Notes:

Escape From Legalism – Galatians 2:17-3:5    See Session Slides Here

• Gal. 2:17-21. Paul anticipates an objection to the doctrine of justification by faith: Freedom from the law may discourage holiness and encourage sin, (Gal. 2:17).
• Gal. 2:19-20. We, through union with Christ have died to who we were in Adam and to sin, and we became the righteousness of God.
• Sanctification is the process of becoming in your behaviour what you are in your identity.
• We also died to the law. Living by works nullifies, or frustrates, grace, (Gal. 2:21).

• This is what was happening to the Galatian believers. Examples:
• They soon adopted a practice of observing religious days, months and seasons (Gal. 4:9-10).
• This influenced their relationship with the Paul and turned him into an “enemy” (Gal. 4:16).
• Their growth process was stopped and Christ was no longer being “formed” in them (Gal. 4:19).
• They became competitive (Gal. 5:15&26) and paraded self-righteousness (Gal. 6:12-13).

How Do We Detect Legalism?

• Under law, works are conditional to blessing; under grace they are a response to blessing.
• Under law, obligation is mentioned first and blessing after; blessing is conditional to works. Under grace blessing is unconditional to obedience. Are our deeds dead works or good works? We repent of dead works, but are saved unto good works. Heb.6:1; Eph.2:8-10.

There are at least three kinds of legalism:

• Theological legalism in which people separate from others over non-essential issues. “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
• Moral legalism in which people demand that certain man-made moral rules be followed.
• Cultural legalism in which people are expected to live up to certain cultural standards in order to be accepted. E.g. Church culture (in-house rules, leaders, rituals, etc).

 Are You A Legalist? You may be a legalist if…

• You think you must do certain good works in order to maintain your salvation status
• When you sin you feel you out of God’s presence and favour for a probationary period
• When you think about how God sees you, you think of this in terms of your works
• You feel it’s your role to police other Christians
• You require others to live in the same manner as you do
• You need the approval of other Christians, especially leaders
• You tend to project guilt onto others, especially to get your way

Gal. 3:1-5. Have You Succumbed To Legalism?

• They were “foolish”, Gal. 3:1-3. A fool is not someone who makes a mistake, but someone who doesn’t learn from his mistakes. The legalist does not learn from experience. Gal. 3:4.
• They had been “bewitched” Gal. 3:1. This term means primarily to slander, then ‘to have evil brought upon you by pretended praise.’ By slandering Paul and flattering the Galatians they were brought under the spell of the false teachers.
• They were enslaved (Gal. 5:1). We have been delivered from the law as a means of justification and sanctification. Furthermore, we have been delivered from man-made rules, designed to bring us into favour with God. We are also free from control by human leaders.
• They had “fallen from grace”. Gal. 5:3-4. If you trust in your works Christ will profit you nothing.

# Answers to this quiz are found in the notes above. Click on quiz to commence. Only correct spelling is recognised. A minimum 70%  correct is required to advance to the next session.