Jesus tackles legalism

 

In my introduction to this series I pointed out that the word legalism never appears in the Bible, which creates a problem: How do we define this danger when the Bible doesn't speak of it? Furthermore, how can I now say Jesus tackles legalism if the word never appears in the Bible? Have I painted myself into a corner?

Nope! I defined legalism as: the belief that one can be right with God by following any set of rules or laws, usually extra-biblical and man-made, with the emphasis on the external or outward (doing the right thing the right way). This being the case, my friend was on the right track when he wrote, “I think that Jesus deals head on with this in Matthew 5-7 when he is talking about the Kingdom kind of Righteousness, which he pitted against the Pharisaical kind of external, showy righteousness.”

Much of the Lord's teaching touches on this. He may not use the word legalism, but he does speak about tradition and hypocrisy, which seem to go hand in hand with legalism. So let’s take a look.

Matthew 5:17-20 Grace and Righteousness
17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.
18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach [them], the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

First, Jesus tells us that the saving grace of the gospel is not opposed to or contrary to righteousness. Grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, and He said our righteousness should exceed that of the Pharisees. What does that even mean? Read on.

Matthew 5:21-26 Murder

21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Thou shalt not kill or murder is not a manmade tradition, it is the 6th commandment, and the prohibition actually predates the Law. But, as in all of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains that there is more to this law than the act of murder.

22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.
He goes to the root of murder: the heart; that is, being angry with your brother, as expressed by calling him Raca (a vain, empty, worthless fellow, shallow brains, a term of great contempt) or thou fool (a rebel against God, apostate from all good). You may not ever kill someone, but such an attitude of the heart toward another person puts you in danger of judgment and hell fire! There’s more!

23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;
24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.
Jesus is rather radical here! It's not just "Don't kill your brother" or even "Don't be angry with your brother", He encourages us to be concerned about reconciliation with your brother!! Legalism may correctly say, “I may hate his guts, but I never touched him”, to which Jesus says, “Nope, doesn’t work.”

Matthew 5:27-30 Adultery
27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:
Once again, this is an actual commandment, the 7th. There is a notion popular today that Jesus and the gospel free us from the righteousness of the Law. Is this true? Is He declaring that the prohibition against adultery is passé? out of date?

28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.
Nope! He again raises the bar and goes to the heart – looking on a woman and lusting for her is adultery! Legalism, mere outward conformity to the commandment, might say, “I may have ogled her, I may have fantasized being with her, but I never touched her. I’m OK” and to this Jesus says, “You committed adultery.” You see how the righteousness required by Jesus is higher and deeper than mere outward conformity to the Law?

In v 29 & 30 He goes even further, And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out. When the Lord says to pluck out your eye / cut off your hand, He is not being literal - it's hyperbole. He is speaking of taking drastic action to avoid sin. And to this some people cry, “That’s legalism!” No, it’s not; unless you are doing all this in an attempt to get right with God; otherwise, it’s called following Jesus.

Matthew 5:31-32 Divorce & Remarriage
31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:
32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Once more Jesus is quoting Moses (Deuteronomy 24:1-4). The problem in Israel was they were a divorce happy culture, which comes out in Matthew 19:3-8, where we see the Pharisees ask Jesus, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause (that is, for any passing whim)?

He answers, What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Oh now they’ve got him! Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? They’re on solid ground, scriptural ground – the Bible actually says this.

He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.

We have to be careful to understand the whole counsel of God. They had Scripture, wherein lieth their hypocrisy and legalism? They were using Scripture for their own selfish purposes, to fulfil the lusts of the flesh: “That woman is much prettier than my wife. I want her.” Jesus says, divorcing your wife and marrying another is adultery. I’m afraid there are a lot of people nowadays who would accuse the Lord Himself of legalism!

In reality, Jesus adds a new dimension to legalism – using the Scriptures for your own purposes. But He still encourages and expects us to obey the Scriptures, to fulfill the righteousness of the Law, to have a righteousness exceeding that of the Pharisees.

Matthew 5:33-42 Swearing and oaths
33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Once again, the Lord is referring to the Old Testament. The Jewish leaders clearly had their problems, but being ignorant of their scriptures was not one of them.

Leviticus 19:12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5 4 When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

There are three distinct yet related activities in view here: vowing, swearing, oath taking.

A vow was a solemn promise you made to God, to give something to Him, or to do something for Him.

Swearing in the Bible does not refer to profanity or the use of bad words. To swear was to appeal to God to verify that what you said was true. There are two formulas provided for us in the Old Testament: “As the LORD liveth” and “May He do so to me and more.” It may surprise you to learn that God swears in the Old Testament, “As surely as I live” is His formula.

5:34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:
5:35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.
5:36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
They were swearing or appealing to something greater and holier than them to verify they were telling the truth. The Lord says, Swear not all. Instead

5:37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.
The Jewish people of His day felt they could promise something, but if they didn’t swear to it, they weren’t obligated to perform it. To this the Lord said, Be a person of your word.

What we’re seeing is that legalism is not a matter of being concerned with and actively attempting to be righteous, it is rather only being concerned with mere outward conformity, and of course trusting in this for salvation. We’ve also seen a new layer of legalism, Seeking to use or twist the Scriptures to enable you to satisfy your own passions.

Grace and righteousness (righteous living) are not enemies. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation men hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world, looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ.

We only just begun. The Sermon on the Mount is found in Matthew 5-7, and we're not even through with chapter 5! In my next post we will continue working through this teaching of Jesus.

NEXT: Jesus tackles legalism, part 2