Legalism

"Though the truth with regard to myself is really no different. It is a
fact that Pliable returned to his own house. But I also carnally
yielded to the persuasive arguments of Mr. Worldly-Wiseman, and
consequently turned aside toward the way that leads to death.
GOOD-WILL: Oh, did he prey upon you as well? Did he beguile
you by offering relief and ease by means of Mr. Legality? You
know they are both cheats. But did you pay attention to his advice?
CHRISTIAN: Yes, I went ahead as far as I dared to find Mr.
Legality, that is until I feared that the mountain that lies beside his
house would fall upon my head. And so for this reason I was
forced to stop.
GOOD-WILL: That mountain has been the death of many, and
will be the death of many more. It is just as well you escaped lest it
dash you to pieces." John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress


"When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife, then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. And it shall be, if you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally, because you have humbled her." Deuteronomy 21:10-14

There are laws for everything imaginable in Halaka. Halaka is the Law. It contains the collective body of the Law, biblical (mitzvot), the Talmudic, and the Rabbinic Law, as well as customs and traditions that must be observed. Halaka can be translated as the path. It is certainly the path that Christian took in his detour to Mr. Legality. On the path is the Mountain of Sinai, where Moses received the Law.

"Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:17-20

That is the Law and it has a job. It is the prosecutor. He has no mercy. You break his rules and he condemns you. What is the penalty? DEATH!!!

"For the wages of sin is death...." Romans 6:23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

As a child I loved to watch 'Perry Mason' Perry was the defense attorney and Hamilton Burger was the prosecutor. One of the reasons I liked it was that the real bad guy was always caught. I felt sorry for Hamilton Burger because he really wanted to do his job well, but was always prosecuting the wrong guy. He lost hundreds of cases and won only one.

The Law isn't that way. It always gets its man! It wins every case. It has an unimpeachable witness to every crime. The Father sees everything and knows all.

Therefore we are all condemned to die and no defense attorney is good enough to get us off. BUT........... That is a great but! There was a propitiation for our sin. A what? Propitiation is to make an appeasement, placate, stand in the way of anger.

The penalty for sin is death and the law was only going to be appeased by shedding of blood and death.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice (propitiation) for our sins. I John 4:10

"The Father made Christ who had no sin to be sin for us (eventual Christians), so that in Christ we might become the righteousness of God. II Corinthians 5:21 

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

This is why Christian was told by Evangelist and now Good-Will that the path to the Law was no direction to take. It would have led to his death. The right path is the path of grace and mercy.  The path that leads to the Wicket-Gate and Christ's atonement.

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16