Since Christ roundly condemned religious legalism, why do His followers continue to embrace it?
Christ condemned hypocrisy, not religious legalism. His criticism of the Pharisees was that they were more concerned with their outward appearance of righteousness than their actual inner purity and relationship with God. Jesus said, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.” (Luke 11:39) He also said, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” (Luke 11:46) The Pharisees had taken God’s original commandments and had added hundreds of their own (for example, they took the commandment “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy” by adding dozens of rules such as how far a person could walk, how much weight they could carry, which kinds of knots could be tied, etc.). So Christ never criticised the following of God’s law, but he criticized the Pharisees who were expecting others to live up to their ow
