Our legalistic tendencies

"Legalism, for example, remains deeply ingrained in the fallen human heart and is not unique to Judaism. Legalists come in all colors, shapes, and flavors and are to be found within all religions. The temptation exists today to turn Orthodoxy into a new Law and to insist that one can only be saved by meticulous performance of all its rites. This is not to suggest that Orthodoxy does not indeed make demands on its children, nor that one need not strive with all one’s might to please the Lord. Nevertheless, after all our necessary striving to please the Lord and walk in holiness, we are saved by the Cross and by the mercy of God. Regardless of how well we fast (or do not fast), regardless of which calendar we keep, regardless of our rigor in observing the Typicon, it remains true that we will only be saved by the mercy of Jesus and by the pardon that flows from His holy and life-creating Cross." Farley, L. R. (2010). Words of Fire: The Early Epistles of St. Paul to the Thessalonians and the Galatians (p. 92). Chesterton, IN: Ancient Faith Publishing.

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