Transitioning from legalism to grace moves a believer from trying to earn God's favor under the Law to resting in Christ's finished work under grace.
Les Feldick describes the transition as coming “out of the darkness of legalism” and stepping “into the light of God's grace” — a shift from the burden of self-effort to the joy of unmerited favor. He says people who make the change write that it is like “someone has taken a load off my shoulders.” Yet he is equally clear that this freedom is never license: the believer is now led and guided by the indwelling Holy Spirit rather than the Law's demands.
Romans 6:14 — This verse marks the believer's decisive transition: no longer under the Law's dominion, but under grace — exactly the change Les Feldick teaches.
Romans 6:14 states plainly, “For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.” The next verse anticipates the natural objection to such freedom: “What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” The removal of the Law's dominion is therefore not permission to sin. In Galatians, the same contrast is drawn through the allegory of Hagar and Sarah. Scripture concludes, “So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free” (Galatians 4:31), and immediately commands, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage” (Galatians 5:1). Believers are positioned in freedom, not under the Law's demands.
Les Feldick describes the transition from legalism to grace as being as different as “daylight and dark” — coming out of the darkness of legalism and stepping into the light of God's grace. He marvels that so many people in his classes have never heard that there is a difference between law and grace. Grace, he says, is “unmerited favor”: nothing the believer can do counts with God; it is all based on what Christ has done on his behalf [Clip 3]. Legalism, by contrast, “always instructs you as to what you have to do in order to merit favor with God” — and the insistence that “I have to work for it” is, in Les's words, “the devil's lie,” since when Christ died and rose, “God was totally satisfied that that was all we needed, and we can trust it completely” [Clip 5]. The result for the believer is joy and relief. Les reads letters that exclaim, “my what a joy, like someone has taken a load off my shoulders when I came out of all that legalism and realized that it's in grace and grace alone that we have to find our salvation” [Clip 7]. He even suggests Paul's three years alone in Arabia may have been needed to get Judaism out of his system — a woman who had left a religion herself told him, “it took me forever to get my old religion out of my system” [Clip 0]. But Les always guards the message: grace is never license. Under grace the Law has no power over us, but believers are under “a whole different set of circumstances” — no longer the “stringent demands of thou shalt and thou shalt not,” but led and guided by the indwelling Holy Spirit [Clips 1, 2]. “Liberty is not license” [Clip 6], and a believer who has tasted grace should never want to return under the Law [Clip 4].
No. Les Feldick is emphatic that “grace is never license” and “liberty is not license.” He points to Paul's own objection in Romans 6 — “Shall we sin... because we are not under the Law, but under Grace? And God forbid.” Under grace the Law has no power over us, but believers are not lawless; rather, they are under “a whole different set of circumstances” and are “led and guided by that dwelling Holy Spirit” instead of the “stringent demands of thou shalt and thou shalt not.”
Les defines legalism as any system that instructs you “what you have to do in order to merit favor with God” — it does not matter what form it takes. Millions, he says, are shunning the gospel of grace and insisting “I have to work for it,” which he calls “the devil's lie.” The cross settled everything: when Christ died and rose, “God was totally satisfied that that was all we needed, and we can trust it completely.”
No. Les teaches that “law and grace won't mix. Law and grace can't mix.” Using Paul's allegory of Hagar and Sarah, he insists the bondwoman and her son must be cast out — there is no blending of the two systems. Paul refused to command his Gentile converts to embrace any kind of legalism, and Les likewise asks, “why would a believer want to go back under the Law once we have tasted of grace?”
Les describes the transition as “daylight and dark” — stepping from darkness into the light of God's grace. The defining shift is that the believer stops trying to earn God's favor and rests in the fact that grace is “unmerited favor,” all based on what Christ has done on his behalf. The emotional result is joy: Les shares letters describing “a load off my shoulders” upon coming out of legalism. Even Paul apparently needed time to detox — Les suggests his three years in Arabia may have been needed to get Judaism out of his system.
Paul's Legalism Detox
Les suggests Paul's three years alone in Arabia may have been needed to get Judaism — his old religion — out of his system, showing that leaving legalism takes time even for an apostle.
The Law Has No Power Under Grace
Les contrasts Law and grace using Paul's objection in Romans 6: under grace the Law has no power over the believer, yet this is never a license.
Grace Is Never License
Les teaches that freedom under grace does not mean lawlessness; the believer is now led and guided by the indwelling Holy Spirit rather than the demands of 'thou shalt and thou shalt not.'
From Darkness to Light
Les describes leaving legalism as coming out of darkness into the light of God's grace, where grace is unmerited favor based entirely on what Christ has done on the believer's behalf.
Never Return to the Law
Les asks why a believer who has tasted grace would ever want to go back under the Law, emphasizing that the Law's righteous standard is fulfilled through the believer's position in Christ.
Legalism Is the Devil's Lie
Les says legalism always demands works to merit favor with God, and the belief that 'I have to work for it' is the devil's lie — Christ's death and resurrection fully satisfied God.
Liberty Is Not License
Les teaches that law and grace cannot mix and that liberty is not license; the bondwoman must be cast out and the believer stands free in Christ.
The Joy of Leaving Legalism
Les shares letters from believers who describe the joy of coming out of legalism as having a load taken off their shoulders, realizing salvation is in grace alone.
Romans 6:14: For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
This is the foundational verse marking the believer's transition from the Law's dominion to grace.
Romans 6:15: What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
Paul answers the objection that grace gives license — the same concern Les Feldick addresses.
Galatians 4:30: Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
The allegory's command that law and grace cannot coexist — the bondwoman must be cast out.
Galatians 4:31: So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
Believers belong to the free woman, not the bondwoman — they are under grace, not the Law.
Galatians 5:1: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
The command to remain in Christ's liberty after leaving legalism.
Romans 8:4: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
The Law's righteous requirement is fulfilled in believers through their position in Christ, not by Law-keeping.
No. Les Feldick says plainly that “grace is never license” and “liberty is not license.” Paul raised the same objection in Romans 6 — “Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.” Under grace the believer is led and guided by the indwelling Holy Spirit instead of the Law's external demands.
Legalism instructs you what you must do to merit favor with God — the mindset that “I have to work for it.” Grace is unmerited favor: nothing the believer does counts with God; everything is based on what Christ has done on his behalf.
Les Feldick says they cannot: “Law and grace won't mix. Law and grace can't mix.” Using Paul's allegory, the bondwoman and her son must be cast out; a believer who has tasted grace should never go back under the Law.
Les shares letters from people who exclaim, “my what a joy, like someone has taken a load off my shoulders” when they came out of legalism and realized salvation is in grace alone. The transition is like stepping from darkness into the light of God's grace.
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