Legalism: Subverting the Doctrine of Divine Grace for a Theology of Works

            Legalism in the Church repudiates the doctrine of divine grace for a theology of works that is “subversive both of the glory of God, in bestowing righteousness, and of the certainty of salvation.”[1] It suggests man’s reliance on the flesh instead of submission to the Spirit to establish his own righteousness before God. It is “a slavish following of the law in the belief that one thereby earns merit…and also entails a refusal to go beyond the formal or literal requirements of the law.”[2] As Paul asked the Judaizers in his Epistle to the Galatians, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (3:2-3). Legalists also make conformity to regulations not sanctioned by the Scriptures (cultural taboos, for example) a test of spirituality and a standard for communion in the Church. This teaching of human merit in salvation, however, “destroys our praise of God for having bestowed righteousness”[3] and granted assurance of salvation, undermines the sufficiency of Christ in the work of redemption, minimizes the work of faith while simultaneously extolling human autonomy, and places its adherents in bondage to the law, a bondage that manifests itself as anxiety, despair, and weakness.

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            [1]John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, trans. Henry Beveridge, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1953), 90.

                [2]Millard J. Erickson, Christian Theology, 2^nd ed, (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1998), 990.

                [3]Calvin, Institutes, ed. McNeill, 788.