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Legalism matters, to understand what it is and what walking in the Spirit is.
If God inspires you to love others, that is the work of Christ.
When people look at others and call their actions legalism, that is
often just condemnation of the enemy.
Once you start judging people as evil for doing good you are not following Christ
but the enemy, and confusing evil with righteousness.
If God inspires you to love others, that is the work of Christ.
When people look at others and call their actions legalism, that is
often just condemnation of the enemy.
Once you start judging people as evil for doing good you are not following Christ
but the enemy, and confusing evil with righteousness.
I think Jesus did talk about legalism. 
When He said to them that they tithed down to the last exquisite amount but ignored the laws that have to do with mercy and justice for people. He would have been more pleased if they got the weightier matters right but failed in the smaller.
And He was discussing dead legalism when He talked about obeying commands as they were taught by their fathers but only in a dead legalistic way - outwardly - while inwardly they were doing those things in their heart (murder, adultery, etc.)
When He said to them that they tithed down to the last exquisite amount but ignored the laws that have to do with mercy and justice for people. He would have been more pleased if they got the weightier matters right but failed in the smaller.
And He was discussing dead legalism when He talked about obeying commands as they were taught by their fathers but only in a dead legalistic way - outwardly - while inwardly they were doing those things in their heart (murder, adultery, etc.)
The tithe you spoke of is found in Matthew 23 among the other 8 woes Jesus declared to the Pharisees and Sadducees. In all of them, Jesus is speaking to the leaders of Israel who should know better. Here's the scripture you referenced.
Matthew 23:23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
I actually think that both were necessary because it reveals the heart of man. One of the problems the Pharisees and Sadducees had in this example is that they were picking and choosing which laws to obey. Their hearts as a whole were bad. If they chose the weightier matters and didn't do the others, it would still be legalism because their hearts were evil, they had hard hearts. They tried to make the outside look good without changing their inside.
These men had what's called the oral law. The religious leaders in Jesus' day were following their oral law. In some cases this oral law negated the true laws that God gave them. In other cases it twisted the law and added on or subtracted from the true law of God. Their oral law rose above God's law.
Hi Ariel,
I have heard believers and pastors say thank you when accused of legalism or of being a legalist by others. I've heard teachings on this......it's because, they say, they follow the Law of Christ.
In bible studies and just from hearing what others say, there's a disconnect for some when using this word.
I totally understand how it's being used here, but I've found that if some are struggling to understand what's being said that it might be good to come up with a word everyone can understand.
In one woman's bible study it was called Phariseeism or hypocrisy. Or maybe put in parentheses the word hypocrisy along with the word legalism. Whatever helps others to understand. In answer to your question, I do think we will obey because the essence of love is obedience. We can't help but obey if we love God with all our hearts, souls, mind and strength.
The Lord did say, "You shall love the Lord your God," and "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Commands a are have to. All throughout the NT scriptures we're given many commands. They are a have to. We must obey, but it's out of a heart of love, not out of an unredeemed heart where it becomes a work.
Here's the contrast. We have the pharisee. They have a form of godliness, but they live according to their own rules. They throw in some of what God has said so they look like they're obeying the one true God. But it's all show, it's hypocrisy.
And we have the believer, the Christian who loves God with all their heart. They're growing in the grace of God being sanctified in His truth.
And here comes the command. Love God. Children obey your parents. Put off the old man. Put on the new. Forgive your brother. Love your brother. Submit to the governing authorities.
To the pharisee, he has no love for God. If he obeys some of those commands, they become works of the flesh. They strive to have a show of godliness. But they don't have the power to carry them out in truth, in faith and in worship of God.
To the Christian, he loves God with all His heart. The faith he has in God is the type of faith that obeys God, it can't help itself. It's the new natural for the Christian. Before his natural ways of doing things was evil birthed out of the old man. But now he has a new man, he's born of the spirit. He worships God in faith, in truth. He can't help but obey.
We still struggle with our old nature, but there again, if we love God with all our heart, we'll put off the old man and all the evil the flesh might be tempted to do. God is working in us and gives us the power and ability to say no to sin and yes to holiness.
In fact, the command is gentle and loving. There's no tyrant in love. When we read the commands they're not a heavy kind of thing where we sigh, get angry or think God is evil to give us all these commands. To the fleshly carnal man we may struggle, but within the new man, the new creation in Christ we say yes! We've taken on the nature of God. God is holy, we want to be holy. God is loving, we want to love. God served us, we want to serve others. God is kind and gentle, so we want to be kind and gentle as well.
When I see the commands of God, I think of a loving God who's helping me to live that holy life in Him. The command isn't a heavy weight, He makes it easy in us as we grow in Him, as our minds are transformed in Him, as we're being sanctified in Him. It's a beautiful relationship that even when I mess up He cleans me up when I confess my sins to Him.
We work together, He hasn't left us alone to do anything on our own because we can't do it without Him and His love. And we obey by faith, because we love Him.
Oh how I praise and love Him for all He's done me, for all of us and for the world. He's invited us all to come because He takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked. He said, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Matthew 11:28-30
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:22-24