“Application is not legalism. Obedience is not legalism. Legalism is inventing your own standard. But doing what God said to do the way that God said to do it is not legalism at all: ‘hear therefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee.’” — Douglas Wilson, Keep Your Kids
A legalist is anyone winning an argument with a loose liver. The Pharisees were not wrong for keeping the law of God, they were wrong for not keeping it. It is a sin to add to the words of God, but it is not a sin to try to keep all of God's words.
Deuteronomy 4:2
Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.
The reprobates and apostates take away from God's word and want to slander anyone who attempts to keep the whole thing as though they were a Pharisee who was adding to it. By their standard, anything north of falling short is going overboard. Anything more than what they are willing to do is considered going beyond God's word. But that is merely them making their compromise the standard and anyone going beyond it a breaker of their law, not God's.
"Legalism is not when someone loves God more than I do." — Douglas Wilson, Blog and Mablog
Those who have merely a lukewarm love for God often assuage what's left of their consciences by calling anyone who loves God more than them a legalist. They know enough to know that this category exists and that the kind of person who really loves God will be bothered by the accusation enough to perhaps back off.
"Legalism is a word that is thrown around liberally." — K.P. Yohannan, Head Coverings
Judge not is perhaps the most beloved Bible verse in the Western canon. It is recited by many who have no love or respect for Jesus except for when He says something like this which they think they can spin to their advantage.
1 John 5:3
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
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