We continue on in our series of messages through the New Testament book of Titus. It’s written by the apostle Paul to his protégé whose name is (anyone?). Paul has left Titus on the isle of Crete for a reason. Titus 1:5a – The reason I left you in Crete was that you might put in order what was left unfinished.
Take your Bibles and turn to Titus 1:10-16. One of the issues facing the churches on Crete was false teaching. This false teaching was hindering the work of the true gospel of Jesus Christ and was wreaking havoc with the spiritual lives of those affected by it. This false teaching was steeped in legalism. We should “Guard Against Legalism.”
Laws, regulations, and rules are good things. They define important parameters for behavior within a society. However, some laws seem to be a bit overdone. Almost every state in our nation still has laws on their books that would surprise most people.
For instance, in Florida, a woman may be fined for falling asleep under a hair dryer. In Nicholas County, West Virginia, no member of the clergy is allowed to tell jokes or humorous stories from the pulpit. (I ought to be safe if ever asked to preach a revival there. My wife often tells me, “You’re not funny.”) In Indiana, citizens are not allowed to attend a movie house or ride in a public streetcar within four hours after eating garlic. That seems like a good law. Closer to home, in Eureka, IL, it’s illegal to make a face at a dog. The city of Moline banned ice-skating at Riverside Pond during the months of June and August.
We may laugh, or even groan, at these laws, because many of them seem absurd and ridiculous. But, if we were to list all the rules, expectations, and laws that are on the books in many churches today, chances are we’d stop laughing pretty quickly. Most of these religious regulations are not written down anywhere, but many of us either attempt to keep them, or expect others to do so.
Titus 1:10-16 – For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are
corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
The Problem of Legalism
Legalism happens when people impose human traditions or opinions on themselves or others. The foundation of legalism is human achievement. Instead of relying on God’s grace, legalism seeks ways to earn God’s favor.
We have trouble sometimes understanding that Christianity isn’t a religion. Christianity is a relationship with Jesus Christ. A religion is an attempt to reach God by obeying a certain system of moral values. Christianity is accepting God’s forgiveness for our sins and relying on His grace. Christianity is the worship of Jesus Christ. Ignoring what the Bible teaches, the legalists still believe that we receive God’s favor if we obey a set of rules.
Jesus encountered both the liberals and the legalists. The Sadducees were the liberals. They doubted much of the Old Testament. They did not believe in life after death or many of the miracles.
The Pharisees were the legalists. They were demanding, insensitive, selfish people. Jesus hardly had a good word to say about the Pharisees. Jesus called them “blind leaders of the blind,” “vipers,” and “hypocrites.” The Pharisees were a group of legalists determined to reduce religion down to a list of do’s and don’ts.
Where the Sadducees doubted the validity of much of the Old Testament, the Pharisees didn’t believe that the Old Testament went far enough. They had to elaborate and give details as to what the Old Testament really meant.
For example, the Old Testament said that they were to remember the Sabbath day, keep it holy, and do not do any work on that day. But that wasn’t enough for the Pharisees. They had to narrow it down to the details about what was work and what wasn’t considered work.
If a hen laid an egg on the Sabbath, it was not right to eat that egg because the hen was working on the Sabbath. If a man had a sore throat on the Sabbath, he couldn’t take any medicine because he would be practicing medicine.
You couldn’t walk more than 7/10 of a mile on the Sabbath, or that would be working. If you got off your donkey at dusk on the Sabbath, you couldn’t take the saddle off because that would be working.
In this day and age, they would tell you that if you got a flat tire on the Sabbath, you would not be allowed to change your tire until sundown because that would be considered work. And we already said you can’t walk more than 7/10 of a mile for help…so…good luck! You see the point.
One group of Pharisees actually had a debate over what to do if they had forgotten to say grace for a meal. Once they remembered, should they stop where they were and say a retroactive grace, or did they have to go back to the very spot where they ate and say grace there?
The Pharisees could not stand Jesus because He was free. Jesus didn’t follow their man-made laws. That’s why the Pharisees were always critical of Jesus. They asked, “Why aren’t you fasting the way we fast?” They criticized, “Your disciples have too much joy.” “Why are you healing on the Sabbath?” “Why are you eating with sinners and tax collectors?”
Jesus’ response, “You tie up heavy loads and put them on men’s shoulders.”
Legalists are almost always critical. If you don’t keep their rules, they can be vicious. It’s not enough that their lives are insensitive, arrogant, and joyless; they want these same standards for everybody else.
In his letter to Titus, Paul refers to a group of legalists as “the circumcision.” They are also known as Judaizers. They insisted that a person must follow the Jewish law before they could become a Christian. If a man was a Gentile, he had to get circumcised before he could become a Christian. They also insisted that you had to continue to observe the Jewish law in order to maintain your Christianity.
Here’s the problem. According to scripture, it is not Jesus plus something else that saves us. It is Jesus only that saves us.
