Legalism is an antithesis to the Gospel.
(So is antinomianism, of course).
It’s all about the heart. If you want to get down to finding the verse that “raises the bar” morally, doesn’t Proverbs say that it is the eyes of women that entice men?
So...not even the Islamists are holy enough...what with allowing the eyes to be shown?
It’s all about the heart. It’s all about loving Christ. Yes, our outer appearances might change and become refined with that. But if you start with the outer and hope to work back in to the heart...well that isn’t following Jesus. It is the religion of the Pharisees.
I do think that the conservative homeschooling culture has suffered from fits of legalism and that is why you see some backlash out there (ie, web sites promoting healing, etc.).
I don’t think the Duggars are a HUGE problem. But obviously Doug Phillips was and maybe still is, and so was and maybe still is Gothard.
That’s my personal opinion. Don’t mean to offend anyone...love to all freepers, especially homeschoolers!
Legalism doesn’t mean the same thing as biblical standards. Figuring out what’s biblical isn’t hard. If you say “where in the bible does it say I can’t do_____?”, what you’re wanting to do is not a good standard. Sure, it’s about the heart, that goes without saying, but if you’re dressed the same as Lady Gaga,listening to the same music, watching the same shows, there’s something wrong with your heart.
It's just that legalism and liberalism both are not the right path to take.
Legalism, as well as Nicolaitianistic antinomianism should both be eschewed.
I am not saying that the Duggars are legalists, either.
It's just that one can stress outward appearance too much. But at the same time, one can put too little on this, and come into the house of God wearing clothing that gets all eyes turning.
It is about the heart but if our heart is right, there will be some outward differences.