The gospel is not a message of self-improvement or religious striving. It is the declaration that Christ’s righteousness alone secures our standing before God, grants us full assurance, and makes us heirs of an incorruptible inheritance. This is not a secondary matter; it is the heart of the Christian faith. And yet, to the legalist—who insists that righteousness must be earned by law-keeping—this gospel is deeply offensive.
The Gospel: Freedom That Offends the Legalist
The gospel announces a freedom that legalism cannot tolerate. It proclaims that the demands of the law have been fully met in Christ, and that believers are now free from the endless cycle of striving to establish their own righteousness. This is not a partial freedom, nor is it a freedom that waits for our performance to validate it. It is the liberty of those who know that Christ Himself is their righteousness (Romans 10:3; Philippians 3:9).
“Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” (Galatians 5:1)
The legalist, however, cannot accept this. To him, righteousness is a wage to be earned, not a gift to be received. The gospel strips away every ground for boasting in human effort and leaves only Christ as the basis for assurance. This is precisely what offends: the legalist’s entire system—his sense of achievement, his identity, his hope—collapses if righteousness is a gift and not a reward.
Inheritance: The Gospel’s Positive Focus
The gospel does not merely free us from condemnation; it brings us into sonship and inheritance. We are not slaves working for a wage, but sons and heirs, freely given what Christ has earned (Romans 8:17; Galatians 4:7). Our inheritance is incorruptible, reserved in heaven, and guaranteed by the Holy Spirit (1 Peter 1:3–4; Ephesians 1:14).
Legalism, by contrast, treats inheritance as something to be earned through radical transformation and relentless service. It turns the Christian life into a transaction—labor for reward, or else fear punishment. But this is a fundamental misunderstanding of God’s graciousness. The gospel teaches that transformation and joy flow from our position as heirs, not as the price for becoming heirs (Colossians 1:12–14). The legalist’s focus on earning inevitably leads to fear, insecurity, and a failure to grasp the goodness of God.
If you accept the legalist’s error, you lose the very foundation of Christian assurance. The promise of inheritance becomes uncertain, dependent on your performance rather than Christ’s finished work. Sonship is replaced by servitude, and the joy of the gospel is replaced by anxiety and striving. The gospel’s power to transform is gutted, because it is no longer rooted in grace but in the fragile currency of human effort.
Peace with God: The Good News Legalism Cannot Receive
At its core, the gospel is the announcement that God has made peace with man through Christ. It is the end of enmity, the proclamation of God’s good will toward us (Romans 5:1). Yet the legalist remains fixated on God’s wrath, unable to accept that peace has truly been made. This fixation robs the believer of assurance, leaving them unable to rest in God’s kindness and reconciliation.
But the gospel insists: God’s disposition toward those in Christ is one of favor, not condemnation. Our growth does not come by cowering under the threat of wrath, but by standing firm in the liberty Christ has won, relying on the Spirit, and enjoying the goodness of God.
The Only Path to True Transformation
True Christian growth, assurance, and joy are not the fruits of legalistic striving. They are the inevitable results of the gospel’s promise—received by faith, rooted in Christ’s finished work, and sustained by the Spirit. To return to law-keeping as the basis of righteousness is to abandon the very ground of our hope and to forfeit the inheritance that is ours in Christ.
The gospel leaves no room for boasting in self, no space for the legalist’s pride. It exposes the futility of law-based assurance and demands that we rest entirely in Christ. Anything less is not merely a lesser gospel—it is no gospel at all. Stand fast, then, in the liberty Christ has given. Refuse the yoke of bondage. Receive your inheritance as a son, not as a slave. This is the only way to experience the peace, assurance, and transformation that God has freely given in His Son.
