The Legalist's Question: Seeking Permission to Sin
Orientation
The question 'can I do whatever I want and still be saved?' often reveals an unconscious desire for permission to sin, stemming from a reliance on law rather than grace.
- The question exposes a heart not yet constrained by love for Jesus.
- It shows a view of Christ as a distant, demanding master.
- It indicates a reliance on the law's threats as motivation, not a new nature.
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. (Romans 7:18)
— Romans 7:18
Clarification
Legalism focuses on permissible boundaries and moderation, but this negotiation with the flesh fails to address the internal 'law of sin' and leads to worldliness.
- Legalism asks 'what is allowed?' rather than 'what flows from love?'
- It fixates on outer limits, not the inner transformation of regeneration.
- This mindset inevitably leads to spiritual captivity and often to gross sin.
But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. (Romans 7:23)
— Romans 7:23
Structure
True sanctification comes only through the gospel of grace, which provides regeneration by the Spirit and a new nature motivated by love.
- The 'law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus' frees from the 'law of sin and death.'
- Regeneration creates a new heart where motivation and constraint come from love for Jesus.
- Grace, not law, is the only hope for overcoming sin.
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
— Romans 8:2
Weight-Bearing Prose
The core theological assertion is that a legalistic framework denies the gospel’s transformative power. It substitutes the law and its terrors for the new nature created by regeneration through the Spirit. This is a Pauline category error: it places believers back under a principle (law) that cannot sanctify, only provoke sin and define boundaries. The ‘law of sin’ within remains active, taking the legalist captive. The resultant ‘flesh-versus-flesh’ struggle is futile, as the flesh never ceases to lust. The legalistic question about doing ‘whatever I want’ reveals the heart’s true object: it seeks permission, not the Person. Sanctification is not a procedure of negotiated boundaries but the result of a new creation. God may use the failure of legalism to position someone to embrace grace as their only hope, but the prescribed path is regeneration from the start.
Integration
Your standing is in grace, not in your negotiation with boundaries. Christ is your sanctification. The struggle you feel under law is not your path; it is the sign of a path that leads to captivity. Rest here. The gospel of grace is your only hope and your present supply. The Spirit’s work is not to help you keep rules but to live out the life of the new nature He created. There is no pressure to advance by your own effort, only the assurance that in Christ you are free from the law of sin and death. He is your life. Any movement toward holiness flows from this fixed position of grace, not toward it. You are safe here.