We still see the problem of legalism today. Some churches can get very legalistic. One church established a policy several years ago that all of the men in the church had to keep their hair short because the Bible says that a man should not wear their hair long. So they described what was short: “Any man whose hair goes beyond his collar will not be welcomed within ten feet of the communion table.”
It is incredible how legalism can infiltrate a church and cause us to establish rules. There are all kinds of rules. Every service must end with an invitation. No tapes or cds can be sold in the foyer. No drums can be used on Sunday mornings. People must be baptized on Sunday morning at the end of the worship service. No musical instruments will be used in worship. I’m not suggesting that churches should not have any policies, but churches should be careful that the policies they do have never become equal with what Scripture says.
It isn’t just churches that have problems with legalism, some families or individuals struggle as well. I have met people who establish all kinds of extra rules for themselves and for others: Don’t go to the movies. Don’t dance. Don’t play cards. Don’t belong to clubs.
My friend Wade Allen tells about a student at what is now Cincinnati Christian University who was so legalistic, he thought it was wrong to drink a cup of coffee because it had caffeine in it. He came from a very conservative background. He was one of those guys who would not call a card table a card table. It was a folding table or a game table. He didn’t want anyone to think he played cards or gambled.
But somebody pointed out to him that the Coca-Cola he liked to drink had caffeine in it just like the cup of coffee did. That devastated him! He nearly drove himself crazy by being afraid he would do something wrong.
Two things happened that mellowed him out. One, he got married. He learned that humans are not perfect, and that he wasn’t perfect. The second thing is, he began to preach and love people. Slowly, his concern for people mellowed his attitude.
There isn’t much joy in the life of a legalist. There’s not much authenticity either. If you believe that you have to earn God’s approval by keeping rules, you are always going to be frustrated. If you think your spirituality is determined by how well you keep the rules, then there will be a constant temptation for you to cover up who you really are.
Before I move on, I want to clarify something that’s extremely important. Having an opinion or personal conviction is not the same as being legalistic. Let me illustrate.
Every year, people in our nation celebrate a certain holiday where they get dressed up in costumes and go door-to-door asking for candy. Of course, I’m talking about Halloween.
I know some very fine Christian people who have personal convictions concerning participation in Halloween activities. And while there’s nothing specifically mentioned in Scripture about it, it’s not hard to see how they’ve come to those conclusions. If you are one of those people, your own personal conviction about Halloween is not legalism.
Now, if you were to say to someone else, “You mean you’re going to let your kids go trick-or-treating? Funny, I would have expected more out of you.” Or suppose I were to stand here as a preacher and say, “I really question the faith of someone who chooses to participate in the “Devil’s holiday,” that would be legalistic. It’s not legalistic for you or me to have a personal conviction; however, when you begin to go beyond the words of Scripture and hold others to an arbitrary standard you’ve created for yourself, that’s when legalism starts to show its ugly head.
The Cause of Legalism
What causes someone to be legalistic? What would cause some people to teach these things? Paul gives a couple reasons why people are motivated to try and earn their salvation. One is selfishness. He wrote in verse 11: They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain.
Dishonest gain is powerful. I can think of some preachers who will take a dogmatic stand on certain issues because they know a certain segment of people will support them financially because “they’re telling it like it is.”
Another reason is a ruined conscience. Verse 15: To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted.
Your conscience can be programmed with all kinds of legalistic ideas about what is the right kind of worship, proper entertainment, when you should laugh, and how you should spend your money. We must be on our guard to make sure that legalism is not creeping into our lives.
The root problem is a misapplied interpretation of scripture. Here at Central Park, we believe the Bible is God’s Word. We believe that we are to properly handle and interpret the Truth.
Here’s something very important to remember. Most of the time, the Bible is the best interpreter of itself. If you have an interpretation of one verse that contradicts another verse then that is a warning sign that you have the wrong interpretation. Salvation by works clearly contradicts the biblical teaching that we are saved by grace through faith. Self-righteousness clearly contradicts the biblical teaching that Jesus is our standard for righteousness.
The sad truth is that legalism is often disguised as spirituality, obedience or maturity. It is not wrong to have personal standards and convictions in your life, it is wrong to judge another Christian’s spirituality or maturity by your convictions.
S. Lewis Johnson: “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.”
We also need to be careful that we don’t label everyone who doesn’t agree with us. Have you ever noticed how we label people? Someone driving faster than you is a maniac. Everyone driving slower than you is an idiot. Only your speed is right!
We do the same thing in church. We label people and that’s wrong. A good rule to remember is: “In doctrine unity, in matters of opinion liberty, but in all things love.”
The Characteristics of Legalism
People who are legalists are a danger to the church and the message of Christ. Paul describes them in some very unflattering terms. Verse 10: For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception.
He called them “rebellious.” They were rebelling against the very concept of grace, which is the heart of the Gospel.
Paul called them “mere talkers.” So often you’ll find that legalists talk a good game, but they don’t back up their lifestyle. Who remembers the television evangelist who was always crusading against pornography and immorality and then later it was found out that this preacher was meeting prostitutes in a motel.
