It is my conviction that one of the dangers (certainly not the only one) that the Protestant Reformed Churches in America (PRCA) must be on guard against is legalism. I do not mean this in the sense that the opponents of our churches falsely accuse us, that there is a theology of works-righteousness being taught and defended in the PRCA. Instead, I am referring to a practical form of legalism that manifests itself in a person subtly relying for salvation upon his own status or achievements, even while he confesses salvation by grace alone.

I realize that, while many readers of the SB belong to the PRCA, not all do. I hope that readers from other churches can still take this warning to heart, a warning that needs to be heard by all who confess to be Reformed Christians.

DIAGNOSIS

Before explaining how this practical form of legalism might show itself in our hearts and lives, I want to look at two important biblical passages that touch on this very issue.

The first passage is Romans 2. In Romans 2, the apostle Paul exposes the self-righteousness of the Jews. He gives a catalog of privileges that the Jewish man enjoyed in verses 17-18: “Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law.”

Paul goes on to address the Jewish man’s greatest source of confidence in verses 25ff.: his circumcision. For the Jewish man in Paul’s day, being circumcised meant that he had Abraham as his father, that he belonged to God’s covenant people, that he was the recipient of God’s covenant promises, that he was a member of the true church of God on earth.

The issue in Romans 2 is not that these things were not privileges for the Jewish man; they were privileges, as Paul acknowledges (cf. Rom. 3:1-2). The problem is that the Jewish man trusted in these things for his everlasting security. This is plain from verse 17 where it says that the Jewish man rests in the law, the idea being that he relies upon or depends upon the law. This is evident elsewhere in Scripture, for example, in Jesus’ interaction with the self-righteous Pharisees in John 8 where repeatedly they appeal to the fact that, “We be Abraham’s seed; Abraham is our father.” The Jew thought, “I must be saved because I have the knowledge of God, I have the law, I have circumcision, I belong to the church. All who have those things must be safe from the judgment of God and be the objects of His favor.”

One of the evidences of this legalistic mindset of the Jews was a sense of superiority with respect to others. The apostle refers to this in verses 19-20: “And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.”

Even though we are not Jews ethnically, the privileges that the Old Testament Jews enjoyed are mirrored in the privileges that we enjoy as New Testament Christians, as we will see in a moment.

The other pertinent biblical passage is Philippians 3. After warning the church to “beware of dogs” (v. 2), by which he meant Jewish false teachers who insisted that Gentile converts be brought under the Old Testament law of circumcision for salvation, Paul lays out his credentials (if he were to trust in himself) in verses 4-6: “Though I might also have confidence in the flesh. If any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” The things Paul lists include matters of his status by birth and his achievements.

With these passages as a guide, let’s reflect on how we may be guilty of the same kind of legalistic mentality.

There may be things related to my status or birth in which I put my trust for salvation. I might put my trust in my birth to believing parents. I might put my trust in my family line of believing forefathers going back many generations in Reformed churches. I might put my trust in my baptism when I was a little child. I might put my trust in my membership in a true, instituted church of Christ on earth, such as the PRCA. The fact that I have all these benefits must mean that I am saved, right?

There may be things related to my achievements in which I put my trust for salvation. I have a remarkable knowledge of the Bible gained through years of instruction in catechism and a Christian school education. I show up for Bible studies and lectures and other church events (even if others do not). I have read theology deeply and can debate its finer points. I am zealous to condemn the false doctrine found in other churches. My life is cleaned-up, well-ordered, and law-abiding. Surely it is safe to presume that I am saved if all these things are true, right?

One of the things that makes this form of legalism so insidious is that these privileges in which we place our trust do have an important place in the Christian life. No Reformed Christian would dare say that believing parents, the sacrament of baptism, and membership in a true church are bad things to be despised. No one would dare argue that knowledge of the Bible, involvement in church life, zeal for sound doctrine, and godly living are evils to be condemned. These are good things that have a legitimate place in our lives. The danger is not in having these things, but the danger is in putting our trust in them and resting in them as the basis of our salvation.

