A
Study of the Book of John
“That
You May Believe”
Sermon
# 15
“Facing Up To Legalism”
(John 5:9-13,15,
Gal 1:6-10, 2:1-5, 11-14)
The subject that I
want to talk to you about this morning is legalism. You know it’s kind of odd but, I
have never met a Christian who admits to being a legalist. I know Christians who admit to
lying, stealing, envy, lust – but no one wants to admit that they are a legalist. Yet
to overcome the problem, we must all admit that we are at times legalistic.
The list of regulation we impose
on others is long – and not always obvious. We judge people for the version of Bible
they carry, by the way they wear their hair, and by the clothes they wear, by whether or
not they have tattoos, or anything that doesn’t fit within our boundaries of
acceptability. We judge people by whether they like praise choruses rather than hymns. We
make judgments based on how they choose to educate their children. We judge people for
raising their hands in service, or for not raising their hands in service. We judge people
by what political party they affiliate with. The list of things we judge people’s
spirituality on is almost endless!
We return this morning
to the healing of the man by the Pool of Bethsaida, here Jesus entered into the midst of
hurting people who waited by the pool of Bethsaida for a healing.
Among
all those gathered there that day Jesus was drawn to one man who had been an invalid for
thirty-eight years. In verse six, Jesus asked this man, a pointed question, “Do you really want to be healed.” And then in verse
eight He commanded him to “Get up, take up your bed and
walk.” The Lord healed the man through His spoken word. It is important that
in the last part of verse nine we are told, “And that
day was the Sabbath” on which the miracle was performed.” The miracle
would have caused no problem except that it was performed on the Sabbath. But as it was,
this miracle became very important because it precipitated a great “Sabbath
Controversy.” I believe that Jesus worked this miracle on the Sabbath on purpose to
focus the attention of the religious leaders on the fact that they are missing the
original purpose of the Sabbath and fact he is LORD over the Sabbath.
The
Old Testament taught that a person should do no work on the Sabbath (Exodus 20:8-10). By
Jesus’ time the rabbis had expanded this simple command by going into great detail
there were now 1,521 rules as to what constituted “work.”
The healed man is
intercepted by the religious leaders who inform him that he is breaking the law by
carrying his bed on the Sabbath. In verse ten we read, “The
Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the
Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed." (11) He answered them, "He
who made me well said to me, "Take up your bed and walk."’ (12) Then they
asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, "Take up your bed and walk’?"
(13) But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a
multitude being in that place. … (15) The man departed and told the Jews that it was
Jesus who had made him well.”
They
are not concerned about this man – they do no even acknowledge that he has been
healed – let alone rejoice over it. Their only concern is that this man is breaking the
rules – their rules. He tells
them that it is not his fault, the one who commanded him to get up and walk is the one who
also commanded him to carry his bed.
At first these verses seem to be all about the
Sabbath and that is the direction that I approached it from, at first. But when you really
think about it the issue is not the Sabbath, this about legalism. The Pharisees are
the grandfathers of legalism and Jesus meets them head on in a confrontation that turns
the tide of official opinion solidly against Him.
Once
informed that Jesus is the one who healed the lame man, the Jews cease to harass the
healed man and fix their attention on Jesus.
Verse sixteen informs us, “For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him,
because He had done these things on the Sabbath.” John tells us that the
religious leaders began to “persecute Jesus.” An
important feature of this miracle is that it began an open conflict between Jesus and the
religious leaders that would culmin-ate at the cross. Because this miracle was done on the
Sabbath day, it gave raise to the first demonstration of rejection on the part of the
religious leadership.
“One of the most serious
problems facing the orthodox Christian church today is the problem of legalism. One of the
most serious problems facing the church in Paul’s day was the problem of legalism. In
every day it is the same. Legalism wrenches the joy of the Lord from the Christian
believer, and with the joy of the Lord goes his power for vital worship and vibrant
service. Nothing is left but cramped, somber, dull, and listless profession. The truth is
betrayed, and the glorious name of the Lord becomes a synonym for a gloomy kill-joy. The
Christian under the law is a miserable parody of the real thing." [S.
