A Mindset for Legalism

As he passed by, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. And his disciples asked him,
"Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?"
Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents.” (John 9.1-3)

Jesus lived in a world ruled by legalism. God was understood to be a legalistic God, and all of life’s good and bad happenings were understood to be caused by the good or bad behavior of the persons involved.
Legalism is an understanding of life that sees every blessing or tragedy in our lives to be caused by something we have done. Our blessings are a payoff for good behavior, and our reversals are a payoff for our bad behavior. Legalism understands life to be a reward for obedience or disobedience to the laws of God.

In legalism, God is understood to be spending most of his time passing out just rewards. He is busy punishing those who make errors, and blessing those who make none. Humans earn their experiences in life by their behavior.

The passage above is an example of the thinking of that time. Blindness was a payoff for something the man or his parents had done wrong. Otherwise, the blind man was being treated unjustly. But, God was just, so the blindness was earned by someone.

Wealthy People

The opposite situation was illustrated by Jesus statements about rich people. If a person was wealthy, he was obviously blessed by God, so he must be doing what was right in the eyes of God. Legalistically minded people saw wealth as a sign of the blessings of God, and poverty as a sign of his displeasure.

Jesus startled his followers when he made the following statement,

23Jesus, looking around, said to his disciples, “How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!"
24The disciples were amazed at his words.
But Jesus answered again and said to them, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a rope to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." (Matthew 10.23-25)

When one believes that God is controlling every happening in life, and those happenings are both negative and positive, one must find a system of belief to make sense of it all. Legalism is an answer for many people, including the religious teachers of Jesus’ day.

They understood God to be a righteous judge who dispenses laws to be obeyed, then spends his time rewarding persons for their behavior according to those laws. The idea was simple and easily understood. It is logical and workable.

Legalism was the prevailing system for human relations also.

38”You have heard that it was said, ‘AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' (Matthew 5.38)

This ancient teaching of Moses illustrates the simplicity of how to relate to other people in legalistic ways. One treats others as they are treated by them. Legalism in human relationships simply means to treat other people as they deserve to be treated. If they treat us well, we will treat them well. If not, we will not. When we live this way, legalists believe that we are behaving like God. We are living his kind of lifestyle. Other people get what they deserve from us, just as God repays all people as they deserve.

The Paralytic

17One day he was teaching; and there were some Pharisees and teachers of the law sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem; and the power of the Lord was present for him to perform healing.
18And some men were carrying on a bed a man who was paralyzed; and they were trying to bring him in and to set him down in front of him.
19But not finding any way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up the roof and let him down through the tiles with his stretcher, into the middle of the crowd, in front of Jesus.
20Seeing their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven you."
21The scribes and the Pharisees began to grumble, saying, “Who is this man who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone?"
22But Jesus, aware of their mumblings, answered and said to them, "Why are you reasoning in your hearts? 23Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins have been forgiven you,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 24"So that you may understand that the Son of Man has power on earth to free from sins,"--He said to the paralytic--"I tell you, get up, and pick up your pallet and go home."
25Immediately he got up in front of them, and picked up what he had been lying on, and went home giving God the glory. (Luke 5.17-25)

This story is filled with meanings just below the surface which are not always apparent to readers. Understand that in their thinking, the man was paralyzed because he deserved to be. He had sinned in some way which had led God to reward him with paralysis. He was in this condition because of his sins.

When Jesus released him from his sins, he was releasing him from the rewards for those sins also. Jesus was actually canceling the payoff from God for the sins which he had committed, which in turn had caused his paralysis. Therefore, there was no longer any reason for him to be afflicted with the paralysis. He could regain his health.

Jesus’ statement that the man’s sins were forgiven was considered blasphemy by the scribes and Pharisees because God is the one who had rewarded him with paralysis, so God was the only one who could cancel the reward. The theological lawyers were offended that Jesus could claim such power for himself.

Jesus then produced the result in the man which demonstrated forgiven sins. If he no longer continued to be paralyzed, then God must not be holding him accountable for his sins any longer. He was no longer guilty by association with his physical condition. His ability to walk showed that he was no longer guilty. His sins had been forgiven.

Grace: the Opposite of Legalism

Throughout Jesus’ teaching ministry, and demonstrated in his life, was seen a spirit and lifestyle which were not legalistic. Jesus taught and demonstrated grace. Grace is a word which indicates that which is an unearned gift. A gift is not the same as a reward. A gift is usually unearned. It is the expression of a desire to bless from one person to another.

The teachings of Jesus are all about relationships of grace. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) is especially filled with actions of grace. It contains many ways to be gracious:
Go a second mile…
Turn the other cheek…
Give your cloak as well as your coat…
Pray for those who persecute you…
Return good for evil…
Forgive…
Do not judge…

Jesus’ actions and his teachings undercut the idea that God is a legalistic God. He is, rather, a God of grace. He does not treat persons as they deserve to be treated. He treats them better than deserved. He gifts us with blessings we do not deserve. He is a God of graciousness.

Jesus is our only source for knowing that God is gracious. No other religious seer has revealed that truth to humanity. As a result, graciousness is not a valued lifestyle on the Earth. Legalism is.

Jesus was sent by God with a message of grace to mankind. He taught and personally demonstrated that grace during his ministry among us. Afterward, the writer of the Book of Hebrews began his work by saying,

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1.1-3 NKJV)

The thought is astounding. If God is like Jesus, we have been deceived by all religions. They all portray him as legalistic. Jesus shows him to us as gracious.

No wonder that Christians “turned the world upside down” in Antioch. This gracious idea of God is revolutionary. The idea that the people of God should have a spirit and lifestyle of graciousness is awesome.

No wonder the Christian message was called “good” news. Grace is glorious good news.