legalism

⁸For by grace, you have been saved through faith. And this is not of yourselves, for it is a gift of God. ⁹And this is not of works, so that no one may glory.

²⁸Therefore, they said to him, “What should we do, so that we may labor in the works of God?” ²⁹Jesus responded and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent.”

²⁸For we judge a man to be justified by faith, without the works of the law.

²¹I do not reject the grace of God. For if justice is through the law, then Christ died in vain.

¹⁶And we know that man is not justified by the works of the law, but only by the faith of Jesus Christ. And so we believe in Christ Jesus, in order that we may be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law. For no flesh will be justified by the works of the law.

¹⁰For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. For it has been written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all the things that have been written in the book of the Law, so as to do them.” ¹¹And, since in the law no one is justified with God, this is manifest: “For the just man lives by faith.” ¹²But the law is not of faith; instead, “he who does these things shall live by them.” ¹³Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, since he became a curse for us. For it is written: “Cursed is anyone who hangs from a tree.” ¹⁴This was so that the blessing of Abraham might reach the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, in order that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

¹⁵If you love me, keep my commandments.

¹Then Jesus spoke to the crowds, and to his disciples, ²saying: “The scribes and the Pharisees have sat down in the chair of Moses. ³Therefore, all things whatsoever that they shall say to you, observe and do. Yet truly, do not choose to act according to their works. For they say, but they do not do. ⁴For they bind up heavy and unbearable burdens, and they impose them on men’s shoulders. But they are not willing to move them with even a finger of their own.

²³Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you collect tithes on mint and dill and cumin, but you have abandoned the weightier things of the law: judgment and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done, while not omitting the others. ²⁴You blind guides, straining out a gnat, while swallowing a camel! ²⁵Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you clean what is outside the cup and the dish, but on the inside you are full of avarice and impurity. ²⁶You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the dish, and then what is outside becomes clean. ²⁷Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed sepulchers, which outwardly appear brilliant to men, yet truly, inside, they are filled with the bones of the dead and with all filth. ²⁸So also, you certainly appear to men outwardly to be just. But inwardly you are filled with hypocrisy and iniquity.

⁴⁶But why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I say?

⁹Everyone who withdraws and does not remain in the doctrine of Christ, does not have God. Whoever remains in the doctrine, such a one as this has both the Father and the Son.

²⁰For I say to you, that unless your justice has surpassed that of the scribes and the Pharisees you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. ²¹You have heard that it was said to the ancients: ‘You shall not murder; whoever will have murdered shall be liable to judgment.’ ²²But I say to you, that anyone who becomes angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment. But whoever will have called his brother, ‘Idiot,’ shall be liable to the council. Then, whoever will have called him, ‘Worthless,’ shall be liable to the fires of Hell. ²³Therefore, if you offer your gift at the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, ²⁴leave your gift there, before the altar, and go first to be reconciled to your brother, and then you may approach and offer your gift. ²⁵Be reconciled with your adversary quickly, while you are still on the way with him, lest perhaps the adversary may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you will be thrown in prison.