93 Quotes About Legalism

People will do the basest things on account of their so-called honor.

The knowledge of God’s Word without love is a destructive force because it puffs us up with pride and legalism.

Trying to know God and serve Him before we come to love Him is exhausting.

Is one being a legalist if he works hard unto the Lord? Or can a Christian cruise and coast through this life?

Most moms and dads think they are either the best or the worst parents in the world. Both are wrong.

The law repels, the gospel attracts. The law shows the distance which there is between God and man; the gospel bridges that awful chasm, and brings the sinner across it.

one primary enemy of the Gospel—legalism—comes in two forms. Some people avoid the gospel and try to save themselves by keeping the rules, doing what they’re told, maintaining the standards, and so on (you could call this “front-door legalism”). Other people avoid the gospel and try to save themselves by breaking the rules, doing whatever they want, developing their own autonomous standards, and so on (you could call this “back-door legalism”).

We have invented a moral sense which is rotting now that we can't give it employment, and when a moral sense begins to rot, it is worse than when you had none. I suppose that all endeavors which are directed to a purely worldly end, as my precious civilization was, contain within themselves the germs of their own corruption.

Too often, we fall into the trap of preach­ing the gospel to adults and the law to chil­dren: “God wants you to be good boys and girls.” It is not that there is no truth in that state­ment, but with­out the right con­text and qual­i­fi­ca­tions it is a recipe for hope­less­ness.