Legalism…is essentially any attempt to improve on what God has done for us by adding things that we do for Him… It is any attempt to earn approval from God with our imperfect actions, rather than accepting and being pleased with the approval that He freely offers us because Jesus has earned it for us with his perfect sacrifice. Legalism is always doomed to failure because we are imperfect and the God that we seek to impress is perfect. It robs us of peace and joy.
From Legalism to Grace, 2001.
Here is a simple test to check whether you are prone to a legalistic thinking: ask yourself, “How does God feel about me today?” If the answer is anything other than, “He is passionately in love with me,” then you are falling into the trap of thinking that God’s attitude towards us is determined by our performance rather than by his essential loving character. In other words, you’re thinking as though God’s favour is earned rather than freely given.
From Legalism to Grace, 2001.
The biblical motivation to (avoid sin) is that we are no longer sinners by nature, and that sin goes against the new nature that God has given us.
From Legalism to Grace, 2001.