THE
ANTINOMIAN HERESY
And the Need for Congregational Discipline
A Call to Repentance by
Gary Ray Branscome
The law is not meant for a righteous man, but
for
those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful,
(1Timothy 1:9).
In my writing, I usually try to avoid
theological
terms (such as “Antinomian”) because I feel that unfamiliar terminology
can be
a hindrance, rather than a help, in communicating the truths of
Scripture. In
this case I have made an exception in order to make it clear that the
heresy I
am exposing is not something new, but is rather a tactic that Satan has
used
throughout history in trying to discredit the Gospel.
Therefore, let me begin by defining
Antinomianism as
the idea that (for various reasons) God’s Law no longer condemns sin
and that
one can, therefore, willfully indulge in sinful behavior without being
condemned by God.
That idea is clearly contrary to God’s Word,
and has
been condemned by Christians throughout history. However, the reasons
given by
those who take an Antinomian position are not always the same.
There are some who claim that the Law has
been done
away with, or no longer applies in this era of history, and there are
others
who contend that since we are all sinners anyway, it does not matter
what sins
we commit they are all forgiven. Both of those claims contradict the
clear
teaching of Scripture as we shall see.
Matthew
[Comment:
This passage plainly tells us that God’s Law has not been changed. It
still
condemns all unrighteousness (1John 5:7).]
1 Timothy 1:9 says: “The law is not meant for a
righteous man,
but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and
sinful.”
[Comment:
This passage plainly tells us that God’s Law is still in force, and
even though
it does not condemn those who repent and place their faith in Christ
(the
“righteous” Gal. 3:6), it does condemn those who are unrepentant and
who,
therefore, see Christ’s sacrifice as an excuse to keep on sinning
(Hebrews 10:26-31).]
Galatians 5:18-21 says: “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under
the law. However the works of the flesh are obvious, which are;
Adultery,
fornication, sexual filthiness, sensuality… and such like: of which I
forewarn
you, as I have in the past, that those who do such things will not inherit the
[Comment:
These verses plainly tell us that those who are led by the
Spirit will not be sinning willfully, and that those who
do sin willfully will not inherit the
[NOTE:
New believers often go through a struggle with the flesh, and do things
that
they are sorry for later, but because they have a repentant heart they
will be
sorry when they fall short of what God wants, and will try to avoid
repeating
their mistakes. “God will not despise a heart that is humbled and sorry
for sin,”
(Psalm 51:17).]
The Root of the Problem
One reason for the modern resurgence
of Antinomianism lies in the totally unbiblical belief that once a
person is
saved he can live in sin and still be saved. Nothing could be further
from the
truth!
Now, it is perfectly true that just as
we saved by grace, we are kept by grace. As it is written, we are “kept
by the
power of God through faith unto salvation (1Peter 1:5). However, God keeps us saved by keeping us repentant,
not by letting us sin (1Corinthians 6:9-10). Once we come to faith in
Christ a
transformation takes place. The Holy Spirit comes into our heart and we
are
born again. As it is written, “If any man is in Christ, he is a new
creation:
the old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new,
(2Corinthians
Going a bit deeper, one of the reasons
for the prevalent belief that “a saved person can live in sin and still
be
saved” is the mistaken idea that we get saved by praying a prayer,
rather than
by personal repentance and faith in Christ. While praying the “sinners
prayer”
[Luke 18:13] can be a expression of repentance and faith in Christ, the
people
who pray it often do so because that is what they are being told to do,
not
because they really understand it or have placed their faith in Christ.
As a
result, many of the people who pray that prayer never really experience
a
change in their life, begin to attend church, or feel any guilt over
sin. Worse
yet, if the person who led them to pray the “sinners prayer” tells them
that
now, because they have prayed that prayer, they can never lose their
salvation
no matter what they do, even if they live in sin, they may wind up
being more
wicked than they were before.
As a result, those who assume that those
people are saved because they prayed the “sinners
prayer,” assume that they are still saved even though they are living
in sin.
Therefore, instead of warning them of God’s judgment [Hebrews
10:26-31], they
tell them that they will not be happy or have God’s blessing on their
life
unless they have works — thus teaching that God’s favor depends on what
we do,
rather than what Christ did on the cross. And, that is pure works
righteousness!
In attempting to find Biblical support
for that unscriptural belief, those who have that mindset often appeal
to
1Corinthians
They claim that the people spoken of in
this passage are saved people who are being punished because of their
sins.
However, verse 31 tells us that the people being punished have not
judged
themselves (as the Publican did, Luke
True Repentance
True repentance is the work of both Law and
Gospel.
The law shows us our sin and need of forgiveness in Christ; the Gospel
assures
us that we have that forgiveness in Christ. In the sight of God there
is no
difference between an unrepentant Pharisee (who is convinced that God
accepts
him as he is), and an unrepentant homosexual (who is convinced that God
accepts
him as he is). In both cases they are unrepentant, and the only
difference
between them is the means that they use to convince themselves that God
accepts
them.
Isaiah 57:15 For
the high and
lofty One who lives forever, and whose name is Holy, says; I live in a
high and
holy place, with him who has a humble heart and is sorry
for sin.
Ezekiel 14:6 The Lord GOD says; Repent, and
turn away
from your idols; and turn your backs
on all your abominations.
1John 1:9 If we
confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Hebrews 11:6 Without
faith [in Christ] it is impossible to please God.
[Comment:
The first two verses tell us that true repentance involves a sorrow “for sin” that will lead us to
turn our “backs” on sin. However, because it is impossible to please
God apart
from faith in Christ, repentance is incomplete
without faith in Christ (Heb. 11:6).
Because those who are truly saved have a
repentant
heart and do not want sin in their life, just as it is impossible for
someone
who is truly repentant to “live in sin,” it is impossible for someone
who is
truly saved to “live in sin” (Galatians 5:16-17). I am not saying that
those
who are saved will never sin (even the desire to do evil is sin, 1John
Conclusion
.
The Bible has two distinct messages.
The Law is God’s message to the unrepentant, and is intended to convict
the
unrepentant of their sin and show them their need for forgiveness
(Romans
The Law is not made for those who
repent (1Timothy 1:9), but for those who harden their hearts in unrepentance (Hebrews
In the fifth chapter of Corinthians,
Paul tells the congregation how God wants us to deal with someone who
is
sinning willfully, yet is unrepentant. Notice that the condemned man is
not
just guilty of transgressing man made rules, but of a sin that required
the
death penalty under the Law of Moses (Leviticus
And, we know that it worked, because
in Paul’s next letter to the Corinthians we are told that the man
repented, and,
therefore, could be readmitted to the congregation (2Corinthians
2:6-8).
The fear and love of the Lord is to “hate
evil” (Psalm
97:10, Proverbs