When I was a kid, swimming on Sunday was forbidden. My elders counted Sabbath bathing as sinful, no matter that we attended church Sunday morning and again Sunday night. And I’m not really sure what the older generation’s purpose was for that rule, because there were no limitations or restrictions on other outdoor play, like baseball or football. We could run around the yard and sweat all afternoon long, as long as we didn’t swim!

As I aged, I realized how inconsistent that rule was, and also that such a rule was an example of legalism. Our readings in the Gospels remind us that legalism was the religious order of Jesus’ day. In fact, we see plainly that Jesus’ religious contemporaries used legalism with corrupt intent to send him to the Cross.

If legalism contributed to the Cross, we must wonder why Christians of every era since have struggled with its allure. Regrettably, legalism appeals to human nature because of its convenience. The problem is that rules are the same as the imperfect law that failed the Old Testament Jews. We see that man’s condition in the Old Testament did not improve by trying to follow the law! First of all, no one was good enough to follow all of the rules all of the time; and second, a man could follow rules religiously and still lose his soul.

So we begin by recognizing that legalism is a dangerous impulse that we must resist, because obeying rules serves only pride. If I can follow all the rules, I can say, “Look what I’ve done!” So we must recognize that legalistic conduct produces not righteousness, but sin. I like C. S. Lewis’ warning against legalism in his bookMere Christianity:"One of the marks of a certain type of bad man is that he cannot give up anything himself without wanting every one else to give it up. That is not the Christian way.”

What is the Christian way? Here’s Paul, writing in Ephesians 2: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” The Christian way depends on God. It glorifies God. To that end were we created!