Q2. Legalism vs. Gospel

[Barbara A. Lee]

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5) Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people? What fruit does it produce in a person's life? In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

It gives them a sense of moralistic righteousness. They think they are above everybody else.

The true gospel doesn't have to prove anything. It is right no matter what. And it lets us chose whether we want to believe it or not. The legalistic way always has to prove that they are right. And 9 times out of 10 they are wrong....

The true way is the way to the life by Jesus Christ.

[jamjar]

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5) Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people? What fruit does it produce in a person's life? In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

Legalism is a form of self-rightness like look at me look how great I am.Outwardly they may look perfect but inside they are corrupt. There is only one perfect man and that man is Jesus Christ.

The fruit that it produces is self-rightness.

The true gospel teaches that everything that we believe and trust in is our faith in Jesus Christ. That Jesus is the answer not our own self-rightness.

[Old Jerry]

The reason that the performance of legalistic requirements is so attractive to people is that you can turn off your brain and just follow the sayings of the leader. Another reason is that we can see that somebody is not doing the right thing according to the standard taught and we know that they are sinning.

I don

[Eagleswings01]

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5) Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people? What fruit does it produce in a person's life? In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

Performance of legalistic requirements is so attractive to people because it is declared by a leader of some sort and it is somewhat the doctrine of good works.

It produces self-righteousness,conceitedness,pride among others.

The True Gospel teaches that all our righteousness are like filthy rags,and it is our compass for everyday living.Everything we need to know is in the Word. If we need a word of encouragement, a word of comfort, how to deal with situations etc. it's all there in our manuals-The Bible.

[Kent]

It made some people think they were better than others.

[Gerbrand van Schalkwyk]

Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people?

It is easy to follow a bunch of rules, it is easy to know if you were right or wrong is the rules are clear. It also makes us proud when we are able to follow rules.

What fruit does it produce in a person's life?

Pride, boasting, judgement of others who dont follow

In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

We are not to be proud, judge others, make rules, be hard. We must love all, show love to all, help all, spread the Word of God

[Craig]

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5) Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people? What fruit does it produce in a person's life? In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

The attraction lies in the sense of self-righteousness people feel when performing legalistic requirements. Legalism doesn't produce righteous fruit in that it doen't change the heart or inner life/being of a person. Only the Spirit of God does that. Legalism requires compliance to a set of rules or mores. It is not motivated from the heart -- a changed heart in Christ. It is not motivated by love.

We are saved and made righteous through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross and rose again for the salvation of humanity. It is in Jeus Christ that we are made the children of God, not through a religious code. The indwelling presence of God, the Holy Spirit, works to transform the believer into a Christ-like human-being who lives out their faith in righteousness out of love not conformity to a set of rules. Love being the operative word. A selfless desire to please God is a motivating factor vice a self-righteous desire to elevate one's self.

[wifee]

2a) Doing things because of legalistic rules appeals to us because we feel we are being self-righteous,doing the right thing.

b)Outward performance of godliness,without inward submission to Christ produces false pride in self,sense of false superiority and a lack of fulfilment as inwardly always striving.

c) Legalism is about what people do to fulfil rules&seek to earn way to salvation,but is unfulfilling. The true gospel is about what God has done for us through Jesus his saving grace, &power, throughHS in us we are cleansed,freed from hold of legalism&in humility empowered to live to serve Him through our thoughts &actions each day.

[MarciaCali]

Because others can see you are following this "rule" and admire you.

[Jonathan Edwards]

We must be aware that there are seducing spirits that are counterfeits of the Holy Spirit, imitating the HOLY Spirit.  These seducing spirits cause people to doubt in the Holy Bible. Their mission is to **** souls and lead Christians astray.

Mere performance of religious activities is attractive because it doesn't demand strict adherence to one and final atonement of Christ Jesus.  Various groups such as strict Amish and Hutterites have added on the Romans Road to Salvation.   Seemingly religious activities are attractive but they create a presumptive attitude in the hearts and minds of sincere people.  The wonderful message of Romans 10: 8-10; John 3:16 is practically forgotten.  Also the outer working of the Holy Spirit in the character of the Christian is also forgotten in favor of do's and don'ts.  

