“And you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.” Colossians 2:10

It is ever a caution to us that Jesus’ main opponents were religious people. It’s as tragic as it is ironic that those thought to be the most holy in Israel, the scribes and Pharisees, ended up hating the Son of God and eventually had him killed by the Romans. They determined Jesus would have to die because he exposed and threatened their legalistic power base.

Our problem is that there's a Pharisee inside all of us, and we must remain vigilant against the danger of legalism and its insidious self-deception. If we fail to see ourselves complete in Christ (Colossians 2:10), we can easily and unconsciously begin to look down our noses at legalists and in so doing become like them.

Such Pharisaism may be displayed in various ways. To help you guard against it, consider what I’m calling degrees of legalism. (There may be more than this but I think these are the most obvious.)

First Degree Legalism

This is the legalism that deems human effort necessary for salvation. They were called Judaizers in the New Testament and believed that though Christ died for our sins, circumcision and law keeping remained essential to salvation. The rich young ruler was a first-degree legalist because he imagined he had to do something to earn eternal life (see Luke 18:18).

Second Degree Legalism

This is the legalism that deems human effort necessary for fellowship with God. It imagines that God loves me because of what I do or don’t do. I actually served in a church where personal performance was the means of earning God’s approval. There were rules and standards imposed whereby if you carefully followed you were considered “right with God.”

Third Degree Legalism

This is the legalism that deems human effort necessary for self-esteem. You only feel good about yourself if you observe the law of God to pay him back for all He’s done for you. The third degree legalist is driven by duty in an attempt to mitigate personal guilt. They think, “Okay that was wrong, now I must compensate by being obedient.” This subtle form of legalism emphasizes the law of God over his love; instead of running to Jesus they run to Sinai.

Fourth Degree Legalism

This is the legalism that deems human effort necessary for effective service. This legalist believes God uses me because of what I do. Pastors are especially vulnerable to this form of legalism: they imagine that if they just pray enough, witness enough, study enough, and serve others enough, God will bless their ministry. Thinking the Lord is somewhat obligated to do so can easily lead to discouragement and disillusionment if that blessing fails to materialize.

These are just a few considerations I hope you’ll remember the next time you’re tempted to “go off” on the Pharisees and criticize those who maintain standards with which you disagree. Indeed, we are made for "good works" (Ephesians 2:10), but that is only possible because of and in response to God's work of grace in us (Ephesians 2:9). True Christian liberty never promotes self-righteousness, is never divisive, and never minimizes the grace of God. We are complete in Christ, accepted before God in his perfect righteousness. No amount of human effort can earn salvation, fellowship with God, personal self-esteem, or effective service.