Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Matthew 16:12

In Matthew 16, Jesus had a familiar encounter with Pharisees and the Sadducees who were demanding a sign from him to confirm his authority as a prophet and, perhaps, as the Messiah. After the encounter, he and the twelve shoved off in a boat for another location. Somewhere on their short voyage the disciples discovered that no one had brought bread. As they discovered their dilemma, Jesus said, “Be on your guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

The twelve thought he was somehow discussing their dilemma and the fact that they had pushed off on a journey without provisions. After some discussion, they discerned that he had not been talking about the properties of a great loaf of bread but rather he had been talking about the teaching of the religious leaders of Israel. Their teaching was a well-developed theology of rules and laws for serving God. It was legalism in its fullest sense. It defined every aspect of the believer’s life and declared what was and was not acceptable to God.

I really like what Graham Cooke says about this in his little book, Qualities of a Spiritual Warrior. He says, “Part of His (Jesus) ministry was to take a stand against religiosity in church leadership. ‘Woe’ is a primary exclamation of grief and also denunciation. In Matthew 23:13-29, He used it on eight occasions. He called church leaders hypocrites, blind men, blind guides, and whited sepulchers. His foremost accusation was that they shut off the Kingdom of Heaven from people because they had no experience of it themselves.

In mentoring the disciples, He was developing a church leadership that could carry the message and lifestyle of the kingdom in themselves. He taught them how to believe God, how to move in the supernatural, how to have power over the enemy, and how to love people and release them into a lifestyle of blessing and favor…

He stood against a religious system that had captured people in a legalistic environment that prevented them from being loved fully by God. When the system defines the experience we can have with God, then we have no freedom. Jesus came to set us free from an organized religious experience that teaches us how to think, speak and act before God. It is the role of the Holy Spirit to renew our minds, not for man to program them. Jesus came to overthrow a system that does not allow us the joy of exposure to his fullness, anointing, and glory” (p.133-134).

The power of the Kingdom of God cannot flourish in a legalistic system of rules and regulations that place God in a well-defined box. Does that mean that “anything goes?” Of course not. Paul gives some healthy and biblical boundaries for the expression of the things of the Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12-14. However, he does not restrict their expression but only regulates them so that their expression always reflects love. It also does not mean that those individuals who want a greater experience of Jesus through his Spirit are to ignore the rules of the house set by its leaders. A great deal of harm has been done by well-meaning people who have gone off to a conference on miracles and decided to come home and “blow the roof off” their conservative congregation. Submission to leadership is an important principle in the kingdom. Finding a greater expression of the Kingdom may mean going to another environment where it is welcomed rather than “trying to shake things up” where you are. Encouraging leadership to be more open is one thing, rebelling against their boundaries us another.

We often think of legalism in terms of churches that do not accept the full ministry of the Holy Spirit but that is not always the case. There are non-charismatic churches that are full of grace but have not yet come into the miraculous measures of the Holy Spirit. They are open but have not yet arrived. There are also “charismatic” churches that are just as guilty of legalism as cessationsist churches. Some of those churches have strictly defined dress codes, hairstyles, prohibitions on makeup, and so forth that regulate the life of believers. Legalism can creep into any theology like leaven in a loaf of bread and change the very nature of faith and freedom.

Even on a personal level, we can begin to judge other believers on the basis of them worshipping God or serving him in ways contrary to our own preferences. Some of our preferences can morph into “laws” that define how God works in people and churches. There is a place for testing spirits and judging prophecies etc. but that testing must be led by the Spirit not produced by flesh or our intellect. Before declaring that God does not work in certain ways or accept certain things we need to be very careful and diligently seek the Lord.

Acts 15 is a perfect example.   The Jerusalem church came together to decide whether God was actually accepting the Gentiles and working among them. Fifteen hundred years of religion and tradition had planted deep convictions that only Jews or Gentiles that had converted to Judaism and all of its laws were acceptable to God. But God had been doing crazy things among the Gentiles who had not been circumcised, did not keep the Sabbath, and who ignored the feast days. Peter himself had to give an account of why he even entered into the home of Gentiles and why he then baptized them. The feeling in the Jerusalem church was that “God doesn’t work that way.” But, he did… and after seeking the mind of the Spirit on the matter, the leaders of the church determined that God had accepted the Gentiles without them coming under the traditions of the Jews.

Legalism, the leaven of the Pharisees, quenches the Spirit whether in churches or in our own hearts. It is actually the default setting for our fallen nature trying to work our way to heaven so we all have to guard against it. We would do well to ask the Spirit, on a regular basis, to highlight areas where we are slipping into a religious or legalistic mode because it is hard to recognize. A critical or judgmental spirit in us is a sure sign that we are slipping in that direction. For all of us then who want to enjoy the fullness of God, we need to guard against that leaven. Be blessed today. Enjoy your freedom in Christ and let others do so as well.