The False Gospel of Legalism

Jun 12

Explore Paul’s passionate defense of the pure Gospel in Galatians 2:1-10. Learn why adding to the Gospel diminishes its power, threatens our freedom, and distorts the truth. Understand the significance of Paul’s message against legalism and its relevance today.

Paul Accepted by the Apostles
1 Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. 3 But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. 4 Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— 5 to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. 6 And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. 7 On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised 8 (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), 9 and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 10 Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

Why You Don’t Want to Add to the Gospel

When Paul wrote this letter to the churches at Galatia, there was a group of false teachers called Judaizers who claimed that the Gospel wasn’t enough.

Many of these Galatian believers were new Christians, so the Judaizers would say, “So you have come to know Jesus Christ and have been reconciled to God through Jesus’ work on the cross? That’s great, but you need to do one more thing.” This could range from an Old Testament ceremonial law, such as circumcision, or some other facet of the law. Their message distorted the Gospel.

This wasn’t a new issue, though. In Acts, we read a description of the issue:

“But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’ But some believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees rose up and said, ‘It is necessary to circumcise them and to order them to keep the law of Moses.’” Acts 15:1, 5

Paul shared that it was a severe issue for any claims to be made that you need Jesus plus something else to be accepted by God. This ideology distorts the Gospel, so it’s not even the Gospel. It threatens a clear understanding of the Gospel, and Paul used strong language against it.

“I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the Gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain.” Galatians 2:2

At this point, Paul had ministered for 14 years. He received the Gospel directly from Jesus (Acts 9), so he’s confident that he clearly understood it. However, the Galatian churches aren’t so clear. The lack of clarity and its accompanying distortions are severe.

“Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus so that they might bring us into slavery—to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment so that the truth of the Gospel might be preserved for you.” Galatians 2:4-5 (emphasis added)

Paul declares that adding something to the Gospel strips us of our freedom and actually robs us of the Gospel truth. Let’s break that down further to establish what’s at stake.

Freedom

“…so that they might bring us into slavery.” This conveys that the Gospel is no longer free when you make it another Gospel. It’s no longer about what Jesus Christ did for us. Instead, it’s about what you must do to be right with God, which brings you into bondage. In other words, you have to find a way to justify yourself. You have to do an outward action to be made right with God. That’s not the Gospel.

Truth

The Gospel is simply true. You don’t get any more basic than that. Paul declared that if you got this part wrong, three things happen:

The church will divorce herself from the flow of God’s grace and power.
We’re going to lose our freedom and become slaves.
We’re going to exchange the truth for a lie.

If you say it’s 82 degrees outside, and I say it’s 91 degrees, we both can’t be right. That’s similar to what Paul is dealing with in this situation.

[READ MORE: There Is No Other Gospel]

Ranking Before God

To clarify this issue, Paul uses Titus, his brother in Christ and fellow servant, as an example.

“Then, after 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the Gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek.” Galatians 2:1-3

Titus was one of Paul’s coworkers, and he played a significant role in churches like Corinth. Paul later wrote to him and called him “my true child in a common faith (Titus 1:4).” They didn’t force Titus to be circumcised because they agreed with Paul that Jesus was enough.

However, Paul does something here that is a bit more subtle.

Peter was a disciple of Christ who spent three years with the Lord. Jesus called him a rock and anointed him to feed His sheep (John 21:15-17). Peter preached a sermon in which 3,000 people responded and were added to the church.

Then you have James and John, key leaders in the church. They also had spent a lot of time with Jesus. On the other hand, you have Paul, who met Jesus only once, had almost no contact with the Jerusalem church, and had opposed the church.

Here’s the question: Is there any ranking before God? Undoubtedly, Peter, James, and John had prestige and status. But look at what Paul says in verse 6:

“And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me.” Galatians 2:6

Paul reminds us that when we stand before God, nothing apart from Jesus matters. Our rank, status, reputation, and accomplishments don’t do anything for us. God shows no partiality. The only thing we have that impresses God is that we’re in Christ because we can’t add anything to what Jesus has already done. Nothing else matters. The Gospel is the only grounds of our acceptance with God.

Yet, we’re continually tempted to believe that we need Jesus plus something else to be accepted by God. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who pastored Westminster Chapel in London for many years, would often have people approach him with their problems. He was very good at getting to the heart of their problems.

Sometimes, he would ask them, “How do you know you’re a Christian?” They would often respond, “Well, I’m trying!” That would set off alarm bells in his head. What they’re saying is, “I think I’m a Christian because of Jesus, plus my efforts.” They’re trusting in something other than the finished work of Jesus Christ for their salvation. They’re making the same mistake we read about in Galatians.

When you study a text like Galatians, it’s logical to question the laws, commandments, and ethics reflected in the Sermon on the Mount and elsewhere. Do they not matter in our justification? No, that isn’t the case. The Apostle Paul was trying to explain that all those laws, commandments, and ethics won’t save you.

Based upon biblical revelation, those things only matter to you because you’ve come to know Christ, as they are the fruits of knowing Jesus. Will you be perfect? Nope. Will you stumble? Yep. But the Bible teaches that when a righteous person falls, they persevere (Proverbs 24:16) because Christ’s blood covers our sins.

The Apostle Paul taught the Galatians, and he’s also teaching us that only Jesus and His Gospel can save you. You already have a savior in Jesus who advocates for you. Laws can’t save you, and that mentality will lead you to becoming legalistic.

