Legalism has been described as a list of things one should and shouldn’t do, and, by adhering to that list God will bless us. It reduces spirituality to morality. Is there anything wrong in aspiring to Biblical standards? No, as long as we understand that adhering to standards does not cause us to grow spiritually nor does it cause God to bless us. Every spiritual blessing already belonged to us at the moment we believed. All we have to do is live in light of that reality. How is that accomplished?

For a believer, dominion of the sin nature died with Christ. To have new life the old life must die. Because our sin nature died with Christ (though our new natures continue to war with it during this life), we have the new life Christ’s resurrection makes possible. Our new life in Christ is empowered only by another gift, the Holy Spirit – something an unbeliever cannot have, no matter how moral.