at the same time — earthly, corrupt works alongside God’s perfect holiness and righteousness. Which will you choose?
“Choose this day which you will have — your human, defective works, or Jesus’ perfect righteousness.”
Repeat after me:
Father God, I see myself as a sinner. I ask You, please forgive me. Place Your righteousness on me and help me to walk with You until Jesus comes, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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