LEGALISM-REMEDY

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Legalists assume that one can obey God's commandments without salvation and/or in his own strength. Both ideas are false. Prayerful action...in the power of the Spirit is required for change to be biblical; all change that pleases God is the fruit of the Spirit.

Jay E. Adams

Preaching With Purpose, Zondervan, 1982, p. 147.

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Puritanism is a wonderful antidote to the harmful and needless divisions which are caused by adding man-made rules to Scripture. Worldliness is an enemy. The cure is in the heart. A man can keep many rules, but be worldly still and at the same time possess a deadly spirit of Pharisaic self-righteousness. Puritanism concentrates on the great issue of the state of a person's soul. When a soul is truly joined to Christ every part of the person – his thoughts, words and actions – will be subject to the Word of God. While he makes rules for his own life, he will avoid making them for others.

Erroll Hulse

Who Are the Puritans? Evangelical Press, p. 17-18.

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Here is a simple test to check whether you are prone to a legalistic thinking: ask yourself, “How does God feel about me today?” If the answer is anything other than, “He is passionately in love with me,” then you are falling into the trap of thinking that God’s attitude towards us is determined by our performance rather than by his essential loving character. In other words, you're thinking as though God's favour is earned rather than freely given.

Mike Taylor

From Legalism to Grace, 2001.

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