Legalism as Arrogance

To continue with C.J. Mahaney's The Cross Centered Life, he says, "Legalism is seeking to achieve forgiveness from God and acceptance by God through obedience to God... The implications of legalism are staggering in their arrogance. Legalism claims that the death of Jesus on the cross was either unnecessary or insufficient." But the gospel sets me free. Free from the fleshly pull toward religious legalism. It opens the door and invites me in to glory in the cross, where Jesus took the penalty for my legalistic arrogance. By God's immeasurable grace, I am now free. No longer must I seek to achieve forgiveness and acceptance. They are given as a gift in the gospel. And so my calling today is to keep my eyes on the gift... on the gospel... on Jesus.