Such attention on rules is detrimental to a personal relationship with God.  Perfectionism has noteworthy characteristics; however, we are called to primarily to enjoy the liberty we have in Christ.  We need Very much to heed to 1 Timothy 3:16; being obedient to the anointings of the Holy Spirit, we will want to live right and serve the Lord in holiness.  The important thing is focusing on what Christ has done for us, not on all the myriads of rules.

Our Mormon friends cannot drink caffeinated beverages, yet they have used funds to build Las Vegas and wineries ! Their focus has been on the Book of Mormon and other revelations.  Apostle Paul was aware of mystery religions that had similar requirements.   He wanted the Ephesians to be totally Christ centered; this way they could truly advance in holiness minus the spurious trappings of pagan religious practices formerly practiced by the Ephesians.

 

[Krissi]

Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people?  

1. The holier-than-thou syndrome is universal, grading spirituality/religiosity on a sliding scale according to the stringency of behavior. All religions seem to have this tendency which makes me think it's universal. Yes, Jews are notorious for weird rule-keeping, but it's prevalent in Hinduism as well, for example. 

2. It's far easier to adjust exterior behavior than correct or change the heart. Religions that have silly behavioral demands seem to avoid facing the far more important interior changes that God requires.

3. Legalism is in-grouping. It sets one group over-against another and therefore increases group solidarity. Group promoters and leaders, therefore, use legalistic behavior to keep the herd together and control it.

What fruit does it produce in a person's life? In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

1. The emphasis here is on the individual -- an individual may feel absolved from character flaws or individual sins if they keep the letter of the law. Thus, there's a false pride that accompanies rule-keeping which is contrary to the gospel message of transformation into Christ-likeness.

2. If the emphasis is on the group, then a group experiences extreme in-grouping which tends to demonize and dehumanize other religions or even cohorts within their own religion. The extreme result is wanton killing in war ... genocide. The true gospel is pacifistic. 

 

[Viv Kerwin]

Legalism allows one to feel self satisfied thinking that following a set of rules proves your worthiness. Following rules and putting down those who don’t makes a person feel superior. 
 

[Dr. Gracie L. Adderly]

Firstly, these people have an appearance of godliness; that's attractive. But their hearts are far from him. They had religion, but they did not have a legitimate relationship with God built upon truth (2 Timothy 3:16–17). This would also include those who overtly pick and choose when to obey God, and when to dismiss His message... hypocrites.

[Katy]

Q2. As human beings we want to be in control of our lives. It is difficult for us to surrender ourselves and accept God’s gift of Salvation. By performing good deeds we feel we are contributing in some way to make ourselves good enough to be acceptable to God. The Scriptures tell that our good deeds are like “filthy rags”. Sometimes if we don’t fully understand the Gospel, our good deeds can give us a feeling of self righteous and superiority. 
The true Gospel is about Jesus doing it all for us. We cannot add or subtract anything to what Jesus did for us. Only Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross was good enough to redeem us back from our sinful lives. If we attempt to do anything towards our Salvation by legal requirements , we do not grasp the Gospel and are like the Pharisees and are insulting to Jesus. 

[Nicolaas A.P. Mostert]

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5)

Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people?

It appeals to a sense of self-righteousness to them. All this is the outer look that seems to be upright. They were also operate under the Jews laws that indoctrinate their minds to be more pro for legalism. 

What fruit does it produce in a person's life?

Selfishness, ungodliness, self-centered,   

In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

It is very much confusing, like day (true doctrine) and night (false doctrine). They have cleanse to much on legalism to justify their action. 

[Diane D.]

Performance of legalistic requirements is always more attractive to people because:

a) they are within the control of the person.  Laws are written by people for people to be able to perform

b) there is no godly requirement.  You don't need to have faith, you don't need to work at a relationship with God, you become of higher status in the community by doing these things without regard for God's wishes for your life.

