7/28/2019 Antinomianism(1)

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ANTINOMIANISMDaniel Botkin

The New Testament Greek word foraw" is nomos. Nomos is the Greekord that was used by the translators ofe Septuagint to translate the Hebreword Torah. Several times in the Newestament, the word nomos appearsth an a- prefix attached to it, making a

ew word, anomos. The a- prefix inreek means "no," "not," or "without."hen the a- prefix is attached to areek word, it gives the word a negativeeaning, just like the a-prefix does innglish words such as amoral, asexual,heist,etc.

The Greek word anomos, therefore,eans "without law" or "lawless."ometimes this word appears in theew Testament in its noun form

anomia[n], "lawlessness"). You maycognize this as the source of ournglish word anomian or, in its moreommon form, antinomian. Anntinomian is, according to Webster's,

one who holds that under the gospelspensation of grace the moral law is ofo use or obligation because faith alonenecessary to salvation."Webster's description of an

ntinomian reminds me of somereachers IVe heard. I don't think I'dant to be an antinomian, consideringhat the New Testament says aboutnomians and anomianism. Let's lookt a few places where the Bible talksbout this.

Yeshua said, "Not everyone thataith unto Me, 'Lord, Lord' shall enterhe kingdom of heaven; but he thatoeth the will of My Father which is ineaven. Many will say to Me on thatay, 'Lord, Lord, have we not proph-sied in Thy name? and in Thy nameave cast out devils? and in Thy nameone many wonderful works?' And thenill I profess unto them, 'I never knewou: depart from Me, ye that workiquity [anomian]"(Mt. 7:21-23).

Here the Son of God describes amultitude of people ("many," He said,

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bers) who find themselves excluded.from the Kingdom. Who are thesepeople? It is certainly not atheists,Hindus, or Buddhists who are beingtalked about here. The people beingtalked about here are people who callJesus "Lord" and even do good works inHis name. These are church peopleinvolved in church activities. Theyexpect to inherit eternal life, but arestunned to find themselves excludedfrom the Kingdom. The Jesus theythought they knew was obviously acounterfeit Christ. And what is the proofthat they never really knew Him? Theywere anomians -"workers oflawlessness" as Stern's Jewish NewTestament words

it; people who"practice lawlessness" according to theNew American Standard Bible.

Yeshua spoke about anomians againin the parable of the wheat and tares.The tares ("the children of the wickedone") grow together with the wheat ("thechildren of the kingdom") until harvesttime, when the angels are sent forth to"gather out of His kingdom all thingsthat offend, and them which do iniquity[anomian, 'lawlessness]" (Mt. 13:41).

Throughout the history of Christianity,the wheat and tares have been side byside, and it has often been difficult to tellwhich is which. But as harvest timedraws near, it will become moreapparent which people are wheat andwhich people are tares. The anomiansare the tares, Yeshua said. They havebeen in His Kingdom for a long time,and now He is sending forth His"angels" (the word simply means"messengers," either human or

heavenly or both) to rid His Kingdom ofantinomianism.

Paul wrote about a "falling away"(apostasia, "departure from truth") thatwas to come. This falling away was notjust referring to some event in thedistant future. Paul described the fallingaway as "the mystery of iniquity(anomias, 'lawlessness')," and said thatthis "secret power of lawlessness" (NIV)was "already at work," and that the"Wicked" (anomos) would be revealed

(2 Thes. 2:7f). Since anomos is anadjective, many

translators provide a noun and rendthis as "the Wicked One or "the LawOne," having in mind an end-time AChrist figure. While it is possible thathere may be some reference here tAnti-Christ, the word anomos may s

be referring to the lawless theologyantinomianism) which caused theChurch to depart from the Torah andinto apostasy. The error ofantinomianism, the "secret power oflawlessness," is being exposed in ougeneration. Many Christians are waup and returning to Torah. The secrpower of lawlessness is no longer asecret to these people. When the seis out, lawlessness loses its power aits grip over these people.

The root of the Church's apostashas been her rejection of the TorahPerhaps it would be fairer and moreaccurate to say that the Church rejethose elements of the Torah thatseemed loo Jewish" for her. Thetransgression of any of the Law iswrong, though, because "sin is thetransgression of the law" (1 John 3:When we violate God's Torah, we s

Is there any hope for people who

a part of a Church that has beenapostate for most of her history?Deliverance from the spirit of lawlesscomes by the grace of God, but it isgrace that teaches us to honor GodTorah, not a grace that teaches us tantinomians:

"For the grace of God that bringesalvation hath appeared to all men,teaching us that denying ungodlineand worldly lusts, we should live sorighteously, and godly in this presen

world: Looking for that blessed hopand the glorious appearing of the grGod and our Savior Jesus Christ, wgave Himself for us, that He mightredeem us from all iniquity (anomia'lawlessness'). and purify unto Himspeculiar people, zealous of good wo(Titus 2:11-14).

A grace which does not teach ushonor God's Torah is not the graceGod, and a savior who does not redus from antinomianism is not the tru

Savior, but a counterfeit Christ whocannot save.