Lewis Johnson, "The Paralysis of Legalism" as quoted by Charles Swindoll.
The Grace Awakening. Dallas: Word Pub.,
1990) pp. 76-77]
If I
were to list the top five enemies of the church today… Legalism would be #1! Legalism
is a killer! It kills a congregation when a preacher is a legalist. It kills preachers
when congregations are legalists.
“The story was told some
years ago of a pastor who found the roads blocked one Sunday morning and was forced to
skate on the river to get to church, which he did. When he arrived the elders of the
church were horrified that their preacher had skated on the Lord’s Day. After the
service they held a meeting where the pastor explained that it was either skate to church
or not go at all. Finally one elder asked, “Did you enjoy it?” When the preacher
answered, “No,” the board decided it was all right – as long as he did not enjoy it!” [Today in the Word, MBI, December,
1989, p. 12. www. bible.org/illus.
Christian
liberty, by it’s very definition is the freedom to: Enjoy the rights and privil-eges
of being saved; To Live in and enjoy the kind of power only Christ could bring; To Become
all that He meant me to be regard-less
of how He leads others; To know God in an independent and personal way (God isn’t
stamping out little Christians all over the world who look alike, talk alike, think alike,
teach alike, and like the same things! God is pleased with variety.)
Legalism is essentially it is an attitude
First, Legalism
Is Heresy, Yet The Legalist Maintains That Everyone Else Is A Heretic.
Legalism is heresy in that it places an
artificial standard of conduct upon Christians that does not exist in Scripture. But the
really unusually aspect of legalism is that it defines anyone with a different opinion as
the “heretic.” If you agree with me in matters of personal conviction then you
are right but if you hold a different opinion then you are wrong and dangerous.
The problem of
legalism faced by the Lord in our text carried right into the 1st century
church. Paul wrote to this very problem in his letter to the Galatians, (Gal. 1:6-10)
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who
called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, (7) which is not another; but
there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. (8) But even if
we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to
you, let him be accursed. (9)As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone
preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. (10)
For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men,
I would not be a bond-servant of Christ.”
Paul wastes no time in his letter to the
Galatians getting at the heart of the heresy. In verse six he says that he Gospel is a
gospel of grace: Christ’s death
on the cross was a sufficient payment for sin; His blood was the final payment that freed
us from slavery. It is called being ransomed from slavery. He paid the price and made us
free.
What does it take, then to have that kind of
eternal life? It takes faith! No works, no long lists of things
not to do, no required number of attendance at church, no baptism, no giving up, no adding
to. It takes trusting Jesus Christ alone and His payment at the cross to cover your sins…and
you had eternal life. That’s the grace of Christ.
Yet, almost
every cult is a cult of works, because
it appeals to the flesh. They say that you must work, if you hope to be saved and in so
doing, seek to add to the finished work of Christ. Many people think, “If I could just DO something to get into heaven, it
would make more sense.” All of life is built upon working and getting paid for
extra work. Eternal life then cannot be free, can it? Oh, but you forgot…it
isn’t free. Christ paid the payment. It cost Him His life. From our perspective it is
free, but from God’s perspective it had a terrible cost.
Adding anything
to the finished work of Christ is heresy, whether it is an act such as circumcision or
baptism, or it is the abstaining from certain things, in order that one might gain favor
with God. All such works are completely without merit.
Legalism Is Heresy, Yet It Maintains That
Everyone Else Is A Heretic and…
Secondly, Legalism Enslaves Through Harassment
There
is an old saying, “Misery loves Company” and
that is certainly true when it comes to legalism. When we get to the second chapter of
Galatians, the legalism only grows deeper and thicker. (Gal. 2:1-5) ”Then after fourteen years I
went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and also took Titus with me. (2) And I went up
by revelation, and commun-icated to them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles,
but privately to those who were of reputation, lest by any means I might run, or had run,
in vain. (3) Yet not even Titus who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be
circumcised. (4) And this occurred because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came
in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring
us into bondage), (5) to whom we did not yield submission even for an hour, that the truth
of the gospel might continue with you.”
