Legalism or License: Two Extremes, Both Rooted in Self-Righteousness
BY DOUG STRINGER
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.” (Proverbs 21:2)
When we hear the term self-righteousness, many of us immediately think of the Pharisees—those religious legalists of Jesus’ day who were more concerned with outward appearance than inward transformation. And indeed, legalism is one form of self-righteousness. But there’s another, more subtle form that has crept into the modern Church—one that cloaks itself in liberty, yet leads to license. This, too, is self-righteousness.
When we justify our compromise and celebrate liberties that subtly lead to licentiousness, we are not walking in true freedom—we are walking in deception.
It’s a self-righteousness that justifies compromise and cloaks rebellion under the guise of personal freedom. Both legalism and licentiousness are rooted in the same issue: a heart that elevates self over God.
At the core of both legalism and license is the same error: We begin interpreting truth through our own preferences rather than submitting to the heart and authority of God.
A.W. Tower rightly stated when he said, “Self is the opaque veil that hides the face of God from us.”
We have become more and more enamored with celebrity, success, and power…even in the Church world. The lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life–LUST and PRIDE–all rooted in SELF! Self-absorption, self-centeredness, selfishness, self-adulation, SELF RIGHTEOUSNESS…
Legalese, Law, and the Spirit:
Whenever an agreement or contract written in “legal-ese” needs to be interpreted, it’s often left to attorneys—experts trained to decipher words on paper—yet sometimes without understanding the spirit of the contract itself. The same applies to how we often approach Scripture.
We dissect the letter while losing the intent. The result? We drift toward two extremes:
Though opposite in form, both extremes destroy—one by creating burdens God never intended and the other by removing boundaries God lovingly established.
Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill it. Grace is not God’s excuse for our sin—it’s His empowerment to overcome it.
We make our interpretations based on what we want to believe—yet God calls us to surrender our beliefs to His truth.
God’s Word Is Our Constitution:
God’s Word is not a buffet for us to pick and choose from—it is our Constitution. But when we treat it as amendable to culture, feelings, or personal comfort, we are no longer under its covering. Instead, we create man-made amendments that strip it of power and authority.
When we try to live by the letter of the law while ignoring the spirit behind it, we begin building thresholds and doorposts next to God’s own, thus erecting false altars that bring enmity between God and us (Ezekiel 43:8).
Anytime we build our own threshold or doorpost alongside God’s, we are not adding to His Kingdom—we are creating a counterfeit. Ezekiel 43 warns us not to place our threshold beside His, for doing so creates enmity between God and us. These “abominations” are not just outward sins, they are heart attitudes that replace God’s standards with our own.
In doing so, we reject His holiness while justifying our version of righteousness.
Holiness is not a religious list of rules. Nor is grace a license to do whatever feels right in our own eyes. True holiness—birthed from intimacy with Jesus—is what will distinguish the Church in an age of compromise.
Worship in Spirit and Truth:
“God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)
True worship flows from truth and intimacy, not performance or permissiveness. Jesus doesn’t simply want our service—He wants our hearts. We cannot be a “light on a hill” (Matt. 5:14–16) if we’re shrouded in either legalism or lawlessness.
The Spirit of Grace Is Not for Abuse:
“For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins… [We] trample the Son of God underfoot, count the blood of the covenant by which [we were] sanctified a common thing, and insult the Spirit of grace.” (Hebrews 10:26–29)
This passage doesn’t just apply to unbelievers. It speaks to all—including professing believers—who use grace as an excuse to walk in willful sin while claiming the benefits of Christ’s blood. When we use grace to justify sin, we don’t just defile ourselves—we insult the very Spirit of Grace and treat the blood of Jesus as if it were common. In essence we profane the Holy.
We don’t need to trample the blood under our feet—we need to be under the covering of the blood!
A Reasonable Sacrifice:
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” (Romans 12:1)
The apostle Paul exhorts us to live as holy sacrifices—not out of obligation, but as a reasonable response to the costly love of Jesus.
The Christian life is not about rigid rule-following or boundary-less living—it’s about full surrender.
We offer Him our hearts, our minds, our emotions, our time, and our very lives—not to earn grace, but because we’ve received it.
When we’re caught up in our own ambitions or entangled by distractions, we miss the beauty of God’s purposes for us. And when we walk in bitterness, resentment, lust, or pride, we disqualify ourselves from being “acceptable sacrifices.” But when we surrender—truly surrender—He purifies us and makes us instruments of grace to those around us (1 John 3:1–3).
Grace Received Must Be Grace Extended:
We not only abuse grace when we use it as a license to sin—we also violate grace when we withhold it from others. Jonah was a prophet of God, yet he was angry when God extended mercy to Nineveh. His heart did not reflect the heart of God.
The Church must not have a Jonah spirit—happy to receive grace but bitter when others do. As freely as we’ve received, we must freely give.
In times like these, when confusion and compromise abound, the Church must arise—not in self-righteousness, but in Christ’s righteousness. We must be a people who walk not according to the letter of the Law or the desires of the flesh, but according to the Spirit of truth and grace.
Let us worship Him in spirit and in truth, and live lives that glorify the One who gave all for us.
“Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,” says the Lord.
Join me in Prayer:
Lord, forgive us.
Where we’ve become pharisaical in our legalism or presumptuous in our liberties, we repent.
Where we’ve misused Your Word, misapplied Your grace, or misrepresented Your holiness—cleanse us.
We don’t want to be so legalistic that we lose Your presence,
Nor so free that we lose our reverence.
Teach us to live by the Spirit of the Law—
To be true worshipers, walking in Spirit and in Truth.
Let our lives be living sacrifices—
Acceptable to You, and reflected to a world in need.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
