Legalism…does not describe the attitude of a Christian who earnestly seeks to please God, but uses the law as a means to that end. A sincere desire to please God is not legalism. Nor does it cause legalism. Legalism results from the actual misuse of the law. Nor does legalism in any sense diminish the goodness of the law. There is nothing wrong with God’s holy law. Woe to the person who disparages the holy law that God wrote on stone with His finger.