The Bondage of Legalism

Let’s pick up our study again today in Galatians 2:4-5 where Paul is speaking of those who were trying to put them back under the Law of Moses. Jesus told the Pharisees in Matt 23:25 you are “Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” I read an illustration several years ago that comes back to mind as I think of what is like to trying to live under the Law. It goes something like this, “Professional golfer Tommy Bolt was playing in Los Angeles and had a caddy with a reputation of constant chatter. Before they teed off, Bolt told him, "Don't say a word to me. And if I ask you something, just answer yes or no." During the round, Bolt found the ball next to a tree, where he had to hit under a branch, over a lake and onto the green. He got down on his knees and looked through the trees and sized up the shot. What do you think?" he asked the caddy. "Five-iron?" "No, Mr. Bolt," the caddy said. "What do you mean, not a five-iron?" Bolt snorted. "Watch this shot." The caddy rolled his eyes. "No-o-o, Mr. Bolt." But Bolt hit it and the ball stopped about two feet from the hole. He turned to his caddy, handed him the five-iron and said, "Now what do you think about that? You can talk now." "Mr. Bolt," the caddy said, "that wasn't your ball." Yep, that about sums it up! Legalism takes all of the fun out of being a child of the King.

Some say today that you have to keep the Sabbath to be saved. Well, what about the rest of the Law: sacrificing animals for sins, stoning fornicators, etc… Why just that one? Paul reminds us in Galatians 5:1-4, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage…if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing…every man that is circumcised…is a debtor to do the whole law. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.” In other words, you either live under the Law or accept the completed work of Christ on Calvary when He kept the Law for you. You can’t do one without forfeiting the other.