“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” (Matt. 7:12).
“Who art thou that judgest another man’s servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth” (Rom. 14:4).
I once heard a brother characterized as “the most legal brother I know”! But rather than legal, this very brother has impressed me as having a tender conscience before the Lord and a desire to submit to the Word of God. The Lord alone knows the true motives of each heart, but we ought to be very hesitant about making such characterizations.
Terms such as “legal” or “hard” are often heard being used to describe believers or their spiritual exercises. Though there may be times when this portrayal might prove to be fairly accurate, a subtle danger exists in allowing ourselves the liberty to characterize another believer in this way.
What might be judged as “legality” in a Christian may in reality be the honest desire of that believer’s heart to walk “worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.” Thus the danger is that there may be a forgetfulness of the most fundamental principle directing the conduct of a believer’s life. We find in 2 Corinthians 5:9 (JND) an eloquently simple and divine motive by which each believer ought to be guided: “Wherefore also we are zealous, whether present or absent, to be agreeable to Him.”
Seeking to please the blessed Lord Jesus is a heart matter, not a head matter. What is done as a result of love for the Lord Jesus may not always seem to be intelligent but the “Lord looketh on the heart.” Surely the Lord will be more pleased with ignorant love than with intelligent condemnation.
We may well ask our hearts if it was a spirit of legality which caused Abram to reject what seemed to be a kind, generous offer of spoils (which by custom of the day were his right to claim) made to him by the King of Sodom, after Abram’s victory.
Was Joseph, who was later sent to seek the welfare of his brethren and to see how they did, displaying a legal, unloving spirit when he brought an “evil report” of them to their father?
Was Moses displaying hardhearted legalism when he pitched the tabernacle outside the camp of the golden-calf-worshipping children of Israel?
Should we characterize Nehemiah’s conduct as legal or faithful when he “chased” the son of Eliashib the high priest from his presence because of the young man’s marriage (Neh. 13:28)?
Do we judge that Daniel was, after all, quite legal and unthankful for refusing to eat the royal bounty that the King of Babylon offered to him?
Examples could be multiplied, but we have a divine and perfect example of this seen in our blessed Lord Jesus when He came into His Father’s house—the temple at Jerusalem (John 2).
No true believer could possibly attach the term legality to the actions of that perfect Man who, overturning the money changers’ tables, driving out the animals marked for sacrifice, and rebuking those who had made His Father’s house one of merchandise, was motivated in His actions by perfect and holy zeal for the honor of His God and Father.
May we tread ever so softly and carefully in any judgments we make of other believers souls redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We indeed ought to enjoy that “liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,” but let us not use that “liberty for an occasion to the flesh” (Gal. 5:13), allowing it to make harsh judgments and characterizations of our brethren and their ways.
“Walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us” (Eph. 5:2).
“Be of the same mind one toward another” (Rom. 12:16).
Ed.