Faith and works

No.

No, it doesn't; but don't ever think that you've earned salvation by your good works, otherwise you're puffing yourself up against Jesus Christ the righteous.

Many think that legalism is "extremely following a law," but actually legalism in the true sense is adding to God's law by making extra man-made statutes and commandments that God did not give himself. The Pharisees were wildly guilty of doing this as one can see from the OT laws compared against their judgements in the NT.

andrewlya said:

Hi, if I have decided to be obedient to Yahweh our God and live in a righteous way doing good works, does it make me a legalist?

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Blessings andrewlya, wouldn't that be entirely dependent on your motivation? If you were obedient and did good works because you love God and want to follow in the ways He has instructed, you would not be a legalist. If your actions are based in faith of what God has done for you, you would not be a legalist. If you think that you can earn God's love and the rewards of that love then you would be a legalist. We are saved by faith in God's grace not by our works. Our works are evidence of our faith.

andrewlya said:

Hi, if I have decided to be obedient to Yahweh our God and live in a righteous way doing good works, does it make me a legalist?

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No.

andrewlya said:

Hi, if I have decided to be obedient to Yahweh our God and live in a righteous way doing good works, does it make me a legalist?

Click to expand...

No, it doesn't. It is showing that you are demonstrating your faith by your works. The desire to live as righteously as you can, and use 1 John 1:9 to deal with shortcomings, is the evidence of a true conversion to Christ and that you are a just person living by faith.

But, the moment anyone tries to exact the same standards on anyone else, they become a hypocrite and become subject to judgment. This especially applies to anyone telling someone else, "You have unrepentant sin in your life, therefore you are damned."

If we view another believer and ask God why he or she is not living up to the standards as ourselves, He will say to us, "What has that to do with you? Follow Me!"

andrewlya said:

Hi, if I have decided to be obedient to Yahweh our God and live in a righteous way doing good works, does it make me a legalist?

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Hello,

If God is a legalist for giving His Law and Jesus is a legalist for living in perfect obedience to it and for teaching his followers to obey it, then being a legalist is being in good company, however, that is not what legalism refers to. The distinction between the spirit of the law and the letter of the law (also known as legalism) is reflected in modern discussions of law enforcement and is not in regard to following different sets of laws, but in regard to the manner in which someone obeys the laws with respect to the intention behind them. For example:

Leviticus 19:12 “‘Do not swear falsely by my name and so profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.

Someone who was focused on obeying the spirit of this law would understand that its intent is for us not to swear falsely, whereas someone who was focused on obeying the letter of this law exactly how it was written would understand that we can swear falsely just as long as we don't do so in God's name, which incidentally is the heart of what Jesus was criticizing the Pharisees for doing in Matthew 23:16-22.

However, even if someone were outwardly obeying the Law correctly, they can still miss its inward intent. Paul said that the Law is spiritual (Romans 7:14), which means that it has always been intended to instruct deeper spiritual principles by which to live by, of which the listed laws are just examples, and which are the character traits of God, such as holiness, righteousness, goodness (Romans 7:12), justice, mercy, faithfulness, (Matthew 23:23), love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, and self-control (Exodus 34:6-7, Galatians 5:21-22). There are many verses that describe the Mosaic Law as being instructions for how to walk in His ways, such as Deuteronomy 10:12-13, Joshua 22:5, Isaiah 2:2-3, and Psalms 103:7), so again it about teaching us to express God's character traits and to thereby how to grow in a relationship with Him. As such, obeying the Law according to the letter leads to death just as assuredly as refusing to submit to it because it undermines its intent both in regard to what it is teaching us to do and why it is teaching us to do it.

andrewlya said:

Hi, if I have decided to be obedient to Yahweh our God and live in a righteous way doing good works, does it make me a legalist?

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Those following Satan would like you to think so.

andrewlya said:

Hi, if I have decided to be obedient to Yahweh our God and live in a righteous way doing good works, does it make me a legalist?

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A legalist presents a formulaic way of achieving salvation, so that anybody finding salvation by any other means is wrong, or that anybody not following that formula is not saved.

Christianity rather exercises discernment of the spirit, so that we can see those who walk in the light vs those who walk in the darkness (1 John 1:5-7, John 3:19-21). In that way, our growth is personally given to us by God (John 15) through our daily encountering of new knowledge - so that every day, through continued repentance, we become more refined in our Christian nature (Ephesians 4:13-16).

andrewlya said:

Hi, if I have decided to be obedient to Yahweh our God and live in a righteous way doing good works, does it make me a legalist?

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Jesus said those who love Him (which we are told to do) would follow His commandments. That's simply expected. It's also a means through which God transforms us.

We must never think we "earn" or "merit" salvation in any way through our works. This is impossible. We must never think God "owes" us in any way - in this life or the next, based on our works. And we have no business judging others in a condemnatory way based on their "works" (or lack thereof) either - that's a wide open door to invite pride and/or delusion.

But of course if we love God, we follow His commandments. And if we are wise, we realize they are all for the sake of our own good.

andrewlya said:

Hi, if I have decided to be obedient to Yahweh our God and live in a righteous way doing good works, does it make me a legalist?

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I generally agree with the responses here, but I'd like to point out that the term "legalism" is used in two somewhat different ways:

* Someone who thinks we earn salvation by our works
* Someone who take an overly literal approach to ethics, emphasizing the letter of the law rather than its spirit.

I don't see any reason to think you're a legalist in either sense.