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Response to Antinomianism
Here is the problem; The reason why most Christians today are what is called “antinomianists” is because they believe in a “works for salvation” program. In other words, when they look at God’s standard they realize that they cannot keep it, ego get’s depressed because it cannot meet the standard. So guilt destroys the relationship.
This is why as Seventh Day Adventist Christians we stress the fact that NO law keeping of any kind can save you! This is not to say that God does not have a Law. God does have Law. The problem has become that people do not understand their right relationship with God’s standard.
The popular way to deal with God’s commandments for most is to move into what is called an “antinomianist Christian stance”. What does this mean? The word literally means, “anti-law”. The idea springs from a wrong interpretation of what it means to be “free from the Law”. This idea states that salvation is almost only for the soul, bodily behaviour is irrelevent along with physical health. The argument is, “love fulfills the law so just love”.
It is true that the Bible states that love fulfills the law but true love strives to obey God’s law. In other words, love is the true motivating factor behind healthy obedience. Many caught in antinomianism state that the Holy Spirit leads them to do things that even go contrary to God’s law. They deny the need to be guided by God’s law on issues. Freedom from the law as a way of salvation is assumed to bring with it freedom from the law as a guide to conduct.
In the first 150 years of the Reformation era this view was common. It is true that Christ kept the law perfectly for us but it is a gross error to conclude that Christians may freely embrace sin as a way of life. Extreme Calvinistic views hold to these errors. Passages such as Romans 3:31, James 2:8-13 clearly teach that law keeping is a continuing obligation for Christians.
Now the other popular form of antinomianism asserts that a motive and intention of love is all that God now requires of Christians, even if one of the commandments must be broken. These claim that all the Biblical stories were mere examples of how love was expressed “in the old times”. They say; “Many of those stories do not literal apply to us today.” Such who hold to this type of view support homosexuality and abortion.
As Seventh Day Adventists we believe that the Holy Spirit is given to empower law keeping and to make us more and more like Christ Jesus. The Bible offers no hope to anybody who does not seek to turn from sin.
So I ask you: Are you an antinomianist?
Written by Eric W. King [July 6,2006]
Other articles by Eric William King defending God’s Law:
Is the Fourth Commandment Jewish?
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