By the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.
(Romans 3:20)
Law or Grace; which influences and motivates you most? How you answer that question will, most likely, determine your level of assurance of salvation. The heart and actions motivated by law are usually insecure and yearn for assurance of salvation. Mr. Legality may sound good, but he cannot give the ability to do what he demands. Without Grace, legalism leads to your spiritual failure.
When you hear a preacher hammering people over the head with do’s and don’ts (the law) without equally emphasizing God’s enabling grace to keep the law, you have met a legalist. Only the grace of God can enable and motivate sinners to love the Lord and desire to obey what He demands. In our own abilities and strengths we are incapable of keeping the law. Law can only demand, it cannot produce what it demands. Only grace produces what the law demands.
Legalism will produce a harsh, judgmental, unloving emphasis on the law. On the other hand, Grace produces a humble, gracious and loving disposition. Which influences and motivates you most, law or Grace? By God’s grace we are saved through faith in the finished work of the Son of God and we are kept by that same grace and faith.
How long beneath the law I lay
In bondage and distress!
I toiled the precept to obey,
But toiled without success.
To see the law by Christ fulfilled,
And hear His pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child,
And duty into choice.
–William Cowper