Title: Danger! Legalism: The Whole Christ with Sinclair Ferguson
The following narrative from Ligonier’s YouTube site, briefly summarizes the teaching video:
Legalism is a problem as old as the garden of Eden. After God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the serpent planted doubt in Eve’s mind, resulting in her adding to God’s instruction and twisting His intentions.
In this message, Sinclair Ferguson defines legalism and the underlying dangers that accompany a failure to see how God’s law is closely connected to His character.
This message is from Dr. Ferguson’s 12-part teaching series The Whole Christ. Learn more: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series…
The following points are highlights I noted as I listened to the Ferguson’s video. I summarized some of his points in my own words.
Ferguson’s message will help you to examine your own walk of faith for evidence of antinomianism, legalism, and love of God.
He made it clear that right repentance and obedience are FRUIT of loving God; and his examples should enable you to understand your errors regarding repentance and obedience.
Therefore, this material is extremely foundational to your Christian walk. I’ve been a Christian 17 years and gained much from hearing his teaching.
HIGHLIGHT POINTS:
*Legalism can be very subtle, such that it is difficult for you to see in your own efforts to repent and obey Christ
*Many professed Christians err in that they believe they do not have to do anything but believe the gospel message [antinomianism is defined below]
*Many oppose the free grace of the gospel message because they believe that believers will naturally make no effort to obey Christ and His commands, the Roman Catholic church is possibly the largest opposing force today, to the free grace that the apostle Paul taught
*Ferguson mentioned in passing that correct repentance and obedience are fruit of loving Christ
*He made a general statement about ‘definitions’ as he discussed the problems at formulating them
*He gave an overview of his lesson by asking the following questions: How would you define legalism? How does it appear in relation to the gospel? How does legalism creep back into the lives of Christians? We will briefly define legalism and then test our definition by using it to analyze an event from scripture via the “laboratory of human experience” evident in Bible events
*Our goal will be to see if our definition matches what we find in scripture
*Definition of Legalism: Geerhardus Vos, a master exegete and great biblical theologian defined legalism as follows: “legalism is a peculiar kind of submission to God’s Law, something that no longer feels the personal divine touch in the rule it submits to.”
*What does that mean?
*That legalism creeps in when we begin to pull apart the law of God from the person of God
*That is, to interpret the law of God without taking into account the person whose law it is
*[He gave some examples that reminded me of the Pharisees of Jesus’ day: using the law to bolster their pride and self-righteousness, to acquire merit before God…. They did not have respect and love of God]
*Genesis 1-3
*In Gen. 1, everything God made was called ‘good.’ He said good, good, …very good 6 times, not 7 as He typically does when describing perfection
*God uttered one, ‘not good’ regarding the man needing a help meet.
*God uttered the 7th good after creating the woman
*The narrative in Genesis 1 & 2 describes that this God gave them a little garden and a task of extending that garden to the ends of the earth and having dominion
*God wanted them to grow in love and obedience for Him by doing what He directed them to do, not eating from the single tree
*That was His call to Adam
*They experienced lavish generosity from their Father
*In Genesis 3, the serpent entered the garden (he grows into a dragon by the end of the Bible)
*What was the goal of the evil one?
*To destroy the beautiful relationship the heavenly Father had with His son and daughter
*This scene in the garden shows that command of God being divorced from the law and generosity of God
*The serpent accomplished two things with his subtilty: 1) he denied the authority of God’s word, and 2), he harmed the character of God’s person in a very subtle manner
*The serpent suggested that God is a ‘restricting’ God; that God doesn’t really love you unless you obey Him
*The Pharisees did that, believing they had to add some laws of their own to make sure people followed God’s laws
*When Moses wrote these chapters, he used the covenant name Yahweh for God
*The covenant God is that one who is loving, generous, kind…; the God who comes down to His people and blesses them
*The serpent used the abstract name of God [impersonal]
*The serpent wanted to deny the reality of the Covenant God so that he could move them to view God in a negative light
*Examples given to clarify that when God’s character is divorced from His commands, He becomes a God from whom we experience restrictions before His love
*Seeing God in that light is the root of legalism
*What will Eve do after hearing about this restricting God?
*She became an antinomian?
*Antinomianism, from GotQuestions.org: The word antinomianism comes from two Greek words, anti, meaning “against”; and nomos, meaning “law.” Antinomianism means “against the law.” Theologically, antinomianism is the belief that there are no moral laws God expects Christians to obey. Antinomianism takes a biblical teaching to an unbiblical conclusion. The biblical teaching is that Christians are not required to observe the Old Testament Law as a means of salvation. When Jesus Christ died on the cross, He fulfilled the Old Testament Law (Romans 10:4; Galatians 3:23-25; Ephesians 2:15). The unbiblical conclusion is that there is no moral law God expects Christians to obey.
To continue reading, https://www.gotquestions.org/antinomianism.html
*The serpent indicated to Eve that the only way to be free was to be an antinomian – the fruit is beautiful and will be delicious… God is restrictive, take and eat…
*Eve was thinking through her eyes; we ought to think with our ears – hearing God and responding appropriately
*Eve lost touch with what God said – My children, please Me because you love me, do not eat from this tree
*She believed she could only be free by taking the fruit…
*Lessons:
*Every antinomian is a legalist at heart
*Legalism is a distortion of the law and of the heavenly Father
*Antinomianism is the fruit of legalism
*Legalists wrongly think that antinomianism is a cure for them
*Thomas Boston said: The antinomian principle that it is needless for a man perfectly justified by faith to work to keep the law and do good works is a glaring evidence that legality is so ingrained in man’s corrupt nature, that until a man truly comes to Christ by faith, the legal disposition will still be reigning in him
*Ferguson closes this lesson by explaining how the above is evident in the parable of the Prodigal Son, that will be his next lesson
The following link is to the above video, for those who might want to subscribe to Ligonier’s YouTube site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2MauWkndpU&list=LL&index=2
This message is from Dr. Ferguson’s 12-part teaching series The Whole Christ. Learn more: