The Antinomian Diaries: On The Christian’s Supposed “complete inability to be even minutely obedient to God”

The Antinomian Error:

Someone recently wrote the following, in response to a post that was not authored by me:

“So, based upon this article you’ve posted, apparently, you believe that the Christian lives a life of obedience to God…Do you live obediently to God’s law? Clearly you do not believe the gospel, nor do you believe what the bible says regarding your state of depravity in god’s eyes, and complete inability to be even minutely obedient to God…You are tossed about by every wind of doctrine… Forever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth.”

God’s Biblical Rebuke Of The Error:

Pronouns matter… Note the use of them in the following:

John 14:15 “If YE love me, keep my commandments.”

Ezekiel 36:27 “And I will put my spirit within you, and CAUSE YOU TO walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and DO [THEM].”

John 15:5-14 “I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. 6 If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast [them] into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. 8 Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. 9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If YE keep my commandments, YE shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and [that] your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.“

Ezekiel 11:19-20 “And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: 20 That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, AND DO THEM: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”

1 Timothy 6:11-14 “But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 13 I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and [before] Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; 14 That THOU keep [this] commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:“

Jeremiah 31:33 “But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

1 John 2:1-6 “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world. 3 And hereby WE do know that WE know him, if WE keep his commandments. 4 He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.“

Ezekiel 37:24 “And David my servant [shall be] king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: THEY SHALL ALSO WALK in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and DO THEM.“

1 John 3:18-24 “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. 19 And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. 20 For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, [then] have we confidence toward God. 22 And whatsoever WE ask, we receive of him, because WE keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. 23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment. 24 And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.”

Psalm 103:17-18 “But the mercy of the LORD [is] from everlasting to everlasting upon them that FEAR him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; 18 To such as KEEP his covenant, and to those that REMEMBER his commandments TO DO THEM.”

Jeremiah 32:40-41 “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I WILL PUT MY FEAR in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me. 41 Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my whole soul.”

1 John 5:1-3 “Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2 By this WE know that WE love the children of God, when WE love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that WE keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.“

Hebrews 8:10 “For this [is] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:”

Revelations 12:17 “And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of HER seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.“

Revelations 14:12 “Here is the patience of the saints: here [are] THEY that keep the commandments of God, AND the faith of Jesus.”

Jeremiah 31:33 “But this [shall be] the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

Hebrews 10:16 “This [is] the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them…“

Conclusion:

Antinomianism says “no Lord, we can’t keep anything, we can’t obey anything, so we just look to you to have obeyed for us at the cross. As long as we are generally moral, we are at liberty to live as we want, and to do what we want, since we cannot act in obedience to you Lord. Thank you for setting us free to mostly live as we want to, and to not have to worry about obeying you, and your commands for us today.” Sadly, this nonsense dominates professing Christianity today.

Understand, most Christians will hardly recognise their good works, their obedience, because our oft failings are ever before our eyes, our sins are ever before our eyes. This is why the Christian is far more apt to say “Lord, when did I do all these things?” than to boast in, or highlight, any acts of obedience God wrought in them:

Matthew 25:37-39 “Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed [thee]? or thirsty, and gave [thee] drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took [thee] in? or naked, and clothed [thee]? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?”

When we are honest, we have to admit that we are dismal failures compared to the standard that God set, especially manifestly, in the perfect nature, character, and walk of Christ Jesus The Lord. Nonetheless, though seeing our own depravity as it relates to this body of death (and our indwelling sin), we are not at all justified in denying what God, Himself, says and promises in His holy word. We shouldn’t go around boasting in, or of, our good works/obedience — that would be foolish. But when men lie and say that we can’t obey, what they are ultimately doing is calling GOD a liar, which is why it troubles me so. These men are liars, they are absolute liars. Remember 1 John 2:4 –

“He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.“

If God, in His word says something, it is mock holiness, humility, and honesty, to turn around and either implicitly or explicitly state “no God, you’re wrong, we can’t do what you state we can do, even if it is YOU who works out all of these things, all of the Christian’s good works, in them.” Antinomianism is a lie; Antinomians do lie; it is the serpents doctrine, but because it sounds holy and humble, people embrace it to their temporal (at best) or eternal (at worst) detriment.