Antinomianism means “opposed to law.” Antinomian views are
those denying that God’s law in Scripture should directly control the
Christian’s life.
Dualistic antinomianism appeared early in the Gnostic
heresies, like those opposed by Peter and Jude (2 Pet. 2; Jude 4–19). The
Gnostics taught that salvation was for the soul only, making bodily behavior
irrelevant both to God’s interest and to the soul’s health. The conclusion was
that one may behave riotously and it will not matter.
A “spiritual” antinomianism puts such trust in the Holy
Spirit’s inward prompting as to deny any need to be taught by the law how to
live. 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 kind of antinomianism was common. The Corinthian church
may have been in the grip of this error, since Paul warns them that a truly
spiritual person acknowledges the authority of God’s Word (1 Cor. 14:37; cf.
7:40).
Another kind of antinomianism begins from the point that God
does not see the sin in believers, because they are in Christ, who kept the law
for them. From this they draw the false conclusion that their behavior makes no
difference, provided they keep on believing. But 1 John 1:8–2:1 and 3:4–10
point in a different direction. It is not possible to be in Christ and at the
same time to embrace sin as a way of life.
Some dispensationalists have held that since Christians live
under a dispensation of grace, not law, keeping the moral law is at no stage
necessary for them. Rom. 3:31 and 1 Cor. 6:9–11 clearly show, however, that
keeping the law is a continuing obligation for Christians.
It is sometimes said that the motive and intention of “love”
is the only law God requires of Christians. The commands of the Decalogue and
other ethical parts of Scripture, although they are ascribed to God directly,
are regarded as no more than guidelines that love may at any time disregard.
But Rom. 13:8–10 teaches that specific commands reveal what true love is. The
law of God exposes the counterfeit love that will not accept its
responsibilities toward God and neighbor.
The moral law
revealed in the Decalogue and expounded in other parts of the Bible is an
expression of God’s righteousness, given to be a code of practice for God’s
people in every age. The law is not opposed to the love and goodness of God,
but shows what it is in action. The Spirit gives Christians the power to
observe the law, making us more and more like Christ, the archetypal observer
of the law (Matt. 5:17).Whitlock, L. G., Sproul, R. C., Waltke, B. K., & Silva, M. (1995). The Reformation study Bible: bringing the light of the Reformation to Scripture: New King James Version. Nashville: T. Nelson.