Eugene Peterson writes, “There are
A
missionary couple quit full-time mission work because the place where they worked didn’t
allow peanut butter because they couldn’t get it there. This couple loved peanut
butter and had it shipped to them from the states. The harassment became so bad, that it
finished them off spiritually. You’ll laugh at the thought that not eating peanut
butter constitutes spirituality, well you will at least until I mention whatever is on
your list? [Charles
Swindoll. “The Grace Awakening.” (Dallas:
Word, 1990) pp. 92-93]
A man attended a school where they weren’t
allowed to do anything on Sunday. He saw his wife out hanging the laundry on Sunday
afternoon and he turned her in. Can you just imagine? I bet she was fun to live with for
the next few weeks, but he deserved whatever he got! Has our faith been reduced to who
does what when according to what I think they should do, or is it a faith that is based
firmly in Scripture? [Charles
Swindoll. “The Grace Awakening.” (Dallas: Word, 1990) p. 94]
Legalism
Enslaves Through
Third, Legalism Based On Hypocrisy.
The heresy of legalism that led to the
harassment of Gentile believers also revealed the hypocrisy that existed within the very
highest echelons of the leadership of the church—none other than Peter himself! (Gal.
2:11-14). “Now when Peter had come to Antioch, I
withstood him to his face, because he was to be blamed; (12) for before certain men came
from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated
himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision. (13) And the rest of the Jews also
played the hypocrite with him, so that even Barnabas was carried away with their
hypocrisy. (14) But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the
gospel, I said to Peter before them all, "If you, being a Jew, live in the manner of
Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?”
Peter
had been eating with the Gentiles until the Jews showed up. Swindoll says it this way,
“Peter, I smell ham on
your breath! … There was a time when you wouldn’t eat ham as part of your hope
of salvation, and then after you trusted Christ, it didn’t matter if you ate ham. But
now when the no-ham-eaters come from Jerusalem, you’ve gone back to your kosher ways.
But the smell of ham still lingers on your breath. You are most inconsistent. You are
compelling Gentile believers to observe Jewish law, which can never justify anyone. Peter,
by returning to the Law, you undercut strength for godly living.” [Swindoll. pp.
95-96]
Paul rebuked Peter for hypocrisy, for faking it in
front of the Jews and then turning around and
faking it in front of the Gentiles. Paul asks Peter a very important question
(v. 14). "If you, being a Jew, live
in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews, why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?”
This
takes us back to the Sabbath controversy that Jesus began by healing on the Sabbath. The
truth was that men who were so concerned about the Sabbath were hypocrites. Those who knew
the law the best, not only forbid others from doing many harmless things, but they could
find “legal loopholes” that allowed them do most of anything they wanted to do
on the Sabbath.
Application.
1. It is wrong to give in to Legalism.
Don’t allow others to set your personal convictions, those should come from your
personal walk with God. It is not necessary to subject yourself to a group that doesn’t
respect your convictions and that violates your conscience.
2. Stop Trying To Please Everyone. Seek the favor of God alone rather than looking
to other people for approval—no matter how spiritual they may seem.
Paul
Turney wrote this in his book, “Guilt and Grace”: “In all fields, even those
in culture and art; other people’s judgment exercises a paralyzing effect. Fear of
criticism kills spontaneity; it prevents men from showing themselves and expressing
them-selves freely as they are. Much courage is needed to paint a picture, to write a
book, to erect a building designed along new archit-ectural lines, or to formulate an
independent opinion or an original idea.”
[Paul Turney. Guilt and Grace. (New
York: Harper and Row, 1962) p. 98. As quoted by Chuck Swindoll in “The Grace
Awakening” p. 99]
3. Live In the Truth. Face up to your
own legalistic tendencies honestly. Your personal convictions are just that your personal
convictions.
When will we have the courage to believe God above everyone else’s opinions? When will we learn to live as free as God has made us to be?