From the MLJ Archive

What really is legalism? In this sermon on Romans 14:1–4 titled “God Has Received Him,” Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones tackles this important subject by asking what it is, how it can be fought, and the consequences that it carries within the church. Legalism is what happens when people take principles in Scripture, interpret them wrongly, and make them absolute rules that everyone is required to follow. Legalists tend to make indifferent things central. Mainly it means that issues not core to Christianity are elevated to make-or-break issues that are used as standards for measuring the depth of someone’s relationship with Christ. As Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds, what matters is that people have been received by God— it is not up to others to determine this. People frequently set up their own standards for determining if people are Christians, but from where do they derive their authority? Dr. Lloyd-Jones also addresses if Paul was contradicting his stance against legalism when he said that he acts certain ways around certain people. Ultimately, this was to keep them from stumbling and as Dr. Lloyd-Jones reminds, Paul did not see these issues as central doctrines of Christianity. He closes with a charge— Christians are not to reject someone whom God has received, and ultimately, only God can make the call on whether or not this is the case. They are to trust Him with this and simply be obedient.