Monday, April 12, 2004

Antinomianism. Is grace a license to sin? That question came up in the discussion at the Bible study and breakfast that I attend each Friday morming. My friend, Austin Carr, who is also a lawyer, is the founder of that Bible study. Here is what he wrote me Saturday about this question. I told him I wanted to put it on the blog and that was OK with him.

The question that came up at our breakfast Friday is, by no means, a new one. In fact, there is a word for it and it is:

Antinomianism: (anti, against, and nomos, law) The heretical doctrine that Christians are exempt from the obligations of moral law.

The term first came into use at the Protestant Reformation, when it was employed by Martin Luther to designate the teachings of Johannes Agricola and his secretaries, who, pushing a mistaken and perverted interpretation of the Reformer's doctrine of justification by faith alone to a far-reaching but logical conclusion, asserted that, as good works do not promote salvation, so neither do evil works hinder it; and, as all Christians are necessarily sanctified by their very vocation and profession, so as justified Christians, they are incapable of losing their spiritual holiness, justification, and final salvation by any act of disobedience to, or even by any direct violation of the law of God.

Here is a link to a page that gives more information about it. CATHOLIC
ENCYCLOPEDIA: Antinomianism which goes into depth about the analytical flaws in following the perceived logic of it.

Two points of mine before you go to the link:

1. There are very few original thoughts, if any.

2. See how quickly our sinful minds try to seize onto a thought, doctrine, some logic or explanation, so that we can get away with sin. (Sin being defined here as doing what we want to do and controling things for ourselves, rather than what God would prefer that we do and what He knows is best for us and relinquishing control of our lives to the one more qualified to pilot it.)

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