The word legalism is related to law. You can see it in the word itself: legal-ism. Paul referred to it as being “under law.” The term refers to the belief that your relationship with God is based on Law, i.e., on your performance rather than on faith in what God has done for you. It is not simply that you are trying to gain salvation by obedience to the Law; you are trying to earn the right to intimacy by your behavior. Under legalism when you obey, you are accepted; but when you disobey, you are rejected and unwelcome in God’s presence until you repent. When a person’s relationship with
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