God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
Legalism involves seeking forgiveness from God, justification before God, and acceptance by God through obedience to God. Legalism is substituting, in essence, my works for Jesus’ finished work. Legalism is self-atonement and the height of arrogance. It’s living as if the cross of Christ was unnecessary or insufficient.
Jesus is not indifferent, unconcerned or unable to fulfill His promise. He knows after He returns there will be no opportunity for salvation. His so-called delay “as some count slowness” (2 Pet. 3:9) is a token of His mercy – giving people just a little more time to repent and trust Him. Jesus is being patient for His enemies to come to repentance. It was the same before His judgment with water. “When the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah” (1 Pet. 3:20). God is always looking to show mercy to the guilty (cf. Eze. 33:11).
