The Beliefs of John Robert Stevens

Legalism

John Robert Stevens defined legalism as the attempt to attain the righteousness of God by perfecting yourself through human effort. He summarized it in this way: “Legalism tries to earn what is a gift of God.”1 God’s righteousness cannot be produced apart from His grace. Stevens was opposed to the concept of legalism in Christianity’s approach to human behavior. He stated, “Simply eliminating negative traits does not necessarily mean that the positive traits will come forth. Eliminating a few habits does not make you spiritual.”2 He believed that a walk with God is not born out of conformity to a certain rigid pattern of behavior because “without faith it is impossible to please Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

In Galatians 5, Paul wrote that Christ set us free, and that we should not submit ourselves again to a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1). Legalism is one such yoke. It is opposed to the freedom we have in Christ because it dictates actions instead of invoking the power of the grace of God to change us.

The Lord says we are to be without spot or wrinkle or any such thing (Ephesians 5:27) …. Let me illustrate how you can be without spot or wrinkle. Have you ever seen an old empty gunny sack or a burlap bag all full of wrinkles? You could not possibly press out all the wrinkles and creases. But suppose you fill that gunny sack with grain. When it is completely full of grain and bulging at the seams, there is not a wrinkle in it. How can you be without spot or wrinkle? Be so full of the Lord, so full of the Spirit, that the wrinkles disappear. If you concentrate on the wrinkles, you will always have wrinkles. But if you start concentrating on the fullness of the Lord, everything else will disappear.3

In this example, legalism is mankind’s attempt to iron out the wrinkles. However, attempting to solve our own problems through rigorous discipline will never be a true solution. Legalism is only an attempt by the human nature to hide behind an appearance of righteousness. True righteousness will never be attained in that way. There is only one way, and that is by grace being “filled up to all the fullness of God” (Ephesians 3:19).

Citations

1. Stevens, John Robert: “Is That Legal?”, This Week, Vol. XII, No. 27, p. 8: Copyright © 1981 by The Living Word.*

2. Stevens, John Robert: “These Men—I”, A Jaunt Through Jude, p. 42: Copyright © 1978 by John Robert Stevens & The Living Word.*

3. Stevens, John Robert: “Your Lamb Shall Be Without Blemish”, Passover Precepts, p. 195: Copyright © 1974 by John Robert Stevens & The Living Word.*

References

Stevens, John Robert: “Liberty or Love?”, This Week, January 15, 1978: John Robert Stevens, 1977. L8TW78-01-15

The term legalism appears 317 times in Stevens’ written materials.