One unmistakable sign of a legalistic spirit is the tendency always to be looking for what’s wrong in other people’s lives in order to judge them, instead of looking for what’s right in order to encourage them. None of us does everything right. We all fall short in many ways. It may be how we respond to the poor or our style of worship or the way we preach or how we try to share Christ with non-Christians. But we never do it perfectly.

Defining Legalism

Legalism has been defined in a number of ways, but here is my attempt: Legalism is the tendency to regard as divine law things that God has neither required nor forbidden in Scripture, and the corresponding inclination to look with suspicion on others for their failure or refusal to conform.One might also call this a religious spirit insofar as man-made religion and legalism go hand in hand. It all comes down to this: I create rules and expectations not found in the Bible and then feel good about myself and my relationship with God for having obeyed them, all the while I judge others for having failed to live up to this artificial standard of godliness. So, how do I know whether I’m a legalist? Here is a simple test consisting of five questions.

1. Do you place a higher value on church customs than on biblical principles?

Many of our so-called rights and wrongs in church life are products not of the Bible, but of family background, culture, social and economic factors, geographical locale, and a longstanding institutional commitment to doing things the way they’ve always been done. Once again, as long as the Bible doesn’t prohibit such practices, you may well be free to pursue them. But you are not free to insist that others do so as well.

2. Do you elevate to the status of moral law something the Bible does not require?

Let me mention just a few examples. Whereas the Bible explicitly forbids drunkenness, it does not require total abstinence. Make no mistake: total abstinence from alcohol is great. As a Christian you are certainly free to adopt that as a lifestyle. But you are not free to condemn those who choose to drink in moderation. You may discuss with them the wisdom of such a choice and the practical consequences of it, but you must not condemn them as sub-spiritual or as falling short of God’s best.

The Bible encourages modesty in dress. Both men and women are to be careful not to dress in a way that flaunts their sexuality or is unnecessarily ostentatious and seductive. But we have no right to condemn others for their wearing of colorful clothing or the use of makeup or a particular hairstyle.

The Bible condemns lust in no uncertain terms. But the legalist uses this to condemn as unholy everything from television to the Internet to movies (even PG) to mixed swimming. Make no mistake: you may be significantly better off by severely curtailing your use of TV and the Internet, and I strongly advise that you be more discerning than ever when it comes to trash from Hollywood that often passes for “art.” But these forms of media can also be powerful tools for the expression of kingdom truths when wisely utilized.

Parents are to raise their kids in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. About that there is no mistake. As a parent, you may believe that all public schools are tools of the Devil and cesspools of secular humanism. It is certainly your right to hold that opinion and make your decisions concerning your child’s education accordingly. But you have no biblical right to question the spirituality of Christian parents who hold a different view. Whether you educate your children at home or send them to a private school or public school is a matter on which Scripture is silent. Hold your conviction with passion and zeal, but do not seek to enslave the consciences of others who may disagree with you.

The Bible commands weekly gatherings for prayer, Bible study, worship, and celebration of the sacraments. But the legalist condemns as carnal anyone who ever, for any reason, misses a Sunday service or dares to watch a football game in the afternoon or chooses to mow the lawn after church. If you prefer not to work on Sunday or watch athletic events or perform household chores, that’s wonderful. But don’t condemn others who differ. Why? Because God doesn’t condemn them.

Let’s take a moment and explore this Sabbath issue in a bit more detail. Do you recall the incident when Jesus and his disciples were walking through the grain fields on a Sabbath day (Mark 2:23–28) and “began to pluck heads of grain” (v. 23)? The Pharisees went ballistic: “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” (v. 24).

The Old Testament Sabbath law wasn’t all that complicated. Six days were to be set aside for work, but on the seventh day, the Sabbath, no work was to be done. The people of Israel were to rest. The Old Testament, however, gave very few details as to what actually constituted the kind of “work” that was forbidden on the Sabbath. So the Jewish rabbis over the years took it upon themselves to supply what the biblical text left open-ended. They identified thirty-nine different expressions of what they called work prohibited on the Sabbath day.

As time passed, the various schools of Jewish rabbis added regulation after regulation, law upon law to the original commandment, going far beyond the requirement of Scripture and making the Sabbath and its observance a horrible burden to the people of Israel. God had meant for the Sabbath to be a day of rest. It was the day on which God wanted his people to be relieved from their burdens and to celebrate his goodness and provision for them. But the religious leaders of Israel had turned it into a day of incredible stress, anguish, and one heavy burden after another. In the years following the life of Jesus, literally hundreds of man-made restrictions were added to the original command. So many extra rules and regulations were heaped upon the original commandment that it actually became harder to rest on the Sabbath than on the other six days of the week!

Read More. This article is adapted from Tough Topics: Biblical Answers to 25 Challenging Questions* by Sam Storms (Crossway). Used with permission.