Because legalistic requirements are human based, they produce fruit of lesser value than Godly fruit (if it produces fruit at all!)

Legalistic practices are "me" based; what I can do for myself, how I change the perception people have of me etc. This is antithetical to the Bible and further, antithetical to eternal life and a life that is valued and cherished.

 

[Eldress Rowe]

The performance of legalistic requirement is so attractive to people because it appeals to their sense of self-righteousness. but scripture tells us that in the sight of God our righteousness is a filthy rags. 

It produces the fruit of deception in a person's life allowing them to live in debauchery and uncleanness, under a hypocritical pretense of of holiness, temperance, and keeping the body, and of mortification while indulging in all manner of sensuality.

The true Gospel makes us wise but legalistic requirements  have an appearance of wisdom when in actuality they create a self-imposed worship, false humility, and harsh treatment of the body.  Thus they cause harm and not good.

[Niyonka16]

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5) Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people?

ANSWER: Legalism seems attractive, since it appeals to a sense of self-righteousness, but it is unable to restrain the inner corrupt person. Only the Holy Spirit can create a truly godly person. Now Paul turns to the matter of true godliness. Legalism feeds our fleshly bent toward self-righteousness. The problem is that we can’t see it. What makes our own legalism hard to see is that on the surface we can be doing a lot of things right. Legalism preys on people who want to live for God with all their hearts. In other words, it plays into their zeal for God and their desire to be used of Him. The same error that plagued the Jews, and early church, is alive today; in all of our churches. Only grace through faith produces what is holy. The people gets attracted to legalism because:

• It is something they can do. Quick and easy.
• It is an image they can adopt and manage. It is a “look” they can quickly establish.
• It allows them to write more rules that protect from sin and make them even “better Christians.”
• It provides a checklist that helps them feel good about themselves when they check it off.
• It provides a checklist for them to measure how other people are doing.
• It brings clarity with new rules that show how to separate from others when they are “disobedient.”

What fruit does it produce in a person’s life?

ANSWER: Legalism IS NOT fruits. Legalism kills the Fruits of the Spirit. Legalism is a hideous beast! Legalism breeds a self-righteousness that promotes prideful comparison and smug judgemental-ism. Legalism has always been a major threat to genuine Christianity. Legalism has three aspects:

1. law,
2. 2) technique,
3. 3) trend.

What exactly is legalism? It’s an obsession with moral or religious laws and therefore legalists primarily judge others based on strict adherence to the rules they deem important, many of them being unbiblical. It could be said that legalism is the mentality that godliness is an outward job. As such, legalists focus on the outer at the expense of the inner. A person’s outward façade is more important than the inward reality. Simply put, legalism is religious hypocrisy. It’s putting on an act. It’s fake Christianity. The problem is the attitude of legalism, the mindset that faith is a mere garnishment when nothing could be further from the truth. Such an attitude is not only unbiblical, it’s corrupting, and it’ll slowly corrupt anyone who succumbs to it. Legalism takes on many forms, but each form grows from the same root: religion without relationship and rules above the Savior.

In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true?

ANSWER: The all-encompassing teaching of these false teachers, “lying hypocrites”, Paul talks about was legalism, dependence on personal moral behavior rather than on a relationship with Jesus. At its best, legalism is an act of pride, a person’s assumption that they can earn their salvation, or perhaps do some earthly good deed in order to keep it, rather than a true desire to honor God. At its worst, legalism is used in an attempt to gain superiority over others. Legalism can also be our way of trying to manipulate God, to make Him act in response to our good earthly deeds. We make sense of it in our minds, believing that if we sacrifice something for God, He owes us something or is indebted to us.

Furthermore, legal-ism emphasizes the letter of the law, rather than its spirit. It’s important for us to stick of to the truth, especially if falsities are going to be the vehicle by which the enemy would lead so many people astray. When we are unsure of where to go or what to do, we can turn to the one beside us who has all-encompassing wisdom and understanding. He will be faithful to show us which is the right path.

[Funmilayo]

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5) Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people? What fruit does it produce in a person's life? In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

*Performance of legalistic requirements is so attractive to people because it appeals to their senses of self righteousness.They feel so satisfied with their self righteousness.

*This only helps to aggravate the inner corruption of a person's life.

*The gospel's emphasis is on we becoming the righteousness of God in Christ through the new birth by the agency of the Holy Spirit working on our inside to transform us from the corrupt,depraved people that we were, into people conformed into the image of Christ. So, there's no self righteousness here. We have become the righteousness of God. The Spirit of God is the one working in us to produce fruits of the spirit that characterize us.

[Clelie]

People who practice outward sign of holy living are under self deception desiring approval of self performance of showing goody goody. All is in the promotion of the me. That person seeks reward for the self as Jesus talked about those who pray at the street corner to be seen of people . They are hypocrites

The gospel on the contrary teaches about dying to self,  crucifying the sinful self for the sake of eternal life in Christ Jesus.

[haar]

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5) Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people? What fruit does it produce in a person's life? In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

A2. Performance of legalistic requirements is usually attractive because it makes one to be proud of his performance. It satisfies one’s ego as it emphasizes righteousness by works instead of righteousness by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
 

[Jonathan Edwards]

Their spiritual development is malformed.   Instead of having a personal relationship with God, and meditating on the mystery of holiness; they focus on externals most of the time.  It could be the upholstery of the pews, the specific color of the sanctuary walls, or whether or not to support a Bible school.  A number of denominations are in endless debate over the use of musical instruments.  Same thing going on in the Kerala state in India.   One denomination is in uproar about Liturgical practices.   

Lack of evangelistic zeal !   Instead of preaching the mystery of holiness; sadly many churches get off the tracks.  They end up going Laodicean;. their first love for the Lord is practically gone.   No one is getting saved, no one is getting healed; the church assembly has become insipid.    It forgot the clarion call of 1 Peter 2:9. 

[crissy464]

Legalistic makes people feel there in control and self-righteous, and satisfaction. 
             The gospel wants us to follow God, we could do it from home or at church dressed in pj or a suit    
 

[t-c]

Q2. (1 Timothy 4:3-5) Why is performance of legalistic requirements so attractive to people? What fruit does it produce in a person's life? In what ways is this emphasis so different from the true gospel?

Because it is external and can be seen by everyone, giving the illusion that a person is something they’re not.
                
It seems to produce the fruit of pride; look at all I’ve done and how righteous I am to have followed all these rules.

As Jesus said, “It is finished.” The veil of the  temple leading to the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom. We now have access to God through a relationship with Jesus Christ and no longer through a priest. We know that we belong to God through circumcision of our hearts and no longer our flesh. Our faith is displayed by who we are, how we love God and our neighbors. It’s not about following endless rules with a heart that far away from God. It’s about Jesus, our Lord and Savior, who gave His life for the sins of the world and how we now desire to serve Him and not ourselves. It’s not about us looking good anymore, it’s about pointing others to God because He is  worthy of all the glory, honor and praise. It’s all about Him, not us.

[Zanele Tlhakanelo]

Legalism emphasises on self-righteousness in that people who believe in it are they know all and their belief is not in God but in what they can achieve as individuals. God is put aside and the only thing people who practice legalism care is self-fulfillment and hoarding that which is supposed also to be shared with the needy, poor, orphans and widows. Meaning, you care about yourself and everyone for himself.

It contradicts the fruits of the Spirit and as indicated above, putting your self above all other people and a sense of pride dominates in that whatever the person achieves, is out of his/her own making and God is not in the picture as the Giver of Life and the One who gives us the ability to acquire wealth and all that we have.

The true Gospel teaches us to care for those who are in need. To spread love and the Word says " Love your neigbor as you love yourself" as the first commandment that Jesus Christ teaches us. If you love others and show compassion, God will take care of your needs. We must have patience and emulate of Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at all times.