The lawyers violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the law. It has been rightly said that all human beings are “essentially legalistic by nature”. This is not surprising when we consider that sin has so clouded man`s understanding and blinded his judgment, that it calls darkness light, freedom from slavery, and good evil. Being completely under the rule of the devil – the fallen man is swollen with pride. Instead of humble himself under God`s mighty hand and confessing his ruined condition, he is lifted up with joy and foolishly imagines that he can not only do what God accepts—but can actually make God his debtor, so that justice compels him to reward him for his outstanding achievements. For although the natural man is not so poor in moral mind and conscience that he is not aware that he fails, at least in some respects, in the performance of his duties—yet he is so deceived by his evil heart that he concludes that his good deeds far outweigh his bad ones—and therefore he is entitled to benevolent consideration. What motivated you to seek the spirit of the law? Please let us know where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible). Even where Christians are saved from legality as terrible as the Galatians, this “root of legality” constantly produces its rotten and venomous fruits, although they are largely unaware of it, so subtle and secretive are their activities. Whenever we are satisfied with ourselves and our services, a legal spirit is at work within us. Whenever we are less aware of our deep need for Christ, pride to this extent means possessing our hearts.
Whenever we feel that God is serious about us in His providence, and we ask, “What have I done to call for such a punishment?” Whenever we have hard feelings against God because He doesn`t answer our prayers as quickly or as completely as we think He should, we owe that sin. We should be surprised that He never condescends to hear us! Whenever we are hurt because our fellow Christians insult us and do not give us the respect to which we are entitled, it is a sure proof that we think more about ourselves than we should think. “Your boasting (in any form) is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven causes the whole mass to rise” (1 Corinthians 5:6). A little “legality” or self-righteousness will pollute the whole soul and grieve the Spirit of God. The letter of the law against the spirit of the law is an idiomatic antithesis. Obeying the letter of the law but not the spirit obeys the literal interpretation of the words (the “letter”) of the law, but not necessarily the intention of those who wrote the law. Conversely, if one obeys the spirit of the law but not the letter, one does what the authors of the law intended, although one does not necessarily adhere to the literal formulation.
Even Christians themselves still have the root of legality within them and are more or less infected by a self-righteous spirit for the rest of their days. Although a divine work of grace has been done in them, allowing them to see, feel, and know that they are corrupt, polluted, and abominable creatures—leading them to close themselves off to Christ as presented to them in the Gospel and to throw themselves upon Him as their only hope, their Deliverer, their all-sufficient Savior—pride still works in them. and in doing so, they are willing to pay attention to some of Satan`s lies and imagine that they are now something more within themselves, something better than the sinners of hell. The more effective the gospel is in those who believe, the more they are inwardly and outwardly conformed to the image of Christ. And the Lord Jesus said, “I rejoice in doing your will, O my God; Yes, Your law is in My Heart! (Psalm 40:8). This, too, is the experience and gratitude of all those who have been saved by Him. The apostle said, “I rejoice in the law of God according to the inner man” (Romans 7:22), which was the expression of an essential element in a “spirit of the gospel.” Where the heart beats faithfully to the gospel, the owner is not only freed from legality or complacency, but is also protected from spiritual anarchy. Although no sinner is or can be saved by his own deeds, far from the fact that the gospel and salvation by grace are the enemy of good works, he inculcates them in them: “For we are his work, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has previously appointed us to walk in them” (Eph 2, 10 et cf. Titus 2:14). A spirit of the gospel is found where the heart beats according to the nature and substance of the gospel.
The gospel does nothing of man, and of everything of Christ. The Gospel comes to us on the assumption – or rather the fully proven fact – that we are lost creatures – desperate, helpless, irretrievably lost in ourselves. It comes to us as those who are justly condemned by God`s holy law, as those who are still under the divine curse, as those who rush headlong into eternal destruction! The gospel speaks of God`s incredible care for corrupt and abominable sinners. He announces to those who are his inveterate enemies the supreme riches of grace. He proclaims complete and perfect redemption for all who are willing to accept it. Not only does He publish complete forgiveness and deliverance from hell, but He promises eternal life and glory to all who believe in His good news; And she offers these priceless blessings freely, “without money and without price.” Again, we are using a term that does not appear in so many letters and syllables in the pages of Scripture. Although its sound is not heard, it is certainly its meaning and substance – and it is a sound that we can hardly avoid if we want to express ourselves with precision and intelligence. While all human beings are essentially “legalistic” by nature, no one but those for whom the gospel of Christ was made God`s power for salvation possesses a truly “evangelical” spirit.
The concepts are opposites, as are darkness and light, servitude and freedom. In the Gospels, Jesus is often portrayed as critical of the Pharisees. He resembled the Essenes more than the other Jewish groups of the time (Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots); However, the Pharisees, like Jesus, believed in the resurrection of the dead and divine judgment. They advocated prayer, almsgiving, and fasting as spiritual practices. The Pharisees were those who tried to be faithful to the law given to them by God. Not all Pharisees or Jews of that time were legalists. Although modern language has used the word Pharisee pejoratively to describe someone who is legalistic and rigid, it is not an accurate description of all Pharisees. The dispute over the “spirit of the law” versus the “letter of the law” was also part of the first Jewish dialogue.
[1] Here is “legality” in its most naked form, stripped of all disguise. It consists of a spirit of independence, self-sufficiency, self-righteousness. He refuses to acknowledge that man is a fallen, corrupt, lost, “powerless” sinner, without a spark of spiritual life. He refuses to acknowledge that man is completely incapable of recovering, of improving, of doing anything that can find the approval of a holy and sin-hating God. Even those who have sat under sound preaching, who have intelligent knowledge of these solemn truths, who pretend to believe them, but as long as they remain in their unrenewed state, they have not the slightest spiritual concern on their part, and their hearts do not agree with their truth. Although they read in God`s Word, “By the acts of the law, no flesh shall be justified in his sight” (Romans 3:20), they do not believe it, but continue in their vain attempts to keep the law in order to be justified by God. A spirit of legality binds them to their hands and feet – as if they were chained with steel.