Antinomianism, definition and a Question "is this you"?

Sadly too common today and if you obey Chrust you're a "pharisee".

BobRyan said:

Definition for "Antinomianism"

AI:

Antinomianism
is a term used in Christian theology to describe the belief that, because salvation is granted by divine grace through faith, believers are not bound by the moral law of God, including the Ten Commandments. The word itself comes from the Greek anti ("against") and nomos ("law"), literally meaning "against the law"

R.C. Sproul

What Are Legalism and Antinomianism?

Legalism and antinomianism undergird all forms of false teaching and heresy.

learn.ligonier.org

"Antinomianism says that God does not require a believer to obey the Law of God (the Ten Commandments)"

Antinomianism | Monergism

Antinomianism is a theological heresy that holds that, because of grace and faith in Christ, believers are no longer bound to obey the moral law of God. The

www.monergism.com

Antinomianism is a theological heresy that holds that, because of grace and faith in Christ, believers are no longer bound to obey the moral law of God. The term comes from the Greek words anti (against) and nomos (law), and it literally means “against the law.” Antinomianism falsely teaches that Christians, having been saved by grace, are free from the obligations of the moral law, leading to a rejection of the law’s role in the Christian life.

If you have read the threads on this particular forum then every now and then you will see someone arguing against the moral law of God , specifically the Ten Commandments. As James 2 says "he who is guilty of breaking one is guilty of breaking them all"

As Paul says in Eph 6:1-2 "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.

hint: What are the set of commandments in scripture where the first one in that list WITH a promise is the 5th commandment calling children to Honor father and mother.

Click to expand...

If antinomianism (lit. against law) is regarding no longer being bound by the "moral law of God" then the critical question is what is the "moral law of God". This is not terminology found in scripture, so there is no biblical way to isolate what this moral law of God is and what it is not, which begs the question: Is this responsible terminology/should we be using it? Scripture doesn't bifurcate law, and when the subject of law is raised, law is treated as whole units defined within covenants. Some indeed have more of a moral foundation and others ceremonial/ritual or symbolic, but the law doesn't separate itself to sub categories like this, that's a post-biblical thing to do. So the real question is what aspects of the law of the old covenant should we consider universally moral? The answer, as it applies to the legal code, is nothing. The legal code is meant for the covenant and those outside the covenant are not bound by it (that's how covenants work). That isn't to say they are not based on a universal moral framework but they are not universal themselves, which is an important distinction. Instead, the framework they are based on is universal, which is more foundational to the character and root of God than a covenantal law ever can be.

Even a commandment like "Do not murder," which sounds perfectly agreeable, is not a moral foundation of the NC. The moral foundation of the NC is not about passive resisting evil like murdering, stealing, lying, sleeping with your neighbour's wife, etc... but instead is about actively seeking love and is primarily guided by the Spirit. It's actually pretty easy to resist murdering my neighbour (I haven't done it yet), but I may still cross the street and ignore him when I see he needs help. In doing so, I do not break the 10, which just exposes the limits of the 10, but not the moral framework they are based on.

So what's the moral framework that's better than these laws (better than the 10)? Fortunately, Jesus spells it out in Mat 22:37-40 "And he said to him,“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” He says it right there, that all the law and prophets are based on these two commandments, so this is the moral framework the 10 are based on. There is no list here, and it operates more like a heuristic approach requiring active critical involvement in our actions. NT authors also affirm this same law. Paul calls it "Christ's law (1 Cor 9). James calls it "the Royal law." (Jam 2)

So if by "moral law" we mean the moral framework that law is based on, then Christ spells it out, and this is fundamental to NC teaching. But I suspect "moral law" is a code word for smuggling in the 10 commandments. so if antinomianism in practice means "no longer bound by the 10 commandments" then or course I affirm this. For some reason, people seem to think that without the 10 we will steal, murder, lie and have sex with everyone we see. This plainly is not true, one, we have the Spirit in us to guide us (this is critical), and I have confidence in the Spirit's mechanism given by God. The Spirit is the sign of the NC agreement, so it is crucial to our worldview operating as followers of Christ and we need the Spirit to understand the lens of God. There is no other way around this, and the 10 commandments do not accomplish this the way the Spirit can. The 10 operate several levels in so highly contextualized, where the Spirit is the direct source. but we also have Christ's law to help align ourselves (as well as a host of NT teaching), the product of which will not be murdering, stealing, lying, etc... but now loving our neighbour as ourselves, which is a foreign product of the 10 but a critical part of the NC. The OC focuses on morality from the outside in. eg. I do X, Y, Z therefore I am good. But the NC is focused on an inward outflowing, where our moral expressions and worship are from an outflowing from the heart. As a Christian, that outflowing is rooted by the Spirit, not by the 10 commandments. This is the meaning of "laws written upon our heart" (2 Cor 3) it is not the 10 commandments smuggled in the NC, but the quality of the Spirit impacting our core and overflowing to all actions. We are not dependent upon lists in the NC, we are dependent upon the leading of the Spirit. Even if the outflow looks "good" without the Spirit as its source, it can be that of a clanging symbol. I'm not sure why anyone would argue with this, as it is fundamental to NC teaching. I am spirit-led, not stone-led. Is the output the same? It doesn't matter because it is not a "both x AND y" system. I am emphatically Spirit-led.