Exposition by Max A Forsythe
Christ Covenant Reformed (PCA)
By
“antinomian,”
I mean to describe the traditional heresy which the Apostle Paul argues against
in the two verses before us today.
The word “antinomian”
comes from two Greek and Latin words which mean “against
the law.”
The idea has cropped up several times in the history of the church.
Like Paul, James spoke against the issue. Centuries later, Martin Luther
invented the term to describe the views of one Johannes Agricola.
In the history of the church, these antinomians held that under the
gospel dispensation of grace, the moral law is of no use or obligation because
faith alone is necessary to salvation
Today’s
Antinomians have gone even further in rejecting any socially established
morality whatsoever.
The Antinomians of the sixties who rejected any and all authority are now
in power in our media, our colleges, and in many bureaus of our government.
Now that they have the reins of power, they argue that, like St Hillary,
their personal morality is beyond reproach and they ought not to be measured
against anyone’s standards but their own, and those standards are the ones to
which college students must measure up, to, if they will remain politically
correct.
And people wonder why college attendance is beginning to creep downward!
Like the James Bond hero of the sixties generation, too many believe that
they have a license, not only to kill the unborn, but to sin and sin and sin as
much as they please.
But, of course, even the concept of sin is ill-considered.
At
least, the great Russian Antinomian of the First World War still believed in
sin. He
was Grigori Rasputin, the personal advisor to the Czar and Czarina in the
Kremlin.
F.F. Bruce describes the views of the mad monk Rasputin, who “taught
and exemplified the doctrine of salvation through repeated experiences of sin
and repentance; he held that, as those who sin most require most forgiveness, a
sinner who continues to sin with abandon enjoys, each time he repents, more of
God’s forgiving grace than any ordinary sinner.”
History records that Rasputin certainly put this heretical doctrine to
the test.
In fact, his wicked influence in the Imperial courts of Moscow
contributed more to the decline and destruction of the Russian Empire than can
ever be imagined.
You
see, ideas do have an impact on society and on individuals.
The Antinomian heresy can undermine a whole culture rather quickly, as
Rasputin showed.
In the case of our country, where there has been continued limited
resistance to the unwholesome attitude, decline has taken a little longer.
But grace cannot be abused forever; there must come a day of accounting.
Once
saved by grace alone, the sanctifying effects of the gospel must be made
manifest.
In this chapter, Paul begins his exposition of those elements of the
gospel which are the power of God unto salvation.
John Murray emphasizes the close connection between chapters five and
six. He
tells us that “the
intimacy of the relations between justification and sanctification is made
evident” by the unity of connection.
The question at the opening of chapter six arises from the emphasis in
chapter five. In
Paul’s dramatic answer to the question, we may understand, as Calvin does,
that any who suppose that Jesus “Christ gives free justification without
imparting newness of life shamefully rend Christ asunder.”
The
change and newness, which the second birth effects, demonstrates the reality of
the new birth.
Someone once noted that having a baby tends to make adults of the new
parents.
Anyone who has contemplated the differences of life, before and after
having their first child, well understands the additional responsibilities that
come with the blessed little bundle.
From that birth on, life changes.
So should the realities of the second birth shock us into understanding
the necessity for change as well.
A
few years ago, here in Central Ohio, the dramatic nature of the differences in
the new life were tragically acted out.
It seems that some parents were converted in mid-life.
As they began to work out the sanctification requirements of the new
life, they were met by rebellion on the part of their two teenagers.
The rebellion was so intense that eventually the parents were murdered by
their own children, who much preferred the old lifestyle.
Just
as the book of James argues, so Paul agrees, that the new life in Christ does
not allow us to continue in the old habits of sin.
“Shall
we go on sinning....We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?”
In some countries, new converts are almost by necessity forced to
relocate.
In Brazil, one missionary couple actually had to bring the new converts
into their home to show them how to live the new life.
At
school, one of our teachers organized a Thanksgiving meal one year.
She said that it was necessary to show the Twinkie and Mountain Dew
generation that there were other things to eat.
And so she borrowed some tables, silverware, china and napkins, and
cooked a three-course meal to train her charges in table manners and
appreciation of elegant dining.
Remember, these were children who think a sit-down meal in McDonald’s
is eating at its finest.
One of our students on a field trip in Columbus once encountered an
escalator for the very first time in her life.
For
many in our day and age, the demands of the new life in Christ are even more
critical cultural shocks.
Habits, concerns and attitudes which we take for granted as part and
parcel of the new life, are a strange new world indeed for many in our day and
time.
And the fact that the new convert can no longer remain in sin and live
the life they have grown accustomed to is a major challenge.
So it was in the worldly Capital of the Roman Empire when Paul addressed
the church and its members in the first century.
Certainly
much of the antinomian attitude is passive rather than active, like that of
Rasputin.
This particular antinomian heresy, like many, is enjoyed by people who
would not teach and advocate disobedience to our Lord and God.
However, “the
old man,” --
our old nature -- as Paul well knew, is very much part of our being.
The new birth and the new life bring their own stresses and strains, on a
daily basis.
I remember when I first entered basic training, in the winter of 1966.
Within the first week, I discovered fatigue and pain in muscles I never
knew existed.
They were being exercised and developed for the first time.
So it is also with the sanctification process. Are you growing? Are feeling fatigue? Are you feeling any spiritual pain? Like the exercise guru’s point out, “no pain, no gain.” If there is no spiritual growing edge in your life, you may very well have fallen into an antinomian comfort. For years, our sons have measured themselves against Grandma’s wall chart, so that they can see their progress. Jerry, at least, is going to be taller than me, and he is off grandma’s physical growth chart -- after years of being considered small for his age. As parents, we might hope for and create opportunities for moral and spiritual growth, too. As our Father in heaven, God has parental expectations of us all as well. “Shall we go on sinning?” Of course not, we would agree with Paul. But are we comfortable where we are? As the old saying goes, if you are comfortable in your spiritual life, then my job is to “afflict the comfortable,” as well as to “comfort the afflicted.” May the words of our Lord conveyed to us through the ministry of Paul challenge you to consider whether you have a closet antinomian urge today and all days.
Resources Used: The Holy Bible, New International Version
Places Preached:Bruce, F.F. Tyndale New Testament Commentaries: Romans. Hodge, Charles. Romans. Mackenzie, R. Calvin's New Testament Commentaries: Romans. Mueller, J.T. Luther: commentary on Romans. Murray, John. New International Commentary: Epistle to Romans. Throckmorton, G.H. "Antinomianism", Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible.
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Rom06a.htm 06 August 95
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