Another reason why this form of legalism is so deceptive is that it often appears under the guise of grace. That is, the one who enjoys all these benefits boldly confesses with the mouth the doctrine of salvation by grace alone, all without seeming to realize that the confession of his heart and life is that of salvation by works. It has been rightly said that the greatest sin lies so close to the highest privilege.

I realize that I am basing what I say not on any written evidence but merely on personal experience. Perhaps the reader judges that my personal diagnosis is incorrect. But I would have you consider two key indicators of this form of legalism and whether or not they have been evident in our churches.

One indicator of practical legalism is that we think ourselves superior to others. We think we alone see clearly, we alone have the light, we alone possess wisdom, we alone have matured beyond childhood (see again Rom. 2:19-20). Rather than a spirit of genuine gratitude for the privileges we possess, we view them with a spirit of proud superiority over others.

A second indicator of this legalism is dead orthodoxy, like that found among the Jews in Jesus’ and in Paul’s days. This is a spiritual sickness that infects churches when their confession remains orthodox but the depth of sincerity is lacking and genuine spirituality declines. Legalism and dead orthodoxy go hand in hand; as one man put it, when true religion of the heart declines, there is a corresponding emphasis placed on the externals of religion.

Has this been true, generally speaking, of the PRCA? It is my judgment that we must humble ourselves before God and confess that this has been the case. The fact that we are willing to acknowledge that this spirit has been present among us is an indication of our growth, by the grace of God.

PRESCRIPTION

The two passages referred to above (Rom. 2 and Phil. 3) not only expose the problem of legalism but also provide the solution.

In Romans 2, the apostle’s point in addressing the issue of Jewish legalism is to disarm the Jews of their weapons of self-righteousness. He is showing them that external things like possession of the law and circumcision cannot serve as their righteousness before God. He is driving at the conclusion that “there is none righteous, no not one” (Rom. 3:10) and that “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his [God’s] sight” (3:20). What then is needed is “the righteousness of God without the law… the righteousness of God which is by faith of [in] Jesus Christ” (3:21-22).

Paul’s line of thought is similar in Philippians 3. After listing his “credentials,” what does the apostle conclude with respect to these things? He continues in verses 7-9: “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith.” As in Romans, the apostle’s answer to such self-righteousness is the doctrine of justification by faith alone. As some have put it, these verses are like a meteorite dropped down into Philippians from the book of Romans.

What is necessary for us to combat a subtle form of legalism is a deeper understanding of and appreciation for personal faith, that is, what it truly means to renounce all trust in self and to rest and rely on Jesus Christ alone. What is also necessary is a deeper understanding of and appreciation for justification, that is, our right standing with God, not on account of our status or achievements but only the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. This is the source of true humility before God and men, and is the source of genuine religion and spirituality.

To mention faith and justification is only to say that what is needed to combat legalism is a deeper understanding of and appreciation for the grace of God to us in Jesus Christ. As we come to appreciate more deeply the wonder of the cross, and in that also the awfulness of our own sins, all forms of legalism will be driven out.

The only proper way to evaluate our status and achievements, those things we are tempted to think of as gains, is, with Paul, to consider them as losses! Every deposit is a debit; every asset is a liability. What is more, we count them as dung! Revolting refuse! Stinky manure! They make us pinch our nose, make us turn away in disgust, make our stomach turn.

The reason for renouncing our status and achievements is not that all of those things are unimportant. We can be thankful, for example, for the Christian homes and education we received. But the point is that they are loss and dung if we are viewing them as the basis upon which our standing with God rests and upon which we build our hope for the future. Grace plus anything else results in the canceling out of grace. If these things are not renounced as the basis for our standing with God, then we are deprived of Christ, the one real gain.

We must come to stand before God totally naked, stripped bare of every supposed advantage and achievement. We must come to stand before God with hands empty.

And we must trust alone in Jesus Christ. He alone is the one great gain. Having Him, we have all. Only when stripped bare can we be clothed upon with the robes of His righteousness. Only with hands empty do we cling to the cross.

Belonging to Christ, we have the greatest gain. We can suffer the loss of all things, including our status and achievements, knowing that we have the greatest, everlasting gain. We have this now since we have right standing with God. And we will have this forever as we are found in Christ in the judgment day. What gain!