Legalism can be defined as the right behavior with the wrong belief. It’s the act of performing good things, such as ceremonies, laws, and ethics, with the hope that by performing these acts, you can be made right with God. All of us have a tendency to put our trust in the wrong thing, so we’re all recovering legalists.

The Church’s Call to Clarify the Gospel

We live in a troublesome hour in our nation’s history. We’ve seen rises in polarization, racism, economic disparity, crime, and so many more layers of brokenness in our culture. The Church needs to present a clear and compelling Gospel.

In their book, The Great Dechurching, Jim Davis and Michael Graham outline some staggering statistics.

“We are currently in the middle of the largest and fastest religious shift in the history of our country… About 15% of American adults living today (around 40 million people) have effectively stopped going to church, and most of this dechurching has happened in the past twenty-five years…For the first time in the eight decades that Gallup has tracked American religious membership, more adults in the United States do not attend church than attend church. This is not a gradual shift; it is a jolting one…From World War II all the way to the mid-1990s, church membership among adults was nearly always above 70%. The precipitous decline occurred across all religious traditions and…began to pick up steam in the mid-1990s. Membership has dropped by roughly a third across all religious traditions over the last 25 years.”

That should get our attention.

The American Bible Society surveyed adults in 2021 and learned that only 11% of Americans say they read the Bible nearly every day. According to a Lifeway survey in 2020, more than half of American church-going Protestants struggle to understand what God has revealed to people through the Scriptures.

That may sound alarming, but let me tell you why I’m not alarmed by it. I don’t have a high bar for the culture in general because it hasn’t come to know Christ. I don’t look at our culture and question why they aren’t reading the Bible. That’s not the standard for a lost humanity. I won’t set that bar for people who aren’t in a relationship with Christ.

However, here’s what is alarming: The latest “State of Theology” survey by Ligonier and Lifeway (2022) showed that most evangelicals (defined by their beliefs about Jesus and the Bible, not the culture wars or politics) hold faulty beliefs about fairly basic doctrines:

73% agree with the claim that Jesus is the “first and greatest being created by God.”
55% believe the Holy Spirit is a force but not a personal being.
44% say Jesus was a great teacher, but He was not God.
56% agree that worshiping alone or with one’s family is a valid replacement for regularly attending worship with one’s church family.

In the last few years, we’ve seen some incredible things God is doing nationwide at college campuses. We’ve seen God moving on college campuses such as Asbury University, Auburn University, Texas El Paso, and others, where we’ve witnessed college students come to faith in Christ. That movement has continued, and there are fresh reports that include:

Florida State: 300 are baptized in a fountain on campus (February 2024).
University of Alabama: 5,500 students gather at Coleman Coliseum. Hundreds gathered as 250 students were baptized (March 2024).
University of Georgia: Students were baptized in the back of pickup trucks (April 2024). One student said, “I feel like a million bucks. It’s freezing outside, but I couldn’t feel any better.”
University of Tennessee: Thousands gather in Thompson-Boling Arena, and 120 are baptized (May 2024).

While you can go online to hear countless examples of ideologies that reject the Gospel, what’s clear is that these students are hearing a clear and compelling Gospel. While these young people find Jesus outside of the typical patterns of the local church, emerging generations aren’t turned off to Jesus and His Gospel. As the local church, we need to be sensitive to the statistical data around us. We should recognize the relevancy of what happened in Galatia and realize that it could be happening among us.

[READ MORE: Reclaiming the Gospel for Our Youth]

Get Off the Treadmill of Performance

Have you ever thought, “I’m not designed for this world?” C.S. Lewis responded that it’s ultimately because “You were designed for another world.”

That’s what the love of God opens for you through the Gospel. You’re birthed into being an eternal being through the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It’s time to come off the treadmill of performance or Gospel additives and to receive the Gospel of Christ.

God, encapsulated in the flesh, went to a cross, shed His blood, and did the atoning work for every mistake and misstep we’ll ever make. All who trust in Him through faith and what He did through His death and resurrection will find reconciliation with God. The work’s already been done for you; That’s the Gospel of Jesus. Move to Him in faith and belief for His glory.

There are no magical words to accept His offer. If we call upon the Lord, He will answer. Scripture clearly says it’s not God’s will for anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:8-10). If you feel the pull to move toward His offer, call upon the Lord with your heart and put your faith in what He did on the cross. Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart; you’re God’s chosen child. Ask Him to lead, form, and develop your heart as a conduit of love through His Gospel. He is worthy of your surrender.

TL;DR

False Teachers: Judaizers claimed believers needed Jesus plus Old Testament laws for salvation, distorting the Gospel.
Paul’s Stand: Paul received the Gospel directly from Jesus and opposed any additions to it.
Key Points:
1. Freedom: Adding to the Gospel leads to bondage.
2. Truth: The pure Gospel is true; adding to it leads to lies and loss of God’s grace.
No Ranking Before God: Paul emphasized that status and accomplishments don’t matter before God; only being in Christ does.
Current Relevance: The church must present a clear Gospel amidst rising polarization and declining church membership.
Revival: Recent campus revivals show young people are receptive to a clear Gospel.
Call to Action: Embrace the pure Gospel, reject legalism, and find freedom and truth in Christ alone.