Watch out for crusaders; the ones who are always on their hobby horse. Often the sin they are obsessed with is the one they are indulging in. If some people always see evil in everything, it tells you where their hearts and minds really are.
Paul says they are also deceivers. On the surface they appear spiritual, and their rules seem to lead to a life of purity, but actually just the opposite occurs. Jesus said about the Pharisees in Mark 7:6-7 – “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’”
Rules don’t restrain disobedience, they stimulate it. Have you ever gone by a bench that says, “Wet paint. Don’t touch”? What do you want to do then? You wonder if it’s really wet. Most of the time, you would never think of touching the bench, but now that you’ve seen the sign, you’ve just got to know! Rules don’t restrain us, they stimulate us.
Col. 2:20-23 – Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules: 21 “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22 These rules, which have to do with things that are all destined to perish with use, are based on merely human commands and teachings. 23 Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence.
One year at church camp, a legalistic dean started the week out with a whole set of rules for the campers to follow. One of them was, “No girl could wear shorts more than 6 inches above the knee.” Do you know what the campers talked about all week? How long were the shorts on the girls! It was horrible! The girls wouldn’t focus on anything except how long their shorts were. Boys were volunteering to measure them. It was a bad week.
Another dean had more wisdom. He announced, “We want everyone to dress modestly. If you wear something that is inappropriate, I’ll tell you.” And he did on a couple occasions, privately. But the young people didn’t think about it as much and they focused more on the essentials.
Legalism is deceptive. It looks good. It seems like all of the rules are going to keep us in line and make things go well. But rules do not restrain evil.
Legalism is also divisive. Verse 11: They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach.
Maybe some of you have tension in your homes because of legalism. Your family is upset that you are worshipping in a church that is a different denomination from what you grew up in. How do we deal with this issue of legalism within the church?
The Cure for Legalism
Paul was emphatic that legalism must be confronted quickly. Paul says, “The legalists must be silenced.”
Now, because we’re all nice people, we’ll read that phrase, “they must be silenced” and think that it’s someone’s job to go, “Shhhh. Please be quiet because what you’re saying isn’t what the rest of us agree with. So just politely keep it to yourself, and everyone will be happy.”
Actually the word used here for the phrase “they must be silenced” could also be translated, “they must be gagged” or “they must be muzzled.” That puts a whole new perspective on it, doesn’t it? Muzzled…or gagged…not exactly what we’d like our first-time visitors to see, is it?
When Paul is talking about dealing with legalism, he’s using some strong language because he has seen firsthand how it was destroying the advancement of the kingdom of Christ. He says that this false legalistic teaching is ruining entire households. \
The legalists I’ve known in my life, because of their desire for everyone to live up to their non-Biblical and unattainable standards, have been people who couldn’t live in harmony in their home, in their church, and in their workplace…because no one measures up! So, they’re bitter all the time.
Paul is saying: Don’t be naïve and assume that it will go away on its own, or that it is just a minor threat and we can live with it. Be perceptive enough to realize that legalism threatens the unity of your family and your church. When you see anything that focuses on following rules rather than God, confront it!
Now in confronting, remember, the goal is not to prove that I’m right and you are wrong. The goal is to restore. The goal is to protect. Verses 13-14 – Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth.
I think legalism is dealt with best when, number one, we focus on the freedom we have in Christ. Gal. 5:1 – It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Rom. 8:1-4 – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
And second, we remember that we’re saved by grace and not works. Eph. 2:8-9 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
No one can earn salvation. No one can earn relationship with God. Rom. 3:23-24 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
If you find legalism creeping into your life, do two things. First, work on having a proper balance of attitude. On the one hand, stand firm for the truth of the Bible. On the other hand, be flexible in matters of opinion.
The second thing is this, be sure you have a proper concept of God. How do you see God? Do you see Him as some mean guy, sitting on His throne in heaven, watching you with a lightning bolt in His hand just waiting for the moment you mess up? Or do you see Him as a loving Father, anxious to welcome home His kid.
Close
Louis Hines wrote an essay about the first time he found out what his dad was really like. As a little boy he admired and respected his father, but he was also afraid of him. One Sunday, he was sitting in church right beside his dad and he couldn’t stay awake. He started to nod off.
Out of the corner of his eye, Louis saw that his dad’s arm raise and he thought his dad was going to smack him or shake him. But his dad reached out and put his arm around Louis and pulled him in close to him. Louis looked up and smiled. His dad winked at him. Louis just nestled into his dad’s arms and went to sleep.
If you view God as an angry tyrant ready to strike you down every time you fail, your life is going to be full of fear. But Jesus gave us a picture of God that is different. Jesus said God is like a Father who welcomes home a child who has wandered off.
1 Jn. 4:18 – There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. Allow God to put His loving arm around you and forgive you and comfort you.
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And that offer is made to each and every one of us. We are not saved by anything we can do. We are saved by God’s grace. And through His grace, God offers us freedom from guilt, and sin, and death, and the law.
