Dr Paul Allen

Would you recognize antinomian theology if you heard it? How about if you preached it? Almost anyone who moves in Reformed Christian circles, whether traditional or young and restless, knows that antinomianism is supposed to be a bad thing. Yet judging by the little attention paid to it, many don’t seem to view it as a major threat. I suspect that most of us would consider legalism a much weightier accusation than antinomianism. Indeed, we might even wear the charge of antinomianism as a badge of honor. After all, didn’t people hurl this same accusation at the apostle Paul ( Rom. 3:8 ; 6:1 )? It seems that for many contemporary pastors, antinomianism is like smallpox: extremely dangerous, but thankfully rare in our day. After all, how many people really teach that Christians don’t have to obey Jesus? In his book  Antinomianism : Reformed Theology’s Unwelcome Guest ? , Mark Jones seeks to persuade you that antinomianism is more prevalent than you think. As Reformed theology’s

Holy Spirit painting (Photo credit: hickory hardscrabble ) “If you love me, you will obey what I command” (John 14:15). The word antinomian comes from the Greek words anti (against) and nomos (law). Antinomianism is the opposite of legalism. Where the legalist distorts the concept of law, the antinomian is opposed to all law. There are several forms of antinomianism today. Some people simply believe they are free from God’s law altogether because they have been saved by Christ . A more common form of antinomianism is “situation ethics.” A kind of antinomianism that is found all too often in evangelical circles is sometimes called “gnostic spiritualism.” In the early centuries of the church, one of the worst heresies was gnosticism. Gnosis is the Greek word for knowledge. The gnostics believed they had access to special knowledge and insight into God’s will that went beyond what “ordinary” Christians had. This special knowledge was not found in the Bible, which was a public bo

English: Illumination of Christ before Pilate Deutsch: Jesus vor Pilatus (Photo credit: Wikipedia ) Do not merely listen to the Word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says (James 1:22). One of the gravest heresies in our day is the heresy of antinomianism. Antinomianism means “anti-law-ism.” Antinomianism teaches that Christians are free from any need to obey God’s law . Antinomianism lies behind the so-called 1980's “ Lordship Controversy ” which has been raging in many parts of evangelical Christianity for the past 30 years. Antinomians say that it is possible to have Jesus as Savior without bowing to Him as Lord . They say it is possible to believe in Christ and be saved, while never doing any good works at all. There are several reasons why this teaching is false. First, we cannot divide Christ any more than we can divide God . Jesus is Savior and Lord. He is Lord because He is God, and He is also Lord because the Father has placed Him on the throne at His ascens